The fourth grandchild for my parents, that is. And the first child for my kid brother. Baby Ethan was born today at exactly 0822hrs. Everyone is so happy and excited. When we visited him at the hospital nursery today, he was sleeping like a baby (well, he IS a baby). He woke up subsequently, and began to wail. Little baby has a great pair of lungs! (think he'd be a great singer when he grows up.... hehe).
Ethan has a full set of hair. At just 6.6 pounds, he's quite tiny, but he's really cute. I suppose all babies are cute. Thank God for babies. They are His greatest gifts.
Have you cradled a baby and smelled him? That baby smell.... I can't quite describe it, but it makes you just want to cuddle and hug him. Man, I've long forgotten that feelings.... I well remember when my first child was born. It was at TMC. I was there when the mid-wife carried out my baby, cleaned and weighed him. She told me, "now check. A boy, ok? See?" pointing at the kuku bird. My boy was crying his lungs out, as all babies do when they come into the world. His skin was also all red and wrinkled. I just stood there, clueless and hapless and too dumbstruck for words. I remember asking myself: "Is this baby really mine? Am I really a father now?" At that instant, I suddenly felt the weight of responsibility coming down on my shoulder. Would I be able to care for him? Would I be a good father? Questions like this flooded my mind at that moment. But at the same time, I was also amazed at the miracle that was in front of me. This is LIFE staring at me. And the Slim Lady and I are responsible for it.
"Ok check the fingers... and the toes," the mid-wife continued. "Ten each, ok?" "And here," she pointed to the birthmark on my son's knee, "here's a mole. Cannot run away one," she said, clearly meaning that even if there was a mixed-up at that hospital, I could always trace my son with his mole on his knee.
Junior's adventure at the KK hospital six years later was less of a drama. For one thing, I didn't even know when junior was wheeled out. It was not because I wasn't being attentive. For some reasons, the nurse DID NOT call for the father. I caught sight of a nurse wheeling a baby trolley and waiting by the lift, all ready to push him into the mummy's ward. I ran towards her and asked: "Is this MY baby?" After asking for my wife's name, she confirmed the baby was mine. Don't ask me how I know that baby was mine... it must be the father's instinct, I guess. Hmmm... wonder if there's a mixed up? But I guess not, for Junior is handsome, just like his Dad. Must be from the some mould lah. LOL. But you could just see the difference in service between the private and the public hospital.
Baby Ethan will be home this Monday. My brother and his wife are sure to have a rocking good time. Rocking baby Ethan to sleep, that is. Hee.
Category: Family
11 comments:
hey chris, i really like the way you write..why havent u thought of becoming a columnist, journalist or editor of some sort? i think u shd...u hv the talent in writing =)
Thanks Evan. No lah... I only write for fun. I've always love writing, and I always feel that I'm someone who can communicate better through this medium.
I've read and enjoyed your other posts on your blog, such as the neigbhour who went bankrupt and your experiences with ugly fellow singaporeans at the chalet. You too have a flair for writing. A pity that these posts are buried in your cake-n-pastries posts. They really do make a good read and are something that most of us Singaporeans can relate to.
hey chris, thx for yr compliments. i used to write alot about non-food related stuffs, esp. when i first started blogging. but as i went along, i find it more & more uneasy to share my feelings, maybe becoz i know there are relatives reading my blog, and at the same time, not sure who are the silent readers out there. and then also, i don't wanna mix them together, like u said, the posts are buried in the food entries. i might keep this blog solely food-related, and another blog to pen my thoughts. but i'm not sure when i'll get around doing it. heh.
keep writing yea? coz even tho' i don't write any comments, i DO visit yr blog regularly, sometimes even more than you think =) oh yes, i did write a comment under your 'know thy' neighbors entry. not sure if u read it coz its so way below now.
Why are you so bothered by what pple think about the stuff you blog? And about your feelings? I tot women are all lovey feely? No? LOL. As for the silent reader, that's what they are - SILENT. So why the fear?
I always feel that my blog is my personal space, and I'll just blog whatever I like. I too have my reservation about blogging about pple I know. The way to do it is to do subtly. If I'm gonna complain about a colleague or someone I know, I don't name that person.
Oh! I missed that comment of yours in my post on neigbhours! Ya, HDB dwellers like me tend to keep our door shut, unlike older days during our parents generation when they were staying in kampung areas or pre-war houses in Chinatown (like my parents and grandparents). Back then, the doors were left open most part of the days and you knew practically everyone living on the streets.
Hey Evan, did you write about Richard Templars' book "The Rules of Work" not too long ago? Man, that was a GOOD book. I bought it couple of days back. Good tips on how to survive and excel in the jungle known as the OFFICE. LOL.
Wah Evan beat me to be first to comment (and I believe that it is not the first time liao). That goes to show that she really meant what she says, i.e. visiting your blog more often than you realise it. :)
Chris, be careful about what you say, especially in a public domain like your blog. I mean remarks like "Is this baby mine?". You may have your reasons for saying that but I don't want to know what happens outside your marriage. A lot of marriages may have gone on the rocks just because the husbands cast aspersions and doubts that way about their wives' fidelity.
Your elder son was born in TMC? Tanglin Medical Centre in CMPB where I served my NS ah? I didn't know that they offered baby delivery services to non-SAF women like your wife. Or is it Tanah Merah Club where you were playing golf when your son was delivered by a gynaecologist on call?
Victor, Victor... don't read too much into seemingly innocuous statements that I wrote, for they really are innocuous. "Is this baby mine?" is my way of asking myself "have I truly become someone's Dad?". Nothing more, nothing less. Why must you always make things so complicated one??? Sigh (rolling my eyes up in disbelief).
TMC you dunno meh? I tot your sons were born there as well? Are you suffering from amnesia, my dear friend? Or are you referring to your other sons from the other side of the globe? (now shaking my head in shock).
TMC is tanglin meh? i tot thomson...
Chris, don't u know he is contrarian; plus obsessed about certain subject some more.
Evan, I know that TMC is Thomson Medical Centre lah. Just wanna make fun of Chris.
Chris, my young man was born in Mt Elizabeth Hosp while my young one was born in NUH. I know what you meant but I just wanna poke fun at you. Poking is what I always do.
Oh before I forget, I congratulate your younger brother on becoming first-time dad and you on becoming uncle (yet again). What an exciting time it must have been for your brother while you must have been resigned to your inescapable fate of being called the dreaded term "uncle" by yet another being in this world, hee.
Why didn't you use your newly acquired camera to snap a photo of the cute baby for posting in your blog? Haven't you heard that a picture is worth a thousand words? Besides, the way you described the baby makes us long to have a look at the cute bundle.
hey i like this part about "am i ready to be a father?"
woah. am I ready to be a mother?
LOL.
elaine, i can tell u, u r NOT. u havent even passed the phrase of liking soft plush toys, doraemon & all that cute stuffs. r u gonna fight with your kids over them nx time? haha!
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