It's a girl!

It's confirmed. This morning at 2.25am, my wife gave birth to a healthy baby girl, all 2.6kg of her.

We were quite unprepared as the baby was actually due on the 23rd. But luckily yesterday I spent the night at my wife's home in Bangi, so by the time she complained of pain between 12.00am-1.00am, I was able to quickly pack the boys off to my parents' place and rush her to Subang Jaya Medical Centre, some 30km away.

It was a fairly easy delivery. I could see that the doctor and nurses were very pleased about it. My wife and I went into the delivery suite at 2.00am and in less than half an hour, everything was over.

You're probably wondering what the baby looks like. Well if you ask me, all newborn babies look the same. They all have puffed up face, slit eyes and long sideburns. My second son, Ahmad Zuhayr, looked like our former Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik when he was born. It's only after 3 months that they start to develop their actual features. :)

Mother and daughter are resting now, and I'm online looking for some ideas for the baby's name. I'm looking for an Arabic name that is simple and has a good meaning. Unlike some parents that I know, I don't go for complicated, multi-syllable names. Why bother? People won't call her by that painful name anyway. I have a friend named Tiia and I like that name, but it's not Arabic and I don't know what it means. Right now, I have Kauthar (a river in paradise) and Khaulah (one who has beautiful features) and Alhan Farhanah (happy songs, or so I was told) in the short list. The last one actually belongs to a former classmate in Kolej Islam Klang.

This whole episode is bitter sweet for me. We're all excited about the arrival of this new member of the family but at the same time, everyone's aware of the state of my marriage. Most of them are hopeful that the baby will factor in the R-word (reconcillation) but I don't think so. I'm a kind person and I will be kind to her until the divorce is finalised in about 3 months' time. And after that? I will continue to be kind.