The sun, a little boy playing with the galaxy...: And so it begins

Shemsuddin Mohamed Magdy Mohamed made his grand entry into this world at 10pm on Saturday, July 9th 2016 (at 42 weeks) weighing in at 10.1 lb and 22.4 inches. (The name Shems means sun in Arabic.) We were planning on a water birth but after 30 long hours of unmedicated labor it seems my big boy had other plans. He wasn't dropping down far enough due to his massive head being in an unfortunate biggest surface first presentation. He ended up having to be delivered via cesarean. The doctors tell me even they struggled to convince him to come out. It seems he was pretty cozy in there. I guess these are things we cannot plan and giving into something I was 100% against was certainly a struggle. The important thing is baby Shems is strong and healthy and here.

We are fortunate that both of our parents travelled to Egypt to be here for Shems' first days. Mohameds parents came in from Kuwait and mine travelled from the US. It has been a very busy week!

Here are a few highlights:
First car ride / first time leaving the house: on Tuesday we took Shems to see his paediatrician. It was our first trip out of the house and despite my worries that it would be a complete disaster, it wasn't so bad! We had a diaper blowout in the car but luckily I've read enough Pinterest articles to be more than prepared so we were able to recover quickly. The doctor's visit went well and afterwards we met my parents for dinner at an outdoor restaurant on the Nile. Shems was totally transfixed by the view out of the window of the car and so smiley being outside.

Sabou3 (The Egyptian baby shower): In Egypt baby showers are held after 7 days. The sabou3 is all about food, family and tradition and Shems' party did not disappoint! The day before the party Mohamed bought 2 sheep to be slaughtered in honor of Shems healthy arrival. This is a traditional practice here in Egypt though I must admit the animal lover side of me was a bit apprehensive. One of the sheep was butchered and split up among friends and family and the other was eaten the next day at the shower. All apprehension disappeared when I bit into that tasty tasty sheep ;-) Other traditional activities at the shower included: stepping over the baby 7 times, putting Shems in a decorated basket and walking him through the house while guests follow with candles, banging a mortar and pestle as loudly as possible to prepare the baby for the loud world, older family members instructing the baby to listen only to his family.

I have attached loads of photos for you to enjoy!

Until next week...
Martha, Mohamed and Shems

In the hospital