“Now, who’s your daddy?”

“Now, who’s your daddy?”

I am imagining a 3-day old baby answering that. And that baby is my little girl.

Yes, I have a daughter now. My wife, Zam, gave birth to a healthy, 3.75kg (8.26lbs) baby girl last Thursday. Sorry that I don’t have a photos yet. I’ll post it here later, OK.

But the most vivid memory about how Zam put her life on the line to give birth to that beautiful angel…

Actually, we were going for our weekly maternity visit to the clinic. But once we were there, the doctor saw signs of delivery and detained Zam in the ward. It was 10am and Zam had opened 2cm.

I went back home to pick Zam’s stuffs – you know, cloths, toiletries, etc … And when I was back at the hospital at about 12, the doctor had already broke Zam’s water. By then, Zam told me that she’s 4cm and the doctor expects that she’ll be 7cm by 4pm.

From 12 to 4, we waited. Zam had to go through the inducing labor. They that was so much pain for her. At times, Zam cried, “How much longer”, “It’s too much pain”, and other stuffs. But most of the times, we prayed.

And what’s more frustrating – when we expected the 7cm at 4pm, the doctor said that it was only 5cm. At times, it was so painful, Zam cried – literally cried with tears down the cheek. The doctor said that she will come again at 8pm and see how things are going.

My mother arrived at about 5pm. I was thankful that she’s there. Because at times, I just can stand to watch Zam go through all that agony. And my mother went in the labour room and stood by my wife. Zam’s parents also arrived not long after that.

And when it was 8pm, the doctor said that we only have 7cm. Another frustrating news. We could’ve just operated then, but the doctor said that we are close. Perhaps in another 2 hours, we can have a full 10cm for the baby to pass through.

But when it was 10.30pm, it was still the narrow 7cm. No change at all. At that time, no more waiting can be done. We had waited too long. The doctor had earlier told us that she never waited more 12 hours. So now it was time – we had to operate.

When that decision was taken, the nurse prepared Zam for the operation room. At about 11pm, she went in. Watching them pushed Zam away on that bed into the operation room was the most heartbreaking moment. I tried to held my tears in, but I couldn’t. I kissed her hand and her forehead and whispered – “I love you.” Zam smiled in pain.

At about 11.30pm I heard the cries of a baby…

And that was her – my little angel. I saw being carried from the operation room into the dressing room. I don’t know how to explain how I felt at that time. I saw a life being brought into this world – which is my own flesh and blood. There was happy feeling, proud, amazement, all the good things …

Later Zam came out … with the doctor and she explained that the baby tilted her head about the wrong way. It was like she was trying to come out head first. That was the reason for the difficulty. And not to mention that the baby was 3.75kg when she was born.

Now, almost one week after … I can still vividly see those images. Apart from being happy for being a father, I now appreciate more for what a mother has to give to give birth to her child.

Now, to me … whenever it’s your birthday, it’s not only your birthday, but more importantly, it’s your mother’s ‘mother’s day’. 24 February 2005 marked the mother’s day for Zam… and 30 May is the mother’s day for my mother.