2nd Check Up

SHE's GROWING in weight and size and everything else they are measuring her for and she has latched on to breast feeding like a PRO!

3.14 in weight - she had dropped a little from her birth weight which is normal but she is putting it right back on.  She is still just the TINIEST little thing who we are all trying our best to NOT SPOIL ROTTEN!

First Bath & the PUSH PRESENT!

While our NEW Little Mommy came over to MiMi's house to watch MiMi give Malaysia her FIRST BATH...

our NEW biG Daddy Ken went off to play - NO NOT REALLY! - instead he did something even more special.  He went to purchase the "PUSH PRESENT!"

What is that you ask?  Well, I'll first say that it's something that didn't exisit when I had my own babies, so does that mean I'm owed 6 of them??? Or does it just not quite work that way? Awww SHUCKS, I was thinking up some pretty good ones...   CAN YOU BELIEVE that there is even a definition in the dictionary for this, uh huh there sure is:

A push present (also known as a "push gift" or "baby bauble") is a present a new parent gives a new mother when she gives birth to their child. In practice the present may be given before or after the birth, or even in the delivery room. The giving of push presents has supposedly grown in the United States in recent years.

anyways back to what Daddy Ken was up to - he snuck off and came back with THE DIAPER BAG, no not a diaper bag but THE DIAPER BAG a Louis Vuitton NO LESS!







SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meeting Grandma & Grandpa IWEBEMA

Grandma & Grandpa Iwebema and Auntie Anita came to visit and to meet Malaysia...

FIRST Doctor's Visit

One of the conditions for allowing Malaysia to come home yesterday, was that she would see her own pediatrician today to check her weight, temperature and jaundice level... and so here we are at her very FIRST Doctor's appointment. She passed with flying colors!

Coming HOME!

Here are a few shots of Malaysia COMING HOME!

Come Meet MALAYSIA!

At our PPA doctors visit last Thursday (7/14) we had another stress test and growth ultrasound done. The doctor having reviewed everything told us that he was going to recommend to Dr. Yosowitz that the baby be delivered at 37 weeks.  He felt that although she was still doing well, they didn't want to take any further chances and felt that she would do some catch up growth better on the outside than inside of the placenta with all the unknown issues.

Over the weekend, Shamara and Ken got to decide what day they wanted Malaysia to be born. Looking at the calendar and all that was going to/needed to happen next week, they decided that Tuesday, July 26th would be the day.  So this past Tuesday at our weekly visit with Dr. Yosowitz everything was set in place and scheduled for Shamara to give birth.  She would check into the hospital on Monday, July 25th to start the procedure and be induced on Tuesday, July 26th...

So we began to speed up the process of getting all the final details completed: new little bady clothes, sheets, etc. washed - car seat placed in truck - hospital bags packed - house cleaned - baby swing, stroller, pack-n-play (you get the picture) all put together...

Well Malaysia with the hand of our Father guiding her decided that she didn't want her mommy and daddy to pick her birthdate and she didn't want any doctors deciding when she needed to present herself - and with that said she decided to enter this world her own way... on Tuesday night (7/19) a little after 11pm, Shamara's water broke but she wasn't certain if it was actually her water because she didn't have the BIG GUSH. Upon my instructions, because I really felt that from her description of what had occured it was her water, we went to the hospital. They took her into triage and did the swab test to see if it was actually her water, we had to wait 10 minutes for the results.  Shamara was really hoping that it wasn't because she had some appointments that needed to be completed before she gave birth.  Hair appointment in the morning, nails on Friday...  but it wasn't to be, the test result came back POSITIVE and she wasn't going home until she became a mommy.

After checking her into the hospital, she was moved from triage to a delivery room where we all awaited the arrival of MALAYSIA!  I think the pictures will best tell how the story unfolded from here...

GETTING READY

At 5:15am the nurse slipped into the room (they were all alseep except for me) and gave her a dose of pitocin. The nurse and I talked quietly for a few minutes and she told me that she would probably start feeling the contractions in 30 minutes or so. When the rest of the gang woke up we spent the time talking and even took some bets on what time the baby would be born; how much she would weigh; and how long she would be.

ACTIVE LABOR
Shamara was a CHAMP!  She went into this and have talked for weeks about having a c-section, she had a real fear of giving birth the natural way and about some of the other things that might happen if she tried to have it the natural way. Dr. Yosowitz wanted to at least have her start her labor naturally and if needed he assured her that he wouldn't hesitate to do a c-section. So the pitocin kicked in but for about 2 hours they weren't bothering her, she said that they felt like mild cramps.  As the family kept up the lively banther, I kept my eyes and attention on Shamara and the charts which showed me when she was having a contraction and how intense it was.  As time passed I could tell each time she was having a contraction because she would pull out of the converstion and bow her head but she wouldn't say a word. She was silently doing her breathing methods thru each one. I kept asking her if they were getting to be to much to handle but she kept saying, "No, not yet."

When we placed our bets earlier, everyone guessed that she would have the baby in the afternoon, but I said no it would be before 12noon.  Around 8am I think I had them change my delivery time guess to 10:30am or so and they were like "really."    At this point I had to also remind the family to quiet down a bit whenever she was having a contraction, they were starting to come about 3 minutes apart. She was still handling it well and hadn't ask for any medication... and then it happened, just before 9am she wanted out of the bed, she said she just needed to move or do something.  She tried the medicine ball for a bit but couldn't handle sitting on her bottom, she said it felt as if she needed to have a bowel movement. I knew then that it wouldn't be much longer.  I helped her get off the ball but she didn't want anything to do with the bed, so she climb unto a chair and kneeling on it lean forward across the back of the chair.  She now wanted to get that EPIDURAL so I called the nurse and she said she would send for Dr. Yosowitz who was in the hospital finishing up with another patient.

She was ready now and felt like she wanted to push, Dr. Y still hadn't come in and so Nurse Natalie decided to go ahead and get her back in the bed so she could check to see how far she had dilated.  For all you mothers out there you know that this is not a pleasant experience and they always seem to want to do it in the middle of a contraction.  I could so feel her pain and wanted badly to just take it for her... she had fully dilated to 10cm, it was time to give birth... at this point she was really asking for anything to ease the pain but it was to late she had to finish this on her own AND SHE DID!

I just can't even explain the emotions of those moments, to watch your child bring a life into this world. She was so brave, so strong, not one single tear, not one single scream. She was AMAZING!  There was one point when the placenta burst (remember I said her water broke but she never got that GUSH of Water) when she was like oh sh... that was her most verbal and loudest moment and she caught herself before finishing the word but the nurse was like go ahead and cuss, you deserve it. We all kind of giggle.

As you can see from the pictures this birthing room was filled to the brim with family members, doctors and nurses but it was a wonderful experience.  They took care of us and made certain we were in place and as involved as we could get.  Of course you know there was alot of movement going on in the room, but each time one of the doctors or nurses moved by any of us, they were like, "excuse me" for getting in our way WOW!  ALL THUMBS UP once again for Scottsdale Healthcare North, they really go out of their way to treat not only their patients but the family as well with so much CARE, COURTESY, COMPASSION.

and now without further ado (drum roll please)....

Meet MALAYSIA
born on Tuesday, July 20, 2011 at 9:20am - 4lbs 2oz 17in - HEALTHY despite all the odds!


MALAYSIA MEETING HER FAMILY

The BABY SHOWER!

Well, we made it to the Baby Shower and beyond.  That's right, just this past Sunday, July 10th we hosted the most amazing baby shower if I say so myself.  It was only able to reach that "AMAZING" status because of our wonder family and friends who came out to support Shamara & Ken and the whole Smith/Iwebema clan.  Have I ever told you all that we have the MOST AWESOME FRIENDS who are so much more than friends to us because they are FAMILY and we love each and everyone of them so much. So to each of you from all of us ~ MUCH LOVE & APPRECIATION!

Okay, well you know that I took tons of pictures, over 300 this time and so there is no way that I can line them all up individually so I'm back to slideshows - which I have broken up into different sections.  And remember you can always stop the slideshow if it's moving to fast and flip thru each picture at your leisure.

SETTING UP
Here we are Saturday afternoon getting the ball room ready for the shower on Sunday.  Lots of work but we had a great team and they all worked really hard until it was done.  We started about 3:30pm and left about 8:30pm only to head back the next morning to complete the rest. But even with all the work to be done, we laughed, took a dinner break and Ken even provided a little entertainment before heading home - see if you can tell which pictures in the slideshow are of Ken entertaining us...

DECORATIONS
Shanel designed all the center pieces and I have to say that they came together really nice and set off the tables very elegantly. Also in these pictures you will see a seating area with pillows, poufs, benches... it was set up as a lounging area for our guests to sit and watch the video of Ken & Shamara's maternity photo shoot.  The theme of the shower was Moroccan and hence comes all the colors and this seating area. You will also see here shots of our "Game Center" and the gifts to be won by those who played the shower games.  A pink box with a label on the top will flash thru the pictures, this was our FAVOR BOX to be used at the Dessert Bar (see slideshow below) and the little poem read:

The memory of our baby shower will always be a treasure.

Thanks so much for coming, it was such a pleasure.

Here's a little something that's simple and sweet,

Please fill up your box with the finest of treats.

The Dessert Bar was just our way of saying thanks for celebrating with us today.

FRIENDS

THE FOOD
Ummm, AMAZING! Catered by MARK's... keeping true to the Moroccan theme we had to have Moroccan food and so we found some Moroccan receipes for our Chef and Ta-da here you have it: crispy pan fried shrimp w/a tamarind glaze; stir fried chicken w/cumin & peppers, moroccan chicken w/lemon and olives; steak kabobs, spicy rice pilaf w/peppers & tomatoes; veggies - peeled, chopped & tossed w/vinaigrette dressing; fava bean salad w/olive oil & spices; orange salad w/cos lettuce & oranges...


GIFTS & FRIENDS
These are a few pictures of Shamara opening some of her presents with a few friends before they had to leave the party. There was not enough time at the shower to even attempt to open all of the gifts that they were blessed with, but she did squeeze in a few... You might want to definitely pause this slideshow to see the beautiful custom made crib set (comforter, skirt & bumper pad) designed by Sister Shanel for the nursery. The other Sisters gift is the matching chair cover for the rocking chair (will post pictures when the chair is in & it's all done) The colors are amazing and it turned out beautiful, the girl has some good taste. Not to be left out Sister Shannon made her the most gorgeous, softest hot pink and black blankie (MiMi's favorite & I haven't even seen them all yet.).

AROUND THE ROOM

THE CAKE
Awwww, what do I even say about "the cake" WOW, AMAZING, DEFINITELY UNIQUE, BEAUTIFUL, ONE OF A KIND... once again following our Moroccan theme we selected a picture of a pillow cake and ask a good friend of ours Mona Guarino ~ Cake ARTIST ~ if she could make this cake for us. Did she EVER!  The only thing I don't like is that we took most of the pictures of the cake against our hot pink back ground and it is taking away from showcasing exactly how GORGEOUS this masterpiece really is. Thank you, thank you, thank you Mona, you really went over the top.


THE DESSERT BAR
Okay, so one of the most popular things to do right now for all types of parties are "dessert bars" so of course we had to have one and after the response from all of our friends and family today I would have to say I definitely see why these are so popular.  When I say it was a hit, what I really mean is IT WAS A HIT!  Everybody and I mean EVERYBODY LOVED the Dessert Bar. As mentioned earlier, the dessert bar was our FAVOR (thank you) to all of our guests for coming out and celebrating this wonderful blessing with us.  It was filled with cupcakes (strawberry, vanilla, funfetti, red velvet), chocolate chip & snicker doddle cookies, rice krispie treats, white chocolate covered pretzels, sour watermelon slices candy, cake pops, rock candy, jelly beans, MM's, dessert shots from Season's 52 restaurant where Shamesha works... and of course the center piece of it all was the custom PILLOW CAKE!


SHOWER GAMES & WINNERS
and who says that "BABY SHOWER AREN'T FOR MEN?" Well we are here today to tell you and show you PROOF that that is simply an old wives tale or it's just simply so outdated.  Take a look at all of these amazing MEN who not only showed up for the "Baby Shower" but played the "Baby Shower Games" as well.  They were definitely giving our women guests some serious competition for the prizes too...

GAMES: Baby Price is Right - we had a basket filled with all sorts of things that babies will need and our guests had to guess the retail value of the entire basket.  Daddy Knows Best - Ken was interviewed prior to the shower and asked certain questions then Shamara was interview at the shower and had to guess Ken's answers. Whomever guess how many answers Shamara would get right would be the winner.  Don't Say Baby - Sabriya made certain that each guest receive a clothes pin when they arrived and gave them the instructions that they couldn't say "BABY" or someone else might take their pin.  The guest with the most clothes pins at the end of the day would be the winner.  Paper Plate Door Prize - we stuck a sticker of Shamara & Ken on the bottom of one of the dinner plates, the guest who was lucky enough to have picked up that plate would be the winner.  Sweet Sweet Baby - there was a list of names related to babies and our guests had to match the names with a candy that best fit the description. (ie: hosptial bill - payday or 100 grand). The guest with the most correct matches WINS!  Our final game of the day was the Back & Forth Birth Story - all guests who wanted to participate had to stand in a circle, we gave a gift to a random person in the circle and the story began.  Each time the words Left or Right was heard, the gift had to be passed either to the left or to the right.  At the end of the story, whoever was holding the gift was the WINNER! I think we had at least half of our guests stand to participate in this last game, it was hilarious.


THE FAMILY
My favorite part of anything we do ~ pictures of the family. I could sit here and watch this slideshow all day long.  I love each and every one of them so much. Trey & Boston joined us at the end of the shower during the clean up time, they got to run around and eat candy - LOVE IT!

Being a family means you are a part of something very wonderful.

It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life.

No matter what.

Thank you God for blessing me

much more than I deserve.

OPENING THE PRESENTS
After the festivities and getting the ballroom cleaned up and cleared out, we loaded up all the gifts which I believe took 4 cars to transport and headed over to Shamara and Ken's.  Exhausted, totally worn out and ready for an early night yes, but we would never have missed the opportunity to watch Shamara open their gifts.  All I can say is that they were BLESSED!


again MUCH LOVE & APPRECIATION to each and everyone who came out to celebrate with us.

"A child's love is like the dawn unfolding...

bright, new, and full of hope."

Back to the Hospital...

We went in for our weekly NST (stress test) and Ultrasound and ended up back in the hospital today and it is all because Shamara wore this dang light green / teal dress that you see lying across the bed in the 2nd photo.  This is the same dress she wore back on May 26th for her 26 week check up, when we got the CALL BACK to the doctors office and she was admitted to the hospital for 5 days. Ken and I were like, we are burning that dress or at the least will not let her wear it until after Malaysia is born...

During the stress test, Malaysia's heart took a BIG DIP and that is the sort of thing they are watching for, so off we went to be admitted to the hospital for more detailed monitoring to make certain that the baby wasn't in any stress.  They kept her on the monitors for about an hour or so and the baby was doing strong and passed all the tests with flying colors so we got to go home. Thank you God for keeping your hands amidst all of this.

What's Happening at 34 Weeks

• Besides looking like a newborn at 34 weeks of pregnancy, your baby is acting like a newborn as well. Her eyes open when she’s awake and close when she is sleeping. Her sleeping cycles are the same now as they will be when she is born. She has learned to blink and can see better when a bright light is shined on your stomach. She recognizes voice and sound patterns from the outside world and is most comforted by the sound of your voice.
• Her fingernails have reached the end of her fingertips at week 34 of pregnancy and she may even scratch her face before she is born. Her fat layers are growing every week to fill up that wrinkly skin and she may have already turned into the head down position for labor.
• The last few weeks can be uncomfortable and tiring. The weight of your baby and your body may start to leave you feeling fatigued at week 34 of pregnancy. Keep resting up and save some energy for the big day.

We went to Macayo's in Ahwatukee to feed the pregnant girl, who was eating ice cream after church at 10:00am in the morning... she must have been having a "cravin" because why else would anybody eat mexican food and french fries???





Here is a whole body shot of her cute outfit, she was all red, white & blued out for the Fourth of July, sorry Shamara but that would be tomorrow. Haha, she said she didn't wear those colors for that reason, yeah right!

Okay, and here are a few shots of the rest of us "none important people" because this is the Pregnant Blog and the only person that gets to be highlighted here is of course the one that's "pregnant" and having our baby.

WAIT! HOLD ON! DON'T STOP SCROLLING DOWN YET! I also posted the lastest ultrasound pictures just below/prior to this post... CHECK IT OUT!!!

About Me

Hi, I’m Anna. I am a 47 year “young” wife, mother of 6+2, grandmother of 3 & author of this blog. I love capturing special moments with pictures. Blogging provides a simple way for family & friends to stay connected from different parts of the world by sharing stories, photos, videos & more. It has educated me, inspired me, made me laugh and even sometimes cry. My Blog "LYFE as a Smith" is about everything in my life: family, friends, occasions... Thanks for reading my blog!