A Girl!!

The last few months have seen dramatic changes here in Israel and we have also been busy on a personal level. After Ozzy's birth at the beginning of July we returned to England in August. Gila and family were supposed to join us but Tzvi couldn't get released from the Army and then Gila was found to be too anaemic to travel at 20 weeks pregnant. It was a great disappointment for all of us, especially Gila who would not now meet Ozzy for several months. The times we are all able to be together are so rare and precious it was a blow to lose that opportunity. However, we were determined to make the most of time in England and, with the Kanterovitz's moving into our house whilst we were away, a lovely summer was had by all.

At the beginning of September Malcolm had a back operation for a problem he has had for a number of years. While he continues to improve, recovery has been slow, and only time will tell how successful it has been. Mum flew out to Israel at the end of September for her annual High Holy Day visit. As always, we had a lovely time with her, but without doubt the highlight of her trip was the release of the living hostages. We have constantly prayed for their return but I honestly didn't think that they would really come home alive, if at all. While the signing of the ceasefire was greeted with relief, it was also greeted with some scepticism and we can only hope that there will be a good outcome in the end. Tzvi was in the army all summer, having done 325 days army service since January 2024! Only the week before the ceasefire we had been at rally to support the family of our local soldier, Itai Chen, whose body was still in Gaza. Again, we never really expected it to be returned but a few weeks later he came home. So much emotion, both joy and sadness.

With Gila due at the end of November we managed to sneak in a trip back to England at the beginning of November, to see the children and grandchildren. Oh my goodness, Ozzy had changed so much in such a short time.

For various medical reasons Gila can only deliver by C-section. Eliya was born at 37 1/2 weeks and was very small so she had agreed with her surgeon, that she could go to 39 weeks with this pregnancy, on the condition that, if she went into labour she would contact him and go straight to hospital. The planned date was Sunday 30th of November so when an issue arose regarding the ongoing problems with our flat in Borehamwood, Malcolm felt it was safe to pop back to England for three days with the baby not due for another week. I think you can guess what is coming. Because Gila is a high risk pregnancy she has been monitored every two weeks. So we had arranged for me to meet her at the medical centre on Monday morning 24th November, and then we would have lunch and do the last few errands that needed doing before the baby came. The nurses were a little concerned about the baby's heart rate but also pointed out that Gila was having contractions! She hadn't realised because the pain was similar to the pain she suffers on a daily basis with her endometriosis. We picked up her already packed hospital bags and rang her surgeon. To her delight he was at Sheba Hospital, Tel Hashomer, not the little hospital in Bnei Barak where her surgery was scheduled and she was told to head straight there. By the time Tzvi joined us from University, Gila was on a monitor. Baby's heartrate was fine but Gila was 1cm dilated. To cut the next five hours short, our first granddaughter was born at 21.52.

Poor Malcolm was in England but celebrated with family and friends there and it was nice for Mum to have him with her when the news came.  Gila had planned the day of the surgery to the last detail, especially the arrangements for Eliya. Of course, that all went out of the window. I stayed over night with the girls so that Tzvi could wake Eliya up with the news in the morning. He was confused but excited and after nursery Tzvi brought him to meet his new little sister. At four years old he was fascinated by how small she was, especially her little fingers, and he loves stroking her soft hair and cuddling her. On Malcolm's arrival back in Israel on Wednesday evening, he came straight to the hospital from the airport.

On Thursday morning, Tzvi went to the morning service in synagogue to give her her name, Liel Leah. At this hospital, and most in Israel, they will not discharge you after a C section until you've been in for three nights, so after being discharged, later on Thursday, they came to us so that we could all spend Shabbat together. They were excited to go home on Saturday night and are now settling into their new life as a family of four.

Malcolm and I are off to Australia for the Ashes in two weeks. We will be at the Melbourne and Sydney tests and then have a week of sightseeing. It would be nice if England haven't already lost the series by the time we get there, but we're going for the experience with no expectation of seeing a win. I will report back.