Friday, August 22, 2008

My daughter Emaan :)

Assalamu alikum wa rhamatullahi wa baraktuh,

So, I haven't posted anything up for a while..but I suppose I can be excused seeing as I was having a baby and all :P! Alhamdullilah my daughter, Emaan, was born on July 25th, 2008 and 6:33pm at 6.3 lbs. The delivery was very quick alhamdullilah but it left some fluid in Emaan's lungs and also her white blood cell count was found low so she was put on a respirator and given antibiotics. Unfortunately it was a full week before we were able to bring our daughter home. Alhamdullilah she recovered very quickly seeing as she was off the respirator within 10 hours. However, she had to continue taking her full dose of antibiotics to ward off any kind of infection which is why she had to stay the full week. Although she was getting stronger as the days progressed she was still too tired to breastfeed so I had to express milk and feed her through a bottle so that it was easy for her to take it. Plus, my priority at the time was just to feed her, not necessarily get her used to breastfeeding. But as the time for her to come home grew close she did become strong enough to breastfeed and Alhamdullilah it has been 3 weeks since she has had a bottle.

With regards to the labour..like I said it was quick alhamdullilah. The pain I did experience was short-lived and alhamdullilah I had enough energy to be able to concentrate and make the experience the best experience of my life. Really and truly giving birth is one of the greatest privileges a woman has. It is the..COOLEST THING EVER :D! What I enjoyed most was to actually see my daughter hiccuping, because I would always feel her hiccupping inside me and wondered what she looked like so it was lots of fun seeing what I felt.

Anyway..so this the story.. don't worry I'll spare you the details..

So, the day before Emaan was born I had an appointment with my Ob-Gyn, Dr. Aubin. After the appointment she said that it was very possible for me to be going into labour either that night or the next day, which ofcourse shocked my husband and I since my due date was not for another 2 weeks. Nonetheless, we were quite excited..although I really tried to hold off my excitement just in case I wasn't going to go into labour for another 2 weeks since that was also a possibility. Anyway, we did some last minute shopping and went to bed. The next day Omar (my husband) went to work and I woke up and decided to clean up just in case I was going to deliver. I still don't think I was nesting because I've heard women who nest go overboard. So I cleaned the bathrooms, mopped the kitchen, cleaned the bedroom and then took a small nap. I woke up and decided to eat, then I went out for a walk, came home and took a shower. After that I felt something funny and thought my water had broken but wasn't quite sure, so I called the hospital and they advised I go and check it out. I called Omar at work and told him, "Don't get too excited, but I need to go get myself checked out at the hospital..but really don't think that this is it.." Ofcourse Omar was SUPER excited. He rushed home and packed half the fridge and we took off. During the whole trip to the hospital I kept telling Omar, "Really..seriously don't get too excited because I really don't think this is it." Well, we reach the hospital and I tell Omar not to bother taking the hospital bag. We reach the birthing unit and I tell the nurse that I think my water has broken and she tells me that there is a long line up of women waiting to be checked so I'm going to have to wait my turn (yah, not very nice). Anyway at that moment I felt a gush and my water really had broken then. So.....I told Omar to get the hospital bag while I waited in the waiting room. Not 2 minutes had passed and I was crouched on the floor with my head on the chair I was sitting on..crying! I was having contractions...and bad ones! When Omar came with the bag he saw me on the floor and knew immediately that I was having contractions. I remember telling him that I could not do it. He went and told the nurse I was feeling this way and she told him to get me to walk it off. So I took a few steps down the corridor with him and there I was on the floor again crying. Ofcourse all eyes were on me..and I was not only in pain, but I was quite embarassed crouched on the floor like that crying! Anyway, one woman called the nurse and she came and said "Oh no no, we can't have you like this here." .. Honestly, if I could I would have punched her seeing as she was the one who told Omar to get me to 'walk it off.' Anyway, she took me in and I completely forgot what I was supposed to do until she told me to breathe. After that.. well.. after that are details. However, I have to say alhamdullilah I was able to concentrate on the pain and that's what really helped. Oh and I took Nitrous Oxide..or laughing gas..yah actually I think that was what reallllly helped. Also, Omar was excellent. He didn't say a word, he just held my hand :D!

So, Emaan was born and when she was put on my chest she didn't really cry, she grunted. So they took her away from me, did some tests and said she needed to be in special care. In a matter of minutes it went from a packed room with a grunting baby to absolutely no one except me (Omar went with the baby). No..I didn't feel depressed ..I was just overwhelmed and still on adrenaline. Well, I have to say.. that night was extremely hard because I didn't have my daughter in my arms. I just cried. Alhamdullilahi rabbul 'alameen she's okay now though. That week was the longest week of our lives (Omar and I), but alhamdullilah it passed.

Now..we have our little Emaan who had brightened up our lives and given us so much joy. She will be a month old on Monday and we still can't stop oogling over her :D!

InshAllah I will put up stories about how she's growing. For now however, I have to go since I can hear her whimper for her mother :)!