Singer Tay Kewei’s first two days as a mother "an intensive yet fun learning journey"

Singers Alfred Sim and Tay Kewei welcomed their son three days ago after a more than 10-hour labour.
Singers Alfred Sim and Tay Kewei welcomed their son three days ago after a more than 10-hour labour. PHOTO: CROSS RATIO ENTERTAINMENT

Singer Tay Kewei's first two days as a mother have been an intensive yet fun learning journey.

"It takes a while to sink in. I can't believe how such a perfectly formed little human being grew inside of me.

"I've already had several breastfeeding sessions, being a bona fide milk machine - it is extremely satisfying when he latches on perfectly and I can provide for him," says Tay, 33, who gave birth to her first child, a boy, three days ago.

She and her husband, singer Alfred Sim, have not been getting much sleep, driven by the excitement and running on adrenaline.

Sim, 35, says: "Almost all our family and friends said that the baby resembles me.

"Baby is only two days old, and all he does is sleep and drink milk.There are so many first times, everything is a new experience for us."

At press time, they had not named their child, who weighed 3.27kg at birth.

Sim had earlier told the media in jest that he would name the baby Shen Mo, which is a pun on the Chinese phrase "What is it?" and on his family name in hanyu pinyin.

He says: "Shen Mo is just a nickname. I just love to pun around. We haven't decided on a name yet, but we got to do it very soon. We have only two weeks."

The celebrity couple documented the entire process of Tay's childbirth, from the time she felt the contractions to the moment their son entered the world.

Sim says: "I was very emotional when the gynae first announced the arrival of my little one, and I was about to tear till I saw his wrinkled little face, pale and purplish skin, which distracted me a little."

The video recording of Tay's childbirth can be seen in an online trailer for Season 2 of the couple's online reality show Married, And Then?, which premieres next month.

He says: "Since I was going to film anyway, we thought we could share our joy with an edited version."

In a trailer on YouTube, the doting husband is seen by her side throughout the more than 10-hour labour.

He says: "I thought it'd be nice to be by her side. After nine months of waiting and suspense, all I wanted to know was how the baby would look like.

" I'm not really afraid of blood and gory stuff, so I was perfectly fine playing the role of a cheerleader."

He also massaged his weary wife during labour to help relieve the intense contraction pains she was experiencing.

"We did some research on alternative contraction pain relief methods. In fact, Kewei was telling us that the massage provided more relief than the laughing gas," he says.

Despite their research and his massage, she still used an epidural.

Their baby boy shares the same birthday as Hong Kong Heavenly King Andy Lau, the couple's idol.

Sim says: "The baby's estimated due date was Sept 23. While we did not plan for him to come out on Sept 27, I kept reminding the little one in her stomach to take his time."

•Watch the web reality series Married, And Then? on A Better TV YouTube channel

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 30, 2017, with the headline Singer Tay Kewei’s first two days as a mother "an intensive yet fun learning journey". Subscribe