Desmond Tan is now a dad!
The 37-year-old actor sounded chirpy as he shared more with us on the phone about his newborn daughter who arrived on Tuesday (Mar 5), a week earlier than her expected due date.
His wife endured a 26-hour labour before delivering the 2.9kg bundle of joy and Desmond tells us the experience “felt like a rollercoaster”.
“I was drifting in and out of prayers when my wife developed a fever midway and the baby’s heart rate went too fast,” he says.
The couple initially opted for a natural birth but decided on a Caesarean instead.
“It’s like how you start out all excited before dying down a little and fear set in when things are not moving along as quickly as possible,” he tells us.
After being by his wife’s side during the entire delivery, he says he has a newfound respect for women.
“It [the delivery] really is a lot of work, and I don’t know how I would be if you put me on that delivery bed,” he tells us.
Desmond says he and his wife were having dinner in a restaurant when he noticed that she kept standing up and sitting down.
“She then mentioned that she was having cramps and contractions she never felt before,” he shares with us.
After a quick call to the clinic, they were advised to get to the hospital.
When we ask if being in the delivery room and watching the birthing process has scarred him for life, Desmond rejects the idea and calls the experience one “filled with positives”.
“It will ultimately be up to my wife whether she wants to go through it again,” he says.
On the name of his baby girl, the ever-private actor naturally declines to share.
However, he lets on that he and his wife have already picked an English and Mandarin name and have been using it on her.
“She was crying as I was carrying her to be weighed but she stopped and suddenly looked calm and composed when I called her name,” coos Desmond.
Though it is early days, Desmond says the arrival of his baby girl only makes him appreciate his wife more.
“I think the love for my wife has grown tremendously after this, while [my love for] this new stranger can only grow from here,” he says.