It was mid-July and I had decided to go to visit my family in Spain before I was too advanced in my pregnancy and before the baby was born. I had decided to have the baby in South Africa (Cape Town) where I had been residing for one year, because I dearly wanted my fiancé to witness and be part of his daughter’s birth, a memorable and unforgettable event in one’s life. I arrived at Bilbao after a very long flight from Cape Town to London, London to Bilbao. I was 25 weeks pregnant. My feet were swollen, for the first time in the pregnancy and it was not a happy feeling. I was quite exhausted and all I wanted to do is settling down and sleep! I was looking forward to a familiar holiday routine at home of walking, eating my mum’s nice food, reading my books, sleeping long hours and, in general, taking it easy for one month. But I was told that at the last moment, the family had decided to rent a house in Jávea (Alicante, in the Mediterranean coast) for two weeks and that we were leaving in a couple of days. I was stressed! Another 8 to 10 hour car-trip after the ordeal of such a long flight?

But as usual, I thought everything happens for a reason so just trust and go with the flow.

A couple of days later, three generations of my family are in my sister’s 7-seater going from the North to the South-east of Spain, stopping-by in Calatayud (province of Zaragoza) and having a generally lovely time. The trip was therefore split in two halves of 4 to 5 hours each so it wasn’t so bad. But it was really hot, thank God for the air-con!

We arrived in Alicante the following day and settled down in a lovely 3 bedroom house by a complex, which included a swimming pool. It wasn’t too big and it was lovely and pleasant. I chose the downstairs bedroom, where I would sleep with my young niece and nephew. I sent all the grown-ups upstairs since I wasn’t in the mood or had the spare energy to spend my holiday going up and down the steps! It was very hot but the house had air-con and ventilators on the ceilings, so all in all, I had the feeling that it was the perfect place.

As I stepped into the sea, I could not believe how warm the water was! It normally takes me about 20 minutes to get in the sea, one little bit of my body at a time in order to get used to the temperature… and here I was, in a little bay, swimming pool-like sea, with water temperatureof about 26 degrees! Within a minute, I was in! I went a bit deep where my feet couldn’t touch the bottom. You could see the clear white sand through the transparent green water. All I was doing was just moving arms and legs for about 40 minutes each day.

The Spanish Mediterranean coast is always full of tourists in the summer season. Many come because of the food and the climate, many because of the health benefits of this sea… I don’t know what was going on, but I suddenly felt 10 years younger! All my little pains and aches suddenly disappeared. My family’s health also improved in such a short time (running eyes and noses stopped, aching joints no longer ached…). The town was large in width but not built up and there was a wonderful feeling of calmness and peace, even though there were quite a lot of people!

The police was doing a wonderful job of keeping the streets clean and safe without the usual feeling of having to be careful with the pick-pocketers or anything along those lines, although it is now a 6th sense that most of us have to be aware of our wallets/handbags when we go out and take care of ourselves… but it was refreshing not to feel threatened… after living in London for so many years and now in Cape Town! Although, I must say, it feels as if the whole world is going the same way when it comes to public safety…

Two weeks flied past and we went back home to the Basque Country. The weather there was also wonderful so we managed to go to the beach as well during my last week-end. The water was also surprisingly warm so I continued with my water therapy and thought that I was lucky that my 25 to 28 weeks within the pregnancy had brought me unexpected healing. I felt guided and blessed and realised that, somehow, I had been brought there in order to align my body with that of my unborn baby’s. Whether this is because Itsaso is a sea-baby and loves everything to do with the sea, or because it truly makes a difference to our combined health when I am near or in the sea, or whether this would do well to any pregnant woman… I really don’t know!

But the fact is that I felt that everytime that my body doesn’t feel 100%, I am guided to the place or/and activity that helps me easy-up my condition. This seems to have happened from the beginning of the pregnancy, even though we have been through the huge stress of adapting to a new country far away from my own, renovating our family home from top to bottom (which took 4 months) and having the added pressure of not meeting eye to eye with certain family relationships. On top of this, I am not a spring chicken at the age of 41 and although everything has gone right with this, my first pregnancy, I have to say that I must have had huge amounts of unseen help. I can truly say that this baby has her own agenda and has definitely come here to stay! It has been quite a journey so far. I continue to give myself Reiki on a daily basis because it seems to heal me and the baby, as well as calming her down when she goes into a kicking frenzy, quite common these days (I think she has quite a personality on her!),. I haven’t had any sickness, stomach-acidity or many of the symptoms that pregnancy books describe as normal. I don’t feel scared about the time of birth because I am taking one step at a time and know in my heart that harmony is possible throughout one’s pregnancy, until the end. So I would invite you to summon the baby’s soul in order to help you be led to the places and situations that will make it easier to progress throughout the pregnancy. Listen to your two bodies – I can assure you that all the answers that you need are there, hidden within, waiting to be called and heard. 

By Ana Garcia August ’2006 © Copyright Ana Garcia 2006. All rights reserved. The contents of this article or any associated work belonging to Ana Garcia may not be duplicated, retransmitted or reproduced in any form without the express consent of the author.