Afiqah is now 1 years old!

It's now the last day of 2009.. and that means it's Afiqah's 1st birthday! Happy 1st Birthday Afiqah!

Celebrating 4 years of marriage to the girl I fell in love with at first sight

From Majlis Perkahwinan

I am sure that there are a lot of people out there who don't believe in love at first sight. I certainly do. The reason being that I fell in love with my wife the first time I laid eyes on her. I remember the stunning smile she gave me when I first looked at her in our tutorial class. That was our only class together in the whole time we were studying as she was in another major than I was. Those classes were the only times I ever came in on time and had a perfect attendance for an early Saturday morning class in my life.

I had just broken up with my girlfriend of 4 years a few months prior to that. And for the first time in my life, I was flooded with options. People were suddenly introducing me to their single friends and sisters. I did try going out with some of them, but nothing ever really clicked for me for most of them.

Here I was, with a lot of options, but not knowing what to do. The reason being that I had fallen in love with a girl who I was too nervous to talk to in class. Being confused, and trying to make the right decision, I decided to do the solat istikhara.

Once I did the solat istikhara, my mind became clear and I decided to follow what my heart told me; that Hawa (which in English is Eve) was the one for me.

I plucked up the courage to get her number and give her a call. This was a new thing for me, because prior to this, all my previous girlfriends were people I already knew or people that were introduced to me. Even though Hawa was in my class, I had never had a conversation with her before. I think the first time I called her, I didn't give her that great an impression. I remember it taking a long, loooong time before I managed to convince her to be my girlfriend. But I never lost confidence that she was the one for me and that she would become my wife. This was the first time I had been so sure about something in my whole life.

A few months after that ( I think it was 6 months, but I can't really remember) my parents went to see her parents to arrange for our marriage. Tragically, 3 days after that, her father passed away, so he never got to see his youngest daughter get married and never got to see our lovely children. May he rest in peace and may God have mercy on his soul.

On the 22nd of December, 2005, we officially got married in an Akad Nikah ceremony. I remember fluffing my lines the first time, but luckily I managed to get it right eventually. (I really hope nobody has a video of that incident). I'm not going to elaborate on that here though. Maybe in next year's post.

We've been married for 4 years now, and my love for her has gotten stronger. We now have 2 children, Aqil, who is going to be 3 next March and Afiqah, who will be a year old on the last day of this year. I am grateful to God that I am blessed with a lovely wife and beautiful children.

We have had our ups and downs, our disagreements, and each of us has had to sacrifice much to make our love work. But I wouldn't have it any other way as I believe this makes our love stronger. And I would still do anything to get her to smile at me, because I fall in love with her anew everytime she smiles at me.

I hope you like the anniversary gift I got for you, Hawa. Happy 4th Anniversary, I love you very much.

Afiqah

On the last day of 2008, we welcomed the birth of our second child, Afiqah. She is my mother-in-law's 23rd grandchild and my parents' 5th grandchild. She's also the first girl grandchild for my parents.

She was actually due on the 9th of January, 2009, but my wife had started bleeding on the 27th of December. Just to be on the safe side, we decided to go to the hospital where the doctor admitted her for one night for observation. After confirming that the baby wasn't about to come out yet, the doctor discharged her. The next Monday however, my wife started to feel some pain so I brought her to the hospital again, where the midwife told us that the baby would probably be born the next day.

The next day, the labor room was full so it was only in the afternoon (around 4PM) when the doctor induced labor. Around 7PM, my wife asked for an epidural because she was in too much pain, unfortunately the anesthetist was unavailable at that time so my wife was only given an epidural around 8.

At around 9PM, the doctor tried to get my wife to push, but the baby wouldn't come out. So the doctor tried again at 10 and then again at 11PM. It turns out that the baby's head was too high (the face was facing up, not down). At midnight, after checking again, the doctor decided to do an operation instead.

Our friends Fariz and Wawa were also there as there son Adib (who was born one week before Aqil) was admitted for high fever (plus Wawa also worked at the hospital) plus my Mom was also there. Wawa helped ask if I could come into the operation theater to watch, and the doctor said yes, so I was able to watch Afiqah being born (I didn't get to watch Aqil being born because the doctors at the hospital he was born in wouldn't let me).

Afiqah right after birth

We had some trouble agreeing on a name for the baby, but after a few days we settled on Afiqah which means generous. Her full name is Sharifah Afiqah Binti Syed Mohd Redza.

Hawa and Afiqah


My mother-in-law with my children


My Mom with Afiqah

I have to say I was quite worried about how my son would take to his baby sister since he's not yet 2 years old, but so far he has surprised me by being interested and by being very careful when he touches or kisses her. Hopefully he stays that way and hopefully he won't start to get jealous and rough with his sister. Here's hoping that he'll become a great big brother!