2006: The Year Of Ethan

Without a doubt, the highlight of 2006 for us was the birth of our son, Ethan Koay Yong-Ren Eblaghie.

And the pregnancy. (you can't exactly forget that) :-D

When Kelly and I found out we were going to be parents, way back in early February some time, my first reaction was: "how accurate are these pregnancy kits anyways?" A couple extra trips to the local grocery store to purchase additional kits confirmed it - the 'blue plus sign' was certainly in no doubt.

Our lives would no longer be the same.

We could hardly hold our excitement. We told our families immediately, and only our dear housemate (at the time), Amani. But it took only a few days thereafter for the entire world of the Koay and Eblaghie families to know. (parents who are soon to be grandparents are the worst at keeping pregnancy secrets). Being first-time parents (to be), we were naturally worried about announcing the news too early. After all, it is very common to have miscarriages or have the pregnancy fail for some reason or another in the very early weeks of pregnancy.

The anxious moments of those early weeks, and Kelly being completely nauseated were not fun. But God, as He always does, takes care of things, and if you only truly put your whole trust in Him, you'd just carry on and enjoy lifes twists and turns, and not worry so darn much. We've learned - not that we won't worry in the future. Argh. Trust already!

So the pregnancy was in full force, and in early April we had our first ultrasound scan of 'baby' (we still had not decided on a name, and Kelly's dream where we had a boy named "Ethan" did not happen until later on). 'Baby' was all of 2.2 cms and looked like a kidney bean. In fact, we all debated which end (of the scan) was the head, and which end was the bum.

Still, every doctor's visit, and every time we heard that strong heartbeat, our faith was confirmed - our Baby was going to be OK.

The next ultrasound though provided some scares, as well as some comforting images. It was the first time we could actually see all of (Ethan's) facial structures. His nose was particularly really prominent, oh, and his Willie Wonka confirmed it - we were having a baby boy.

Oh the excitement. Call the fams again. Let them know the great news.

The worry was, there was this 'bright spot' detected in the ultrasound in Ethan's heart. The radiologist called it an "intracardial echogenic focus" - literally translated means "in heart bright spot". This bright spot is sometimes a "marker" for Down's Syndrome. And Asians tend to have higher frequency/susceptibility for this disorder (I think?). So this all worried us. And we prayed, and prayed. Of course, all the other anatomical indicators of DS were negative - only this one tiny bright spot on the ultrasound of our baby's heart. And how a tiny echogenic focus make parents worry.

Few too many 30-hour ("on call") hosptial shifts, no rest, and one early September evening later, the unexpected happened. Kelly's water broke! :-D (oh... and y'all know... on TV when you see the dad-to-be panic like crazy and pretty much has to be the one on the wheel chair upon arriving at the hosptial instead of his pregnant spouse... yea... that's the one... that was me). I was kinda loopy. Kelly had to calm me and keep me focused.

Kelly: "Max, make sure we have a receiving blanket in our diaper bag."

Max: (running around like a loony bin)

Kelly: "Max, are you sure you put a change of clothes, some baby lotion, water bottles, etc.. etc.. in our bag?"

Max: "Why didn't we pack all this sooner!!!!!" (again, freaking out like a loony bin)

Kelly: "Sorry I couldn't hold it in a little longer for ya... errr..." (ok so I am making this line up)

It was hectic. We rushed to the hospital. Kelly was hooked up to monitors, and lo and behold, she was indeed having contractions. Tiny as they were, they were still regular and easily visible on the monitor as peaks and valleys. The doctor did a quick scan to check on Ethan's position and progression down the birth canal. He was still quite high up (i.e. not progressed much at all).. and... here's the kicker... he was breech (feet down, instead of head down).

So C-section it was.

One hour later we were parents.

Yup, just like that. We had a living, breathing, warm and tightly bundled in blankets, ointment in his eyes. tiny human in our care.

Oh the cries... how sweet... Ethan's first few cries were so weak and vulnerable. He was so cute, and all he wanted to do was be kept warm and sleep. No food. That would be for later. He just wanted some rest.

Well anyways, this blog entry is supposed to be a sort of recollection of 2006 and we have not yet left the hospital with Ethan.

I had my 28th birthday two days after Ethan was born.

Krishelle and Jessica ordered in Singaporean food from Merlion and a cake from Madhatter's. I was in scrubs, Kelly was in her post-operation dressing gown, Ethan was under photo-therapy lights, and we celebrated in this small hospital room.

OK, little else in 2006 quite compares, no? I can't even begin to type the rest, when what I have already put to the keyboard has come out so effortlessly.

Definitely. For us, 2006 has been the year of Ethan.