After a long 27 hour trek to get to Mombasa – Kenya and three days in, I can finally relax for a couple of days before the girls arrive. I have to say coming here two weeks early was well worth it. Part of the reason I choose to do this journey in Kenya was the price point. Although still expensive; the process, trips, accommodations, legal fees, hospital fees, I spent about 65K US. In comparison to the starting rate of 120K in North America. But the hardest part was being 27 hours away from my babies. Having no control over anything and just sitting home preparing for the unknown.
So finally we arrived. Toronto to Amsterdam (8hours), layover in Amsterdam (6 hours), Amsterdam to Nairobi (9.5hours), layover in Nairobi (2.5hours) and finally Nairobi to Mombasa (50 min). So we got to the Airbnb at 2 am and walked into a dingy apartment, completely different than the pictures I saw on Airbnb.
The apartment had no electricity and no hot water. I could deal with that if I were on my own, but my poor 68-year-old mom does not have to deal with such conditions. Did I mention there was not even a bottle of water to drink nor toilet paper! Thank God we were equipt with baby wipes!! Passing out from pure exhaustion, I wake up to my mom pacing back and forth with an upset stomach trying to remain calm for my sake. It killed me inside and knew that I had to do something about it.
That morning we had to go to the clinic to meet the doctor to find out exactly what the next steps were and how the surrogate was doing. Everything was running smoothly, and we are scheduled to meet the surrogate next week. Next week we will also be meeting the lawyer, and all my questions will soon be answered. Being here makes me feel a lot better, knowing that no matter what happens (and nothing will, Inshallah!!), I will be here to handle it.
Getting back to the apartment situation, it was essential for us to get here early to set up a mini nursery for the twins. So as I got back to the apartment I called the owner and told her about the electricity; apparently, I had to buy electricity, kind of a pay-as-you-go situation. And about the hot water, her response was “It’s hot outside why do you need hot water!” I quickly contact Airbnb and asked for a refund. I’m still waiting for their response!! Thank God I had a friend here in Mombasa and he told me about another place, it was directly across the street from where we were staying so I went and knocked on the massive gated complex. As I walked into the apartment, my eyes teared up. It was clean, it had electricity and running hot water, and it had a view that overlooked the sea.
I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but besides making sure that my mom is comfortable, I had to find a place that was suited for my babies. And God found me just that place. So for any of you wanting to come and visit Mombasa come and stay at the Swahili Gem. It saved my life. It was a long trip to Mombasa, Kenya but we are here! So today my mom and I can relax and await my babies. This is such a surreal experience, but I can finally sleep at night knowing that I am here and I have a safe place for the twins.
