A Memoir of Baby Ethan

Expecting a baby is an amazing feeling. The excitement of knowing that a baby is growing in the womb, and ready to come out to the world after 9 months is known only to the parents-to-be. Preparing for the birth of the new family member is an enjoyable experience. In my opinion, every parent-to-be should feel blessed.

My period had not been regular for a while and thus missing my period was not an obvious sign of being pregnant. However, after missing that for a few months and starting to burp non-stop, I decided to do a pregnancy test as the burping was unusual. To our surprise, the test result was positive.

The 2 lines on the pregnancy test kit indicating a positive result.

Our excitement over my pregnancy increased gradually and when I started feeling the baby move in my tummy, we were thrilled. I tried to observe some taboos for expecting women by avoiding certain types of physical activities. I also refrained from taking a few types of food but I could not avoid coffee 100%. However, I did reduce my coffee intake tremendously as a compromise.

Walking was the only exercise I did during my pregnancy. Many people reported experiencing easier delivery with exercises during pregnancy. As such, I walked from my office to lunch and back daily. Sometimes, I would also walk around the shopping mall looking at infant stuff.

Our baby mittens and booties (hidden underneath).

Our baby bodysuits.

Since my tummy wasn’t too big, I had no difficulty in moving about. I was quite fortunate in that I did not experience much morning sickness during this period of time.

We went for monthly checkups at a gynecology specialist clinic to check on the health of both baby and myself. We also did ultrasound scans and everything was normal and looking good.

Baby Ethan's ultrasound scan in July 2008.

However, on the evening of 21 Nov 2008 while I was still in the office, I had bleeding and was rushed to the hospital. When the doctor scanned the baby, she announced that the baby had no more fetal heartbeat. I was induced and delivered baby Ethan naturally in the early hours of 22 Nov 2008.

I was not prepared for this at all and everything happened so fast. We then had to arrange for baby Ethan’s funeral on the same day.

We got to see baby Ethan for a few seconds after he was delivered and he looked like a normal, adorable baby. He had left us due to placental abruption (medically defined as the separation of the placenta from the wall of the uterus) and we were deeply saddened.

But we have to move on from this and therefore, wish to make this post to remember our little prince. He will forever be in our hearts.