baby, hands, fingers

Moment #1 – The day when I was born – I am a girl!

Do you still remember your first day on this earth? How did your family react to your arrival?

Before I get into my 1st moment (story), first let me tell you a little about my background. 

I am a single child growing up in Shanghai, China. I was born in the early 1980s, when China’s one-child policy just started implementing. At that time, the entire society was still deeply embracing its culture that favoured boys over girls. 

My dad is the only child in his family. So you can imagine the expectation and pressure of having a grandson from Dad’s family.

They waited, and waited…finally the big day arrived… 

It was a hot, humid, summer night. I was the last baby to be born on that day. It was so weird that the babies born on that day prior to me were all boys. What a positive sign for dad and grandma (dad’s mom) when they were anxiously waiting outside the operating room. 

At 8:30pm, a deep, loud, boy-like cry bursted out, penetrating the entire floor space. I was born!!! 

Dad was rushing to see me as soon as I was carried out by the nurse. But the first thing Dad asked was,

”Is it a boy or a girl?” 

The witty nurse didn’t respond to Dad’s question directly, instead, she asked,

”Do you want a boy or a girl?” 

A moment of silence and awkwardness. Then the nurse quickly opened up my towel, and showed Dad,”Congratulations! You have a girl.. 

A mixture of disappointment and bitterness, Dad just stood there, seeing off the nurse walking to the baby room. 

The next day, I finally reunited with mom. I was moved to a shared ward with other mothers and their boys. 

Everyday, they were surrounded with family, friends, and relatives, filled with laughter, gifts, and joy. But here, my bed, it was so quiet, only me, mom, and dad. Grandma never visited me when I was in the hospital. She must be very disappointed too, that I was a girl.

But mom would always say to me, 

”You are the most beautiful, cutest little baby. My baby girl!” 

When mom first told me this story many years ago, I just laughed and quickly blushed off. Only until recently, I have realised how my first day experience has led to the formation of my later belief system, my behavior patterns, ultimately impacting my entire life up until now, on a deeper subconscious level. 

So if you want to know what impacts it has brought to me, keep tuning in to my future Moments. 

2 thoughts on “Moment #1 – The day when I was born – I am a girl!”

  1. Hey!
    I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if
    you knew where I could get a captcha plugin for my
    comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as
    yours and
    I’m having trouble finding one?
    Thanks a lot!

    1. Hi, I have just checked with my website designer. She says she hasn’t used any plugins. The blog theme she has chosen automatically has this function. You may like to look into the theme options again?

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