In our three-part Mother’s Day special, we ask three Tatler mums to write a heart-felt letter to the latest additions to their family, reveal their motherhood journey, as well as the hopes and wishes for their youngest children. Director of E-Lume Pte Ltd, Michelle Eng shares her thoughts from pregnancy to parenting, as well as the hopes and dreams for her seven-week-old twin daughters.

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Having a toddler is not easy, let alone three young children. But somehow, Michelle Eng has managed to pull it all together. The mother of three had given birth to twins, Faye and Gemma, about two months ago and she’s barely left her house since.

The dedicated mum is committed to breastfeeding the infants, which occupies her throughout the photoshoot. Once Faye is done, it’s Gemma’s turn for a feed. Shortly after, Faye is hungry again and the twins continue to take turns to be breastfed by their mother ― all while the hair and makeup artist, Brenda Lye works her magic. They’re growing through a “growth spurt” she tells us. The process is undeniably exhausting, but Michelle doesn’t bat an eyelid.

Holding the twins in her arms, Michelle poses for the camera with the same level of cool confidence that she has with her children. While she changes between different poses, she holds on tight to Faye and Gemma, who are falling in and out of sleep. After the shoot, we asked Michelle to compose a letter to her new twins.

See the rest of the three-part Mother's Day special. Dimple Aswani and Jade Kua join us for our Letters from Mum series.


Dear Faye and Gemma,

It may be many years later when you’re reading this, but mummy wants you to know about my thoughts when you’re growing up. When I first knew that I was expecting, daddy and I were very happy as we’d been planning to grow our family. So you can imagine how excited we were when we had our first scan; we couldn’t wait to hear the heartbeat of our baby!

Later, when the doctor told us, “Oh! It looks like we have two in here,” my first reaction was: “Oh my god.” I was in a daze for the rest of the appointment. In fact, daddy and I were lost for words even after getting home. We’d planned to have three children, but we didn’t expect it to happen like this.

When you two were in my tummy, I always thought of how the both of you would look like. It turns out, you have long limbs like me, and big eyes and long lashes like daddy. I also couldn’t wait to see you because even though I was very excited, I went through immense discomfort ― pregnancy just isn’t easy. I also wondered if I would be able to love all my children equally, or love you as much as I love your sister, Allyssa.

But when you finally arrived, I threw all my worries away, and all I ever want to do is love and protect you.

My hardest moment was being unable to see Faye after delivery; you had to be sent for observation and you were crying very loudly. It was very heart wrenching for me. When I finally brought you home, I was so happy that your sister, Ally had grown overnight and became such a loving and caring elder sister. From one kid to three, my heart just grew to love all of you equally.

I hope that you’ll see me as a mother whom you can confide in. The last thing I want is to be a mother you’ll fear and keep everything from me. My love is unconditional and I’ll definitely continue to love and support you no matter what happens. Being a parent is a lifelong commitment, and I won’t walk away when things aren’t working well.

Love,
Mummy.


Photography: Darren Gabriel Low, assisted by Darren Chan.
Hair and makeup: Brenda Lye, PaletteInc.

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