Daniel Liam Clifford Aguilar

Daniel Liam Clifford Aguilar

At 3:15 pm on December 19th, our son Daniel was born. Mother and son are thankfully very healthy. Daniel tipped the scales at 7 pounds, 15 ounces. Childbirth is a fascinating, traumatic experience. We are grateful to have a good team of medical personnel in Santiago.

This was a slightly different experience than David's birth. David's birth went about as smooth as possible. While there were no serious complications with Daniel, there were several little things that added up. Each thing made it a little bit more complicated and costly. One of the hardest things for me as father came after being told that there was a membrane that had closed the passage inside his left nostril. While fairly common, the ENT specialist was called. Her solution was to take an instrument the length of my new son's forearm and shove it up his nose. That was not fun to watch. While it seems a bit barbaric, Daniel appears to be no worse for wear now.

Now begins the post-birth legal process in order to claim Daniel's citizenship in the three countries he has rights to: the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and the US. The Dominican birth certificate process went much more smoothly than with David. After only four hours of waiting in lines, it was done. Next we will go to the US and Guatemalan embassies. The US government has a very poetic name for this: "Consular Report of Birth Abroad". That means a full day in Santo Domingo and listing every international trip I have ever made in my entire life. After serving in the Peace Corps and living in the DR for 15 years, that list is pretty long. Once we have Daniel's CRBA, we can apply for a passport, which necessitates another day spent at the embassy. Fun, fun, fun!

In the end, we are thankful for a healthy baby, thankful for the blessings of triple citizenship in wonderful countries, thankful for a blue passport that will let him travel about anywhere he wants.