While we were back on furlough, lots of people were surprised to discover that we planned to have our baby in Tanzania. Honestly, if we'd been planning this we most likely would have worked a furlough around it, but we already had the last trip planned so it wasn't really an option.
We know missionaries who've chosen a variety of different routes as far as birthing babies over here, everything from home births to the western hospitals of Nairobi, Kenya. For us there was one guiding factor: epidurals. With my last birth experience an epidural became both desired and advised after I'd labored 20 hours and was sitting pretty at 5cm. I realize this labor could be faster and different in many ways and I may not need one, but from the beginning I was set on choosing a location where an epidural is at least available. Any place here that has epidurals will also have more medical expertise and equipment available in the case of complications, something that makes both Carson and I much more comfortable. This narrowed the choices to Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We immediately liked the idea of going to Dar. Because it is in Tanzania we don't have to wait on the baby's passport before returning to Geita. We've been there a couple of times so we're much more familiar with the restaurants, stores, and things to do. There is also a doctor in Dar who we've seen on a few different occasions and like.
On our way back from furlough we stayed over in Dar a few days to check out the hospital. As it happened, our teammates were there and had their second child the day that we arrived in Dar. We were able to visit them in the hospital and hear all about their experience. We also met with the head nurse and anesthetist.
We decided that we felt comfortable with the hospital and staff and set about the task of finding a place to stay for the 6 weeks we plan to be there. Dar is a 2 day (or 1 really difficult day) drive from Geita so we can't really wait until I go into labor. Instead we have to go camp out and wait for the baby, but we also have to be prepared for the baby to be late and have a place to stay long enough to do necessary paperwork and recover even if the baby comes up to 2 weeks late. The place we really wanted to stay was only available for the second half of our time, but after some looking we've found a place for the first part as well.
Being away from our work in Geita for 6 weeks is not ideal, but we're going to do the best we can to make our time there useful. Carson will most likely do some filming in Dar that he can't do in rural Geita. He may also spend some time on editing the footage and continuing to flesh out and develop the storyline for one of the films he is planning right now. I'll probably be pretty preoccupied with, "Is this baby ever going to come out?!" thoughts, but I'm planning to take some simple hand sewing projects along to pass the time. And of course we'll be finding ways to keep Jude entertained.
Finding a price that is reasonable for such a long period is difficult and we are very fortunate to have already found locations that will work. Despite the good deals we found, staying in another city for 6 weeks isn't cheap, nor is the gas it takes to get there. We're expecting to spend at least $600 on gas and $1200 on lodging. Unfortunately we don't make enough to have extra set aside for this sort of thing and we're looking for ways to fundraise for this need. If you are interested in making a donation to help with our expenses you can send a check to:
McNeal Mission Fund
write Birth Expenses on the memo line
and mail your check to:
Gallatin Church of Christ
150 East Main Street
Gallatin, TN 37066
If you're not in a good position to make a donation would you consider doing a fundraiser for us? Perhaps you could put together a yard sale with some friends or at your church or set up a bake sale at a yard sale you're already having. Maybe you have other ideas that are more suited to your talents. We appreciate anything you can do to help us with this extra expense.
