First Day with the Big Little Guy

There is something about being a parent for the first time. It is the amazing experience of witnessing the creation of life, the injection of the soul into the flesh, and the birth of a living person. The emotions that come with this experience, and I can speak for both of us, are a myriad of every positive emotion a person can handle.

The first time we held Alex was the first time I began to realise what our parents must have felt when they held us for the first time. To just sit down for a minute and to contemplate that life began with love, two cells, and the complex journey of cell division, finally resulting in a person is absolutely perplexing. Least to say, both of us were very happy with the arrival of our little guy.

The Birth of Alexander Arrian Teo

It was about 1 a.m. on the 6th of August that Sharan roused me from my sleep, complaining about some pains. We initially thought it was Braxton-Hicks contractions, also known as false labour or practice contractions. We decided to try and go back to sleep and head out to the hospital in the morning.

By 3am, we had no choice but to go to the hospital as the pains were gaining in strength and the duration decreasing. Since this blog is about Alex, I will spare the intimate details. Sharan was in labour for about 8 hours and I was running out of strength massaging her back, but we do what we need to do out of love!

At 11.29, Alexnader Arrian Teo was born, weighing in at 3.420 kilograms and 53cms in length. It was agonizing to witness the birth of a child, especially when it is yours. Quite a sight I will never forget. Almost immediately after his birth, Alex was whisked away to the Neo-natal ICU (NICU) for observation.

You can imagine the anxiety of us, especially the mother, being denied carrying her child just after birth. A few hours later, after being denied by the nurses of the ward to see Alex, I headed down to the reception, told them that I had permission to see Alex and took a pass for the NICU - talk about security. I wanted to be sure Alex was OK, and to calm Sharan's anxious heart.

Beyond the locked door of the NICU was a little guy, lying on his tummy, and gazing at the bright lights of the room. My heart fell for the little guy, our son, our angel. Sharan and I have come a long way and this has been an amazing journey, with many more to come. Did I mean kids or experiences? You will just have to guess!

Finally, mother and son are united! We literally 'forced' our way into NICU as we both had been eager to be with him. The first moments watching mother and son bond are amazing and heart-warming. After 9 months of being inside mother, Alex is finally out in the big world, taking in all the new senses.

Alex was not to stay in NICU for long, and the next day he was released to the wards, where he was greeted by parents, siblings, and friends. While mother and baby stayed a few days in hospital, I was back to work the next day, as a contented father.