Gutsy mum Charlyn Lin, who had trekked through several countries Asia for TV programme, Rites of Motherhood, while carrying her second child, welcomed a baby boy together with her husband Alfred Tang at close to midnight today.
She gave birth to a 3.3 kg baby at Thomson Medical Centre via caesarean section after eight hours of contractions last night. The 37-year-old mum shared that she wanted to opt for a natural birth but was unable to go with it as she has a small pelvis and was told that it cannot expand further for childbirth.
In a phone interview with Toggle, the mother-of-two shared that her water bag broke when she was at her sister’s place yesterday, after she felt a round of intense kicks from the baby.
“Everyone started panicking and we hurriedly made our way to the hospital,” she chuckled.
Charlyn’s husband stayed by her side throughout the operation but her eldest child, Caleb, 4, who wanted to be at the hospital too, was not allowed in the operating theatre and had to spend the night at his grandmother’s place instead.
Big brother was not left out on his baby brother’s arrival – he only went to bed after his mummy gave birth and had a part in naming his little brother too, said Charlyn.
“He randomly thought of the name ‘Cayvus’ one day when they were riding the escalator. I tried to search online to see if the name has a meaning, but there is no meaning behind it,” she said.
The baby was originally due to arrive on March 1, but came into this world slightly earlier than expected, thwarting his mum’s plans of attending Madonna’s concert this Sunday.
Charlyn will remain under observation for the next four days before she returns home to do her confinement with the help of a confinement lady.
Charlyn and Alfred tied the knot in 2009 and welcomed their first child, Caleb, two years later. The couple decided to try for a second child when Caleb turned four last year.
Ah Jie Zoe Tay had a part to play in Charlyn’s pregnancy, the host revealed, during a previous interview with Toggle. “Filming for Rites of Motherhood began in July after I accepted the offer to host the programme, and I told my husband we should put our baby plans on hold,” she said.
“But I met Zoe in a dressing room one day, and she said, ‘You think it’s so easy to get pregnant?’ She talked about a string of cases [of infertility] and I freaked out. That night when I got home I said to my husband, ‘No, we have to keep going!’”