Samarah - Day 2

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 dropped by for a quick visit (mamoo/mami in Urdu, Gujarati = uncle/aunt, specifically mom's brother and mom's sister-in-law; baji = sister), and brought some lovely flowers. Uncle Rahul & Aunty Pratiksha came by in the evening and brought some delicious cupcakes for Samarah (although, in truth, I ended up eating most of them).

Day 2, we had a big parade of visitors! Kaniz's massi and Uncle Anver came by with food & chocolates (again, I ended up eating most of this). Dada and Dadi (my parents) came to visit along with Samarah's 2 tayas and 2 chachas (taya in Urdu = dad's older brother, chacha = dad's younger brother), Bano chachi (Hussain's wife) and Sakina baji (Hussain's 2 year old daughter). Bano also brought some food (so my plans for losing some of the sympathy weight have been postponed for the time being).

Even though it was a little hectic, it was really nice to see everyone. Samarah is lucky to have so much love in her life!

Health wise, Samarah is doing very well. She was taken off the glucose IV for a few hours early morning and then this afternoon. Kaniz and I are going for our next feed/visit at 5pm and if all goes well and Samarah keeps her blood sugar levels up, she might come back to our room with us! And if all goes well overnight, the three of us may get to go home! That's when the real fun begins...

Here are some more pictures from Samarah's second day. Enjoy!