BEN Yeo - actor, TV host and co-owner of a street-wear shop - now carries a new title with great happiness, and stress.

He is a first-time daddy.

Baby Javier Yeo was born last Sunday, three weeks before the due date, making it a truly special Mother's Day for Ben's wife Claudia Cheong.

After 11 hours of labour and excruciating spinal pain, Claudia delivered Javier, who weighs 2.53kg.

Though still smaller than the average baby boy, Ben is thankful he's a healthy boy.

He said: 'I was really scared because he didn't cry and looked like a rubber doll! And he appeared weak too.'

Ben, 31, had expected babies to start wailing the second they pop. (Which is not always true, by the way.)

When the tiny tot finally wailed, Ben heaved a huge sigh of relief and wept as he thanked the gynaecologist.

The entire pregnancy was a roller-coaster ride for the self-proclaimed perfectionist.

He worried whether the foetus was growing well, if his spine was normal, if he had Down Syndrome and even if he had birth marks.

Ben and Claudia, a 31-year-old personal assistant, even had a bad scare in the delivery room when the nurse couldn't detect the foetus's heartbeat.

Fortunately, it was only because Javier was lying on his side, making it difficult to pick up his heartbeat.

Despite the stress, the delivery had its funny moments.

Ben recalled: 'The nurse said Claudia's chin should be touching her chest when she makes the final pushes to deliver.

'And so I kept pushing Claudia's head until she told me to stop because it hurt too much. Then I realised I should be pushing her back.'

The couple is taking turns caring for the baby and can only sleep two hours before each 'shift'.

Terribly deprived of sleep, Ben said he's currently living a 'Superman kind of life'.

Not only is he continuing with work, he's also watching out for any signs of post-natal depression in Claudia, taking care of Javier, and also his dog Barney.

The toy poodle has been neurotic since his wife got pregnant and Ben has engaged a dog trainer to help Barney adjust to the newest member of the family.

Ben also hasn't stopped worrying about his son, endearingly nicknamed Le Le after his Chinese name Jia Le.

Nevertheless, he said: 'When I carry Le Le, I feel like a real dad and life is really, really good.'

Besides having a celeb dad, Javier has an even more famous godfather - popular Hong Kong TV actor Kevin Cheng.

Ben and Kevin have become as close as brothers after acting in the drama Yummy Yummy. Because of his work schedule, Kevin can only visit his godson a few months later.

This article was first published in The New Paper.