It’s a boy! First baby born here in Year of the Pig
Ethan Poon gave his parents a Chinese New Year surprise when he made his appearance at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday, making him the first baby here to be born in the Year of the Pig.
First-time parents Poon Yee Siang, 30, and Wong Ee Wen, 28, had been expecting their newborn to arrive on March 3, but Ms Wong began experiencing contractions after a reunion dinner at her grandmother-in-law's house.
The couple, who have been married for two years, went to Mount Alvernia Hospital at about 10.30pm, thinking that they could get some medication before heading home.
"We came to the hospital thinking that it was just a routine check, but I was already 5cm dilated," said Ms Wong, a mechanical engineer.
After an hour and a half of labour, Ethan was delivered naturally as the clock struck midnight. He weighed 3.27kg.
Little Ethan is a baby of several firsts. He is not only the first child of Mr Poon, who is a civil engineer, and his wife, but also the first grandson and first great-grandson of Mr Poon's family.
Mr Poon met his wife when they were undergraduates at the National University of Singapore and they got married after graduation.
They are hoping to have another child in about two years so Ethan will have a sibling with a small age gap.
Mount Alvernia Hospital chief executive officer James Lam presented the new parents with a Chinese New Year baby hamper. - NG HUIWEN
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