Embarazada

Happy Monday! I’m 16 weeks pregnant today and the baby is doing great. We spent the weekend in San Jose and although Friday was a very long day because of the 5-hour bus ride and two doctors’ appointments, we had a good time. We had our first sonogram and we were glad to see ONE big, healthy, active baby. We didn’t find out the sex (just like with Ryan) so we’ll have a nice surprise when July rolls around. Baby is measuring a week bigger in size. He or she is in the 95 percentile for growth and besides being a big kid; everything looks good--- amniotic fluid level, movement, proportions, heartbeat, placement of the placenta. My pregnancy this time around has been a little different than with Ryan. I had a bit of nausea in the first trimester but it has subsided. I never threw up, fortunately, and the nausea was never too terrible. My stomach is definitely bigger than it was at this stage with Ryan but I feel good and I haven’t had any swelling, excessive weight gain or blood pressure issues. My babies are very good to me! From the looks of the ultrasound, we may have another thumb sucker on our hands. And we definitely have a mover, shaker and hiccuper! I wonder how alike or different Ryan and her brother or sister will be. Can we handle another chatty, fearless, bright and sassy wanna-be rock star? We may not have a choice!

Ryan is starting school soon. We’re going in tomorrow to sign the contract and put down the deposit. We have to pay for all of this month and next to hold Ryan’s spot but her first day will probably be March 14. (Ryan and I are going to Hawaii and we will be back on March 11.) We’re really excited about the school. She will have a bilingual education with an emphasis on the environment. The campus is 106 acres, 72% of which is virgin cloud forest. 23% of the land was at one time a pasture for dairy cows and it is in the process of being reforested by the school. So besides getting a formal education, Ryan (and someday her sibling) will learn about being ecologically aware. How cool is that?

We just got a car! I’m glad we won’t have to take the bus to San Jose for our doctor’s appointments anymore. And I’m sure I’ll be really glad to not have to take the bus when I head to San Jose to deliver the baby! Little by little we’re getting settled. We just hired a friend to build us some furniture, so at some point our house will feel like a home. We hope that at least some of the pieces are complete by the time Wendy and the three Mikes arrive this weekend. We’re so excited… they’re going to be our first visitors since we moved here on October 19. I guess we’ll spend a few days up here in Monteverde and then head to the beach (I’m going to prance around in a bikini and my big pregnant belly) for the rest of their stay. Then on Monday the 21st, Ryan and I leave for LA. We’ll be there for two nights, visiting my best friend from high school and her family. From there we head to Hawaii for a long-overdue visit. I’m really looking forward to seeing my family and our friends but poor Ran will spend nearly three weeks without us. Be sure to visit, email or call him while he’s playing lonely bachelor, okay?

Shannon’s friend, Deven, is visiting from New York for two months so he went to San Jose with us. We went to the mall but we didn’t do much shopping. We didn’t feel a sense of urgency to buy things since we’ll be back in San Jose this Friday to pick Mike and Wendy up from the airport. Mostly we ate. On Friday night we went to the Inca Grill for Peruvian food and on Saturday night we went to Samurai for Japanese food. Both restaurants are terrific. And of course I had to go to McDonald’s for a Big Mac and fries. It’s great being where we are because it’s so tranquilo (peaceful) but it’s also nice being just three hours (now that we have a car) from a major city. Besides tons of restaurants, there are also tons of shoe stores in San Jose and Escazu. You know I like that.

It’s another beautiful day here. I hope the weather holds up for Wendy and the Mikes. An agouti was walking through our yard this morning and Ryan came into the house with a butterfly on her finger. We’re all healthy and we have Hershey’s Kisses and leftover pizza in our refrigerator. Life is good.

pura vida

p.s. embarazada means pregnant, not embarrassed