hello world!
introducing the latest addition to the kay klan - little kazim khairul!
'kazim' means 'the calm one' or
penenang in arabic and how apt it was - he made little noise when he cries, hardly high-pitched or loud wailing. just low, sad-sounding cries when he needs something.
truly a calm one!
born 1st day of april, 2010 at 1.30pm in the what is said to be the best maternity hospital in dubai, the al-wasl hospital. he was 2.9kg when he was born, the heaviest of my 3 kays!
alhamdulillah, the delivery went smoothly, my husband on my side, and little kazim came out perfect - with 10 fingers and 10 toes!
our lil kazim khairul
the contraction pain i felt from 4am in the morning that 1st of april was truly THE contraction pain - i noticed some blood discharge around 9-10am, and that's when we decided it's really time to take our packed bags and head on to the hospital.
we're truly lucky to have a few families ready to take care of khaleef and kahfi while mr. khairul tend to me at the hospital.
ye la since
baby kazim tak saba-saba nak klua sebelum opah dia datang,
sape nak jaga abang-abang dia?
thanks so much for your open arms, my dear friend fauziah and kak linda. however, since they had to go back to malaysia around this time, it was kak zaida's family who took the boys in. with their 3 girls and a boy, the house looks set to receive another 2 boys!
memang meriah lah! we are forever grateful at your generosity and loving care abg imran and kak zaida!

because of them, mr. khairul got to be my side through the entire experience. holding hands, encouraging words and silly jokes, hugs and caresses - the whole works!
the nurse said i was super-cool - dilating 7cm and still i haven't scream a sound! cool, eh? the only time i was actually vocal was during the last contraction pain - the one when baby kazim finally pushed himself out!
with the extreme pain and awfully groggy from the laughing gas, i was in a world of my own - where the only thing i was thinking about is getting the baby out. the voices on my left and right were just floating sounds, muffled but audible enough for me to follow.
i remember the nurse asked me not to push yet.
gile ke! i remember the nurse asking me to wait for the doc. i remember then the doc asked me to push. then asked me to stop. then asked me to push slowly. then asked me to breathe. then told me if i push too hard i'm gonna have a stitch down there. fine! just get the baby out!
i remember too mr. khairul reciting a quranic surah while caressing my hair back. all the while still guiding me and telling me that everything is fine and i was doing things perfectly well. it was absolutely helpful. i loved his touches, and i loved the ultra-calmness in his voice. thanks, honey!
after one more push, kazim was out - head, shoulder and thigh! a perfect lil boy, our 3rd baby kay! without washing, the nurse placed him on my chest - for the first skin-to-skin contact between mom and baby for a whole hour.
kazim's first documented smile!
the nurse who took my particulars was an iranian, the doc who checked my dilation was from pakistan, the nurse who took care of me during my labor pains was a philipino, the doc and nurse who helped delivered kazim were from kerala, india and the nurse who bathe kazim the next day was from somalia.
what an international scene! and they're all super nice, helpful and really made the painful labor more bearable.
that's what we got delivering at a hospital in dubai. it's truly an enriching experience talking to people of different backgrounds and experience. priceless!

alhamdulillah, the doctor found both baby kazim and i in acceptable health, and was discharged the very next day! yay! while in the hospital i can choose to have the local meal (arab food), philipino diet, or indian. and i choose indian food lah. hihi.
so it was capati and curry chicken for dinner, and this pancake-with-onion and tomatoes thingy for breakfast. nyum.
erm, speaking of food - it's time for lunch. wife of mr. khairul's mckk senior kak muna came by last night to drop off a few '
lauk pantang' - this
ikan masin in
kuah asam jawa, fish curry and
otak-otak. thanks so much, kak muna!
..and i can't wait to munch and lunch, so see you guys in the next post, for further adventures of mom of three boys!