Happy Wednesday!

I hope everyone has a good day!

allah yahdikoum

Sarah

Present.

Happy Wednesday! I have an early morning sales meeting, then work 10-3, then home for 'date night' with Mohammed.

Hope you all have a good one. Jenn, is there a test today ?

Jackie

Yessiree! Today AND tomorrow at 11. Getting some last minute cramming in here at work. Wish me luck!

sick as a dawg here. called in sick and going to the doctor to see what in the name of sam hill is wrong with me. Now I have the sniffles and a sore throat. Anyone know what the symptoms are for the bird flu?

Didn't you just get back in the country Doodle?? I find that airplanes are huge germ carriers. EVERYTIME I fly I get sick. You know, enclosed space, tons of people, any of whom could have the flu or whatever and no way to protect yourself from it.

I took that "Airborne" this time and I didn't get sick, so maybe that helped.

Hope you feel better!

Here, yawnnnnnn, wow girl you are still sick, sorry, but maybe you can at least get some answers. Maybe not the same (bug) as you were discussing earlier.

Hahahahahahaha sorry doodle but I had to laugh about the bird flu comment. Sorry you're still feeling sick.

Good morning!

Jenn- good luck on the exams today and tomorrow!

Doodlebug- hehehe i loved the bird flu comment. Made me think of your thread about the worse airplane scenario before your flight and how that helped you feel safer. I do not htink you would be walking around with the bird flu- so goto the doc and see what's up.

Everyone have a great day!

Good morning girls. Today is my long day and I hate it. Good news is that new week I'm talking to an advisor at Mizzou to see if I want to pursue my masters degree. We'll see.....sometimes I think my brain is too fried!

Me and baby Khalil are here. Whew - Youssef started a new job right after Christmas and unfortunately it involves traveling so he had to leave at 4am this morning and won't be back until Friday night. Argh! So far our day has been ok - we got Mikhail to school this morning and I made a few very needed calls when we got home. I gave him a bath and now he's zonked out in bed and I'm thinking it might be a good idea too! I'm going to make something to eat and then probably take a nap or watch some Food Network. Have a great day everyone

Has anyone heard from Amera .... did she have her baby yet ? Last week they had told her anytime and she was anxiously waiting. If anyone knows anything let me know

I'm doing hanging in there in my 7th month of pregnancy. Last weekend we registered and have been preparing for the huge baby shower my mom is throwing me. I cannot wait for our baby to get here !

Awww I miss those baby days. Have fun with baby Khalil

LOL nevermind ... guess we were posting at the same time ! How was the delievery Amera ? Anything you want to share with me ? Congrats on the arrival of Baby Khalil !!!

Amera, I want to say a very heartfelt congratulations on your new little bundle. I've been so caught up in my own stuff I haven't had a chance until now. What a wonderful gift!

Congrats on the baby!!! We need pictures!!!

Well the dr knew nothing. I asked her and the nurse what the symptoms of the bird flu are and neither had a clue. Doesn't that just give you the warm fuzzies??????? You'd think the medical staff would be up on this considering the threat we have and considering I just left a country who has had human cases of it.

Anyhoo she did a test to see if it was a bladder infection or pregnancy and both came up negative, though she said it was a wee bit early for the pregnancy one so I think I'll take another in the morning this weekend when I'm officially late, though i highly doubt that's it. She said it's probably just a virus and that she's seeing a TON of people getting sick after the holidays since now they're back to non stress and their bodies are falling apart.

I'm soooo cold today. Ever have one of those days where no matter what you can't get warm??? I feel bad not going into work since I just had a vacation but I really feel like crap. I guess I could have worked from home but not really since I am due for a big nap soon. Sooo sooo tired.

Lebanese mama - where did you register? I love looking at baby stuff.

Last night Usama got scared 'cause a friend of his told him that he applied for a visa and got approved by the embassy but then the ministry of foreign affairs said he can't go because he didn't complete 4 years of university. Usama only completed 2 years so he was freakin' all day. I asked if this guy was married to a US Citizen and he said no.

duh

I said, honey...even if you never went to University and took the short bus to the interview you wouldn't be denied due to that because you're married to a US Citizen and as long as you're not some bigtime criminal or have some huge disease you'll be fine.

I hope he doesn't talk to anyone else since this is gonna be a loooong hall.

Tell Usama to ignore those ppl. Ppl tell Mohamed crazy shitt all the time. I tell him to ignore cuz those ppl don't know what the hell they're talking about. Everyone in Egypt is an expert on visas.

Oh those lovely freakouts... ain't they fun???? Moh's still having them. Now about AOS. Does Usama obsess a lot about these details?

LM (now)- the delivery was pretty good. I had an epidural because I'm a big baby myself and even though I considered going au naturale I recalled the end of the delivery and thought it best not to feel it! After I had the meds my contractions slowed down so they gave me petocin to make them start again. I went in around 11pm and the baby was born at 9:16am. Once I got to the pushing part it only took 15 minutes (2nd baby though!) All in all it wasn't too bad - but my epidural did wear off - there was a kink in the line so for about an hour before the delivery I thought I was dying! After all we have been through with the pregnancy I was very happy things went so easily. Just make sure you rest a lot afterwards if you can. Also as much as you love that little gal when you have the chance for her to sleep in the nursery take it!!!! You'll need the break when you get home. I'm trying to breast feed but it's an uphill battle. We were doing really well for about a week or so but now it's getting hard again. I think he's so hungry and I'm not making enough. But I'm sure you'll do fine - feel free to PM me if you have any questions that might be best discussed in private

Doodle - sorry you're sick! I always got sick after I came home from visiting, change of food, smells, temperature etc. plus the planes like someone else said. Get lots of rest!!

I'm trying to get some baby pictures up but I can't find the cable for our digital camera. I'm hunting today!

We registered at Toys R Us .... I love everything I picked out for her. Wanna see ?

We got the set by Graco in Oakwood (goes for a boy or girl ... since we plan on having more kids right away)









This is my diaper bag that goes with the brown and blue color scheme :



Here's some other things :








Amera,

Thanks for taking the time to post your L&D experience. I really appreciate it. I will definately PM you with any questions I have. Al hamdullah in the end you and baby were healthy and happy !

Massouna

Wow sounds like a beautiful delivery all in all except for that last hour!!! Insha Allah if I ever get pregnant again I really want to try to breastfeed. I didn't with my first two because I always had c-sections and was pumped up with tons of drugs but maybe the next time would be different. Plus you save all that money on formula and you give them your immune system,...not that mine is anything to write home about at the moment.


No Usama does not freak out normally......that I know of. He just gets depressed and doesn't tell me why so it takes me fifteen minutes to pull it out of him. Good thing I did since this one was pretty silly. Normally he doesn't want to tell me because he doesn't want me to worry too but he has to stop that since I'm the one who knows more about this stuff as of right now.

I'm sitting here looking at my cat thinking...hmmmm...I didn't sneeze at all in Cairo and since I've been home I haven't stopped. I wonder if she's the cause for my "cold" now. She looks so innocent sitting here too and just sighed and looked at me. I think she knows what I'm thinking. Has anyone ever heard of these people who swear that animals can read your mind? I remember listening to a woman on the radio saying how she speaks through her mind to her cats. If so my cat's bummin' right now.

LOVE the diaper bag! Very stylish.

Oh I love that set!!! Hope you get everything you want!!! I love that elmo thing too...bet that's gonna be a favorite. My kids loved those things.

Why should they be up on bird flu? While it's a potentially very large threat, it isn't yet here at all, and while you were in another country where there's been a few cases, your nurse hadn't been there. (Plus, it presents as any other influenza, nasty.) She probably can't identify the symptoms of leprosy, either.

You probably just have an airplane cold, doodle. I get them nearly every time I have a long flight.

Very cute Massouna! I think I wore out our first stroller - so it might be time to invest in a new one. Also you might want to look for a little bouncy chair. The swings are great but sometimes you just want to put them in something while you're in the shower or washing dishes and the swings are a bit bulky! There are little ones that look like papason chairs and vibrate. My son LOVED LOVED sitting in that thing. They are also really good if the baby is fussy - seems to settle them right down. Khalil has a little "TV" as Youssef calls it that hooks onto the crib, it plays music and there are pictures that go by ( I think it's a LeapFrog thing) he loves that too. I've found that when he's crabby if i put on some music or Quran he settles right down.

I'm trying really hard not to take that the wrong way...

Wow lots of baby talk around here!

Jenn I hope your test went well, I didn't even know they were this week- you didn't tell me!

Amera I hope you three have a good couple of days together.

Massouna- cute stuff for the baby! I bet you're excited.

Have a good day everyone!

When I drive and have my granddaughter in the car, I play Quran and she becomes soooo quiet and listens. It is amazing the effect it has on her.

Jackie

That's what I said...wise words!

yeah, me too Jenn .... I'm a well educated woman even though I do not have a university degree... I have many skills, talents, am well read and continue to learn daily - I go to the University of Life (UL).

eta: I have many certificates of my trainings and licenses for my many skills -

I was wondering why she would write that too. Harsh.

i'm summa cum laude at the school of hard knocks

In my opinion, and this is only me, I took more notice of the 'short bus' comment. Obviously no in your family has rode the short bus.

but then again I have made statements (ie. 'rose-colored glasses') that have offended some members. I'm sure the poster didn't mean for the comment to sound like it did to some.

J

Did I mention that I make more $$ than many university-degree-holding graduates?

I have a feeling doodle was exaggerating to prove a point. I don't think she meant any harm in what she said.

bad jackie

and yeah, i remember that fiasco

Agreed she probably meant no harm. She's also feeling very sick and missing her husband.
Lets give her a chance instead of jumping all over her.

oy...ok bad choice of words and my intention was not to say that those who didn't attend a university have mental problems. It was that if you never went to college OR even....as a very very very extreme example if you did indeed have a mental disability....it makes no difference on whether or not you got your visa.

apology accepted.... hope you're feeling better

Thanks for clarifying! Amazing how using an AND instead of an OR can completely change the meaning.

Just so you know though, I do think that using the "short bus" expression can be really offensive to some.

amen

agreed. poor choice of words.

My brother has cerebral palsy and literally took the short bus to school and I didn't get offended. Some ppl are just overly sensitive or are looking for a reason to attack.

Yup, seems like it.

Not everyone is the same. It didn't offend you but that doesn't mean it isn't or can't be offensive to others.

No one is looking to attack anyone here but Doodle made 2 statements that were as she said "very poor choice of words". I might have used the term short bus before but if I did it was between close friends and not on a public board where you don't know who people are or what kind of problems they have had in their lives.

Another thing is that I don't even see where people are attacking her- in fact I was thinking how lucky she is to have so many people defending her. She's a grown woman, she can handle it (I think).

Well she apologized so I think we can drop it.

There are plenty of grown women who get defended around here. We all have our supporters even you I think. She didn't ask for defense I just figured ppl could give her a break. I know what it feels like to be misunderstood.

I didn't feel (if you're referring to me) like I was overly sensitive, nor am I particularly "attacking" doodlebug, but I *do* feel that it was an overly flippant comment.... anyway, 'nuff said on the subject, it's old news....
back to the regular dramas of the day

I wasn't talking about you, Noura. But we gotta be honest...we're all overly sensitive at times. I just read the comment as she was making a point by exaggerating.

God this is gonna stir up shitt now. Let's drop it. She made a comment that some ppl took the wrong way. Just another day in MENA I'd say.

move on to funny things http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bxP62LKAzw