ABU DHABI // One week overdue, Noura Al Nadhari finally chose to make her entrance into the world shortly before worshippers celebrated Eid Al Adha through morning prayer.
Weighing 3.2 kilograms, she was born at Abu Dhabi’s Corniche Hospital at 5.52am and was the first child for proud mother Iman Al Yaqoobi.
“She was overdue but I sort of had a feeling she was going to come on Eid,” said the Emirati. “I was very happy. It was about the time of prayers. It was magical.”
Her family and in-laws filled her hospital room to celebrate the birth of Noura, who was the second girl to be delivered in the hospital on Eid.
“They brought Eid to me,” said Ms Al Yaqoobi, who lives in Abu Dhabi.
In the same hospital, Latifa Al Yaqoubi gave her parents another reason to be extra thankful this Eid Al Adha.
Her little girl was born at 7.10am and, after having had three sons, mother Wafa Al Azizi was delighted to finally welcome her to the family. She said the arrival of her daughter on Eid felt like a double celebration.
“I feel like I have two Eids,” the Emirati said. “I am so happy. When I was told I was having a girl I was just so happy.”
As he cradled his newborn, encased in a tiny white hat and babygro and wrapped in a beige blanket, husband Sultan Al Yaqoubi said he was delighted to finally have a daughter. “I am very happy today and -today is Eid, so I feel like I have two Eids,” said Mr Al Yaqoubi. “Eid for Islam and Eid for the baby.”
German expatriate Ulrike Bieletzki welcomed twin baby boys, Mats and Paul, at 6.28am and 6.31am.
While the tiny newborns, weighing 1.35kg and 1.37kg, were born eight weeks early, the 32-year-old mother was delighted with her first babies.
“In my family there are a lot of twins,” said the resident of Abu Dhabi. “On my father’s side there are twins and my mother’s side also, so I had a feeling I would have twins.
“I said to my mum, my husband, I think I will be having twins – I feel it.”
When she first saw two heartbeats on her ultrasound, Ms Bieletzki, who had a natural birth, said she was delighted.
Also rejoicing was Seela Saleh, as she proudly watched her newborn son sleep soundly beside her.
Weighing 3.6kg, Hameed was the first boy to be born on this Eid holiday at the UAE’s biggest maternity hospital, where about 8,000 babies are delivered every year.
It was the second boy for the mother of three, who said having an Eid birth was extra special.
Ms Saleh would normally have been celebrating Eid with her family at home but said there was nowhere she would have preferred to be.
By midday on Monday six babies – three boys and three girls – had been born at the maternity ward, with more expected by the end of the day.
Elsewhere in the emirate, other proud parents were blessed with special Eid arrivals.
The first baby girl born on Eid Al Adha at Danat Al Emarat Hospital for Women and Children was born at 1.30pm weighing 2.6kg.
The infant is the first child for the family, said father Majdi Sheikh Idrees, adding that he and his wife were still deciding on a name for their daughter.
“We are very thankful for this blessing,” said the Sudanese expatriate, adding that birth on Eid was a double joy for the family.
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