It's Raining, It's Pouring, It's A Baby Shower

Our mothers hosted a baby shower for us in Cleveland on March 29th. It was held at a location adjacent to where we had our bridal shower, which made things even more memorable. It's like things have come full circle. A little over 2 years ago, we were in the same place preparing for our wedding, and now we are anticipating the next part of our life together with our little one.

As with the bridal shower, it rained on the day of the baby shower. I heard that rain is good luck (at least that is what people told me on the wedding day because it rained then also...you have to love Cleveland weather). People didn't seem to mind too much though, and I hope everyone had a great time. We had approximately 80 guests. Shereif was the only man there :) but he said he had fun and especially liked the food. We ate a ton of Middle Eastern appetizers and had chicken marsala with red potatoes, veggies, and pasta with asparagus as our entree. We also had a beautiful cassada cake, which is Shereif's favorite, and a wide assortment of Middle Eastern pastries.

Some of the appetizers


The beautiful and delicious cake


Pea D's Sonogram image as well as pictures of Shereif and me as babies

As a fun game, we played The Price is Right. I was Bob Barker, or Drew Carey since my belly is so big, and Shereif was one of the lovely Barker Beauties. Guests formed teams and had to guess the price of certain baby items (e.g., a pack of diapers, diaper rash ointment, pacifiers, baby food) without going over the original price. We gave away prizes to the top 4 teams. We also gave each guest a favor, which was a set of silver and gold spoons. Even though Pea D will not be born with a silver spoon in her mouth, we thought that the favors would be useful and go well with our wedding favors, which were crystal dishes that most people use for sugar.

The favors

We are truly fortunate to have such loving, supportive, and amazing family and friends who are extremely generous and thoughtful. We received so many great gifts and know they will help us get through the beginning days, months, and years with our little monkey. We cannot thank everyone enough for all that they have done for us and continue to do. We especially want to thank our mothers for all of their love and support and for working so tirelessly to throw us a wonderful shower. We also want to thank my Aunt Rosy for all of her help with the food and making sure things ran smoothly during the shower. In addition, thank you Aunt Mary Ann for all of the decorations and for running back and forth to help with the set-up. Our friend Hena and cousins Amanda, Brittany, and Sarah helped tremendously with the gifts, game, and taking pictures. We love you all very much!

The parents and grandmothers-to-be

There is an Arabic saying that babies are good luck. We know that Pea D has been a tremendous source of good fortune for us. She has helped us get through a lot in these past few months and has made the bond between Shereif and me even stronger. And, she even helped us win 2 prizes at the Baby Fair! In addition to the first aid kit we won, I just found out that I will be receiving a free skincare facial and consultation soon. It will definitely be nice to get pampered. Even with all of these blessings in life, we are also reminded of life's limits. Please keep Shereif's grandmother who is in the hospital in your thoughts. We pray that she will get better soon and be back to her happy, always-on-the-go self so that we can introduce her to her great granddaughter.

Busy week

We had our fourth childbirth class and learned about pain medications, epidurals, spinal analgesics, and C-sections. Shereif did not like hearing about the epidurals and C-sections, and he even grimaced when they showed a computer-animated operation. I hope he can handle the real labor and delivery. He did mention, though, that it was nice watching all the videos and seeing how the husbands encouraged and supported their wives during labor. I know he will be a great coach...I just hope we have a safe labor and delivery.

I feel more and more pregnant now. I always tease Shereif that he acts like the pregnant one because he experiences a lot of cravings and fatigue. He even tries to convince me that I am the one with the cravings so that we can eat the foods he wants to eat. He says he has also gained weight (even though I think he still looks the same). I have gained almost 20 pounds, and my stomach resembles a basketball (even though I can't dribble it :). It is just there, in front of me, but is starting to round out more and fill more from the sides whereas before it just protruded from the front. I know I should slow down a bit, but I continually feel like I can still do the same things that I did before I got pregnant. I am careful, though, when I bend down and when I move around. I am experiencing more shortness of breath, and the baby's kicks are stronger. My mom and brothers had a chance to even SEE Monkey kick when we were home this weekend for our baby shower (don't worry...post to follow).

I also had another prenatal check-up and all looks good. I received a free travel tote with formula for reaching my third trimester. Even though I hope that we don't have to use formula, it's always nice to get free things :) This week has been a crazy and busy one, but it has helped us build up and get ready for the big day.

30 Weeks and Counting (M&Ms)...

We had our third childbirth class this week and learned more about delivery. We played a "fun" game where we had to guess the diameter, or centimeters dilated, of certain foods. For example, an M&M would be 1 cm dilated, and a rice cake would be 10 cm dilated. Needless to say, I don't think we will ever look at certain foods the same way again, especially M&Ms which are Shereif's favorite candy. It will be fun, though, to be reminded of that during labor.

We also took a detailed tour of the the Birth Place and postpartum rooms. It was nice to receive a second tour, which was longer in duration and included a little more information regarding procedures and amenities. We feel more comfortable with the layout of the floors and the rooms themselves.

I can definitely start to feel the effects of pregnancy now. I have recently started to feel more tired and find it difficult to tie my shoes or bend over when sitting. My tummy has also started to widen from the sides whereas before it was mainly from the front. It looks like a basketball, but is starting to take on a more rounded, oblong shape. I feel Pea D kicking alot in the evening. The movements are uncomfortable at times (since she has less room to move) and feel strange over my clothes. Even Shereif comments on how "freaky" her movements are when he rests his hands on my stomach. He talks to her every night, which is cute. I have been extremely fortunate in that I have not experienced a lot of nausea, swelling, pain, or other symptoms (knock on wood). I pray that the remainder of my pregnancy and the labor and delivery go as smoothly as possible too. Pea D has been a good girl, and we cannot wait to finally meet her.

Update

We had our 2nd childbirth class last week and learned about the stages of labor. We also watched a video about changing positions during labor as well as a video that followed 2 women through labor and delivery. One woman went completely natural while the other woman had an epidural. The video was extremely detailed, which meant that it showed everything. Shereif was so tired that day that he kept falling asleep for short periods of time during the video. I kept waking him up so that he wouldn't miss the gory parts :) It was amazing to see 2 deliveries even though I know that our experience will be much different (and much, much longer) than the ones depicted in the video.

This past weekend, Shereif and I went to a Baby Fair at the hospital. We took a quick tour of the Birth Center and spoke with a few vendors. We picked up a lot of free stuff, got a few information packets, and entered a ton of raffles. We also attended a luncheon where a local anchorwoman and her husband spoke about their journey to parenthood and the struggles they faced before having twin boys. We just found out that we won one of the door prizes--a First Aid kit!

We are excited to return to Cleveland for our baby shower and to see our family and friends again. Hopefully, we can finally discuss our birth plan, names, and other baby-related things during our 9+ hour drive each way (if I don't fall asleep). Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We greatly appreciate all of the advice, reassurance, and generosity you have shown us.

Diapers

Shereif and I (as well as most parents) might be forced to use this brand of diapers if the economy stays the way it is right now.

Back to School

We had our first childbirth class last week. It is taught by 2 women who have been labor and delivery nurses for the past 10+ years each. The class is an interesting mix of people and includes about 15 couples. The majority of them are having girls. It seems to be the trend right now since everyone we know had or is having a girl.

The class started with a clip of a Bill Cosby stand-up act where he discusses having his first child, which was very entertaining. We also watched a video about nutrition and discussed some medical terminology pertaining to labor and delivery. Shereif disliked the part about episiotomies, but he learned a lot during the class. I already knew the information, but it was a good refresher.

We have another class this week, and we look forward to learning more about breathing techniques and taking a tour of the hospital in the next few weeks.

And the results are in...

IT'S A GIRL!

We had another ultrasound done at 27 weeks and finally found out that Pea D is a GIRL! We can finally refer to the baby as a SHE and prepare for HER arrival. We can now begin to delve into the baby name books we have and pick a name for our little monkey. During the ultrasound, she kept hiding her face, but we caught a quick 3D glimpse of her profile and hands. We all said she was giving us the cold shoulder, but the technician was able to see that Pea D has a ton of hair. I didn't think you could make out hair on an ultrasound, but apparently our baby has enough of it to be quite noticeable. She looks great and weighs a little over 2 pounds, which makes her right on track with all of her measurements.

Shereif spent an entire day painting the nursery. I was truly touched by how excited he was to do it and how much time and effort he put into prepping, painting, and getting it ready. He constantly tells Pea D how much he loves her and can't wait to meet her. Shereif is so excited, which makes me more excited.