Who will pop first?

[amal 4]

yay henia! mabrookulations on your newest member of ur family!!! I can't wait to see pictures!

[sara535 15]

wow Henia what a surprise - welcome to your little BOY

I hope you are doing well and feeling good, post pics when you can!

[Muh and me 18]

Congrats Henia!!!! Can't wait to see the pics of your new baby!

[Aymsgirl 0]

I am almost for certain without going back through this thread it was supposed to be a girl. What a surprise, but thank God for the healthy baby boy and that he is finally here!!

[~Jess~ 0]

I do believe her ticker was pink expecting a girl. Butttt in any case Mabrouk on your little boy. I hope everything is well and you can get on to tell your story soon.

[doodlebugg 10]

congrats henia and please please please next time have that baby here so us aunties don't worry as much!!!

[Tunisia216 2]

Congratulations! Happy to hear that Momma and baby are doing well!

[Staashi 371]

congrats henia and please please please next time have that baby here so us aunties don't worry as much!!!

Amen to that, Sister!

[morocco4ever 63]

All that matters is that a healthy baby was born, who cares if its a boy or girl. Henia I have been freaking worried! I am so glad its over for you. Congratulations.

[HLM 1]

Alhamdulillah!!!! *sigh* seriously i was so worried about u too.....But Alhamdulillah u n the baby r safe n healthy CONGRATULATIONS ON THE BABY BOY and yes i add my voice to everyone here; cant wait for pix n name

[Muh and me 18]

Are there any more mena babies due soon? I hate to have to sit and worry like we did on henia's.

[Hanna&Mohamed 0]

Henia Im so glad u are fine and Im sure it was a suprise it was a boy!! When I was in Egypt I was almost 8 months pregnant Mohamed wanted to have a ultrasound done to make sure the baby was fine and we wanted to know what the baby was.The ultrasounds there are not clear at all.The doctor told us I was having a Girl! When I came home from Egypt I went to have a ultrasound done .The doctor said how did they miss that!! LOL! Its a boy! So now we have prince Amir!!

Edited September 24, 2008 by mohamedandmelinda

[Henia 11]

Esalaams and Hello to everyone!

Sorry for the long absence but it has been a hard month here ... with all these medical problems, construction, meddling in-laws and no Internet due to some dumb ### mistake

I would just like to tell everyone thank you for all the prayers, thoughts, SMSs, emails and posts! It really pulls at my heart strings all the kindness people have! Taking advantage of baby sleeping to get online, reply to messages and send out birth annoucements!

Well what can I say? What a happy surprise we recieved this Ramadan! 3 sonograms said the baby would be a girl LOL! But looks like they didn't see things right!

My orginal due date was Sept 4 but having visited the hospital 9 times from Sept 4 to the 21st ... basically all they did was say it was my fault, I reported my last menses wrong and moved the due date But anyway we excepted a girl, since 3 sonograms and 2 doctors told us that buuut I am happy to annouce the birth of our son Youcef Adam was finally born on the 21st at 7:20, 3,5 kg 15cm. He was/is little jaundiced but seems healthy otherwise. We have appointment with doctor to blood tests and more tests (in Alger) so that we can be 100% sure he is healthy ... I donnot trust what anyone really says anymore here.

I had planned to give birth in Blida at the nun's clinic there buuut after finding out that I have high blood pressure they didn't accept me. Our next plan was just the hospital in Kolea, but here seeing how poor the care was I tried with the military hospital in Ain Naaja since I had a friend with contact there. We were all set going there, only to be told they donnot have maternity. Funny how this bit of info slipped past them! Then called US embassy as per K's advice but all they told me was to come by on their working hour to talk to someone ... and since with no car, husband working 6 days, none of my relatives willing to actually help out (just talk talk talk) it was hard nearly impossible to get there.

My husband thinking we have no car, and how demanding his work is ... and really mostly the influence of my in-laws who claimed nothing was wrong with me, except being a spoiled whiny foreigner! LOL we used mainly local doctors/hospital where cos of Ramadan were all on holiday ... and the replacements in my opinion, astagfurullah totally wrong for the job!

During my visits little attention was paid to my actual pregnancy buut more how I act my husband, why I am in Algeria and about his visa (papers-quarat) ... They did not let my husband in only the hospital in Zeralda!

My blood pressure started getting high days before my due date ... but I thought it was only stress (since I was/am having so much these days) ... but after monitoring myself, cutting out salt and trying my best to stay calm ... seeing nothing changed we went to the hospital. No doctors ... woman there didn't even know how to check my bp ... and basically after I showed her how, she got mad saying nothing was wrong- go home!

I started having contraction which I was counting ... and seemed like labour but turned out to only be Braxton Hicks contractions! Funny since these contractions were stronger then my actual labour contractions were!

Several visits later ... more then week after my due date they gave me an injection of what I thought wa pitocin (since I asked them "Is this pitocin, labour inducer?") But after 3 days of nothing happening I can only assume it was nothing, maybe placebo or something!

I started spotting, which rapidly lead up to bleeding ... 18th I went since I was feeling very ill, very dizzy and weak! And finally waiting that my husband come at noon, I found blood coming from my navel! As usual in-laws coming around saying I am overacting! Nothing is wrong! She just wants attention! LOLOL ye right! We waited for hours for a relative to take us to Bainem, but finally my husband got angry and took me to Kolea hospital ... where they said it was champignons! Again, to me this was stupid dignosis since I do clean myself ... shower daily so how could I get fungus? And within any test, how to tell this? And even if I did have fungus in my navel ... why the blood? They told take Spaspon, pain reliever and go home as usual!

Well we went home, but blood didn't stop. Husband started to worry as none of us had ever heard or seen this! He called all around trying to find asnwers ... even I had people ready at ahand to help me ... he seemed to listen to the in-laws more then me! Which really made me mad! Astagfurullah we exchanged many words!

Finally, there was so much blood I passed out ... all I know is that husband was holdng my hand, dailing every number crying and screaming at his family ... then later I remember being pulled from a car.

Things after that are vague, but I do know I was given blood ... they were going to wait for morning to do c-section but I came around 2am ... I believe the power of the contractions woke up. Contractions were not as painful in my memory as I htought they would be ... and of those women around me. When I came to, they let me walk around ... the room they put me was competely digusting ... blood, vomit and other body fluids everywhere. It surprised me that no one came to clean it up! I vomitted about 3 times, not sure if from the labour or the sheer grossness of the place. But elhamdullah I was able to hold it until I grabbed a plastic bag from my bag!

I kept on bleeding but no one really came to check me. But elhamdullah the pain wasn't too powerful! I mean it hurt like crazy but I was able to control it with insane breathing and walking, doing stretching and drinking alot of water. Women in my room kept telling me not to drink water, but I didn't care it seemed to help!

By 5am, I was walking around trying like a maniac to find a clean place to pee ... but found none. Pushing feeling came on, but after being checked ... OMG how they fought when I wanted to clean with alchohol and lay my sheet on the exam table (Thanks Lynda for the advice) ... I was crazy foreigner again LOL! But really glad for Lynda's advice ... again this wasn't cleaned from the person before! They told wait since I was only 5cm dilated with no water breakage. I felt I couldn't wait but I would try. Well I was able to wait until about 7am dilating to 6cm, pain was too much ... urge to push too powerful even thou they kept telling I wasn't ready. His head was out, riping up everything ... I ended up getting 10 stitch and they did have to use forceps which I was against from the beginning. Again no one listened to me!

I saw my son, thinking whose baby is this? I was waiting for a girl! But as they told me he is a boy, my heart lite up from happiness! Elhamdullah I thought, end of my husband's problems with his half-brothers about property.

Seemed like forever until they came to deliver the placenta. This part was actually painful beyond ... they had no mercy pushing pulling. After it was all out, dropping it into a bed pan set on the floor ... as soon as it dropped cats came eating it... (again thanks Lynda! for FYI) I asked one of the nurses about this, all she said was someone will come for it Well hours past, as I watched the clock no one came for it ... or me! I seemed to bleed all over the floor all way into the hall.Around 10am, everything went ... I was later told I had a seizure caused by preclampsia. 13.00 woke up with oxgyen mask and women telling me to move off the table. She gave me a bottle with some cleaning product in it, telling me to clean myself off ... then off she carted me to my room. They gave me then my son ... that was first bonding moment, even thou everything was vague still to me.

First thought was to breastfeed, which I did ... everyone in room, my roommates gave me many mabrouks but asked why I was breastfeeding since I had no milk.

I lay in the bed with my son the whole day, in in my own blood ... until my husband came at night ... in total shock I was laying in my own blood. He went around screaming at the staff, but that did no good ... he ended up cleaning me up and the bed. Bless him for that.

Had one friend and 2 sets of in-laws visit me in the hospital in the 2 days I was there.

To make this already long story shorter when I arrived home, husband and his aunt were beaming ... many of neighbours came with cakes to greet me mach'Allah! But those first days were a blur ... all I remember is walking past the kitchen seeing all the trash on the floor, and that everything wasn't in its place, feeling angry then thinking better I close my eyes and relax. Deal with it later.

Most of the family is sooo happy, but still few in-laws are being sh*tty with comments like "Why did we lie saying we were having a girl?" (meaning you have a son, we can't get my husband's inheritance ... they were so happy he married a foreigner - I can't get anything from him here in Algeria if he dies) another came to visit ... made no comment of "mabrouk" so I asked what she thought, she said "what do you want me to say, babies born daily ... why is this different?" So this pissed me off and I told her to leave. This again caused problems with my in-laws. But I don't care.

Well my son is week old now, I washed my first load of laundry this morning which was agony seeing that I have pile as tall as my daughter ... everything is upside down ... but somehow it doesn't bother (as it would normally make me insane) ... Youcef seems to occupy most of my time, as he is demanding ... feeding every half hour and seems to calm me (also my husband who is usually so nervous) .... everything seems to be falling in place.

Today is the 6th day, even thou traditional to have party on the seventh people are coming today. Orginally husband and I did not want any party buuut the in-law staying with us is making trouble so it seems I must I am in a bad mood ... I don't see why I have waste money to feed these people who only want to b*tch and gossip.

But on a good note, since Ramadan second floor of my house miraclous seemed to be almost completed elhamdullah after 2 years of waiting. Now they are intensely working on the bathroom ... enchallah my husband promised it will be done by Eid el Kebir. Even if it is not, right now it seems to be OK ... as long as the carpenter finall finishes our windows and door before the cold!

Anyway, I am OK still high blood pressure ... have 6 weeks more of treatment for that and also the anemia. Then enchallah we will tackle my scoliosis. So elhamdullah for all that happened and my son!

I would again like to thank everyone who prayed for me and thought of me ... it means so so much! Also special thanks to Kathleen and Dorothy ... OMG how to thank both of you! Kathleen, the wipes are a miracle, soft and easy to use ... so much better then even Huggies wipes in the US! Some of my in-laws almost stole them so they so gooood! Thank you for them! And also Dorothy OMG mach'Allah the package was waiting for me when I came from the hospital! What can I say? Everything was so beautiful .... doesn't matter I had a boy ... he will be wearing pink LOL! How can I repay you for all that beautiful clothes and practical items! Plz plz both of you tell me what I can send you !!!

Esalaams! and Saha ftourkm!

[Henia 11]

Oooo I forgot to add: If you can help it, don't have your child in a third world country ... and if you must GO PRIVATE plzzzzzzzzz! No matter what the cost! And I am wishing all the mummies happiest with their new babies ... and we want more pix!

[~ Karima ~ 0]

Oh Henia he is absolutely beautiful!!! Congratulations mama!!! I am so happy to hear you and baby are fine after that nightmare. Now that you have a BOY, I can send you more stuff along with the sling.

I don't know what that papoose zipper thingy is that he is sleeping in, but I LOVE it. It looks like a baby sleeping bag lol. What is it?