Hello Lovely readers! 

Happy New Year! May this year bring you loads of success and happiness. Time surely flies. I remember writing down similar post, couple of months ago, now a whole year has passed by and it feels just like yesterday. 

As usual, I have so much to share about my year. It was indeed a happening and eventful year yet again. Good things only, Alhumdulillah. Summing up my year's highlights in this post. 

1. Job Switch 

The first most eventful happening of the year would be my job switch. I joined Pakistan's largest textile company in January 2024 and after a month of breathing in a toxic environment, I quit. I was 4 months pregnant when I joined and the over all environment plus the bosses, everything in short was absolute shit show. I would take this post as an opportunity to emphasize the miracle of tasbeeh of "Astaghfar". Within a week I could tell that I had taken a wrong decision and stuck in a bad workplace. I started looking for other opportunities right away and recited astaghfar day and night. Alhumdulillah, I landed an opportunity within couple of days and resigned on my 29th day of joining on a 2 hours notice. Now I am working in a great IT company and couldn't be much happier. Its going to be a year in February that I started working here and its been great so far. 

2. Ramadan Festivities 

The best thing about my in laws is their love for hosting. Anyone who visits our home, we try our best to stuff them with food. We make sure to invite our friends and family over Iftaars in the month of Ramadan. We hosted 2 grand iftaars in the month, one was for our friends and another one for family. I was heavily pregnant at that time but was not fasting. The scorching Summer heat and my physical condition was a challenge but nonetheless it was really fun to get together and have quality time in the holy month. 

Eid celebrations also took place in full swing. Eid celebrations are a little different once you become parents. More than self, it becomes about shopping for kids. Other than shopping, meeting family and enjoying good meals is indeed a blessing.  

3. Delivery

I was medically due on May 23rd but my water bag broke on the May 2nd, and I delivered the same day via C-section. Sohail was out of country for his work trip and came early the night before the delivery on his own as his work was done before time. It turned out to be a lucky return because I went into labor the same day. I delivered a beautiful baby girl weighing 2.7 kilos. The post partum period was really hard emotionally. Physically I was doing a lot better since I was mentally prepared for a C section this time around and it was not as big a trauma as it was the first time. I healed much faster this time around as well, alhumdulillah. Given my own experience and from what my cousin experienced as well, women need to prepare expecting girls better for what to expect after a C section. They don't mentally prepare you for the physical trauma the body is due for which comes as a shock later and takes a toll on your physical being. 

4. Short lived Maternity leave 

The biggest hit I received emotionally this year was my short maternity leave. I was called in at work on my 40th day, post delivery. This was unexpected and against the prior agreement. When I interviewed for the position, I honestly disclosed about my pregnancy and my due date of delivery. The company agreed to 2 months of maternity leave as opposed to 3 months per their policy and I was okay with it. For the third month, I committed to be active and work from home. However when the time came, this is how the organization back tracked. I did not have any option as the job is important for me. However it was not easy emotionally. I constantly worried about the baby at work. Anyhow later I was granted work from home whenever boss wasn't around. It was honestly a huge relief. The downside to all this was that I could no longer breastfeed my baby since the timings were all off and my feed dried up. Now whenever the baby falls sick, I keep having this guilt hat she probably has weak immune system as I did not feed her. 

5. Hectic Routine 

I read somewhere, one kid equates to one and two kids equate to being twenty. This couldn't be more true. Managing a toddler along with a new born isn't an easy task at all. Despite knowing that it is not going to be easy, I set some really ambitious targets for myself for the year and I couldn't meet most of them. For example, finishing my annual reading target, making content, organizing my home, going out more or even weight loss. 

6. Self Development 

If you have been following me for a while, you would know that every year I invest in learning some new skill or something new. This year I invested in two courses. One was the UGC course and the other one was Social Media Content Strategy. The UGC one was very affordable and got me a lot of local PR while the Social Media content strategy helped me bring my content together and more well put. My engagement level has increased with the help of both these courses. 

7. Illness 

Like every year, this year also ended with me and the kids falling sick. I think post kids, it has become a yearly occurrence for me to fall sick in Winters, go to the hospital, get IV antibiotics and then get better. I believe it has a lot to do with the lack of rest, sleep and as a result, a lower immune system. Other than that, Inara has been sick. She got stomach infection in the last week of December. Before this she had contacted fever and sore throat - viral. Followed by measles and again the continuation of stomach infection. Its so painful to see your child crying in pain. Inara, compared to Wali is more sensitive and gets sick quite easily and more often. I am having a hard time with her as her stomach infection isn't going away and she keeps relapsing when I introduce her to a variety of age appropriate solids. For now she is back to her formula, cerelac and parley biscuits. A little prayer for her health will be very helpful.