Spain Dad, a baby blog

Apparently we’re having the baby “ultra-sooner than we thought” since the ultrasound at our birthing center in Madrid today said we were 16 weeks along instead of 14 weeks. I’m all for getting this baby here as soon as possible. Patience is not my virtue. Watch our 16 Week Ultrasound on Vimeo. For more, read [...]

Thursday we were in the living room watching Brazil play Japan in The World Cup. My parents were on one couch, and April and I were on the other one. April was lying stretched out, and I had my bowl of popcorn resting on her belly (which I’ve discovered makes a perfect little table for [...]

I’ll admit it—I freaked out a little on Tuesday night when April and I were tossing around ideas of how we would spend our “date night.” It had been a busy two weeks with April finishing her Masters classes and me meeting a hefty deadline at work. My parents would arrive on Wednesday to stay [...]

BNJ kids eating watermelon Originally uploaded by Molly Has An Ugly Face. Most of my friends outside of Spain don’t believe me when I tell them that here in Spain little children play in the streets after midnight. Even the ones who say they believe me I’m sure walk away shaking their heads thinking I’ve [...]

This past weekend we were in Madrid (again). We got on the metro Friday night, and there was nowhere to sit. The car was packed. A man sitting in a seat in the back corner looked at me, then at April, then got up, walked past us, and stood next to the door. April looked [...]

Thanks friends from the Masters Program for throwing April and I our first baby shower today. Our friend Laurie and her “associates,” as she’s been calling them, have been planning a baby shower for us for a few weeks now. Today we met at the park by the beach and grilled burgers and chicken. Lots [...]

I’m not sure where I got these assumptions from, but growing up the U.S., I thought someone would hire a midwife for one of three reasons: 1. You’ve decided to have the baby at home, in which case a midwife will be delivering the baby. 2. You’re wealthy enough that you want to hire an [...]

April and I decided yesterday that we are still going to pick a boy name even though we’re 110% sure we’re having a girl. (Yes, we are enjoying being overconfident and presumptuous.) It’s not so much that we want to have a back-up name as much as every kid deserves to know what his or [...]

We’re happy to announce that so far our parental instincts have been working well! We discovered at the doctor today that we are for most probable certainty having a baby girl! Both of us have been thinking it was a girl since the beginning and it was nice to be confirmed in that. So we [...]

Today I remembered this poem about pregnancy by Sylvia Plath. Dave Schelhaas introduced the poem to me in one of my Lit. classes at Dordt College. You can read “Metaphors” here.