Waiting for Baby (Part 2)

My parents came last week to be here for the birth of our first child. My mom plans to stay for two weeks to help out with the baby but my dad could only come for a week. So, I felt like there was a bit of a time crunch to get things rolling around here.

The last time my parents came was 2 years ago when they got the call that my husband and I had been in a serious car accident and they weren't sure if I would make it. They flew over immediately, arriving not long after my surgery. I remember waking up in the ICU and seeing my parents there and it seemed so normal, as if I saw them every day, instead of remembering that they live halfway around the world. (For more details about this accident see my Sept 2007 blog entry: The Long Summer )

During this month´s visit, we talked a little bit about that last visit which has caused me to think more about their experience during that week. I imagine that it was probably more difficult for them than for me. So, I wanted this visit to be different, wanted to make NEW memories, happy thoughts. And although the baby has not arrived yet and my dad had to go back before he was even born, I think that my desire was actually accomplished.

On the day of their arrival, the goal was to keep them awake. So, we went to Cal Jepet with Ruben´s parents and grandmother. The restaurant is a quaint country cottage in the middle of the countryside with a great view of Montserrat. For the curious reader, here´s the link with photos and more:

Restaurant Cal Jepet

In spite of the comfortable chairs and the dimly lit atmosphere in the waiting area, my parents did well as the fought off the jetlag. Ruben´s family accompanied us by telling baby stories about Ruben and his siblings.

After translating the Catalan menu to English we ended up with some great dishes: Goat Cheese Salad, upscale gazpacho, some kind of fancy fish, Fricando (which is some kind of tasty beef) and my favorite, Chocolate Crepe. I got so excited about the food that I didn´t get many pictures of my parents during this meal, only photos of the food and of Ruben´s family...but mom and dad did manage to stay awake and make through the day, very important when adjusting to a new time zone.

Antonia´s appetizer was the traditional "pa amb tomaquet" or toast with tomato spread all over it. I think she had a twist and took it with sardines!

Ruben is the proud orderer of lamb chops and sweet potato chips. Mmmm!

The next day, which was my due date, they came with me to the scheduled doctor's visit. (Interestingly, my last few appointments and labor and delivery will all take place at the very same hospital where I was 2 years ago after our car accident. In fact, the maternity ward is on the very same floor where I was cared for by a team of talented and caring doctors and nurses.) While everything looks good and healthy and I´d begun to dialate a bit, there were no signs of eminent labor....so we headed for home shortly thereafter.


"So, what are we going to do this week while we are waiting?" I thought.

We went for walks to feed the ducks. We surfed the internet. We ate at the hostal where they stayed. We ate at my house.  My parents told stories of when my brothers and I were babies.

 We took in a few sights, driving up to the Monastery at Montserrat.

 3-D Tour of Montserrat

We also walked around the grounds of a newly refurbished monastery nearby called  Mon Sant Benet .





My parents brought lots of gifts for the baby: some things they bought, some things I´d ordered from Target (there are some similar stores here but nothing quite like Target), some special cards and gifts from friends at home. One special item was a small silver baby cup that was mine when I was a baby. My dad found it and polished it up just for this occasion.

Another treat was that my mother, who is also a talented artist, offered to help decorate the nursery. At first I was slow to respond. I didn´t have many ideas. The room was quite plain, but I wasn´t sure what could be done. The only thing I knew was that I liked jungle animals for a baby boy´s room. So, she offered to paint some on the wall! As each day passed, still with no signs of baby arrival, more animals and details have been added to the room. There are still plans to paint some trees and maybe even some mountains. The amount of detail of the baby mural depends on how much longer he delays his arrival!

The 6 days that my father had planned to be here to greet his newest grandson had flown by and still no baby. I was so sad on Friday night because my dad would be leaving in the morning without that opportunity. And yet....it was a great visit. It´s the first time ever that we´ve had in Spain to visit in a slow, almost normal-life way since I moved to Spain 9 years ago. He had a chance to get to know my husband better...maneuvering through the Spanish-English language barrier and he got to see what life for me is like here.

So, although he´ll have to wait to hold the baby, we´ll call when the baby does FINALLY come, we´ll send photos and of course we´ll do video visits via the internet until we can make an actual visit home, hopefully sometime in the spring. After a brief interlude of disappointment, I can clearly see that the most important aspect of the visit was accomplished: spending time together. Thanks for coming Dad!

So, I´m heading to the doctor´s again today to see how we´re doing and we´ll start on week 2 of the visit since my mom is still here. Let´s hope that baby decides to come before grandma goes home this weekend!