Salsabeel Sakeenah Ibrahim
arrived on 16th January 2016 @ 12.37am weighing a whopping 4kgs.
The past few weeks seem to have flown by as we have been recovering from the whole birth and its aftermath, welcoming the presence of a new family member and just trying to get out of pregnancy mode and back into the swing of things.
The girls are still adjusting to having a baby sister. One minute they are all over her and wanting to pick her and dress her and then the next minute sibling rivalry and jealousy kicks in.
Alhamdulillah I have recovered from the labour...well physically anyway. Mentally i'm still getting to grips with the realisation that I now have 4 children who I am responsible and accountable for.
I look at them and am still trying to figure out how i'm going to do all this, how am I to raise them, nurture them, educate them, protect them......and just generally be a great mother to them. Sometimes the thought overwhelms me and sometimes I already feel defeated and exhausted. And then I always find hope. I know Allah swt does not place upon us more than what we can bear and I know I can only get through this with turning to him, Allah swt.
Recently I have been reading and thinking about duas. Duas are our link to Allah swt. An affirmation of his existence, his power and mercy. An acceptance of our lowliness, dependence and weaknesses.
When throughout my pregnancy I lay in bed depressed that I could not do anything, I realised I could in fact achieve so much through just laying there and making duas.
In late pregnancy when my bump got heavier and the waiting just dragged I used the time to make duas. In fact during all my pregnancies I have tried to read salatul tasbih with my hubby and set aside time to make special duas for the delivery and for the child about to enter our family.
And before going into labour I had people requesting duas. It was almost like preparing for hajj where I almost made a mental list of all the things I wanted to pray for and all the people I had to remember to pray for also.
During my labour there was a point when it was getting really intense and I felt I couldn't take it anymore. My hubby reminded me that I had yet to make duas for him and our daughters and subhanAllah it made such a difference. I felt somewhat energised again and using that time to make duas helped me to refocus and carry on riding out the contractions and pain.
So now that i'm trying to get back to some sense of post partum normality I need to remember that Allah swt is there to help me get through it all. That I can make dua; turning to him with every little thing and every major thing whether it be as simple as help in putting baby to sleep or bigger things like our homeschooling, finances or family matters.
And I need not wait for major events like hajj, umrah, ramadhan or pregnancy to make duas. As well as utilizing the special times when duas are answered such as in sujood, when it rains, whilst travelling, on Fridays, etc I can and must make sincere, heartfelt duas anytime of the day, everday insha'allah.
"Whoever wishes that Allah responds to his Dua at a time of hardship, then let him increase his Dua at times of ease" (Tirmidhi)
