It has been a pretty tough 3 months since the last posting... my employer decided to close its business, I was out of a job at the end of Jan, lil' elf's on the way end of March, expenses soared... no income for the month of Feb, and my first Chinese New Year as a married man, means ang pows (red packets) to be given during the festivities... the equals money spent...

Fortunately I got a business partner to finance my business... and has started the business since 1st March 2007... as usual, new business equals to teething problems... while I was busy preparing the new business, I was not about to neglect the arrival of my newborn... struggling between operating a new business, being a sensitive husband and a dad-to-be, is a real mission... but then again, life's about challenges... one will never know the limits of a person until it is stretched maximum...

Minutes felt like hours during these times, but the countdown timer towards the lil' elf's arrival is ticking...

And finally after waiting for 9 months, Xandria Chan was born on the 30th March 2007... the series of events leading to the big day is exciting, nervous, nerve wrecking, anxious, worried, afraid...

During our final two visits to the gynae, my wife was advised to undergo ELSC (Elective Lower Section Ceasarian) due to her short stature, in which the gynae was worried the the cervix may not be able to dilate to the maximum allowing natural birth... also during the CNY period, she fell down and sprained her knee, thus limiting her mobility to natural birth...

On the 29th of March, we went to Putrajaya Hospital, a new government hospital, in which is supposedly to have excellent natal services, admitting my wife for preparation for the C-sect... feelings were mixed, both my wife and me were expecting lots and lots of things... my mother-in-law arrived from Singapore the day before her admission to look after her daughter and her grandchild after the birth and also to help in confinement...

As we were waiting in the hospital, we were looking at other mothers and mothers-to-be, wondering how they felt before and after the birth of their babies... I reassured my wife that everything'll fine... The operation was schedule on the 30th March @ 9am... We arrived at the hospital @ 8am to prep my wife for the operation.... as they were dressing her in the operation gown, I reassured her again that she'll be alright, knowing that she'll be under GA and she'll be in the watchful care of a senior gynae Dr Ng Kok Ying... final countdown, as we accompanied her on the operation bed as she was wheeled into the operations theatre, i was worried and at the same time reassuring her that we'll see her in and hour or two....

There she went into the operations theatre, the nurse told my mum-in-law and me to wait at the waiting lounge... minutes ticked, ticked, ticked, ticked... i was walking in circles, up and down the room, while the second hand on the watch ticked, ticked and ticked... an hour had passed as it was already 10... and i was getting anxious, i reassured myself that everything'll be fine too... as i laid myself to sit on the lounge chair, reading newspaper to calm myself down, i heard a fainted baby's cry from across the room... and i jolted out of my seat... is that my baby that's crying...? i waited in anticipation, the door opened and the nurse called out my wife's name... i sprang into the room with my mum-in-law... and there she was, the little elf... all bundled up... still not fully cleaned yet... i asked the nurse is it a boy or girl... the nurse asked me to look at the baby myself... she unwrapped lil' elf and there SHE was... a princess... i was asked by the nurse whether i wanted to carry her and i replied can i...? so as the nurse handed Xandria to me, i was excited yet afraid to carry such a fragile thing... as she was laid on my arms, my heart melted... she was crying out loud, as my mum-in-law said "volumenous"... it's amazing that the small little lungs of hers can really punch out such energy...