she’s here! aya fadila majeed

aya fadila is here!
(aya: sign of Allah, or verse from the qur’an;
fadila - virtuous)
she arrived shortly after thuhr on 10 mar 07
with the help of my husband
and iman,
the most famous midwife of kharabsheh.

the requisite puffy-faced baby pictures will be posted
as soon as i can slowly get my mac to a high speed net connection
hopefully without the sheesha and/or cigarette smoke
required in all public areas of amman.
…or is that the middle east?
….or is that all but “the west”
where they are banning smoking in public places?
that seems all so funny,
such a ridiculous fantasy now.
…but i digress.
back to aya!

i had contractions the evening before
after going to hussein park with the girls.
i’d been “nesting” too
trying to get this and that clean,
but i rationalized it with me just being sensible
and wanting to be prepared cause my due date was days away.
after fajr the contractions became serious enough for me to want to alert iman.
she arrived shortly after 9 a.m.

my homegirl, bonnie-jeanne, came to help me with the girls, alHamdullilah.
i heard they did yoga for over an hour.
in between coming in the bedroom
and asking: “is the baby here yet?”

ishaq helped me through the contractions
and prepared the room.
iman said duas over me
and advised me to ask Allah for anything i wanted during this time.
i tried to think of everything under the sun
as well as the requests of family and friends.

iman was more aggressive
than the midwife i’ve used with sanaa and rahmah,
but she got the job done,
9 fingers and all.
no tears,
i’m healing well,
and aya is a great baby.

iman is more like a midwife and auntie rolled into one.
she came the next day,
gave aya a bath,
cleaned up a bit, hung up some laundry, did a few dishes,
filled out the declaration of birth
(or whatever it’s called),
gave sweets to the girls,
and gave me…umm…advice.
is that what you call it when your grandma, mama or auntie
tells you what you MUST do?
(smile)

we took aya for a check-up with a pediatrician
and got her a vitamin K shot.
next up…vaccinations, birth certificate and passport, i guess.

though i finished level 1 at qasid
i haven’t taken my final.
maybe i’ll get to that sometime before the next semester.
Allah knows best.

we’ve gotten so much support from our new friends
as well as the local ummah here
that it’s amazing.
tasty food galore,
well-wishing visitors
that show up without asking permission,
logistical support for picking the girls up from school
or getting groceries.
that’s what i’m talking about!
inshaAllah, i can do the same for others.

to family, friends and ummah:
1000 times: thank you
for your duas (prayers) and deeds.