Tag: family

Increasing our family – the third pregnancy

May 28, 2023 / Ulrika / 0 Comments

The first trimester is over and the countdown to when baby number 3 is joining our family has begun. We have now announced that we are expecting a child again, so then it felt right to also dust off our old blog to be able to keep the same documentation of this pregnancy as for our first two children.

Första trimestern är över och nedräkningen till att nummer 3 ansluter till vår barnaskara har börjat. Vi har nu gått ut med att vi väntar barn igen så då kändes det rätt att även damma av vår gamla blogg för att kunna föra en likadan dokumentation över denna graviditet som för våra två första barn.

The first twelve weeks

The first thing that happened was that I thought I was having an anovulatory cycle (one month without ovulation, which is normal) so twelve days passed before I even took a pregnancy test and I was pretty sure the test would be negative as well. It didn’t take many seconds before the test showed positive and that shock cannot be described. I didn’t believe the test at first and it took a few days before the test response had sunk in and I dared to trust the result.

I had no obvious symptoms this time, other than that I swelled up and put on a lot of weight very early (+5 kg in just a week or so). Then came the nausea and vomiting in week 7 and it was almost as bad as when I was expecting our first born, Othilia. It lasted until the twelfth week. The food aversion also came and it lasted as long as the nausea and vomiting. Now I’ve been able to start longing for certain dishes again, before it was mostly about finding something to eat that didn’t trigger vomiting.

Me and the children got sick when I was in week 7 and it was a prolonged illness that ravaged for two weeks and it was not fun to be sick at the same time as I was early in the pregnancy. The days were all about phlegm, snot, cough, fever and vomiting, as well as a fatigue that was not of this world.

Det första som hände var att jag trodde att jag hade en anovulatorisk cykel (en månad utan ägglossning, vilket är normalt) så det hann gå tolv dagar över tiden innan jag ens tog ett graviditetstest och jag var tvärsäker på att testet skulle bli negativt också. Det tog inte många sekunder innan testet visade positivt och den chocken går inte att beskriva. Jag trodde först inte på testet och det tog några dagar innan testsvaret hade sjunkit in och jag vågade lita på det.

Jag hade inga tydliga symtom denna gång, mer än att jag svullnade upp och lade på mig mycket vikt väldigt tidigt (+5 kg på bara någon vecka). Sedan kom illamåendet och kräkningarna i vecka 7 och det var nästan lika illa som när jag väntade vår förstfödda, Othilia. Det höll i sig ända till den tolfte veckan. Mataversionen kom också och det höll i sig lika länge som illamåendet och kräkningarna. Nu har jag kunna börja längta lite efter vissa maträtter igen, innan var det mest att hitta något att äta som inte triggade kräkningar.

Jag och barnen blev sjuka när jag var i vecka 7 och det var en långdragen sjuka som härjade i två veckor och det var inte roligt att vara sjuk samtidigt som jag var tidigt inne i graviditeten. Dagarna handlade bara om slem, snor, hosta, feber och kräkningar, samt en trötthet som inte var av denna värld.

Ultrasound week 9

I made an initial appointment with my OB/GYN at week 9 and there this slightly unbelievable pregnancy was finally confirmed to be real and that the fetus was growing in the right part of the belly and had a heartbeat. I go to the same doctor I went to when I carried Ossian in my womb. Partly because I think he is thorough, but also because he is listed as one of the doctors you can contact if you want to do a Panorama test, a so-called NIPT (Non-invasive prenatal test). Considering my age at the time of this pregnancy, it is something that I want to have performed and then I can do the test with someone I trust. More on that in the next post.

Hello little bean! We are so glad that you have chosen to come to us this winter!

Jag bokade in ett första träff hos min OB/GYN i vecka 9 och där kunde denna smått otroliga graviditet äntligen bekräftas att den var verklig och att det fostret växte i rätt del på magen och hade ett hjärtljud. Jag går till samma läkare som jag gick till när jag bar Ossian i magen. Dels för att jag tycker att han är noggrann, men också för att han är listad som en av läkarna man kan kontakta om man vill göra ett Panoramatest, ett så kallat NIPT (Non-invasive prenataltest). Med tanke på min ålder vid denna graviditet så är det något som jag vill göra och då kan jag göra testet hos någon som jag har förtroende för. Mer om det i nästa inlägg.

The second pregnancy part I – Finding out and the first weeks of pregnancy

January 12, 2021 / Ulrika / 0 Comments

I want to try to document little brother’s pregnancy in the same way I did for Othilia, so I’m going to try my best to dust off our old blog. I’m now in the last days of the second trimester so it is time to write down what has happened in the last 27 weeks. Not easy, but I’ll give it a try.

With Othilia, it was pretty quick to get pregnant once we started trying and the nice plus on the stick came during the Christmas weekend in 2017 when we were in Cyprus and an expectant time began. With little brother it has taken a bit longer to get pregnant. Unfortunately, I had to stop breastfeeding Othilia when she was 19 months in the hope that my monthly cycle would return to normal. This time around, both ovulation tests and temperature measurements were used and they showed that I was on the verge of a too short luteal phase for a pregnancy to start (it was usually only 9 days for me). Even after I stopped breastfeeding, it did not get better, but the same cycle that I decided to support my luteal phase with a progesterone cream, what we wanted to happen would happened.

We were starting to wonder when a sibling would show up during the summer of 2020.

Jag vill försöka dokumentera lillebrors graviditet på samma sätt som jag gjorde för Othilia, så jag ska försöka damma av vår gamla blogg. Jag är nu i de sista dagarna av andra trimestern så det är dags nu att skriva ned vad som har hänt de senaste 27 veckorna. Inte lätt, men jag ska göra ett försök.

Med Othilia gick det rätt så snabbt att bli gravid när vi väl började försöka och det fina plusset på stickan kom under julhelgen 2017 när vi befann oss på Cypern och en förväntansfull tid började. Med lillebror har det tagit lite längre tid, vi fick tyvärr avsluta amningen för Othilia när hon var 19 månader i hopp att min cykel därefter skulle återgå till det normala. Denna gång användes både ägglossningstest och temperaturmätningar och de visade att jag hade på gränsen till för kort lutealfas (den var oftast bara 9 dagar) för att en graviditet skulle ske. Även efter avslutad amning så blev det inte bättre och samma cykel som jag bestämt mig för att hjälpa lutealfasen på traven med progesteronkräm så hände det vi ville skulle hända.

Finding out – August 1st

I had, by mistake, purchased a larger amount of extra sensitive pregnancy tests, so I started testing this cycle already at 8 days after ovulation. I wanted to see if it was the case that I became pregnant, but that it resulted in early miscarriages when my luteal phase was so short that a fertilized egg never had time to attach before it was flushed out with the endometrium (i.e menstruation).

Already in the morning of August 1 and day 9 after ovulation, we saw a faint positive pregnancy test and we were cautiously happy. Now we waited a few hours and then days to see if the “lilla fröet” (little seed) would be able to stay. The days went by and the pregnancy tests became more and more positive. We could breathe out for the moment, we had at least overcome the first obstacle in our way to a baby.

Jag hade råkat införskaffa en större mängd extra känsliga graviditetstest och jag började denna cykel testa redan från 8 dagar efter ägglossning. Jag ville se om det var så att jag blev gravid, men att det resulterade i tidiga missfall då min lutealfas var så kort så att ett befruktat ägg aldrig hann fästa innan det spolades ut med endometriet (dvs mens).

Redan morgonen den 1 augusti och dag 9 efter ägglossning så fick vi se ett mycket svagt positivt graviditetstest och vi blev försiktigt glada. Nu väntade några timmar och sedan dagar för att se om det lilla fröet skulle klara av att stanna kvar. Dagarna gick och graviditetstesten blev bara mer och mer positiva. Vi kunde för tillfället andas ut, vi hade åtminstone klarat det första hindret i vår väg till ett litet barn.

First weeks of pregnancy with “ Lilla fröet” (the little seed)

With Othilia we had a spontaneity when we lived as nomads and we did the week 9 appointment in Athens (Greece) and the week 12 ultrasound in Torrevieja (Spain), but now we live in the Czech Republic so this time I will partly follow the Czech system.
Othilia was born in the Czech Republic and with her I had a wonderful private midwife who helped me through the end of pregnancy, birth and even afterwards with breastfeeding.
This time I wanted her by my side again so the first thing I did, when we could be sure that a pregnancy had started, was to contact and book her.

My first pregnancy-related meeting was with my midwife Marketá and she did go through and tell us what the Czech system looked like and how it worked. With that information, I was then able to make a loose plan on how I wanted the pregnancy to proceed.

Discussing the Czech system and planning my second pregnancy with my midwife.

Med Othilia så hade vi en spontanitet då vi levde som nomader och vi gjorde vecka 9 undersökningen i Athen (Grekland) och vecka 12-undersökningen i Torrevieja (Spanien), men nu bor vi i Tjeckien så denna gång kommer jag delvis följa Tjeckiens system.
Othilia är född i Tjeckien och med henne så hade jag en underbar privat barnmorska som hjälpte mig igenom hela slutet av graviditeten, förlossningen och även efteråt med amningen.
Denna gång ville jag ha henne vid min sida igen så det första jag gjorde, när vi kunde vara säkra på att en graviditet hade startat, var att kontakta och boka henne.

Mitt första graviditetsrelaterade möte var med min barnmorska Marketá och hon fick gå igenom och berätta för oss hur det tjeckiska systemet såg ut och fungerade. Med den informationen kunde jag sedan göra upp en lös plan för hur jag ville att graviditeten skulle fortskrida.

Private self-check up

In connection with the meeting with my midwife, I had also gone to a private lab to take an arsenal of tests, where especially vitamin d and thyroid status was most interesting at this point in the pregnancy. I carry a mutation that makes me need extra vitamin D supplement to get optimal blood levels of this vitamin, so it is extra important to review my vitamin D levels now during pregnancy and not just for protection against Corona or general aging.

When you come from Sweden, you appreciate the simplicity here in Prague when it comes to taking blood tests that you can do by yourself. Just print out the price list at the Prevedig website, mark the tests you want to order and then visit one of their blood test facilites during blood collecting hours and take a queue note. No appointment required (required though for Corona tests), it is cheap and you will receive your test result the same day. Some tests require you to be fasting beforehand so that is what you need to keep in mind before going there.

Corona times and blood samples are taken outdoors during the summer months.

I samband med mitt möte med barnmorskan så hade jag även tagit mig till ett privat labb för att ta en arsenal av prover, där speciellt vitamin d och tyreoidea (sköldkörtel) status var intressantast. Jag bär på en mutation som gör att jag behöver extra vitamin d för att få optimala blodnivåer av denna vitamin, så det är extra viktigt att se över mina vitamin d nivåer nu under graviditeten och inte bara för skydd mot corona eller allmänt åldrande.

När man kommer från Sverige så uppskattar man enkelheten i att ta blodprover som man kan göra här i Prag. Det är bara att skriva ut prislistan hos Prevedig, pricka för de tester du vill beställa och sedan åka dit under deras provtagningstider och ta en kölapp. Ingen tidsbokning krävs (gäller dock ej för Corona-tester), det är billigt och du får ditt provsvar samma dag. Vissa prover kräver att man är fastande så det är det man måste tänka på.

First Obgyn appointment – week 9

My midwife Marketá could recommend an Obgyn clinic in Prague 1 that had a good reputation and was known for knowing English so I turned to them to book a first meeting in pregnancy week 9 for enrollment and ultrasound to ensure a ticking heart in the right place in the abdomen. It was very quick and easy and since then I have booked one visit at a time with them.

It is normal in the Czech Republic that you have booked examinations every four weeks after pregnancy week 8 until it is time for the birth, then the hospital you have chosen takes over. Below is a chart of how a pregnancy is monitored here in the Czech Republic. However, I have chosen to have some of my check ups with my private midwife instead of my obgyn.

The first look at “lilla fröet” (the little seed) as we started to call our growing life.

Min barnmorska Marketá kunde rekommendera en Obgyn-klinik i Prag 1 som hade gott rykte och var kända för att kunna bra engelska så det var dit jag vände mig för att boka i mig för ett första möte i graviditetsvecka 9 för inskrivning och ultraljud för att säkerställa ett tickande hjärta på rätt plats i buken. Det gick väldigt snabbt och enkelt och därefter har jag bokat in ett besök i taget.

Normalt i Tjeckien är att man har inbokade undersökningar var fjärde vecka efter graviditetsvecka 8 fram till att det är dags för förlossningen och då tar det sjukhus man har valt över. Nedan finns ett schema över hur en graviditet monitoreras här i Tjeckien. Jag har dock valt att lägga vissa undersökningar med min privata barnmorska istället för min obgyn.

The Czech pregnancy schedule

Week 8/9 Ultrasound, enrollment obgyn
Week 10 Blood test for NIPT-test (trisomy 21 etc)
Week 12 Big routine ultrasound
Week 16 blood test, extended genetic test (trisomy 13, 18, cleft palate, neural tube defect etc)
Week 20 Big anatomy scan, ultrasound
Week 24 Regular standard examination (blood pressure, urine test etc)
Week 28 Glucose challenge test etc
Week 32 Ultrasound appointment, including placenta and umbilical cord examination
Week 36 Enrollment and examination at the maternity hospital. Then check up every week until birth.

Registering at the Obgyn in September 2020

This is part I of my pregnancy follow-up story for 2020/2021. More about how I’ve been feeling, pregnancy insurance, maternity hospital choice, Corona lock-downs and the end of the first trimester will be in part II and other future blog posts.

Detta får bli del I av min graviditetsföljetång anno 2020/2021. Mer om mitt mående, graviditetsförsäkring, sjukhusval, Coronanedstängningar och slutet av första trimestern kommer i del II och andra framtida blogginlägg.

Nomads on family vacation – Lanzarote

December 23, 2019 / Ulrika / 0 Comments

Our journey North would bring us all the way to Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands along the coast of Africa’s horn, but belonging to Spain. This time we would not be alone traveling.

We met up with Ulrika’s family in Sweden so we could go on a family vacation together. The last time we did such a thing was in 2017 when Ulrika’s sister Rebecca was expecting Filip and Ulrika’s family met up with us in Indonesia (Bali, Gili Air, Lombok and then Bali again).

This time we had two more people with us, Othilia and Filip, and it was lovely for them to spend so much time together. There will be a lot of pictures of them below!

Vår resa norr skulle ta oss hela vägen till Lanzarote, en av Kanarieöarna längs med Afrikas horn, men tillhörande Spanien. Den här gången skulle vi inte resa ensamma.

Vi mötte upp med Ulrikas familj i Sverige så att vi kunde åka på familjesemester tillsammans. Förra gången vi gjorde något sådant var 2017 när Ulrikas syster Rebecca väntade Filip och Ulrikas familj träffade oss i Indonesien (Bali, Gili Air, Lombok och sedan Bali igen).

Den här gången hade vi ytterligare två personer med oss, Othilia och Filip, och det var underbart för dem att spendera så mycket tid tillsammans. Det kommer finnas en hel del bilder på dem nedan!

With a family spread out in the world, Ulrika’s mother managed to gather all her children and grandchildren for a vacation together on Lanzarote with the focus on these two – Filip and Othilia.

The flight down to the Canary Islands went so smooth with the young ones. There were a lot of families with small children on this flight so imagine the noise level. However, Filip and Othilia were so calm and happy so they even got praise from our flight chair neighbors for handling the 6 hour flight so well.

This family vacation was all about letting our kids play in and around water. So they did! It will be a lot of pool pictures below.

The first evening enjoying the sunset. It was so magical. Especially for the family members that had been in Sweden during November, not many hours of sun in that month.

Othilia and Filip loved to run around on the beach and walk next to the ocean.

Here is Othilia running down to the beach. She is not as fast as Filip, that is why we haven’t any pictures from him running around.

Another sunset on this island formed from volcanic activity.

We usually don’t live like this while we are traveling. Traveling for us is a life style. This was a vacation 🙂

Lots of play and swimming in the pool during the days.

Mormor (maternal grandma) is a crocodile!

It was a hotel designed for families with young kids so Filip and Othilia had plenty of things to do there.

Not only water play was on our daily activity plan.

Pontus were up taking his morning walk and managed to capture the view in the morning as well.

Othilia developed tremendously during this week. She was a bit reserved playing in the water in the beginning of the week.

A few days later she had mastered the arm puffs and was now swimming and turning in the water and even dared to jump from the stairs into our arms. Filip, on the other hand, is a fish in the water and can remain in the water for hours if allowed.

Here is Othilia jumping in the water. Brave girl!

We had an amazing sunset one evening from the boardwalk in Puerto del Carmen.

Ulrika managed to capture four planets in one picture. From the top: Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Tellus. The planets were almost aligned in the sky.

Ulrika’s brother Niklas and his girlfriend Caroline were with us! Niklas had just come home from Mali so he was freezing here on Lanzarote. We did have lovely weather the week we where here though, he was just used to much warmer weather!

The hotel also had a children’s pool that was played in as well. Filip wanted to be in the deeper pool so he was often climbing out of there.

Othilia got tired of all the play during the days. She slept really well on a sunbed next to the children’s pool.

Filip and Othilia tried going into the ocean one afternoon, but Othilia was not a fan of the waves.

Our last evening on our family vacation on Lanzarote and we went back to the restaurant we all liked the most – Royal in Puerto del Carmen. One didn’t want to be in any pictures so that is why we have a blob sitting at the table 🙂

The week went so fast and soon it was time for Othilia’s second flight in her life. It went as smooth as the first flight so we are now not concerned taking Othilia on longer flights.

Back in Sweden and now it was time for Christmas celebrations with our families – Othilia’s second Christmas in her life! Thanks Louise and Marika for lending us a few suitcases!

Hot summer, pregnancy and Säter’s mental healthcare museum

August 7, 2018 / Ulrika / 0 Comments

July was incredible hot in Sweden and for Ulrika this meant tiredness and just find ways to try to cool off. We had planned to spend some time with family before we had to leave Sweden, so we did just that. Ulrika’s birthday wish was to go to Säter’s mental healthcare museum so this trip was our only adventure during July. We also had to do a lot of preparations for the coming birth of our child, so July went by incredible fast for us. Below is a summary of our July in pictures.

Juli var otroligt hett i Sverige och för Ulrika betydde det en otrolig trötthet och försöka hitta sätt att vara sval. Vi hade planerat att spendera denna tid med familjen innan vi var tvungna att lämna Sverige, så vi gjorde just det. Ulrikas födelsedagsönskning var att åka till Säters mentalvårdsmuseum, så denna utflykt var vårt enda äventyr under juli. Vi var också tvungna att göra flera förberedelser för vårt barns kommande födelse, så juli gick otroligt snabbt för oss. Nedan följer en sammanfattning av vårt juli i bilder.

Week 32 photo of Ulrika and little did she know that Sweden would experience the hottest summer since the Swedish Weather institute started their measurements 250 years ago. Here. she was just glad not to be nearer the equator

We were in Dalarna with Pontus family for the most part helping out with different things.

Helping Pontus mother start building a greenhouse.

We also got to hang out with Pontus nephew Noa (Grattis Noa på födelsedagen!)

Noa showing us and his mother Hanna that he was almost ready to start walking by himself. Soon he would let go of his parents hands and begin to explore the world.

We went to an outdoor auction in Dalarna.

It is interesting to see the psychology behind the bidding strategies.

Found a funny sign in one of the stores we visited: “Win a free ride in a police car. The only thing you need to do is to shoplift in this store. Say hello to the camera :)”

The temperature just rose and rose, and soon it was no longer pleasant to be in Sweden in the end of a pregnancy.

The only thing we could do was to cool ourselves in the lakes, here in Långviken.

And Harnäs.

Ulrika during week 35 before cooling off in lake Grycken after an incredible hot day (compared to other Swedish summers).

Ulrika also turned 35 during those hot summer days and Pontus baked a cake for her using his mother’s recipe.

Ulrika finally got to visit Säters mentalvårdsmuseum (Säter’s mental healthcare museum). The state institution for mentally ill persons and others opened 1912 and parts of the area is still operational – the forensic psychiatry clinic.

It is a small museum and you have to book the guided tour in advance, but it is so worth it to take the guided tour. You get to learn about the psychiatric care in the beginning of last century and what standard practices to help and “help” mentally ill persons have looked like during the last century.

Most interesting is the part where the patients crafts and artistry are displayed. This cardigan was created by a psychotic woman, where the front piece were worked on during her “chaotic” episodes and the back piece worked on during her calm episodes.

A wedding dress by a female patient who thought that she and the head doctor were to get married.

The doctor’s name was Theodore (Ted).

There were no lack of innovators in this place. This gun was designed to be able to shoot around corners.

Other made more or less correct predictions of the future. One patient were concerned about the future of electricity and he wrote a book about it “About the ravages of electricity” in 1920.

Others feared about overpopulation of Sweden already in 1939.

And a few patients really could envision what the world would look like in the future describing wireless telephones already in 1912, but the doctors at that time called it hallucinations.

Back in Stjärnsund we ate Ulrika’s birthday cake and had a quiet celebration. Ulrika thinks that Pontus did a very good job with creating this birthday cake!

We enjoyed our time with family in July, but we we’re also preparing for giving birth to our child – one of the tasks were to visit a Notarius Publicus to get an Apostille stamp on important documents. It was interesting to see that Gävle had a Finnish honorary consulate.

Ulrika has used home tests to monitor her iron levels and after taking iron supplements for a months she were finally back to normal levels. This is another thing to be aware of, taking control over your body, when you don’t have a specific doctor or midwife to go to. Fortunately, there are so much things that you can do nowadays to monitor yourself. We ordered several home tests from HH UK like protein in Urea, Vitamin D levels etc (link below).

Home Health UK

We got delayed, because of car trouble, so we couldn’t leave Sweden at our planned date. We got more time with family, but we wanted to leave Sweden before Ulrika entered week 36.

Just before Ulrika entered week 36 everything was fixed and we had packed our bags for the coming months.

We passed Göteborg to say good bye to this little muggler.

And Sweden said good bye to us with one final fire – now at an industrial site. The heat and dryness have really been extreme this summer in Sweden and a lot of forests have gone up in flames.

Ulrika’s brother has been one of the heroes fighting the fires in the extreme heat. They managed to get the fire outside Kårböle in control! (Picture taken by one of Niklas colleagues at R3 Uppsala)

Now it is August and technically “det lilla livet” can come any time from the middle of August to middle of September. It is going to be exciting couple of weeks we are facing!

Nu är det augusti och tekniskt sett så kan det lilla livet komma någon gång från mitten av augusti till mitten av september. Det kommer att bli spännande några veckor vi står inför!

In the Swedish “bubb.la”

July 8, 2018 / Ulrika / 2 Comments

We had to enter the Swedish bubbla, but fortunately for us we have our own “bubb.la” with family and friends that we like to be inside when we are in Sweden. The big day for us is coming closer so we want to spend this last time with family and friends before we will go and welcome our child. This time around it was going to be all about bubbles with a name giving ceremony, bubb.la meet up with Boris and a wonderful bubb.la wedding.

Vi var tvungna att åka in i den svenska bubblan, men lyckligtvis har vi vår egen “bubb.la” med familj och vänner som vi tycker om att vara inne i när vi är i Sverige. Den stora dagen för oss kommer allt närmare så vi vill spendera denna sista tid tillsammans med familj och vänner innan vi ska åka och välkomna vårt barn. Den här gången skulle det handla om bubblor med en namngivningsceremoni, bubb.la-träff med Boris och ett underbart bubb.la bröllop.

Back on Swedish soil and we realized that we were close to the most Southern point in Sweden – Smygehuk. Also, Ulrika is showing off her week 29 belly.
We visited Smygehuk in the early morning before we headed North, it was going to be a long day on the road for us.

We had lunch in Kalmar and decided to tick another thing off the bucket list. Ulrika has never seen Ölandsbron, the 6 kilometer long bridge that connects the island Öland to the mainland.

We came back to Sweden for Ulrika’s nephew Filip’s name giving ceremony, the secular version of baptism, and to spend time with our families before we need to focus on welcoming our girl to this world.

We celebrated Midsummer, the Swedish feast that is the closest to a national day Sweden has. Here we danced to classical Swedish ballads around a leaf- and flower-covered Phallus.

We got the opportunity to meet and speak with Boris, one half of the podcast “radio bubb.la”. Here he is with Ulrika’s nephew Filip. We also bought a signed copy of his book ” Inte mitt krig” about the death of the Swedish leftist movement during the 70’s and how they instead infiltrated the institutions causing the Swedish state to swell into an enormous bureaucratic and socialist apparatus, which is the main reason why today’s Sweden is collapsing.

You can find the book here at Cultura Aetatis, the publishing house under the bubb.la umbrella.

We also got the opportunity to dress up to celebrate the union of our friends Martin and Sofia, the founders of project bubb.la and radio bubb.la. Ulrika found a dress that she could wear at 30 weeks of pregnancy.

It was a lovely ceremony in Stockholm and Boris was the marriage officiant. Thank you Martin and Sofia for letting us be part of your special day.

the first dance as a married couple!

We headed back to Ulrika’s family to spend more time with them. Filip loves water so we took him to Högbosjön one day.

He didn’t hesitate to get in the water even though the water temperature was far from the indoor baby pool he is used to.

We also spent one day at Furuvik, an amusement park and zoo, near Gävle and we chose a nice day to be here, Sweden played against South Korea at the World Soccer Championship, so we were almost alone in the park.

We had a barbecue party with a few of Ulrika’s cousins.

and “det lilla livet” got her first pair of shoes from Linnéa, one of Ulrika’s cousins. Thank you Linnéa!

” Det lilla livet” has gotten a lot of things from both mormor (maternal grandmother), moster (maternal auntie) and friends, so it was time to organize our girl’s things.

It was time for our girl to get her own back pack and for us to gather all her things. It is only two month left before she will be here, so from now on her back pack will travel with us.

Meeting up with Filip in Torrevieja

March 7, 2018 / Ulrika / 0 Comments

Ulrika’s newest family member Filip jumped on an airplane for the first time in his life to visit his best auntie (moster). He brought his mother as well, Ulrika’s sister Rebecca, and we had a lovely week in Torrevieja (Spain) together. Be prepared for cute baby pictures!

Ulrikas nyaste familjemedlem Filip hoppade på ett flyg för första gången i sitt liv för att besöka sin bästa moster. Han tog med sig sin mamma, Ulrikas syster Rebecca, och vi hade en underbar vecka i Torrevieja (Spanien) tillsammans. Var beredd på söta bebisbilder!

This little guy and his mother were the reason we ended up in Spain in the first place. Filip’s first travel abroad at 3.5 months and he came to visit his aunt, uncle and his grandparents (farmor and farfar).

Ulrika and her sister enjoying lunch at La Marina. The first week in Torrevieja was all about hanging out with Ulrika’s sister and nephew.

Selfie-time, most pictures in this blog post will include family members!

We spent our days walking around in Torrevieja and enjoying the sun. We got a lovely view of Torrevieja from the pier in the marina that stretch out 2 km from the coast.

The pier acts like a huge wave breaker for the marina, and protects the ships from nasty weather.

We were fortunate with the weather. It was still cold during the evenings, but warm during most days.

Torrevieja is surrounded by beaches and we actually saw a few people swim in the sea.

Ulrika snuggled with Filip as much as she could during their week together.

Rebecca, Filip ad Ulrika went to Centro Comercial Zenia Boulevard, a big shopping mall 8 km south of Torrevieja. They have a lot of well-known stores and a great play ground for children.

Rebecca loves to visit pharmacies when she is out travelling to see how they work and what products they have. She is a pharmacist herself so that’s why! We love the Spanish pharmacies- they can write prescriptions for you and take several blood tests, like glucose etc. Many pharmacies had a blood pressure machine and we took our blood pressure for 1 Euro per person. Also, it is to a pharmacy you go if you want to weigh your child and measure their height. No need to book appointments here.

Rebecca cooked dinner for us one night and we did a full Swedish taco night with Santa Maria products.

Grandpa (Farfar) fixed a baby chair for Filip so he could join us at the table.

Filip’s grandma and grandpa (farmor och farfar) live here in Torrevieja so they took us to their favorite places to eat. Filip had other ways to eat, so he got some peace and quiet under Rebecca’s poncho. Spanish people and drunk foreigners can get quite loud in small restaurants.

Two of Ulrika’s favorite persons in the world.

Torrevieja’s Carneval was going on so we went to see an incredible street show with people of all ages.

They wore incredible designs with a lot of detail. We only had a mobile phone, so the pictures aren’t so great.

One week with family goes fast, so we said good bye to Rebecca and Filip for this time. We stayed in Torrevieja, because it was time for Ulrika to do the week 12 routine check up.

See you soon Filip!

Fullt upp i Sverige! / Busy in Sweden!

December 2, 2015 / Ulrika / 1 Comment

(Please scroll down to the orange text for the English version)

Det är väldigt intensiva veckor för oss i Sverige, så därför har det varit lite tyst från oss. Vi ska dock börja uppdatera igen så smått och vi tänkte berätta om vad som hände efter besöket i Dalarna. Efter en vecka med Pontus föräldrar och syster så begav vi oss mot Ulrikas föräldrar och första stoppet blev Ulrikas Pappa i Norrsundet. Där fick vi uppleva första snön för den här vintern, blandat med promenad på byn och spaning efter vargar som varit synliga i området och titta på ruinerna som är kvar av huset där pappa växte upp. Sedan kom vi hem till Ulrikas mamma där det vankades släkträff med mostrar, morbror och kusiner. Ulrikas syskon bor på olika ställen i landet (Göteborg och Uppsala) och de tog sig tid för att träffa oss och kom hem till mamma för att kramas och prata! Under släktmiddagen hade Ulrika satt ihop en presentation där vi visade vad vi hade gjort under 9 månader i Asien! Vi har myst med Ulrikas mamma och fästman Mats på kvällarna och vi har fått gosat med vår älskade pälsklädda Charlie!

Vi hade också fixat en anarkokapitalistträff i Gävle och det var oerhört kul att mötas upp och prata frihetliga ideér. Våra vänner dök upp på träffen och en av dem är Johanna, som driver denna blogg, och även hon har varit med i ett avsnitt av frihetsfaxen, en svensk podcast som vi också varit gäster i!

It is very intense weeks for us in Sweden, so it has been a bit quiet from us here on our blog. However, we will start updating again soon. We thought to tell you about what happened after our visit in Dalarna. After spending a week with Pontus parents and sister, we went to Ulrika’s parents and the first stop was Ulrika’s father in Norrsundet. There we experienced the first snow of this winter and we walked around in the village looking out for wolves that have been visible in the area and visit the ruins that are left of the house where Ulrikas father grew up. Then we came home to Ulrika’s mother where a family reunion with aunts, uncle and cousins were on the agenda. Ulrika’s siblings live in different parts of the country (Gothenburg and Uppsala) and they took the time to meet us and came home to mom for hugs and talk! Ulrika had put together a presentation where we showed what we had done during 9 months in Asia that she presented during the family reunion! We have also spent time with Ulrika’s mother and fiance Mats in the evenings and we have cuddled with our beloved, furry Charlie!

We also arranged an anarcho-capitalist meeting in Gävle and it was very nice to meet up and discuss libertarian ideas. Our friends showed up at the meeting and one of them is Johanna, who runs this blog, and she has also been featured in an episode of the “Freedom fax machine“, a swedish podcast that we also have been guests in!

Middag hemma hos Ulla och Ulrikas pappa! Dinner at Ulla and Ulrika’s father!

Vakna upp i Norrsundet och se den första snön för den här vintern! Wake up in Norrsundet and see the first snow of this winter!

Ulrikas pappa är klädd för en promenad på byn! Ulrika’s dad is dressed for a walk in the village!

Norrsundets småbåtshamn. Nästan alla båtar är upplockade för vintern! Norrsundet’s marina. Almost all boats are picked up on land for the winter!

Norrsundet!

Lunch i Gävle med Ulrikas pappa och syster. Det blev en kebabtallrik som Ulrika längtat efter! Lunch in Gävle with Ulrika’s father and sister. Ulrika ordered a kebab that she has been longing for!

Så här ser ett alkoholmonopol med begränsade öppettider ut. This is what an alcohol monopoly with limited opening hours look like.

På torget i Gävle med biografen i bakgrunden! The square in Gävle with the cinema in the background!

Ulrika och Rebecca hälsade på deras gamla gymnasieförening, Naturvetenskapliga Föreningen, men ingen var hemma! Ulrika and Rebecca tried to visit their old high school association, The Natural Science Association, but no one was home!

Alderholmen som numera heter Gävle strand! Alderholmen that is now called Gävle beach!

Solnedgång över Gävle! Sunset over Gävle!

Middag hos Ulrikas mamma med Mats, Rebecca och Oskar! Dinner at Ulrika’s mother with Mats, Rebecca and Oskar!

Ulrikas älskade syskon Niklas och Rebecca! Ulrikas beloved siblings Niklas and Rebecca!

Ulrikas mamma hade lagat mat och fixat en släktträff! Ulrika’s mother had cooked food and arranged a family reunion!

Släktträff! Tyvärr så glömde vi bort att ta bilder under kvällen! Family Reunion! Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures during the evening!

Mys med gos-Charlie! Cuddle with Charlie!

Anarkokapitalistträff med gänget! Roligt att träffas och prata med er! Anarco-capitalist meeting with the gang! Great to meet you and talk with you!

Anarkokapitalistträff i Gävle med gänget! Roligt att träffas och prata med er! Anarco-capitalist meeting in Gävle with the gang! Great to meet you and talk with you!

Kågis beställde en jätteöl 🙂 Kågis ordered a giant beer 🙂

Hem ljuva hem! / Home sweet home!

November 19, 2015 / Ulrika / 4 Comments

(Please scroll down to the orange text for the English version)

Vi flög från Indiens största flygplats och vi hade fått rådet att vara där minst tre timmar innan för att hinna genom alla säkerhetskontroller. Det var inga problem för oss då vårt flyg gjorde att vi fick gå upp klockan tre på morgonen och vi kunde undvika folkstormen. Efter en mellanlandning i istanbul, satte vi återigen våra fötter på svensk mark. Pontus pappa och hans fru mötte oss där och det kändes som om det var igår som de lämnade oss på Arlanda inför vårt äventyr. Nio månader senare var de här igen och tog med oss till Dalarna. Vårt första stopp för vårt Sverigebesök är Pontus familj och dessa dagar har spenderats både med Pontus pappa i Långshyttan och Pontus mamma och syster i Stjärnsund. Vi har ätit jättegod mat, lakrits och njutit av några glas rött vin. Vi ställde oss också på vågen och det visade sig att både Ulrika och Pontus förlorat lite vikt under dessa nio månader (1 respektive 4-5 kilo), men vi misstänker att det är muskler som förtvinnat på oss båda.

Vi vaknade upp i lördags morse med nyheterna om terrordåden i Frankrike och det känns väldigt sorgset. Det är lika sorgligt med Beirut, Yola och andra terrordåd som händer i resten av världen också, men närhetsprincipen och det faktum att blodiga terrordåd är ovanligare i Europa än i mellanöstern gör att man kan ta till sig detta mer än vad andra terrordåd gör.

We flew from India’s largest airport, and we had been advised to be there at least three hours in advance to get through all the security checks. It was no problem for us as our flight meant we had to get up at three in the morning and the airport was not so full of people at that time. After a change of flight in Istanbul, we again put our feet on Swedish soil. Pontus dad and his wife met us there and it felt like it was yesterday that they left us at the airport before our adventure. Nine months later they were here again and they brought us to Dalarna. Our first stop on our visit to Sweden is Pontus family and the first week have been spent with both Pontus father in Långshyttan and Pontus mother and sister in Stjärnsund. We have eaten delicious food, liquorice and enjoyed a few glasses of red wine. We stepped on a scale and it turned out that both Ulrika and Pontus lost some weight during these nine months (1 and 4-5 kg respectively), but we suspect that it is muscles that has vanished on both of us.

We woke up on Saturday morning with the news of the terrorist attacks in France and it is very sad. It is equally sad when thinking of Beirut, Yola and other terrorist acts happening in the rest of the world too, but the proximity principle and the fact that bloody terrorist attacks are less common in Europe than in the Middle East means that we can take in this more than other acts of terrorism.

Den internationella flygplatsen i Mumbai! The international airport of Mumbai!

Den internationella flygplatsen i Mumbai hade jättefin inredning också! The international airport in Mumbai had a really nice decor too!

Frukost! Gröt med lingonsylt och knäckebröd med leverpastej och smörgåsgurka! Breakfast! Porridge with lingonberry jam and hard bread with liver paste and pickled cucumber!

Pontus pappas hus! Pontus father’s house!

Matbord för fåglarna! Dining table for the birds!

Banvallen i Långshyttan kantad av vinterklädda björkar! railway embankment in Långshyttan lined with winter-clad birches!

Banvallen i Långshyttan kantad av vinterklädda björkar! The railway embankment in Långshyttan lined with winter-clad birches!

Lången i Långshyttan! Lången in Långshyttan!

Lången i Långshyttan! Lake Lången in Långshyttan!

En strandbild en novemberdag i Sverige! A beach picture a November day in Sweden!

Solen kommer knappt över horisonten vid den här tiden på året. Det här är högsta punkten denna dag vid lunchtid. The sun barely comes over the horizon at this time of the year. This is the highest point on this day at noon.

Svensk husmanskost i form av pannbiff, potatis och lingonsylt är supergott! Swedish “husmanskost” in the form of salisbury steak, potatoes and lingonberry jam is super good!

Anita och Pontus pappa! Anita and Pontus father!

Pontus Mammas mysiga lilla hus! Pontus Mom’s cozy little house!

Stjärnsund en grå Novemberdag. Stjärnsund a gray November day.

Pontus mamma i sin nya sjal! Pontus mother in her new scarf!

Uppdukad middag i Stjärnsund med grillad kyckling. Pontus mamma tände utomhusgrillen för kanske sista gången i år! Dinner in Stjärnsund with grilled chicken. Pontus mother lit the outdoor grill perhaps for the last time this years!

Pontus syster Hanna kom förbi en liten sväng och hängde med oss. Pontus sister Hanna came by and hung out with us.