On the 2nd of Sept we left our home in Eastern Province and traveled to Lusaka, where we spent one night before our travel to the UK. On the morning of the 3rd I had a final doctor's check up to confirm what we already knew - baby and I were STILL in excellent health! - and to get a second doctor's letter in case the airline decided to be really picky about the fact that I would be flying at 35wks+4 days when their technical statement is 'We advise pregnant women not to fly past 36 weeks...'
On the 3rd of Sept we left Lusaka on our overnight flight to the UK, via Amsterdam. Yep, I traveled at 35wks+4 days pregnant. (This is not exactly something new - I traveled at 35 weeks when pregnant with Ketzia.) Not only that, but I had a 20-month-old toddler as a 'lap child' the WHOLE WAY!! Is anyone impressed yet? We were hoping that there would be a free seat, but the flight was super-crammed-squished-fully-booked. Ah well. Just for future reference, in case this information is helpful to anyone: it is really difficult to use your drink tray if you have a toddler in your 8-month-pregnant lap!
(Oh, and the other annoying thing? Despite what the online check-in says, which is that each passenger including the 'lap child' gets a meal, the flight attendants on every international flight I've ever been on have refused to give a meal to my lap child. I've had to beg them to bring one if there is an extra when they finish serving everyone else! This makes me so mad! But apparently, the only food that my poor toddler is entitled to is jars of baby food. Uh, ma'am, my 'baby' may be under 2 years old and thus still entitled to ride on my lap at a discount price should I feel like choosing that discomfort, but, breaking news... this child has been eating solid food for a LONG time and has an appetite!)
So, yes, we arrived in Scotland, safe and sound and all accounted for. We were met at the airport by a representative of Syzygy Mission Support which is a fabulous organization that has given us a vehicle for hire to use during our 4 months in the UK! We are so thankful for this 7-seater Ford Galaxy that the Lord has provided. Finding a car to use short-term when on 'home assignment' is a huge hurdle that every missionary family will face at some point, and we are SO THANKFUL for missions support groups that exist to bless families like us in every way they can. They even very thoughtfully arranged for the loan of car seats for our children, without being asked -- and even included a car seat for child #3 whom they knew was imminently expected! Talk about service... AND they met us at the Glasgow airport with the car (having brought it up from Birmingham)!
Our first two nights were spent with friends in Ayr. The next three nights were spent with our pastor and his family in Glasgow (worshiping with our home congregation on the Lord's Day). Then on Monday morning we started off on the first leg of our road trip to the Western Isles which would be our abode for the next 2 months. We drove as far as the Isle of Skye and broke the journey with friends there. The next morning we were on the early ferry crossing from Skye to Harris (the lower part of the same island as the Isle of Lewis) and then drove the hour north to Ness, Isle of Lewis.
Ness is at the far northerly tip of the Isle of Lewis. At the end of the road where the house we stayed in was located, there is the Atlantic Ocean! Our missions committee arranged for us to stay in a comfortable 3-bedroom house belonging to friends. Next door was a lot with someone's pigs, and across the street were someone else's chickens, so Elijah and Ketzia felt right at home as if they were in Zambia. It was a really enjoyable place to stay. Just down the road was a fantastic playpark built into the sand dunes so we took the children there often! Just a short walk from the playpark was a beautiful beach.
We stayed in Ness for 3 weeks. The house we were staying in wasn't available past the end of September, so another house was arranged for us to move into. Now, if you've been doing the math, you might realize that I was imminently due. The house we would be moving into, on Point (a peninsula on the opposite side of Lewis from Ness), was only available starting the 30th of September. So the 30th became our moving date. Baby was due on 5 October, so it was agreed that if baby decided to arrive early (as Ketzia did) while we were still in Ness, we wouldn't have to move into the Point house straightaway but could recover for a few days before transitioning over... however, if baby hadn't come on the 30th and I wasn't in labor, we were moving over to Point THAT DAY, with no delay, so as to be as settled as possible in Point before baby did decide to show up! Ah, the great simplicities of our ever-nomadic life. So yes, we moved house when I was 39wks+2days pregnant. I wasn't in labor, so we just packed up our stuff and WENT. At least there was no furniture that had to be moved - both houses were fully furnished! Just ourselves, our luggage, clothing, and personal things, and bags of food (I even managed to get a few freezer meals put together in expectation of Baby... so proud of myself!).
So we moved across to Point on the evening of Monday the 30th of Sept. Well, I say 'Point' but actually Point is the name of the area - we are in a small village on Point. As I say, it is a peninsula extending past Stornoway, the main town on Lewis. We are only 10 minutes from the center of Stornoway, which is far more convenient than Ness in terms of distance. Sadly there is no fabulous playpark close by here, or anything really within walking distance, so the kids and I are much more confined to the house. But the house (again, a 3-bedroom, and larger than the first) is comfortable and we are settled here... temporarily! We will be on the move again 2 weeks from now!
In the end we had exactly one week to settle in before baby arrived. Our 3rd child and second son, Titus, was born on Monday 7 October! Like his brother and sister, Titus was born at home, in the water. (Don't worry, I will post the birth story soon!) And since this wouldn't be a bona fide blog post without a photo, here is a photo of our wee man:
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| widely alert from the moment he was born! |
My mom flew over from the States, arrived on Thursday the 3rd, and was here for the weekend, before Titus' birth on the Monday morning. Perfect timing. Mom was here for a total of two and a half weeks and we crammed it full of as much 'Grandma' time as we could. We took her on an outing to see the Callanish standing stones and other spectacular sights of the West side of Lewis. On her last day here David had a preaching engagement back in Ness so she got to see where we were staying before. It was really special having her here, for the baby's birth and for his first two weeks of life. Having family members around for a baby's birth is always really special and makes such a difference!
So yes... that's what the last weeks have been full of! The adventure is only just begun though... Titus is not going to beat his sister's record of international travel at 5 weeks old, but he is about to go ON TOUR in the UK!
