Dear Child

 This is a bit of a belated post but we've just been so busy since your arrival! You were born on 10 April. We went into hospital on 9 April and your mother was induced into labour. After getting an epidural, we thought things would calm down. It was around midnight when we were about to go to sleep. Then a nurse checked your mother and noticed your heart rate was dropping, and her blood pressure was also dropping. They made a decision to have a caesarian and pushed your mother to the operating theatre. It all happened so fast - one minute I was getting ready to sleep, the next I was told to put on the blue gown and hat and to follow the bed being pushed out of the room. When we arrived at the operating theatre, they said your mother was ready for a natural birth, and after just two pushes, out you came. With everything happening so fast, it was hard to register the the sight of you. We held you on our arms, but it was still so surreal. It was almost like we had gotten used to carr...

 A few weeks ago I visited my father at the cemetery. I wondered what he would say and how he would react upon knowing you were a boy. In Chinese culture, having a boy is preferred as it is deemed to pass on the family bloodline and surname. I started imagining how he would treat you if he was still around. About a week ago, I was driving home with your mother and we had just passed my mother's home, where I saw her walking slowly back home. It was night time, so I assumed she was returning from the pokies. I started thinking about what life would be like right now if my father hadn't passed away and if I hadn't of gotten married. I would be returning home, seeing my dad watching tv on the sofa. I would ask him where mum was and he would say the club. He would then ask me if I was hungry, as he always did, and offer to make me some food. Even though he passed away almost two years ago now, memories of him still come up from time to time. The intensity of these memories can ...