Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio gets real about what's going on in her family life.
In the vlog she posted on the night of July 24, 2022, Rica talked about her pregnancy journey, beginning with her third miscarriage, "I've already miscarried twice prior to this."
The 41-year-old actress then recalled the birth of her two sons and her depression after each miscarriage, detailing the poignant details of her pregnancies.
FIRST MISCARRIAGE (2016) AFTER BIRTH OF FIRSTBORN
Rica recalled the birth of her first son Philip, who is now eight years old, and how it made her wish for a second child.
She said, "My firstborn had no problems whatsoever. It was a problem-free pregnancy, and even delivery was okay.
"And I was so happy with out firstborn that all I could think about was to have another baby."
Rica did get pregnant again, but her wish was not granted, "Upon the second try, we were able to conceive naman after a few months, and this was my first experience of miscarriage.
"It was actually termed 'missed abortion' kasi what happened to me was, I went to my OB and she was trying to find the heartbeat of the baby and the doctor didn't pick it up."
According to Rica, the OB advised her to get a second opinion, which she did and gave her the answer she's looking for, albeit a sad one.
She said, "When we got that ultrasound, hindi talaga ako prepared kasi nagulat ako na parang patay na yung baby sa loob.
"And I do remember tensing up like my entire body at that moment, 'cause I was like telling myself 'Focus really hard on what she's going to say because you can't let your guards down at this moment.'
"I felt like pag umiyak ako doon, baka wala na akong marinig pagkatapos. Talagang it was taking all of my energy to focus on what my OB was gonna say.
"When we were walking back to her clinic, she was telling me a couple of things that I would do as a result or in response to what we've found out sa ultrasound."
SECOND MISCARRIAGE (2017) AND BIRTH OF SECOND SON
Rica said the trauma made her think twice trying get pregnant again even if she wanted to.
Depressed for a year, Rica said it went from bad to worse, "Tapos yung depression ko na-escalate siya into fear."
When she recovered, she again tried and succeeded to get pregnant, but it was fraught with uncertainty,
Rica recalled, "When I got over that first stage, I tried for another baby and the same thing happened.
"Although very different yung process kasi when we went there, I think what they saw was a sac.
"They couldn't determine if the baby wasn't gonna develop anymore or not. So they had to give it some time.
"I had to wait two weeks before I could find out for sure if the baby was gonna live or not.
"I do remember that two weeks felt like an eternity kasi hihintay ka lang na parang 'Lord... ano ba, mabubuhay ba yung baby ko?'"
She rememberd feeling stuck in the middle, "Hindi mo alam kung itutuloy mo bang umasa o hindi kasi nga nakabitin ka.
"Ayaw mo naman sabihin na, 'Hindi wala na ito,' kasi what if nabuhay? Di mo rin naman pwedeng sabihin, fully embrace na 'Hindi, buhay na buhay ito.'"
When eventually the results came in confirming it was a non-viable pregnancy, Rica couldn't believe it.
"What I felt was like shock because, this could happen twice? Parang, totoo ba ito? One suffering and one loss not enough?"
For the second time, Rica had to go through the process all over again of flushing out the sac outside of her system through prescribed medicine.
"It's such an unfair process. You're delivering. You're still laboring for something, or you drink something and you labor for it. Which is what I did.
"Yung una at yung pangalawa ko, talagang umiire ako for it. And when it came out, you feel the same symptoms when you deliver a baby.
"Yung difference lang talaga nila is, wala ka naman hawak na bata."
During her recovery period, Rica decided to seek professional help to address the recurring tragedy.
"With the help of different doctors, I was able to put my body in the right shape for another baby when I was ready.
"It took me a while. Talagang nag-pray ako kasi sabi ko napaka-traumatic nito.
"When I felt like I was ready, and after all the work up for my body, we tried again.
"And that time, I was able to conceive and be pregnant for the whole term, and deliver a live baby boy, and that was Manu."
Read also: Rica Peralejo, family move to temporary home in Laguna; offers useful tips when looking for new home
THIRD MISCARRIAGE (2022)
After going through "rapid fire trauma," as described by her counselor, Rica thought her pregnancy journey was over.
But then three years after Manu's birth in June 2019, Rica began experiencing a familiar feeling that baffled her.
She said, "This one was quite different because I'm already 41 and when I missed my period, sabi ko 'Hala, nag-start na ako ng pre-menopausal symptoms.'
"Just the fact that I took a pregnancy test and nag-negative siya. Pero something in me made me want to check after about a week yata.'"
She did, and to the surprise of Rica and her pastor husband, Joseph Bonifacio, "I did another pregnancy test, nag-positive na siya.
"Ito siguro yung first time na hindi kami nagta-try pero merong nakalusot.
"In fact prior to this accident, my husband and I were talking about the different options of not getting pregnant anymore kasi we were feeling na nga the age."
But it happened and both Rica and Joseph accepted her pregnancy willingly, hopeful but half-expecting the worst.
She said, "Kapag nabubuntis ako, hindi naming puwedeng agad agad i-embrace yung pregnancy as though it's going to happen because we know that there is a possibility of losing that."
Ultimately, her doctor, after many ultrasounds, spotted a sac with undeveloped embryo.
Rica took it calmly, "I was kind of prepared. This was different from the other two because this one spontaneously, I just bled.
"I felt na my body knew already na there was no life in my womb. When I went for my last ultrasound, nakita nila na it's still a sac. It did not develop any embryo at all.
"We had to already accept the reality that this is not gonna develop anymore. I knew the pregnancy has ended."
Through it all, Rica and her spouse have remained faithful in their belief in God.
As part of her parting messages, she said, "Some of the greatest and most beautiful, wonderful, revelation comes while you are in deep pain."
The couple suffered miscarriages in 2016 and 2017.
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