My honey and I have both always dreamed of going to Egypt. He spent his childhood secretly studying ancient Egyptian religion and building pyramids in the backyard. I simply fancied myself an Egyptian goddess without much of a clue as to what modern day Egypt might really be like. It was pure luck that we met miss Joanie Proctor and her company http://explorationsoflight.com/ a sweet lady and an instant friend, who happened to be hosting a guided tour through Egypt! We signed on!

  To my surprise, I shortly thereafter discovered I was pregnant. Joanie didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the idea of taking a pregnant lady along. And since I calculated that my morning sickness would subside by the end of my first trimester (based on experience), and I would be a nice comfortable 4 ½ months pregnant at the time of departure, we chose to stick with the plans for 3 weeks in Egypt. I didn’t think much about the fact that we would be spending many long hours bumping through the desert extreme sport style in 4×4’s. I had no idea the food would go from wonderful exotic feast to hot dry desert famine, and back again, several time (I was never without potato chips and water!). I didn’t anticipate praying inside a rough ride bus, while our driver smokes a cigarette and pumps gas simultaneously. And most of all, I did not anticipate my luggage never showing up for the entire duration of our time in Egypt.

   Now it might sound a little materialistic, to say that lost luggage was the worst thing that could have possibly happened to me, but look at it this way: packing for Egypt is not an easy fete, if you are a woman. Keep in mind, it’s a Muslim county so your arms & legs best be covered. And it is hot, so you’ll want thin breezy fabric. In my case, I also needed tops that would fit around my surprisingly large belly, my swollen boobs and my now bigger than ever butt. And let’s not forget, I am a clothing designer for goodness sakes, not only do I need clothing options for myself, but I also brought along a few pieces of my new hemp and organic cotton designs for my Sweet Skins Clothing line, just in case an amazing photo opt happened. All my careful planning and packing was for nothing, as my suitcase took it’s own tour through much of Africa and Europe, I would later discover, while I was in Egypt with nothing but the clothing I flew in in! I freaking out, cried and fighting with god in attempting to avenge my lost luggage, but eventually I gave up. I surrendered. I accepted the fact that I had NO BAGGAGE. For the rest of the trip I was light as a feather, it was pure bliss.

I almost canceled the trip on account of being pregnant. I chose to accept the situation and make the best of it ‘even though’ I was pregnant. To my surprise, my pregnancy was a focal point of our trip. I felt like an absolute Queen as I walked through the streets of Egypt receiving blessings and prayers for Allah to bless with me twins! My man, who was a bit apprehensive to be suddenly jumping into family life with me, left Egypt knowing without a doubt that he was in fact a “ lucky man”. After all, every Egyptian man we met told him so; who doesn’t want a pregnant wife?  So yes, it’s safe to say he got some much needed clarity!

Our unborn son was blessed by an elderly man in the Great Pyramid, encouraging me to go all the way up to the King’s Chamber, “good for a King” he said pointing to my belly. In the Temple of Hathor I was encircled by band of traveling, singing, chanting, blessing well wishers. And then the guard gave me the Key to the Temple to hold! ( FYI Hathor: a Goddess sometimes seen as a Cow, she cares for women and children and childbirth, among other things).

In Dendara, before entering the grandest temple of all, we had argued and I was crying and feeling like my heart was stretched so wide open that it hurt. The guard took me by the hand and guided me over to my man, then he slowly walked us through the entire great temple, telling us the great love story of Hathor & Horus in broken english and pointing to the ever evolving storyline carved out on the ceiling and walls this grand and amazing temple. He put us in a small room and instructed us to put our heads together here on the wall and pray together for two minutes.

   Everything about our trip to Egypt was a blessing for our budding new family. When Ramsess was born, he weighed 10 lbs and screamed through the first 20 minutes of life. And after that he starting smiling, then laughing and soon talking. He was born one blessed Little King.