Kaniz & Abbas +2

At 5:11am ET, Samarah Fatima Rizvi turned one week old, and it has been, without exaggeration, the most blessed week of my life. It's unbelievable how much hope, joy and contentment this little girl has brought to us.. Having a child of my own, and feeling an absolute, unconditional love towards her, it's incredible for me to think that my own parents felt (and still feel, I hope!) that way about me. The whole experience has given me a much better understanding of my parents and helps me understand how they were able to make all the sacrifices for me and my siblings. Anyway, enough emotional stuff - you're here to see pictures, not listen to me go on.. so here you go - the latest pictures from Samarah's Day 7 .

Phew! Someone should have mentioned how much work a newborn is! We're managing fine - it really helps to have family nearby to help out with meals and Mom has been great keeping things in order around the house while Abbas and I experiment with feeding cycles and diaper changes...yes, there have been some very interesting events on the changing pad which I will spare you from. I just wanted to say a quick hello and THANK YOU to all my friends and family who have written such lovely notes/emails to Abbas and I. I apologize for not being able to respond individually, I hope you understand that time is precious to us right now - and I'm really just not sleeping as much as I should be. We do however, appreciate your kind words from the bottom of our hearts...again, Samarah is such a lucky girl to have you all in her life. I'm trying to take better care of myself as the hypertension issue is still around and will be for a few more weeks until my body readjusts. You know me ...

We had our first outing yesterday, and it went really smoothly. Kaniz had a couple of follow-up appointments in the morning at Women's College and then we had Samarah's first doctor's appointment in the afternoon. Samarah's pediatrician's office is right next to her grandparents' condo, and Kaniz's mom was nice enough to make us lunch. Everything checked out at the pediatrician's office - after losing a couple of ounces of weight after birth, Samarah is on the upswing and should start gaining weight this week, which is pretty exciting. All in all, we left the house at 9am and got back around 4pm, but the day definitely felt much longer! In the evening, Khalil, Rifat & Safiya brought over dinner and then it was time for Samarah's first bath at home. Judging from her reaction, I'm guessing that newborns aren't big bath fans.. but it helped her sleep much better overnight, which meant (believe it or not) that Kaniz and I got plenty of rest. ...

As promised, here are Samarah's latest photos .. there were taken over Day 3 and 4, while we were still at the hospital. Even though we didn't do very much today, the time flew by so quickly... I didn't even have a chance to take a single photo! Despite two to three hours of sleep last night, I had an incredible morning! I got to finger feed Samarah for her 9am feed, held her in my arms through breakfast and then took a little snooze on the couch with Samarah lying on my chest, soaking in the sun. As uneventful as it sounds, it was one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. Taking care of a baby is definitely full-time work, and then some. It's difficult for me to imagine how parents with multiples manage.. a day or two before Samarah's arrival, we watched a couple of episodes of Jon & Kate + 8 , a reality show about a couple who have a set of 6-year old twins and a set of two-year old sextuplets! Talk about work! (And before you ask, the title of our ba...

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Baby Samarah came home yesterday afternoon! Samarah was discharged from the NICU on Monday evening since her blood glucose level and temperature were holding steady. The three of us got to spend our first night together in our hospital room on Monday night. She did really well overnight and by mid-morning, the staff gave us the green light to go home. Before we were officially discharged, we had to go see a lactation consultant at the breastfeeding clinic and also get Samarah a bath. Our lactation consultant, Anita, was really helpful and showed us a few tricks to get Samarah the food she needs. Because Samarah was slightly pre-term and so tiny, she doesn't yet have the required strength to maintain a steady latch, so we were shown the 'finger feeding' method. Essentially, you take a thin feeding tube attached to a syringe full of milk (breast or formula) and then tape it to your finger. You let the baby suck on your finger and yo...

First, thank you to everyone who sent along their well wishes. It means a lot to Kaniz and I to have so much love and support all around us, and we know that Samarah will thrive surrounded by family and friends who cherish her as we do. Day 2 for Samarah was quite eventful! Since Kaniz was feeling much better and had no symptoms of a cough or cold, she got cleared by the hospital staff yesterday afternoon to go visit Samarah in the NICU. So since 2pm yesterday, we've been making frequent trips to go visit our beautiful little daughter. I managed to do a couple of diaper changes, which proved to be a lot more difficult with a live, kicking baby than the baby doll I practiced on in our prenatal class. Kaniz got a chance to try to feed the baby and after a few visits, both mom & baby are learning what to do and getting to know each other more. The entire experience has truly been a treasure. Samarah also got a lot of visitors. On Day 1, Khalil mamoo, Rifat mami & Safiya baji d...

Wow - what a day! Kaniz and I are still in a state of disbelief that we have a beautiful little baby daughter. After the delivery, which went really well, Kaniz and I got to spend some time together with Samarah, who (and this may be biased) is absolutely adorable. Even though she had a low birth weight (4 lbs, 9 oz), she got to stay with us for a few hours because her body temperature was good and her blood sugar levels were decent. Unfortunately, her blood sugar level dropped a little late morning when we moved into our recovery room on the 4th floor, so Samarah had to be admitted into the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) nursery for 24-hour monitoring. Thankfully, it's not as serious as it sounds - the hospital staff are being extra cautious, given the recent issues that Kaniz had with hypertension.. The care here at Women's College has been fantastic, and we both know that Samarah is being well looked after in the NICU. The only disappointing thing is that due to Kaniz...

Mom & Baby Samarah are doing well.. we're all looking forward to going home later this week and starting a new chapter in our lives as a family. Samarah sends her love to all her friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas. More pictures to follow.

We are now in the delivery suite - actually, we've been here for over 7 hours already! After the doctor visited us in #319 to see how things were progressing, we packed up and moved over to the delivery ward around 6:30pm. It's been a busy few hours, with lots of close monitoring of Kaniz's and +1's health (which means lots of wires and pointy things stuck in poor mommy). The doctor broke Kaniz's water around 8pm and started her on oxytocin, so things are definitely under way. Due to Kaniz's high blood pressure, the staff recommended that we get an epidural sooner rather than later, which we were both happy to hear. So we just had a visit from the anesthesiologist who administered the epidural, and now we're both going to try to get some rest before things really pick up in a few hours. So all in all, mommy and +1 are both doing really well. Kaniz has really been awesome and I'm really proud of her. Next update will likely be the birth announcement! Yay!...

It's almost 1am and (maybe) not surprisingly, I am having a hard time falling asleep. I'm not sure if I should chalk it up to anxiousness for +1's safe arrival or the uncomfortable cot/chair or my pancake of a pillow. It's obviously a pretty effective trifecta. So what better way to pass the time than to update the blog using my crackberry (which is not supposed to be on in here - don't tell the nursing staff!). Anyway, around 6pm yesterday, Kaniz got moved from triage (where they had given her meds which are supposed to induce labour) to room 311 in the high risk obstetrics ward, which was a 4-bed room. We thought our luck with the private rooms had run out until Kaniz's coughing fit in front of the charge nurse got us put in isolation - so we're back in (Muslim-friendly) room 319 which is where we stayed last time. We spent the evening talking and watching stuff online (it's too bad us Canucks can't get Hulu.com but if you're in the US, you sho...

So Kaniz and I met with Dr. Pittini this afternoon, and Kaniz's blood pressure hit the 180/110 mark during the appointment, so she's now in triage. The plan is to start the induction shortly.. so looks like +1 will be making his/her debut soon! I'll update the blog when I've got some more info...

Quick update - Kaniz and I met with our substitute doctors, Dr. Chan and her fellow Dr. Joseph, this morning and despite the fact (or because of it) that I had packed our whole hospital bag (plus accessories) into the car, we got sent home! Kaniz's BP wasn't too high, and we've got an appointment with Dr. Pittini on Thursday anyway, so Dr. Chan had no problems with Kaniz being home until then. Phew - this kid is already making me climb up and down stairs like crazy.. I know that dads often do this to soothe their crying babies, but our dear +1 is obviously a little advanced in this respect.

In the 'excitement' of the last two weeks, we forgot to mention our latest baby shopping incident. About two weeks ago, Abbas and I called Nestings to find out the status of our crib order. (Remember we ended up ordering our AP Lollipop from Nestings & Kids on Yonge St. during their 'holiday clearance sale'.) Well, no one answered the phone and their answering machine said that they were going out of business and everything in the store was on liquidation! We immediately hopped in the car and went down there. Basically the manager of the store said that this had just happened, she had no additional information for us and that we should call this 3rd party company that had taken over all their special orders. So we talked to the company (Danbury) and they told us to call back in 2 weeks. Abbas called on Friday and they seemed to indicate that AP would honor the order, and that we should call again in another 2 weeks. Well, since +1 isn't here yet, and we have no ...

Since we're back at home, it's back to our lovely "to-do" lists.. and since one of the items on my list is putting pictures of the nursery up on the blog, here they are: As you'll notice, we're still missing the crib.. but I think Kaniz will fill you in on the latest with that little project. Also, I just got some Dottilicious stickers (coloured circles) from Wall Candy Arts so those will be going up on the walls soon. All in all, it's coming along quite nicely I think. Feel free to leave a comment!

....just kidding! :-) We figured since we've been on this crazy ride the last two weeks, our avid readers should share in some of the fun. Abbas and I came home last night at about 10pm with +1 still in his/her warm confines of my belly. The urine and blood tests were all normal and my BP was crazy normal....like not just normal for me but normal for regular people (best was 117/77). So they let us come home and we have a follow-up with Dr. Chan (my substitute doc while Dr. Pittini is away) on Tuesday. I must admit, now I find the hospital quite relaxing, which probably explains the low BP, but if we are admitted on Tuesday again, I will not come home until this baby is out of me! Yesterday was our 36 week mark and at this point, the doctors are all confident the baby will be fine and will be able to breath on his/her own, so anytime now is the right time. The reason that they do not want to wait much longer is because while my BP is manageable, things could still take turn ...

Since we had a string of posts without any photos, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures from our hospital 'suite'.. it's not much to look at, but heck, we're not sharing with three other people, so I'm not complaining. The picture above is of Kaniz sitting in her fancy hospital Ultramatic bed. Check out the little notice board (complete with daily prayer times for Muslims!) Speaking of beds, here's a picture of my 'bed' for the night - again, it's no Westin Heavenly Bed , but at least the thing unfolds into a flat surface, so the experience is very close to sleeping on an old folding cot with a stiff bar in the middle. My back probably needs a bit of toughening up anyway.

Ah....so here we are once again, Room 319, Women's College Hospital. You can probably start to use this address if you want to find Abbas or myself. We had our follow-up appt today with Dr. Chan who is an Obstectrics Internal Medicine doc here taking care of me while Dr. Pittini is away on Spring Break. I was afraid this would happen. The last few days at home, I've had a tough time of keeping my BP lower than 150/99. I was hoping it would somehow be low enough to come home again after the appt. I didn't even have Abbas pack everything up this time around. Lo and behold, 160/103 and here I am, Room 319. The odd thing though, is as soon as I got to triage, my BP was 135/88. Who knows what is going on, but at this point I'm back on a 24 hr watch of the usual (urine, blood, baby monitor and BP). To induce or not to induce, that is the question. We'll let you know more tomorrow! In the meantime, thanks again for everyone's love, reassurance, encourgament, etc!!! We ...

This afternoon was our follow-up appointment with Dr. Pittini. In preparation for being admitted to the hospital (which had been our routine after the last appointment), Abbas packed up our hospital bag, all my pillows, favorite books and magazines, etc in expectation for another few days in the hospital (despite my BP staying within the 'accepatble' range the last 2 days). Dr. Pittini is very cautious with us, which I appreciate, and my BP tends to go up a little when I'm in his office for obvious reasons. However, today, it was at 140/88 which is still high but he was fine with it. He said that he's not by any means trying to get it back to normal but just to keep it out of the seriously dangerous zone for me as it had been last week. The baby's growth and heart beat were good...and so we were free to go! What a nice surprise again. We have a followup apppointment on Friday and I'm on strict instructions to get lots of rest and to keep monitoring the BP.

My birthday gift this year was health for myself and for +1. I couldn't ask for much else (other than a diamond necklace which Abbas has on order for me :-). Seriously though, the diagnosis of not having pre-eclampsia is a blessing. The doctor did say that this is probably an inidication that I could have hypertension later in life and I really need to watch out for it and take care of myself. The one interesting fact is that for our +2, I will not likely have gestational hypertension as your body somehow recalls the experience and deals with it better. We'll see. This afternoon Rifat and Sajeda (and their kind helpers) organized a family baby shower for me. I felt so lucky to even be there, let alone so blessed to have so many loved ones around me and in my life. It was just perfect. After the big storm on Saturday, today was a beautiful sunny day and the ladies enjoyed the relaxing afternoon of fun games and delicious food. Mom made me this beautiful tray of fruit that con...

Quick update - since all the test results were coming back normal, and Kaniz has been feeling good the whole time, the doctor at WC let us come home! So after an hour drive in the snow, we made it home and have been relaxing since. Kaniz is looking forward to her (family) baby shower tomorrow.. and I'm looking forward to sleeping in a bed!

It's my mommy's birthday today, so if you get a chance, please call her or e-mail her and let her know that you're thinking about her. She loves hearing from you, and when she's happy, I'm happy! Happy Birthday Mommy! I love you! - +1

I got back from Chicago last Thursday morning (earlier than expected) so I was able to take Kaniz to her OB appointment in the afternoon. Turns out that despite a lot of bed rest during the week, her blood pressure was still high. So Dr. Pittini told us that Kaniz would have to stay at the hospital indefinitely so her BP could be monitored closely along with all the other tests they need to do..  So we've been here since Thursday afternoon. It's been pretty good though - Kaniz is feeling well and is in good spirits, the baby is doing well, we've got our own room, the doctors and the nursing staff have been fantastic, and the food isn't entirely terrible (when supplemented with outside food). The past two days have also given Kaniz and I a chance to spend a lot of quality time together that we wouldn't have been able to otherwise. Even though I feel that we're both mentally prepared for +1, and even though we've spent a total of three days in the hospital now...

So Take 2 better not be for at least another 3 to 4 weeks. I'm up right now because I spent most of the day sleeping as last night wasn't a restful night...although I really was relaxed. As we packed up and drove to the hospital, all I could think was, "If we have to do this tonite, I am ready for it", and that feeling kept me calm through the high bp readings, through having to wait for an OB for 3 hours to decide next steps, and through the cursing woman in labor that came into triage. She was trying to tell the triage nurse that she knew exactly how her labor would progress as this was her fourth, and everytime she tried to get a word in, a contraction would hit and she was loud! I shouldn't laugh but it was a little funny. I had to find some humor in what was happening to us...especially since I didn't know what the night would bring. So in any case, I'm home and spent the day in bed. What Abbas didn't mention is that Dr. Pittini said to stop worki...

Ok, so maybe a better term for what I'm about to describe might be 'dress rehearsal' - but just as the military conducts war games in order to get ready for action, Kaniz and I went through a little simulation of our own last night. During our most recent OB visit last Thursday, Dr. Pittini (who is fantastic, by the way) told Kaniz that her blood pressure was a little high and to keep an eye on it during the week. High blood pressure in pregnant women can be a symptom of a condition called pre-eclampsia which affects liver and kidney function. The condition is caused by the placenta, and the only known cure for pre-eclampsia is to deliver the placenta (and hence, the baby). So Kaniz went into a Shoppers Drug Mart yesterday afternoon to check her blood pressure and it was a lot higher than earlier in the week. We were obviously concerned about this, but thought that the higher numbers may be due to physical exertion or an inaccurate machine. So we went to my parents’ place ...

Lots of babies due this year.. and from the looks of things, these little guys/gals can't wait to get out into the world and start making trouble! Hopefully, +1 bucks the trend, since I feel like we need all the time we can get before the big day! Here are a few of +1's newest friends: Baby Lila Baby Twins Qasim (solid blue outfit) & Khaleel (the hungry one) Baby Christophe Baby Finnegan - who wins the biggest baby prize (in the single baby category), weighing in at 9lbs, 7oz! As you can see, +1's got some serious competition in the cute department!

Well, Abbas and I are trying to recover from a long, tiring, but super exciting week. It just doesn't seem to want to end. I sort of feel that having the baby will give me a break from all the running around but as many experienced moms have told me, I'm sure I'm going to miss these days. Last Saturday was our 'friends shower' which was so much fun and as Abbas mentioned, we really were so touched with the love and generosity of our friends...what a great group of people to have our +1 grow within. I was also lucky enough to have my two very close friends come in for the weekend. Melissa and I have known each other since we were 12 (a very long time ago, I won't say exactly how long ago though!) and Maria and I have known each other since my junior year at Muhlenberg - so since '95. I cherish the friendships I have with them and I know they will become significant people in +1s life. On Monday Abbas and I went to our 3rd prenatal class...called Emergency...