Soaking up the son shine

The kingdom’s very own ‘Bahrain Barbie’, singer Tamar Leek, has swapped her pop songs for lullabies, as she and her husband, Charles-Benoit Dubois, welcomed their first child last month.

The couple is celebrating the sweetest duet of their lives with the birth of their first child, Arthur-Romeo Charles Dubois, on August 12 at Danat El Emarat Hospital in Abu Dhabi, weighing 3.8kg.

“They lifted the baby out and I saw him flash past the corner of my eye, tiny, crying and covered in vernix,” she told GulfWeekly.

“My first thought was ‘Oh my god, that’s… MY baby’. I couldn’t believe it! It was like an out-of-body experience.”

The couple had their baby shower in Bahrain at the InterContinental Bahrain hotel, revealing the baby’s gender with a ‘big bang of blue confetti.’

Despite the festivities, the journey was not an easy one.

Tamar had no idea how much of an all-consuming experience pregnancy would be, especially during the final stages when she was either bed-bound or in a wheelchair.

“What made pregnancy bearable was having an extremely loving husband who would bring me flowers, listen to me when I was depressed or in severe discomfort, and take me out for dinners and day trips,” she added.

Despite the challenges, she managed to sneak in a performance while about a month pregnant.

“The last performance I did pregnant, was New Year’s Eve at the InterContinental in Bahrain,” she explained.

“I had three costume changes and was jumping up and down hyping up the crowd for the countdown.

“Meanwhile, I was fighting nausea, fatigue and could only just catch my breath enough to sing!”

Throughout the pregnancy, Tamar also embraced her body’s changes and started finding fashion that flattered her baby bump and made her feel glamorous.

Now, with their newborn son, the couple is savouring every moment.

“Being a parent is all I dreamed it would be and more,” she explained.

“Knowing that this small beautiful soul was made by you and the person you love the most in the world is so heartwarming.

“You feel almost animalistic, I feel like a lioness protecting my cub.”

The baby’s name was carefully chosen and almost ‘controversial’ for the couple, as they each wanted completely opposing names!

“Charles wanted something regal, royal and traditional sounding, like Henry, Arthur, or Louis, the names of kings,” she explained.

“I, on the other hand, wanted something romantic, unique, and poetic, like Romeo, River or Lancelot.

“Charles is French, and had a preference to keep his family tradition of a double-barrel name, like his own.

“So we decided to take the name he liked – Arthur – and double-barrel it with the name I liked – Romeo – as a perfect compromise.”

Family and friends shared in the excitement, knowing that it had been Tamar’s dream to become a mother.

“We filmed everyone’s reactions and made them into a compilation reel video on Instagram,” she reminisced.

“My sister and my 94-year-old grandma’s reactions were the best – their jaws on the floor in disbelief and delight!”

Music was there from the very first moment.

“I wanted to sing to him, but I was too overcome with emotion,” Tamar recalled.

“So Charles started to sing to him. It was so cute.

“I wrote a song for him called Little Sprouty… and there my husband was, singing it word for word to soothe our newborn, with his tiny fingers wrapped tightly around one of Charles’.”

As for the future, Tamar is in no rush, as she continues to serenade her newest fan.

“For now, I am singing to my baby often, and he is my biggest ‘little’ fan,” she added.

“We hope to visit our friends again in Bahrain with our baby and show him the kingdom where his mum and dad’s fairytale love story was created.”