Oh... My!

I have been away for some time... drowned in a couple of issues.

Life has been tough in the last couple of months. But it has been a good teacher. Two weeks after the accident, my pregnant sister who is two years younger than me delivered a baby girl. A little fighter, to be more correct.

When my sister has advanced one week through her ninth month of pregnancy, her obstetrician told her that the baby's brain has a slightly high amount of fluids. She said it was within the normal range, but on the high border. She asked to see her after a week. The next week, she told her that the baby's head circumference has reached the highest allowed size which means an increase in the fluids, and that she has to be delivered. She gave my sister two days of waiting hoping to have natural delivery started by its own, and asked her to check in to hospital if nothing happened in two days. Two LONG days later, and since nothing happened, my sister checked in to hospital. When the obstetrician checked her and the baby, she said that the head circumference has not increased, which was a good sign. And she decided that my sister's situation needs a c-section. So my sister went under surgery. Once the baby was out we all rushed to the babies' room to check on her: a tiny little pink girl who looks just like her older sister: baby Maria. She looked perfectly normal, mashaAllah. Looking around, crying, moving her arms and legs. When it was time she was bathed (and, oh! She was so annoyed by the nurse touching her and seemed to want only to be left under the flowing warm water! LOL) and she was giving bottle milk, and she was able to suck and drink her milk, alhamdulellah.

The whole family separately asked the pediatrician who checked on her if it was necessary to have a brain MRI, but he assured us all that as long as her head circumference was less than 37 cm (her's was 36 cm) and her reactions are good, there is no need for the MRI. My sister recovered the anesthetics and was sent to her room. Every thing was assuring and good that day.

Next day, I was at work. I called my mom in a cheerful voice to check on my sister and my niece, but my mom's voice was not good. I asked her what was wrong, she started crying and telling me that they did an MRI for Maria and it turns out that she suffered not only from Hydrocephalus, but also she had a hemorrhage that caused damage in more than half of her right hemisphere's brain cells!

I broke down... I was there in the middle of the office's hallway sobbing. My friends took me to my desk and started making calls to doctors they knew to know more about the situation. One of them called a very skillful brain surgeon and explained the situation, and he asked to see her MRIs. I flew to hospital and took the MRIs and went to the doctor. When he saw them he said that the hemorrhage has happened -most probably- during birth due to the difference in pressure. He said she will recover inshaAllah but she needs continuous observation and extreme care. And Maria was welcomed in our family with alot of love and caring.

At two weeks of age, she suddenly became less active, and stopped drinking milk. When she was checked by the doctor, he said that her brain pressure is very high, and that the brain fluids seem to find no exit so they are pressing on the scull. Her head circumference increased by 4 mms in one day!

So the little angel went under surgery. She had a shunt installed from her brain to her stomach to help her brain drain the extra fluids. Her brain pressure decreased right after the shunt was installed. It took her about two days to recover the anesthesia, but now, alhamdulellah, she is back to her normal activity, crying, drinking milk, moving legs and arms, and stopping to listen to voices around.

Maria is now three weeks old. Alhamdulellah, she is fine now. But the difference she made in her parents' house and the whole family is just unbelievable! She taught us ALOT of lessons...

She taught us that some times we plan our lives ahead thinking that our life is something that only WE control, forgetting that there is a God watching over us and having other plans for us...

She taught us that we do not need to be perfect in order to be accepted... in our family alhamdulellah no one ever was admitted to hospital except for baby delivery, and my dad once had a surgery to remove index. Other than that we lived all of our lives healthy, never in financial need, exceptional performance at school, all with higher education, successful in jobs... But this little baby girl taught us that we do not need to be perfect in order to be loved, and that people do not have to look perfect to us in order to love them!

She also taught us to appreciate the graces of God... She taught us to look at the child's ability to talk and thank God for it rather than look at him as annoying... And to look at a child who bumps into stuff unintentionally and breaks them as a healthy child that can move and play... She taught us to love and thank rather than complain...

She has brought out all of the tenderness in our hearts... and now, that little baby girl is just the obsession of the whole family...

We are praying for her every day... Every night when we go to sleep, we pray that tomorrow will carry to us signs that the brain damage has not affected her... And yes, with her, when the day ends, we thank Allah, and sleep not knowing what tomorrow will bring...

That little girl, the little fighter, was Allah's gift for us...

A precious gift that we pray he will keep for us, healthy, and happy...