Having a baby in Kuwait !!!

---

I'm Back.

Its been so long since I updated this blog I almost forgot how to get back to it. I have an announcment to make, We have a new baby :D yey... Welcome baby Salma into the world. She is the cutest thing, but of course I am going to say that arn't I.. hehe I have only positive things to say about my birth here in Kuwait and will get to that further into my entry... So this entry is dedicated to my birth here in Kuwait... Good luck to anyone who is pregnant or trying and congrats to all new babies in kuwait and the world. Im walking on air :D

ok what have I been up to.. I did not travel this year as I had a very rocky pregnancy (nothing to do with being here in Kuwait) (and a very bad fear of flying) and will use any excuse not to fly. It's a little sad as we live so close to many interesting places. Hubby tried to get me to Egypt, Dubai, Jordan, Syria etc but I just wont fly. I will have to get my head around this flying thing, my daughter asked me why we never went on holiday. Lets just say I was too embaressed to tell her I was to affraid to get on the airoplane. I just changed the subject real quick... Maybe next year I will be brave :D

Kuwait this year has really come through for us. Thank god. My hubby has been very stable in his job, my children have been very happy in their school (TES The English school, searchable on the web) and I have had a beautiful baby. The weather has been good. We had a few bad rain storms and a few bad sand storms, but in general the summer has gone so quick I havent felt the heat so much this year. Also what's made a HUGE difference is the opening of The Avenues. The biggest shopping mall in Kuwait. What can I say... I am in love with The Avenues. We go there so often the shop workers know us well. It has everything you can need. Most of the shops there are British, and the food shops are very Americanised and delicious. It has so many to chose from: Chinese, Japanese, Lebanese, French, Italion, American, Iranian i believe... oh and dont forget Swedish, as we also have a hge Ikea attached to the Avenues. So many shops to spend time in. Just a tase: Gap, Next, Debenhams, BHS, Primark, Evans, Banana republic, The One, Casa Maroc, Zara and Zara home, approx 12 starbucks (i did say it was big), columbas coffee, Carefourr (western supermarket), mothercare, boots, Adams, and soon they will be opening an area especially for children which will include a mother and baby room, feeding room, baby play area, toddlers play area, boys/ girls clothes, toys and accesories which is fantastic as this is what Kuwait desperatly needs. play areas for babies and toddlers. in fact it may be a first for babies. yey for the Avenues :D I will get some internal pics for you but if you search on google images you will find some. After just giving birth its a great place to go walking with the pram, and its become very popular among others for walking. If you go mid afternoon you will find planty of walkers doing the circuit rounds on the top floor. The Avenues is more upmarket than places like citycentre and marina mall. Marina mall will still stay popular but its been much quieter since the opening of Avenues. Avenues can be found on the %!t(MISSING)h ring road towards Jahra (about 20 minutes from Salmiya on 5). There are a zillion parking places and you dont have to fight for them. Its so huge.

ok, now I want to talk about having a baby here in Kuwait. Salma was my miracle baby. After my little boy we were told that was it. I had had 2 very bad C-Sections in the UK and was not looking forward to having a 3rd in Kuwait. We asked around and was given the name of a fantastic OBGYN from one of our Kuwaiti friends who's husband is a surgeon. We went to meet him and he saw no reason why we should not try for baby number 3. We had a few consultations nd within 3 months (thank god) I was expecting. Here in Kuwait, expats use private hospitals and they are most like what we are used to. They can be exensive but I think the cost is SO worth it and would do it again ina blink of an eye. I will give detals of the OBGYN and the hospital and prices at the end of this entry :D. When I was 7 weeks pregnant, I started bleeding heavily and was sure I was losing the baby. I was rushed in and seen immediatly by my doctor who scanned me and found sack still in place. at 7 weeks its hard to tell much but he found a heart beat and assured me baby was still there. He gave me an immediate injection of hormones to try and keep my body thinking I was still pregnant nad I had these every day until I reached 12 weeks. I was scanned every week to assure me baby was still there. The bleeding went on for a few weeks and slowly stopped. I was so impressed with the agressive way in which my doctor wanted to save this pregnancy. He was addament I was NOT going to lose her. I had alot of bed rest and alot of TLC and reached a scary 8 months pregnant. I was told to take things very careful as I had placenta provera (placenta lies across the bottom of the womb and blocks babies exit) and early labour is common. I was sure I would go to 38 weeks and didnt worry to much.

At 34 weeks I had some pains. I ignored them for a day thinking they may be bad braxton hicks, but then went to see my doc when they got quite painful. He said they were mild contractions and I should take things very easy as they may ease away. He asked to see me the next evening to check everything was ok. I had not dilated so he wasnt worried. I woke the next morning with alot of pain and contractions every 5 minutes. OUCH. I wasnt suppoed to be labouring.. i was slightly worried... ok very worried. panic was setting in. Called hubby who had already gone to work and he came home as quick as possible. He called my doctor who told us to come in immediatly. It took is 20 minutes to get to the hospital. We arrived and called him. He asked us to go down stairs and get put on fetal monitoring (ECG?). he came down 2 minutes later and checked the graph. The look on his face was suprising. His words were

oh my goodness, your in second stage labour my dear, you will have your c section immediatly... nurse, prep this young lady... Lucy, prepare to meet your princess

and off he went to scrub in. It was all a bit scary. 3 nurses came into my cubicle. They preped me for surgery and within 10 minutes I was talking to the anesthetist. He was a wonderful man. He discussed with me what he would do and within another 5 minutes I was out. I had general as it had to be done immediatly. I awoke what seemed like seconds later feeling a little drowsy. I was informed by an extremely beautiful fillipina nurse that I had given birth to a beautiful baby girl weight just 5lb. She was fit and healthy and with daddy. They took me to my room where I met my husband and my baby girl. She was adorable. I felt no pain. I was in no pain. I was pampered by the nurses who looked after me and came running when ever I beeped my buzzer. I felt like royalty. Pain relief was abundant. They changed my babies nappy for me and bathed her for the first couple of days so I could rest. Theyhad me up walking on day 2 and helped me with bathroom and baby things. They provided meals for myself ad my husband every day and always bought me extra when my children visited. And the food was good. Not typical hospital food hehehe... Thank you Kuwait for this wonderful birth experience. I just hope every other women who gives birth here has the same experience as I do... The surgeon, my OBGYN, used disolvable stitches and did a mini tummy tuck (standard here) on my tummy. he took away some of the over hang and bumpy belly from first 2 sections. IIt healed very quickly with noinfection and looks perfect. I had my baby in Al Salam hospital which is off 2nd ring road. Shaab. My OBGYN is Dr Ahmed Al Shazly who is Egyptian. He has over 25 years of experience and trained in the UK and America. Fantastic surgeon. The birth cost us approx 2000kd. that price includes the operation, hospital stay, medication, food, and registering the birth and getting civil ID and visa... Everything was pretty smooth... We visit the local clinic (al sagar off 45) to get babies injections. The babies injection record is on the back of her birth certificate and is easy to keep track of what she needs and when :D very impressed, very organised, very happy mummy.. xxx

Well this has been a very long first entry so I better sign off. Will make the next entry real soon with lots more pictures and lots more info on Kuwait :D Sooooo glad to be back. xx

---

Photos

My Sweet Salma
This is baby salma. She is now 4 months old and weighs 12lb (almost 6 kilos)She has done so well for a premature baby... thank you Kuwait x

My Room
This was my view from the bed. a nice flat screen tv, and beautiful flowers. It had a curtain so my guests could give me privacy when I needed it. My room had a bathroom, kitchenette and guest seating lounge. Very comfy