Arrival of Zhiyi 祉伊

As my edd crept closer, i wondered if my second child will be born on mid-autumn day, which is on my 39th gestation week.

Just on the 10 Sep, baby seemed to drop Mummy a hint on her arrival. It was Gong de's mid-autumn celebration that evening and part of the program includes a game whereby participants have to come up with a 3-worded chinese rhyme. Being an uncreative person, it is hardly possible for me to come up with anything.. until 'TINK'!.. "月圆好，好月圆，月好圆". Oh gosh! i just blurted out the words without much thought. Is it me or baby??

The next day, my father-in-law planned for the prayers on the evening, afterwhich we went to the dam at Yishun Ave 1 to 饮茶赏月. We had a chance to lit up and release two 孔明灯that night, each for Zhirui and Ruiyao. It was a memorable evening. The children was overjoyed to see their lanterns rose up to the moon.

Not many hours later when we got home, as i was almost getting into deep sleep, baby gave an unprecedented hard kick and right after, i felt something got pricked and water started trickling down my legs. Oh dear! My waterbag had burst.. In the wee morning hours of mid-autumn day, sb and i were behaving like octopuses, trying to plan our adventure ahead. My in-laws were asked to come over to look after Zhirui.

The beginning hours of my labour was unexpectedly bearable, at times so mild that i could sleep or even watch 'Tom and Jerry'. When contraction started to intensify, i asked for something to grab and sb pulled out the purple blouse which i wore to the hospital. As i cringe at the peak of the contraction pain, sb bluntly told me he knew what to name baby, "Zhiyi. I got the inspiration when i saw you grabbing the purple blouse." i could only force a smile. haa..

The most painful part of my labour lasted less than 2 hour and my gynae arrived in the nick of time to deliver Zhiyi. I was almost losing my next breath when Dr Chen asked me to push. After a few tries, Zhiyi finally arrived to this world. So i broke my record, this labour goes without a single pain-relief.

Zhiyi resembles her sister, only with her face rounder. Zhirui's eyes were filled with tender love when she first saw 'mei mei'. On the first night in hospital, Zhirui was tearful when she had to go home with Daddy. "I miss Mummy and mei mei." She sobbed as she told Daddy on the car journey home. Zhirui has indeed accepted her new baby sister into her life.

As for Zhiyi, welcome to our family. Thank you for reuniting with us on such a special occasion. 中秋节快乐！:)