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One of the reasons why I married my hubby was that I loved his room….which was later going to be ‘our’ room. Its a simple small room, built on levels, ideal for a couple. In the loft we had plonked our matress and downstairs was the wardrobe and the sitting area. So when we found out that there was a baby on the way, space was a severe issue. We had moved the mattress downstairs when I was 5 months pregnant because coming down almost 12 stairs at 3.42 am to use the loo was becoming quite an issue. Which meant that now our loft was empty and the sitting area gone. We kept on thinking of ways to make the room bigger to accomodate the baby, but nothing seemed to work. Till I descided to convert the loft into the nursery. I thought of myself as a genius to come up with the idea, till my MIL ruled it out saying it was the most impractical thing she had ever heard. Obviously at that time I thought it had been too long since she raised kids, but thank god, I listened to her. (With my stitches and Zoey being a 7 month born, a cot in the loft wouldnt have worked at all).
The only idea that seemed to work was to change rooms and move to a bigger room…and this was somthing I didnt want to do….remember one of the reasons I married ‘U’ was because of the room. I had given up all hope of staying in the cool lofty room, till hubby dearest came to rescue…god bless him!
Simply. we shifted the closet into the loft which gave us ample of space to accomodate Zoey in the room with us. Now the ladies of the room have a cool lofty walk in closet, with the bed and cot plonked downstairs…no more loo issues at 3.42 am!
Ps: As much as i always wanted a walk in closet, I have a feeling I am going to miss the bed being upstairs!
The room dosent look exactly like this anymore…..but thank god the book shelf is exactly where it always was!
Seeing pictures like these who can stop dreaming of vacations!
So I wonder, if I would be married to someone else other than the guy I am married too, would I still be the same kind of wife? Which also makes me wonder if Zoey was to be a boy, would I be any different kind of mother?
Ghutki, is a common trend that is followed in our family. For people out there who dont know what that means, ghutki is the art of making a new born taste honey. Knowing well that doctors these days dont approve of anything other than a mother nursing her child, a slight taste of honey wont be of harm. Afterall, honey is supposed to be shifa.
Also, it is believed that the child will have similar traits to the person whoever gives the ghutki. Because Zoey was in the incubator initially and then weaker than usual new borns, the ghutki act is still pending. Till yesterday when someone mentioned its high time shes given a taste of honey. Now that is when my panic started. Not because I didnt know how she would react to honey but because Iwasnt sure who should be given the honor of being the ghutki giver. I mean I love a lot of ladies, but I am not too sure if I want Zoey to grow up to be like them (God alone knows how true it is about the baby having the traits of the ghutki giver, but obviously because its my baby we are now talking about, I am superstitious and overly cautious).
So, people around think that its should be either of the grandmothers, I am not too sure. I mean I love both the mothers, obviously and they are extremly nice people, but thats the whole problem, they are toooooooo nice. Then there is another family member, who no one is fond of, but she always gets what she wants and is quite blunt and rude. Again not someone ideal. So, since yesterday I have been thinking and thinking, just in vain. There is this one friend of hubbys who both me and hubby and very very fond of. Ideal ghutki giver type. But shes 35 and still happily single. Not a problem, for me atleast. But if either of zoeys grandmothers find out, I am sure they are not going to be too happy…..
Then I concluded, maybe i should be the one to give zoey a taste of honey…..but I wont do it till I am sure about it. Till then the ghutki is pending and there are quite a few candidates awaiting and hoping to get the honor!
Becoming a mommy suddenly has kept me so busy, I forgot about being a wife, being a friend and being a designer for a bit…obviously not literally, but my entire 24 hours now revolve around this yummy little being who somehow or the other manages to keep my attention to herself.
I was dead sure, the designer inside was dead…till this morning….when I was going through The Dawn newspaper and I saw this adv for KESC and the designer inside me started jumping with joy! The adv, no doubt was very intrestingly designed, but what was more exciting was the fact that a client like KESC descided to go ahead with an adv that is so not kesc.
I wish I could put up the adv here…maybe in a short while, but for people who are curious to know what I am talking about the adv is printed in Main Dawn, page 4.
Heres three cheers for meyums friend for designing a nice adv and for ogilvy for managing to sell the adv to the client!
And I thought bed rest was bad….when I found out that Zoey was going to be delivered 2 months prior to her time, I was worried sick, apprehensive and more than anything concerned. My gynae, who I absolutely love told me….”Kanwal, believe me having the baby is going to better than the condition you are in right now”. She was right to a certain extent. Or so I thought. Till I came home with the lil one.
Hailing from a punjabi family dominated by women, I had no idea what the next 34 days held for me. I wasnt allowed to go out under the sky unDer normal circumstances….only to go to the doctor am I allowed to step out. (Which means I cant go out wih my hubby and this terribly upsets me)…i am supposed to eat panjiri (a mixture of certain nuts and all) which I am not too fond off….I cant watch too much tele or read, because my eyesight can go weak. No getting my eyebrows made for me (the eye area is extremly sensitive, or so I am told). I cant have cold water or any other cold stuff for that matter (its makes the bones go weak)….Sleeveless is a complete no no (a major thing to do with nazar and the bones getting access to the air), though the april wind is hot enough to make anyone want to run naked. Oh and I cant wash my hair everyday either…….i dont know what the concept behind this is…..
As much as i dont necessairly believe in any of the above things, i have almost followed all of it. Just for the simple reason that I dont have the energy to fight or make all the women understand my point. The positive thing is that inshallah the 40 days end soon and this too shall end!
“so, hows motherhood treating you?”, another question that I am asked ALOT.
Predelivery, everyone used to tell me about sleepless nights, stinky diapers, tough budgeting and endless stuff of the kind. What no one ever told me was how emotionally thigs would change.
Its been 22 days since my status changed and I have been struggling to find the right words for motherhood. But still havent been able to find the right combination. The closest explanation is something that I did not write but it explains what motherhood or parenting is all about.
“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” – Elizabeth Stone
So, a question that I am endlessly faced wih is “where did the name zoey come from?”
As it happened, I had always always facinated about having a baby girl. Back from “O” levels I dreamt of having three baby girls who would be named, shanzeh, alizeh and simran….over the period of time the names kept on changing as these names got chosen by friends, family and anyone and everyone. So, when at the 20 week scan we found out it was a baby girl, obviously the most difficult thing was to find a name that we both liked. Suggestions kept on pouring in. As we shortlisted between Natalia, Inaya and Amani, I had completely forgotten about how I had fallen head over heels in lov with the name “Zoey”. (Zoey was the name of this girl who came to see me for her brother long time ago….and instead of her asking me questions, I ended up asking all about her and her name).
So, one day at work, to kill time I descided to design the the baby announcement cards. Because we were still undescided about the name, I wrote Zoey as a filler and emailed the design to hubby to get an approval. Hubby noticed the name and asked the meaning. Didnt appreciate it much, I think. Till the little one came into being abd hubby sweetly asked if we could call her Zoey.
I was overjoyed. Though the family thought the name was comical….a lot of people called her joey initially but nothing made us change the name. Dadi added emaan, which was fine….and thats the story of Zoey Emaan Akram…..thank god or that female who came to see me for her brother…in life we really dont know the bigger plan!
