MENA pregnancy/baby/parenting thread

[sandinista! 1,816]

good luck jenn! if it's any consolation, i really do believe it makes a big difference when you have family caring for baby. i couldn't have left my munchkins with anyone else. i got to stay home with ayah for the first 15 months, but with my son i had to go back to work after just 6 weeks. both times though, 6 weeks, or 15 months were both really, really hard. i don't know how proficient yr grandma is with cell phone cameras or whatever, but my mom would send me lots of pictures of ayah throughout the day for the first couple of weeks. it helped a little. maybe wadi would do that for you? or email some pictures from their day together?

[Sandrila 1]

the pictures of the babes are just darling!

Hubby and I have no children yet together.

I know we will both be very different with our parenting but some ideas he has are some I should

have used long ago with my own children. You live, you learn.

Right now we are adjusting to each other.

My husband needs to become more self sufficient, which he is getting better at it but like most MENA men he has been

catered to all his life and he is the youngest of 5. Being that my youngest child is now 10 it will be quite an adjustment for me

to back to that newborn, infant and toddler time after having so much more freedom and relaxation now that my children are older.

I am sure, based on my observations of hubby, that he will not be as helpful as some of your husbands.

Can't be sure till the time comes but he definitely be the upper hand as far as discipline is concerned.

My ex was hands on totally and for everything so I had alot of help and support.

I pray when the time comes my husband will have had time to mature and get used to things around here so that

he will be a more cooperative and parallel partner. I am going to be 38 this year so I am not planning on waiting till past 40 to get pregnant.

when you think about it that's not much time

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

I wasnt aware that it was common to shave baby boys heads in different countries. I think I would have died had Zaid had his head shaved. He has the THICKEST DARKEST eyebrows and would have looked like a goof!!!

Zaid had a faux hawk too when he was little. I was afraid his hair would fall out like most babies and he would look like a lil monk but it just looked like a perfect lil haircut. he always had a lil man look to him

This pic was Zaid @ 3 months old. This was the least amount of hair he ever had and like I mentioned, it just looked like a lil haircut lol...

[Berber Mama 5]

I wasnt aware that it was common to shave baby boys heads in different countries. I think I would have died had Zaid had his head shaved. He has the THICKEST DARKEST eyebrows and would have looked like a goof!!!

Zaid had a faux hawk too when he was little. I was afraid his hair would fall out like most babies and he would look like a lil monk but it just looked like a perfect lil haircut. he always had a lil man look to him

This pic was Zaid @ 3 months old. This was the least amount of hair he ever had and like I mentioned, it just looked like a lil haircut lol...

Lol! I could never shave my boys heads. Mehdi has the thickest dark hair. We just have got it trimmed up last month. I hated to do it but he was starting to look like a girl.

[KittyPollitt 284]

Lol! I could never shave my boys heads. Mehdi has the thickest dark hair. We just have got it trimmed up last month. I hated to do it but he was starting to look like a girl.

I'd be so freaked if they shaved my daughter's head, because the hair on her ears is just as long and it would look totally bizarre! STILL waiting for it to lighten up some!

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Zaid had his first haircut at 10 months and every 6-8 weeks since then. He is a hairy lil arab boy and requires one often...

[momof1 205]

We have a 6 year old son named Abdurrahman. We're going to be giving him his long desired brother or sister in July. That makes me 13 weeks pregnant.

[momof1 205]

We seem to have a LOT of differences about raising children, both cultural and religious. There are just too many myths, old wives tales, religious and cultural customs, whatever you want to call them that I have a hard time dealing with.

My husband left Algeria when he was in his early 20s and didn't return for 13 years when he was deported from the US. What a homecoming that was looool. Anyway, he didn't get a lot of the cultural myths before he left. His older brother had a daughter when he was in Algeria and oh my he laughs so hard when he hears the things they say. The funny thing is that they really believe them, but since our son was born in the US he knew that all of those things were untrue from his own experience.

My fave myths:

Don't touch the babies head AT ALL because your finger will go through the softspot and poke the its brain.

Must wrap baby like a mummy or the bones/spine will be crooked

Babies cannot take a bath, must wear 30 layers of clothes(no onesies), and cannot be near an open window/AC because it will get sick and die LOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Anyone else want to share some myths?

[HLM 1]

I havent posted in such a long time becoz I have been very busy with my little one, Zaine, he is 3.5 months now! He is finally smiling and knowing faces and recognizing us which is so heartwarming! I love it! Things were not easy at all at first, but thank God they did get better. He is veryyyy colicky and still is. I heard it shud be done by the 12th week, my fingers crossed lol.

We didnt shave his head when he was born even tho hubby wanted to. I loved his hear and didnt think it was necessary since its only sunnah. We did the adan right after he was born but the dates like two days after. He HATES taking a bath He cries sooooooooooooo hard everytime, it makes me so emotional and I panic, my mom always jumps in to take over whom by the way is leaving this morning back to Egypt *sigh* I got used to having a helping hand, I will see how it goes doing everything on my own. My husband wants to help constantly and he is more than willing to jump in but im the one who doesnt trust that he is capable of it yet! hehehe But i do need his help, so i will start letting him change diapers and so forth.

Hubby and I already have a plan on how to raise our kid and we re pretty much on the same page when it came to parenting, no struggles there. He was born and raised here, his parents honestly did a wonderful job with him and his brothers and we re planning on doing the same thing for our kids.

I dont work and not planning on working anytime soon but will start studying for my pharmacy license, i hope i can make it with a baby his age!

[Staashi 371]

Awwwwwwww, HLM - I know you must be very sad with your momma going home. I was always terrified of giving E his bath - that's why hubby does it. But, over time, I've gotten used to it and I do it on occasion. He loves to play in the water so it makes it fun for him.

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

HLM. When Zaid was little like that he hated baths too, until I realized it was the initial putting him inside the water he hated....So what i did was put him in his baby tub and then let the water fill up while he was in there. Believe it or not, it worked. And for the colic....RUN THE VACUUM CLEANER!!!

ETA. Everyone told me colic would be gone by 12 weeks, and it wasnt, so just be prepared for that. Zaid was colicky til like 4.5 months and high maintenance due to the colic til about 5.5 months, then...he was an angel baby <3 HANG IN THERE!!

Edited January 13, 2010 by ZaidsMommy

[Berber Mama 5]

I guess that I'm lucky that Mehdi didn't have colic. Fingers crossed that this baby doesn't either. It breaks my heart to hear a baby cry when you don't know what the problem is. I would be an emotional wreck.

All that I have to say to Mehdi is that it's bath time and he starts running for the bathroom! I'm sure that when he gets older that will change since most little boys don't like taking baths.

The biggest problem that I have with him is that he's whiny and clingy and doesn't like for me to work on the computer( I work 15-20 hrs a week from home). He wants me to be in the living room sitting on the sofa with him watching t.v. or just up walking around.

We have a 6 year old son named Abdurrahman. We're going to be giving him his long desired brother or sister in July. That makes me 13 weeks pregnant.

Congratulations! I think that you make 3 of us so far that are expecting again. There's another Amy that is 4 months pregnant.

[MrsAmera 41]

Berber Mama - you might be surprised - my boys LOVE LOVE LOVE taking baths - they also hate being dirty lol so figure that out.

[sandinista! 1,816]

i'll have to try that trick with the bathtub kelly. ayah hates hates hates taking baths, unless i take one with her. and even then she insists on clinging to me like a little monkey baby. she never had any traumatic bath experience or anything before that, so i don't know what makes it bug her so much, but it's a real challenge to get her bathed otherwise. poor baby.

i'm holding off tv for at least another 6 months. (until she's at least 2) she's not interested in it now, and likes music better anyways. certain songs make her start dancing too.

she never did have colic either. that was pretty lucky.

[~ Karima ~ 0]

The shaving of the head is not just for boys. I used to work with a guy, who was a muslim from India and his wife american. They shaved their daughters head when she was a couple months old.

On taking baths - Ayman LOVES it! I just have to ask him if he wants bubbles and he starts running to the bathtub. He also loves to take a shower with whoever he can get in with. My problem is trying to get him out before he is completely shriveled up like a prune.