The arrival of Xuan

At 1340hours this afternoon, the wife gave birth to our number two - baby Xuan.

It was a chop-chop affair lasting only a grand total of 7 hours (people who have gone through labor will understand that this is not too bad at all). The wife was admitted at 7.30a.m on a rainy morning. (We had to drop Baby En at nanny's place at 6.45a.m). She was on the bed, put on epidural and all set for induction by 10.00 a.m.

Our midwife Sister Cheung (from Hong Kong) was the same nurse that delivered En. We knew we were in good hands. She was also damn nice- staying past her shift to help us deliver Xuan.

I am always amazed at how hospital knew how to catered to local populace need to buy 4-Ds for such auspicious occasions. Most of the records have four numerals. Baby Xuan was brought to this world at 1340hrs (first 4-D), He weighed 2.925kg (to 3 decimal points?! Nvm 2nd 4-D) and is 48cm (cannot buy cos' only got two numbers). It's also quite amazing how I can remember these numbers even though my mathematics and stats suck big time. I can even remember my first boy En's weight was 3.040. Maybe cos' it's also related to the 4-D lottery thingy or some mysterious father thing.

Anyway, several pictures were taken (As usual) but I left the #$%^ camera in the hospital so cannot upload today.

Bits and pieces of memorable moments (as all fathers will concur, in the delivery suite - one can either remember the long arduous wait or the frenzy and panic during the actual delivery - for the latter - everything flashes by) Other things I could remember include:

a) Unlike the first time, the anesthetician (is that how you spell?) who did the epidural did not ask me to leave. Actually, she demanded that I stayed and watch. Yeeks. Not a nice sight - the needles damn long, so was my wife's fingernails that clawed deep into my skin. The amused anesthetician asked why I was pale. Duh.

b) I lingered around the delivery suite and hospital like a lost soul. Drank countless cups of tea from the vending machines which, I believed, were purposely not built on the same floor. Also read Baby Blues on the super comfy Lorenzo couch to get inspiration of being a father of more than one kiddo. Quite nice - I mean the couch. The thought of being a father of two sons was daunting.

c) Wife must be bored. Out of the blue, she suddenly decided that we should name our Xuan something 'christmas-sy' - like Santa. I cannot register that though. He would be the joke of the townand anyway, his older brother seemed to detest the bearded man in red suit - he would cry everytime he saw Santa. Alternatively, we could name him Nicholas or Noel - I suggested instead. I would prefer the latter - though I was duly informed by Jou Hwei that it meant shout of joy, praise, christmas carol and the name of a local hamper store. I don't even know how to pronounce the name - No-erl or No-ell? Duh. I will just stick to Xuan-Xuan (as girly as it may sound).

d) About 5 hours later, the midwife said that my wife was fully dilated. She called Dr Yeoh in and in three pushes, baby was out. Very efficient.

Xuan is smaller but comes built with dimples. Welcome to the world son, hope your brother likes you... ha ha.