Orchids!

For those of you not on Facebook, here are some photos of my pretty blooming orchids.

New buds on my yellow-purply (official name!) phal. bought at Ikea

New stem on yellow-purply one.

White Phal. birthday gift from my father-in-law.

Two flowers

And then there were 4!

22 Weeks

I’m a little bit more than half way through my pregnancy.  I’m cruising through my second trimester without any complaints (so far!).  Of course, I’m tired at the end of the day and bending over is becoming more difficult.  I’m gaining more weight.  I think I’m up to 5 kg at this point.  I love seeing the scale move up – really!   It makes me feel happy to know that my baby is growing.

We had a 20 week sonogram.

20 week sonogram

And there she is!  Our little baby girl!  I think we’ve narrowed down the name to two choices.  Both are classically beautiful names.  One works perfectly in Spanish and English, but is quite common.  The other is not unheard of in English but isn’t heard every day, but in Spanish may cause pronunciation problems.  But both are classic names.  Nothing new or made up.

In other news, we are still on the fence as to where we will live!  Most likely we will have to move from our beloved apartment.  We change our minds daily, but more and more we are convinced that this apartment – while filled with lots of pros – will not suit us with a growing infant.  Once she starts walking, this apartment will not work (we have a dangerous, metal spiral staircase).  So, I think in the long run, it will be better to move now and stay put for a few years rather than having to move with a baby!  But this means moving while pregnant!  And — to add to the fire, our lease is up June 1.  I’m due on the 24th of June.  That should be fun.  We just love this apartment and neighborhood so much.  We  are so comfortable here.  And my plants are also very happy here.  But, there must be another apartment in Madrid that can fit our needs!

I promised to talk about insurance and I will, but not today!  The state of public health is in danger here in Spain.  They are trying to privatize some public hospitals and the people are angry and against it.  There was a giant protest last weekend.  “Public Health — Defend it, Don’t Sell It!”  While I’m not happy that this debate is happening, I am happy to be living in a country where the people are so awake and aware.

My baby is hungry – got to go eat!

 

Mango

At 19 weeks, your baby is the size of a mango.

19 weeks with mango

After we took this picture I asked Alfonso if I should cut up the mango for dessert – and he said, “You want to eat our baby?!”