The Phone Call

Bismillahi Ar-Rahmani Ar-Raheem,

I realize that I'm 41 weeks overdue for my first blog entry. Better late than never, I guess.

Tradition has been inescapable in the events of my life, from my service to the deen to my choice of university, I found myself closely following my father's footsteps. Sometimes you make your choices; other times, your choices are made for you; all of which are a part of Allah's (swt) plan. I like to revive tradition on my own terms, and in doing so, I feel like I honor tradition.

On my 26th birthday, May 30, 2011, I had a tiring day at work, and Wafa surprised me with a small get-together at AMF for bowling with some of my friends. Then we parted ways to have a nice dinner with my family. Afterwards, we all went to my father's house. This was my first birthday as a married man, and by that point, Wafa was 14 weeks pregnant. After we made ourselves comfortable, Baba pulled out a few pieces of paper. They were from a notepad, and he began reading something that he wrote 26 years ago that day: it was his account of my birth day. It was absolutely lovely, and even sweeter for him to share with not just me, but the whole family. I knew that I would want to do the same thing when it would be my turn. Why not? I did the same for my first trip overseas and for my Hajj.

There was nothing unusual about this Sunday morning. I woke up for fajr and made wudoo'. I woke up Wafa to pray. The time for shurooq was close, so she told me to go ahead and start. After I prayed, I hugged Wafa before leaving to go to my weekly usra at the youth center (this was probably the only unusual thing about this morning: we usually meet at Fayez's house, or at Breckenridge Park, but Fayez was out of town so we opted to go to the youth center). I got there a few minutes early and I didn't have a key, so I waited. Nabil showed up with breakfast. Odd, I thought, since today was Tasu3aa' and I was fasting. I knew Abdur-Rahman would be fasting too. Maybe he was mistaken about the dates. A nice gesture of him regardless. Tasu3aa', the day before 3ashuraa', the day when Allah (swt) delivered Moosa (3alayhi assalaam) and Bany Israel from Pharaoh. I thought about how funny/cool it would be if Wafa delivered the baby tomorrow. Be careful what you wish for...

Abdur-Rahman was giving us tafseer of the last 6 verses of Soorat Al-Hajj. We were analyzing the second-to-last verse - a verse that has sajdah in it - when my phone started to vibrate. Because of the glare on the screen, I thought maybe it was a Facebook notification and didn't give it much thought. I'll check it later, I quickly thought to myself. But then it vibrated a second time: this was a phone call. At 8:25 AM. On a Sunday morning. 5ayr inshaAllah. It was Wafa. My thoughts went straight to one conclusion: it was baby time. No need to panic. It could be anything. I hadn't texted Wafa to let her know that I made it to the center okay with the rain outside. I answered the phone. "Assalaamu Alaykum." "Wa Alaykum Assalaam. I think my water broke."

I calmly finished the conversation and told her I'd be home right away. Nabil and Mousa said the best thing for me to do is to stay calm and "grab a burger on your way to the hospital," as Mousa told me. He did that with all of his children. That, and the classes I took, and my trust in Allah (swt) first and foremost, kept me calm and cool on the drive home. When I knocked on the door, 3amty answered already dressed up. She said Wafa was getting dressed. I hugged Wafa and asked for an update. She said that she was positive her water had broken because she was continuously leaking. So we grabbed our things as though we wouldn't be coming back home, got in the car and were on our way to the hospital.

Wafa wanted a slushie from Taco Bell, so we swung by. They don't open until 9:30, and it was about 9, so we kept going to the hospital, nice and easy. I had to constantly keep myself focused on staying calm so I can genuinely be cool for the rest of the day, and in turn keep Wafa relaxed to make this as easy a process as possible.

I dropped off Wafa and 3amty at the front door, parked the car, and the three of us went upstairs to the 7th floor in Building D. We were admitted by Denee, one of Wafa's 2 nurses. She set us up in Labor Room 5 to make sure that Wafa's water had broken. They put her in the hospital gown and set up the baby monitor to hear the heartbeat and make sure everything was okay. Ally, the second nurse, did the test to see if Wafa's water broke. It took 20 minutes for the results, and sure enough, her water was officially broken. Big surprise.

I first called Mama, but she didn't pick up, so I called Abdur-Rahman and got him up to speed on what was going on. Noor's reaction was priceless when I told her. It was the same high-pitched joyful shreek she made when Wafa and I told her Wafa was pregnant. Baba is still out of town in New Jersey for a program he had last night and another program tonight. There are no planes for him to make tonight, so he'll have to take the first plane out of there in the morning. InshaAllah 5ayr.

No contractions yet, and I didn't get a good night's sleep, so now was as good time as any to get a nap in. After about an hour of trying to sleep, I just couldn't. Never was much of a sleeper after 10. I had to keep myself busy during this part, or I was going to drive Wafa crazy, so I thought this would be a good time start entering my first entry in the Baby Wayman blog. First thing's first: gotta get my tablet and bag from the car, and before that, gotta go to the security office to get the parking pass.

We didn't want to post anything on Facebook cuz we'd be flooded with notifications and text messages and phone calls. So I called up the shabaab to give the news myself: first Shawky, then Khaled, Firas (he didn't pick up, and called back later), and Zeeshan. They were so happy alhamdulillah and they said they'd make dua for Wafa and the baby. Alhamdulillah for the additional support.

It took about a half hour to get back to the labor room. This labyrinth of a hospital took me from 7th floor of Building D, down to the 1st floor, to the atrium of Building A, to the entry hallway of Building B, to the elevators to the 2nd floor, to room 203. They don't take credit card. Back down the elevator to the atrium of Building A to the ATM, back up to room 203, got the parking pass, retraced my steps back to Building D, passing the cafeteria I don't know how many times, to the elevators in Building D, and back to the Labor Room 5. Not a nice trip for someone who's directionally-challenged!

Wafa was still keeping her cool, alhamdulillah. Dr. Gomez doesn't usually do deliveries on weekends, and Dr. Khan is her backup. The nurses can't call Dr. Gomez due to protocol, so we requested that the nurses ask Dr. Khan to call Dr. Gomez. We'll see what happens.

It's 1:00, and contractions still haven't started yet, so the nurses are a little anxious to get a doctor here to make the order to administer the pitocin.

Mostafa called me at 1:50 to let me know he and Mama and Abdur-Rahman were close. When they got here, Mama went in to see Wafa and I went to the waiting room to chill with my brothers. Mostafa pulled out his laptop and we watched a bit from Top Secret.