Tag: nomad family

Deciding on a name for our daughter

April 24, 2019 / Ulrika / 0 Comments

Our family has finally come out of the bubble that we have been in since the beginning of the year and so much has happened in Othilia’s development which I would like to write down for her to read when she gets older. I will try to do this now and in coming blog posts to save for the future.

First I want to write a few lines about her name Othilia (Svea Margit) Englund and why we chose just that name. Names are difficult and we have had a boy’s name decided for a long time, so when it was clear to us that we were going to welcome a girl to our family, we were completely blank. The middle names were pretty easy to decide as we wanted to take them from our respective families (from our respective paternal grandmothers). The challenge now was to find out what our little girl would be called.

Nu har vår familj kommit ur den bubbla som vi befunnit oss i sedan årsskiftet och det har hänt så mycket i Othilias utveckling som jag skulle vilja skriva ned för henne att läsa när hon blir äldre. Jag ska försöka göra detta nu i kommande inlägg för att spara till framtiden.

Först vill jag skriva några rader om hennes namn Othilia (Svea Margit) Englund och varför vi valde just det. Namn är svårt och vi hade sedan länge ett pojknamn bestämt, så när det stod klart för oss att vi skulle få en flicka så var vi helt blanka. Mellannamnen var rätt så lätta då vi ville ta dem från våra respektive familjer (från våra respektive farmödrar). Utmaningen nu var att komma på vad vår lilla tjej skulle heta.

Othilia on her 6 month’s photo shoot!

Girl names are difficult especially since we have a boy name that we wanted to relate to and we wanted the girl name to match the boy name to both meaning and feeling. We wanted to find an equal girl name for the boy name that fits into our family.

I was mainly looking for older Swedish women’s names, but we didn’t exclude newer names, as well as international names, because we wanted something that can be pronounced in the English-speaking part of the world. Pontus and I also had somewhat different opinions about what kind of names we thought was pretty. When it was only a few weeks left until labour, we had managed to agree on six names: Othilia, Liv, Livia, Olivia, Smilla and Astrid, where Othilia finally, for various reasons, became our first choice just a few days before the birth. We first wanted to see if our little girl suited to be called Othilia before we finally decided on a name and when she arrived it was obvious from the first moment, it was an Othilia who had come to us.

Flicknamn är svårt speciellt då vi har ett pojknamn som vi ville förhålla oss till och jag ville att flicknamnet skulle matcha pojknamnet både till betydelse och känsla. Vi ville hitta ett jämbördigt flicknamn till pojknamnet som passar in i vår familj.

Jag letade främst bland äldre svenska kvinnonamn, men uteslöt ej heller nyare namn, samt internationella namn, då vi ville ha något som går att uttala i den anglosaxiska delen av världen. Sedan hade Pontus och jag lite skilda åsikter om vad för sorts namn vi tyckte var fina. När det bara var någon vecka kvar till förlossningen så hade vi lyckats komma överens om sex stycken namn: Othilia, Liv, Livia, Olivia, Smilla och Astrid, där Othilia av olika anledningar tillslut blev vårt förstahandsval några dagar innan förlossningen. Vi ville först se om vår lilla flicka passade att heta Othilia innan vi slutgiltigt bestämde oss och när hon väl tittade ut så var det självklart, det var en Othilia som hade kommit till oss.

Othilia on her 6 month’s photo shoot!

The reason why we decided on Othilia, except for that we think it is a really lovely name and that it fits the boy name we like, is the meaning of the name.
Othilia comes from the Old High German name Odila, whose origin is derived from several women’s names that begin with Ot-, which has the meaning property and wealth which suits our family very well.

Anledningen till att det blev Othilia, förutom att vi tycker att det är ett jättefint namn och att det passar till pojknamnet, är betydelsen.
Othilia kommer från det fornhögtyska namnet Odila, vars ursprung härleds till flera kvinnonamn som börjar på Ot-, där förleden har betydelsen “egendom”, “rikedom” och vilket passar vår värdegrund väldigt bra.

Othilia on her 6 month’s photo shoot!

Othilia can be spelled in three different ways: Othilia, Ottilia and Otilia. First, we wanted Othilia to be a name without a lot of frills, hence our first choice was the spelling Otilia, but we chose to put in a silent h (in Swedish) in the name when we noticed that our English-speaking friends and acquaintances pronounced Othilia with a clear h when we told about our name choices. It was important for us that it would be quite easy to pronounce the name in English, Ulrika (often becomes “Eureka”) and Pontus (often becomes “Pho-n-thuss”) are more difficult to pronounce for a lot of people in the world.

Othilia and its spelling variants are an old Germanic name so even though it is unusual, both Swedes, British and Czechs believe that this name comes from their respective region. Othilia has, however, occurred in Sweden since the mid-17th century, but became quite popular in the 19th century and in the early 1900s, so I would also say that Othilia is an old Swedish name.

Othilia kan stavas på tre olika sätt: Othilia, Ottilia och Otilia. Först ville vi att Othilia skulle vara ett namn utan en massa krusiduller, därav var vårt förstaval stavningen Otilia, men vi valde tillslut att sätta in ett tyst h (på svenska) i namnet då vi märkte att våra engelsktalande vänner och bekanta uttalade Othilia med ett tydligt h när vi berättade om våra namnval. Det var viktigt för oss att det skulle vara hyfsat lätt att uttala namnet på engelska, Ulrika (blir ofta “Eureka”) och Pontus (blir ofta “Pho-n-thuss”) är betydligt svårare för den större delen av världen att uttala.

Othilia och dess stavningsvarianter är ett gammalt germanskt namn så även om det är ovanligt så verkar både svenskar, britter och tjecker tro att det namnet kommer från deras respektive region. Othilia har dock förekommit i Sverige sedan mitten av 1600-talet, men blev hyfsat populärt på 1800-talet och i början av 1900-talet, så enligt mig så är Othilia ett gammalt svenskt namn.

Othilia on her 6 month’s photo shoot!

The surname is another story that also includes Czech culture and laws, because it was the country we chose to welcome our daughter in.

Efternamnet får bli en annan historia som även inbegriper tjeckisk kultur och lagar eftersom det var landet som vi valde att välkomna vår dotter i.

The birth of Othilia Svea Margit Englund

September 23, 2018 / Ulrika / 2 Comments

Sensitive readers are warned in advance. I want to write down what happened when Othilia decided to come to us and this story comes with specific details.

On September 5th, our beloved daughter came to the world after a long, hard and intense birth that ended in a bloodbath. We have decided that her name is Othilia Svea Margit Englund and she was 49 cm tall and weighed 3770 grams. Svea and Margit are after our paternal grandmothers, two women both born around the start of the First World War and they both were strong women from another time, so we wanted her to carry their names into the future.

Känsliga läsare varnas på förhand. Jag vill skriva ned hur det gick till när Othilia bestämde sig för att komma till oss och denna historia kommer med specifika detaljer

Den 5:e september kom vår älskade dotter till världen efter ett lång, hård och intensiv förlossning som slutade i ett blodbad. Vi har bestämt att hon ska heta Othilia Svea Margit Englund och hon var 49 cm lång och vägde 3770 gram. Svea och Margit är efter våra farmödrar, två kvinnor båda födda runt starten av första världskriget och de båda var starka kvinnor av en annan tid, så vi ville att hon skulle bära med sig deras namn in i framtiden.

Our Othilia Svea Margit Englund!

September 3rd, Monday

September 3rd was the calculated date of birth according to the first day of my last menstruation and this is the method used here in the Czech Republic, but I think that September 5th is the more correct date that we got from the week 20 ultrasound.

I have barely had any pre-contractions and they were definitely not regular, so when three contractions appeared in a row around 10 pm in the evening I began to track them. Over the next hour I measured 30 second contractions that came every 10 minutes, so I thought something was about to happen. I decided to take paracetamol and sleep to gather energy for a possible start of the birth.

3:e september var beräknat födelsedatum enligt uträkningen från sista mensens första dag och det är så det beräknas här i Tjeckien, men jag anser att 5:e september är den mer korrekta då vi fick det datumet vid vecka 20 ultraljudet.
Jag har knappt haft några förvärkar och ännu mindre några regelbundna sådana, så när tre stycken värkar dök upp runt kl 22 på kvällen, så började jag mäta värktiderna. Under kommande timme mätte jag 30 sekunders värkar med 10 minuters mellanrum, så jag anade att något var på gång. Jag bestämde mig för att ta paracetamol och sova för att samla kraft inför en eventuell start på förlossningen.

Picture taken September 3rd (39+5)

September 4th, Tuesday

I woke up at 6.30 am by a contraction and I was glad I got to sleep all night. Next contraction did not come until 07.40 and I managed to close my eyes between the two contractions. After that, the contractions came every 10 minutes and lasted about 50 seconds until 1.30 pm when the water broke and the mucus plug was pushed out. After that, the contractions changed character to appearing every 5 minutes and continued for 1 minute.
I had contact with my midwife Marketa and we decided to go to the hospital around 3 pm to avoid the afternoon traffic in Prague. Just before we arrived at Rakovnik, the contractions started coming closer together (2-2.5 minutes apart). At Rakovnik, a CTG measurement was done to check how Othilia was doing and at 4.30 pm, I was examined and I was only open 2-3 centimeters.

Hours went by and I was taking each contraction without any pain relief. we did try the birthing pool, it didn’t help much for the pain (I only got pain in my knees), and showering. At 11 pm, I was examined again and at that time I was 5-6 centimeters opened. I felt that I didn’t get so much reward for my work and I asked for some pain relief. I received half a dose (5 mg) Nalbuphin (a morphine derivate). Nalbuphin helped absolutely nothing against the pain, but Nalbuphin made me at least able to relax between the contractions and I was now able to rest.

Jag vaknade 06.30 av en värk och var glad över att jag fått sova hela natten. Nästa värk kom inte förrän 07.40 och jag lyckades slumra till mellan dessa värkar. Efter det så kom värkarna var tionde minut och varade runt 50 sekunder fram till att vattnet och slemproppen gick 13.30. Då ändrade värkarna karaktär till att komma var 5:e minut och värktid till 1 minut.
Jag hade kontakt med min barnmorska Marketa och vi bestämde att vi skulle åka till sjukhuset runt 15.00 för att undvika rusningstrafiken i Prag. Strax innan vi anländer till Rakovnik så blir värkarna tätare och kommer nu med runt 2-2.5 minuters mellanrum. Vi blir inskrivna, CTG-mätning görs, för att kolla hur Othilia mår och vid 16.30 blir jag undersökt och har bara öppnat mig 2-3 centimeter.

Timmarna går och jag tar värk efter värk utan någon smärtlindring, vi provar pool och det ger inte så mycket smärtlindring, bara ont i mina knän, och att duscha. Vid 23 så undersöks jag igen och då har jag öppnat mig till 5-6 centimeter. Då kände jag att jag inte fick någon belöning för mitt arbete och bad om lite smärtlindring så att jag fick vila lite. Jag fick en halv dos (5 mg) Nalbuphin (ett morfinderivat). Det hjälpte absolut inget mot smärtan, men Nalbuphin gjorde så att jag åtminstone kunde slappna av mellan värkarna och där kunna få vila.

We used the Pregnancy Week by Week app (by Amila) to follow the pregnancy and record the contractions during labour.

September 5th, Wednesday (Due date)

I worked with the contractions during the night, they were still around 3 minutes apart and Pontus was a big support for me. He gently stroked and massaged me hour by hour, gave me water and made sure I got some rose hip soup. He handled the music and recorded all contractions until 3 minutes before Othilia was born.
I tried nitrous oxide for the pain, but it did nothing for me not even a feeling of being “high”, so I stopped using nitrous oxide quite fast.

At 05:00, I was open 9 centimeters. However, the time between the contractions had increased to 5 minutes. This was the first time (of two) that I expressed that I would not manage this much longer. I received my second half dose of Nalbuphin and once again felt that I could relax between the contractions. At 6 am, the obstetrician wanted to give me oxytocin to make my contractions come closer again, as it felt like the contraction work was about to stop. Thankfully, I received a low dose of oxytocin. I was glad about that, because we found out during the night that I was sensitive to oxytocin. I had already been vomiting by my own oxytocin levels, so adding more meant that I was nauseous constantly until Othilia came out.

My midwife was amazing during my entire labour, she made me work with gravity even though I could barely stand up, she reminded me to breathe as soon as the panic began to creep on me and she let me rest when she saw that there was no more energy left in my eyes. We three (me, Pontus and Marketa) were really a team throughout the labour.

It was during this time that it was decided which surname Othilia would have. The pediatricians were really eager to know Othilia’s surname in order to prepare for her arrival and they had repeatedly asked for one during the night. At 4 am in the morning, they really wanted a surname and I, who were completely exhausted after all these hours in labour, told Pontus to choose which surname she would have, because I couldn’t care less about it at that time.

Jag arbetade med värkarna under natten, fortfarande runt 3 minuter mellan värkarna och Pontus var ett stort stöd för mig. Han smekte och masserade mig timme för timme, gav mig vatten och såg till att jag fick i mig lite nyponsoppa. Han skötte musiken och klockade alla värkar fram till 3 minuter innan Othilia föddes.
Jag provade lustgas, men det gjorde absolut inget för mig, inte en tillstymmelse till att känna mig “hög” eller minska på smärtan, så jag valde bort lustgas rätt så snabbt.

Klockan 05.00 så var jag öppen 9 centimeter, dock började tiden mellan värkarna öka till 5 minuter mellan varje värk. Det var här för första gången (av två) som jag uttryckte att jag inte skulle orka det här. Jag fick min andra halva dos av Nalbuphin och fick återigen känna att jag kunde slappna av mellan värkarna. När klockan var 06.00 så kom förlossningsläkaren och ville ge mig oxytocin för att få mina värkar att komma tätare igen, då det kändes som om värkarbetet höll på att stanna av. Jag fick en låg dos oxytocin och det var skönt, då det hade visat sig att jag var känslig för oxytocin. Jag hade redan kräkts av mina egna oxytocinnivåer, så en tillförsel av mer gjorde att jag var illamående och ville kräkas ända tills Othilia kom ut.

Min barnmorska var helt fantastisk under hela förlossningen, hon fick mig att arbeta med gravitationen trots att jag knappt kunde stå upp, hon påminde mig att andas så fort som paniken började krypa på mig och hon lät mig vila när hon såg att det inte fanns mer energi i mina ögon. Vi tre (jag, Pontus och Marketa) var verkligen ett team under hela förlossningsarbetet.

Det var under den här tiden som det bestämdes vilket efternamn Othilia skulle få. Barnläkarna ville absolut ha ett efternamn för att kunna förbereda för Othilias ankomst och de hade flera gånger frågat efter ett. Vid 04.00 på morgonen så ville de verkligen ha ett efternamn och jag, som var helt slut efter alla dessa timmar, sade åt Pontus att välja vilket efternamn hon skulle ha då jag fullkomligt struntade i vilket av våra efternamn Othilia skulle få.

Othilia just a few minutes old, showing her skeptical and determined personality.

The descent

At 8 am in the morning I had been awake and in labour for 24 hours and now I was told that I was open 10 cm. However, she was still far up in the uterus, so for the next 1.5 hours, I was in an upright position as much as I could to help Othilia get down to the birth canal. Around 09.15 am, I finally began to feel the famous pressure that tells the body to start pushing. With a lot of help from my midwife, I started to understand how to deal with this new feeling. I asked my midwife to show me how to breathe and I just imitated her.

I was standing upright, hanging in a piece of cloth, and I could follow the contractions on a monitor. I took some contractions on the toilet as the pressure caused the stool to squeeze out (I even pooped on the floor when I stood upright). About 9.45 am, I began to feel that the head was on its way out, so we switched to the knee position where I could lean my upper body against the pool and take the contractions, all while the oxytocin went in to my system giving me nausea. I was so exhausted, so I no longer could understand English. Pontus translated everything that my midwife told me to Swedish during the last hour and that was a huge help for me. Othilia was so strong during the entire labour, but we were now in the 27th hour and her recovery between the contractions began to take longer time so we decided that Othilia had to come out now. I would push with everything I got and my midwife would do everything to prevent me from rupturing.

Klockan 08.00 på morgonen hade jag varit uppe i 24 timmar och arbetat med att få ut Othilia i lika många timmar. Då fick jag beskedet att jag nu var öppen 10 cm, dock så låg hon väldigt högt upp så de nästkommande 1.5 timmarna så var jag upprätt så mycket jag kunde för att hjälpa Othilia att komma ned till födelsekanalen. Runt 09.15 på morgonen så började jag äntligen känna av det berömda trycket som säger åt kroppen att börja krysta och det tog några krystvärkar och en hel del hjälp från min barnmorska för att jag skulle förstå hur jag skulle tackla denna nya situation. Jag bad min barnmorska visa mig hur jag skulle andas och så härmade jag henne.

Vid det här laget så stod jag upp, lätt hängandes i ett tygstycke och kunde själv se när nästa värk var på väg med hjälp av en monitor. Jag tog några värkar på toaletten då trycket gjorde att avföring började pressas ut (jag bajsade även på golvet när jag stod upprätt). Cirka 09.45 så började jag känna att huvudet var på väg ut, så då bytte vi till knäposition där jag kunde luta överkroppen mot poolen och ta värkarna, allt medan oxytocinet droppade och jag ville kräkas. Jag var så slut att jag inte längre förstod engelska, så det hjälpte mycket att Pontus översatte allt vad min barnmorska sade till mig under den sista timmen. Othilia var jättestark under hela förlossningen, men vi var nu inne på den 27:e timmen och nu började hennes återhämtning mellan krystvärkarna ta längre tid så vi bestämde att Othilia behövde komma ut nu. Jag skulle trycka allt vad jag kunde och så skulle min barnmorska göra allt för att jag inte skulle spricka.

Ulrika was really pale because of the blood loss and hard labour process. Here, we were waiting for the umbilical cord to stop pulsating so the doctors could put Ulrika under narcosis.

The birth of Othilia – 10.15 am, 180905

Othilias head came out at 10.10 and I didn’t rupture. She immediately gave us a big cry, but we had to wait for the next contraction, because I had no strength left. The contractions were still only coming every 5 minutes, so it was a long wait until the last contraction came that helped me push out the rest of Othilia’s body. This wait made the obstetricians very nervous, so when the contraction finally came, they stepped in and “helped” her to get out. However, she had not been able to finish her rotation so her shoulder got stuck and so it was during this time I ruptured a bit, even though my midwife was trying to prevent it.

I received Othilia between my legs and I immediately saw that I was sitting in a pool of my own blood. With the birthing of Othilia, almost one liter of blood came out with her. Pontus described it as a scene from the Texas chainsaw massacre movie and I was lifted up to the birthing bed. I did not stop bleeding so while we waited for the umbilical cord to stop pulsating, a medical team prepared to put me under narcosis to find and stop the bleeding. For 15 minutes I held Othilia while we waited for me to give Pontus the signal to cut the umbilical cord. Othilias umbilical cord was very short so she lay on my stomach instead of on my chest. Once the umbilical cord was cut, the anesthesiologists put me under narcosis all while our favorite composer’s (Kai Engel) music was playing in the room.
The music made my awakening out of the narcosis like the movie Inception, where I awoke from unconsciousness aware of several levels of unconsciousness, which were heavily colored by the film in question.

Othilias huvud kom ut 10.10 och hon gav genast ifrån sig ett par skrik och jag hade inte spruckit något när huvudet kom ut. Jag var dock tvungen att invänta nästa värk, för jag hade inga krafter kvar. Värkarna kom fortfarande bara var 5:e minut och det blev en lång väntan tills sista värken kom som gjorde att jag kunde trycka ut resten av Othilias kropp. Denna väntan gjorde förlossningsläkarna väldigt nervösa så när värken äntligen kom så “hjälpte” de till att få ut henne. Hon hade dock inte hunnit rotera klart så hennes axel fastnade lite och gjorde så jag jag sprack lite grann, trots att min barnmorska höll emot.

Jag tog emot Othilia mellan mina ben och såg genast att jag satt i en sjö av mitt egna blod. Med Othilia kom även nästan en liter blod ut på en gång. Pontus beskrev det som en scen ur motorsågsmassakern och jag blev genast upplyft på förlossningsstolen då jag inte slutade blöda. Medan vi väntade på att navelsträngen skulle sluta pulsera, så förberedde ett läkarteam för att söva ned mig för att hitta och stoppa blödningen. I 15 minuter fick jag hålla i Othilia medan vi väntade på att Pontus kunde klippa navelsträngen. Othilias navelsträng var väldigt kort så hon fick ligga på min mage istället för på bröstet. När väl klippningen av navelsträngen skedde så var anestesiläkarna direkt där och sövde ned mig allt medan vår favoritkompositörs (Kai Engel) musik spelade i rummet.
Musiken gjorde att mitt uppvaknade ur narkosen kändes som filmen Inception där jag steg upp ur medvetslösheten väldigt medveten om flera nivåer på väg mot medvetande, vilka dock var väldigt färgade av filmen i fråga.

Pontus bonding with Othilia

After the birth

It was a part of the placenta that had detached and caused the bleeding, so it was taken out and they also stitched the ruptures together while I was under narcosis. I felt like I had been hit by a truck when I woke up and it took 4 hours for me to get strong enough so I could finally have Othilia in my arms and start bonding with her. She had been in safe arms during all this time with her dad, Pontus, that had the important task of bonding with Othilia during her first hours outside the womb.

It would later show that the blood loss and these four hours affected the breastfeeding and milk production a lot. More about it in the next blog post.

Det var en del av placentan som hade lossnat och som orsakade blödningen, så den plockades ut och de sydde även mig under narkosen. Det tog 4 timmar för mig att bli tillräckligt pigg så att jag äntligen kunde hålla i Othilia och börja “ bonda” med henne. Hon hade dock varit i en säker famn och Pontus hade fått den viktiga uppgiften att bonda med Othilia under hennes första timmar utanför livmodern.

Det skulle visa senare att blodförlusten och dessa fyra timmar påverkade amningen och mjölkproduktionen en hel del. Mer om det i nästa blogginlägg.

Othilia after her first bath the day after the birth.

Worldschoolers of Prague and Edward’s first birthday

August 26, 2018 / Ulrika / 2 Comments

We have been meeting up with the Worldschoolers of Prague during our first month here. Our friend Caroline is one of the organizers so that is how we knew that worldschoolers even exist. Below is a quote from their homepage about what the term worldschooler means and we think that it fits our family’s description well and how we think of “homeschooling”, a word that doesn’t give the meaning of the term justice.

“Worldschooling is basically to learn from the world. The whole world is your classroom! We dont believe that learning occurs by being forced to stay inside of a classroom. We believe in natural learning, from the world around you, together as a family.

Worldschooling is a form of “home-schooling” but doesn´t often occur in the home. Worldschoolers can or cannot follow a curriculum. Worldschoolers can be many kinds from homeschoolers that follow curriculums to radical unschoolers. It is up to the families what they do.

Worldschoolers are often travelling families that travel for a longer or shorter time. They can also be families that don´t travel but are eager to explore the world from their homes.”

We have also celebrated Edward King’s first birthday and it is interesting how much has happened during a year. We came to Prague in August last year to assist the King family during the arrival of Edward. They had planned a home birth and we where there to take care of the older brothers if they decided that they didn’t want to be there during the birth. Everything went well and Ulrika even got to be the birth photographer capturing this special moment for the King family.

Being part of and experiencing the birth of Edward was especially precious to Ulrika, who before the birth of Edward was absolutely terrified of ever giving birth to a child. After this experience, Ulrika now feel totally calm and are not afraid anymore of the thought of giving birth. It has helped a lot for the coming birth of our child, which can happen any day now.

Vi har träffat “Worldschoolers” i Prag under vår första månad här. Vår vän Caroline är en av arrangörerna, så det är på den vägen vi lärt oss att “Worldschoolers” ens existerar. Nedan följer ett översatt citat från deras hemsida om vad begreppet “Worldschooler” betyder och vi tycker att det passar vår familjs beskrivning bra och hur vi tänker på “hemskolning”, ett ord som inte ger begreppet rättvisa.

“Världsskolare (Worldschoolers) är i princip att lära av världen. Hela världen är ditt klassrum! Vi tror inte att lärande sker genom att vara tvungen att stanna inne i ett klassrum. Vi tror på naturligt lärande, från världen runt omkring dig, tillsammans som en familj.

Världsskolning är en form av “hemskolning”, men det förekommer inte ofta i hemmet. Världsskolare kan både följa en viss läroplan eller göra det helt utan någon form av läroplan. Världsskolare kan vara många typer, från hemskolare som följer läroplaner till radikala “unschoolers”. Det är upp till familjerna vad de gör.

Världsskolare är ofta familjer som reser för en längre eller en kortare tid. De kan också vara familjer som inte reser, men är angelägna om att utforska världen från sina hem.”

Vi har också firat Edward Kings första födelsedag och det är intressant hur mycket som har hänt det senaste året. Vi kom till Prag i augusti förra året för att hjälpa Kingfamiljen vid ankomsten av Edward. De hade planerat en hemfödsel och vi var där för att ta hand om de äldre bröderna utifall de bestämde sig för att inte vilja vara där under födseln. Allt gick bra och Ulrika fick till och med agera förlossningsfotograf som fångade detta speciella ögonblick för familjen.

Att vara en del av och uppleva Edwards födelse var särskilt värdefullt för Ulrika, som före Edwards födelse var jätterädd för att någonsin föda ett barn. Efter denna erfarenhet känner Ulrika sig nu helt lugn och känner sig inte längre rädd inför tanken på att föda. Det har verkligen hjälpt oss mycket inför vårt barns kommande födelse, vilket kan hända vilken dag som helst nu.

Meeting up with a bunch of Worldschoolers for the first time. (Photo by: Caroline King)

Ulrika and our child got an examination by a possible future midwife, who had brought her own midwife equipment, during week 37 of pregnancy. (Photo by: Caroline King)

August has been incredible hot here in Prague so the meetings have mostly involved playing in water, here in Park Stromovka. (Photo by: Caroline King)

The worldschooler meet up at lake Džbán, a really kid-friendly facility where the adults pay an entrance fee (90 CZK) and the kids go in for free. (Photo by: Caroline King)

There are a lot of things to do here for both kids and adults.

They even have a small baby pool. (Photo by: Caroline King)

We have also been involved in science projects indoors – here separating oxygen and hydrogen by electrolysis with excited kids watching the tubes filling with gas.

Prague is a great place for worldschoolers. There are so much things you and your kids can do from Science and sports to arts and crafts. There are events and workshops happening all the time here in Prague, so it is just up to what your child is interested in.

Edward’s first birthday was coming up so we where invited to a small birthday picnic to celebrate that Edward has been around for one year. The place was going to be Park Stromovka, which is an awesome park to spend a day in. especially when you are in week 38 of pregnancy.

Caroline had prepared a birthday cake.

And Edward got a lot of help blowing out his candle from his older brothers Winston and Henry.

Edward also got help to open his birthday gifts.

A few friends came to celebrate Edward. Suzanna has experience giving birth at the hospital we finally chose and we met with them the last time we where here to get information about Rakovnik hospital. It helped us hearing about her experiences, which in the end convinced us to choose Rakonvik. It was nice meeting them again on Edward’s birthday picnic to be able to update them on how we have solved our birthing plans. Now it is just about waiting for our child to enter the world.

Week 38 pregnancy update and blowing up the Stalin monument

August 18, 2018 / Ulrika / 0 Comments

Week 38 of pregnancy and we have installed ourselves here in Prague, it is here that we have decided to welcome our child. We are almost prepared for the coming birth, so we now have to plan small adventures or things to do so we don’t end up spending our days just waiting for the birthing to start.
We love Prague – the nature, the bitcoin-friendly atmosphere and the nice food cultures here, so we try to keep ourselves occupied, but within Ulrika’s energy level. Her energy level has really sunken this week, but more about being week 38 pregnant below.

Vecka 38 av graviditeten och vi har installerat oss i Prag, det är här som vi har bestämt oss för att välkomna vårt barn. Nästan alla förberedelser inför den kommande födelsen är klara, så vi måste nu planera in små äventyr eller hitta på saker att göra så vi inte spenderar våra dagar med att bara vänta på att födseln ska börja.
Vi älskar Prag – naturen, den bitcoinvänliga atmosfären och de goda matkulturerna här, så vi försöker fylla dagarna, dock inom Ulrikas energinivå. Hennes energinivå har verkligen sjunkit den här veckan, men mer om att vara vecka 38 gravid nedan.

Week 38 of pregnancy and here we are in the Letna Park getting a nice view over a few of the bridges of Prague. Ulrika is trying not to fall in to the period of waiting, so we try to do small adventures those days Ulrika is feeling less tired.

There is a metronom, usually swinging from side to side, now standing in the middle of Letna Park after they blew up a 15 meter tall Stalin monument in 1962.

The Stalin monument during Czech Communism’s glory days. This is one of the reasons why we like the Czech Republic so much. A lot of people still remember those days and do not want to go back there. (Picture from Wiki Commons)

So Ulrika entered week 38 of pregnancy and we decided to go skin deep to document this pregnancy. Ulrika feels strong and beautiful, but a special form of fatigue has hit her. The scale says that she has gained 16 kg (35 pounds), but she doesn’t feel heavy yet. Her extremities, mostly her feet, have started to swell, but the blood pressure is good. Baby’s heartbeat sounded healthy at our week 38 appointment with our midwife and the baby’s head is now in a downward position, but not quite fixated yet. We see our midwife once a week now the last couple of weeks before the calculated date of birth (September 3rd).

We don’t want to end up in a bubble of just waiting for our daughter’s arrival, then it is going to feel like forever before she is here, so we are fortunate to have our friends here, the King family. (Picture by: Caroline King).

Prague doesn’t have a lot of natural lakes, so man-made lakes are the place to go if you want to cool off during hot summer days. The temperature has been insane here in Prague as well, most days reaching temperatures over 35C.

Prague has a big Vietnamese community from the time where communist countries used to force their citizens to expatriate to other communist countries. We really like the Vietnamese cuisine, especially Pho Bo (Vietnamese beef noodle soup), so I’m glad that the Vietnamese community choose to stay in the Czech Republic after the fall of communism here.

Our midwife is located right in the middle of the tourist parts of Prague, so it can be hard to find nice food places, but our midwife told us about a lovely restaurant (Styl&Interier) in her neighborhood, which was hidden away in a back yard, where we could have lunch after a long appointment with her.

But mostly, we cook our meals at home and there are those little things Ulrika appreciates, like when Pontus has decorated our dinner (mashed turnips with fish in oven) with nicely cut out flowers made from a radish. Or that we have an IKEA nearby where we can buy Kalles Kaviar and hard rye bread.

We have done the last shopping needed before the coming birth here in Prague. This is another thing we really like about Prague, it is really a bitcoin-friendly city. There are around 14 two-way bitcoin ATM’s just in and around the Prague area, so it is easy to get the local currency if you can’t pay directly with bitcoin.

Here is a map showing the location of all btc ATM’s in and around Prague, both one- and two-ways,

And some days Ulrika hasn’t even wanted to step outside, so she has finally finished her crochet project, creating a warm blanket for “det lilla livet”. Ulrika is not in to arts and crafts, and she hasn’t tried to crochet since the days of high school, but it is remarkable how much information you can get out of Youtube. Ulrika had an idea of what she wanted to create and five Youtube videos (and a number of hours crocheting) later “det lilla livet” now has a blanket.

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.

Technical Windecksattel and entering the third trimester

June 21, 2018 / Ulrika / 0 Comments

Windecksattel was our main goal before we left Austria for this time. Sandra and Markus had told us to leave this, more technical, hiking trail until the end of our stay, so the snow cover would have a chance to disappear before we hiked up to this part of the Alps.
We felt that it was time to try it just before Pontus birthday – the weather was a major factor and the weather forecast said that more unstable weather was to come during the following days. We packed food and water, which Pontus were responsible for carrying up the mountain and Ulrika, who just entered the third trimester, were responsible for carrying “det lilla livet” up the mountain. It was going to be a long day out in nature.

Windecksattel var vårt huvudsakliga mål innan vi lämnade Österrike för den här gången. Sandra och Markus hade berättat att vi skulle lämna den här, mer tekniska, vandringsleden till slutet av vår vistelse, så att snötäcket skulle ha en chans att försvinna innan vi vandrade upp till denna del av Alperna.
Vi kände att det var dags att försöka oss på denna led precis före Pontus födelsedag – vädret var en viktig faktor och väderprognosen hade sagt att mer ostabilt väder skulle rulla in under de kommande dagarna. Vi packade mat och vatten, vilket Pontus var ansvarig för att bära upp på berget och Ulrika, som just gick in i tredje trimestern, var ansvarig för att bära “det lilla livet” upp på berget. Det skulle bli en lång dag ute i naturen.

Last hike for us in Riezlern and it was going to be an epic one – incredible landscape and Ulrika entering the last trimester (28 weeks pregnant). We chose to head up to Windecksattel and crossing the border to Germany .

This time we would have this view over RIezlern. It was going to be a 750 meter ascent with more or less trail to to follow. Our total distance hiked would be 15 km.

First part was through a fir forest, but we would soon leave the conifers and the easy hiking trail behind us.

Parts of the trail were more technical than others, but it was no problem to hike the trail while being pregnant.

We soon found a sign that should be followed, especially during the winter months when snow hides the terrain.

There are an extensive cave system underneath the mountains in the valley and one of the entry points can be found on this trail. It is a 90 meter deep hole and you don’t want to fall down there while skiing down the trail.

First mission was to reach Mahdtal and eat lunch there before taking on the last part up to Windecksattel.

We did a pregnancy photo shoot in Mahdtal, capturing Ulrika during week 28 on her way to reach her goal at the Windecksattel.

Mahdtal during spring.

Just south of Windecksattel is the Torkopf peak (1930 meters). It is a reachable peak, but we felt that it was better to save this adventure for another time when Ulrika is not pregnant.

We reached the part of the trail where snow still was present. We saw a mountain goat coming down the mountain to lay down on the snow, probably to cool down.

More snow was present the higher up we went and we had to walk over snow covers during the last part of the trail. It became quite steep as well.

We finally reached Windecksattel and got a nice view of the landscape on the other side of the mountain.

Our original plan was to follow the trail through Obere Gottesackerwände, but it was to much snow left on the ground. We decided to turn back here, but we were still impressed with ourselves, hiking 7.5 km and ascending 750 meters. In the end, we kept a pace of 18:04 min per kilometer and maximum altitude was 1840 meters.

We celebrated Pontus 36th birthday while we were in Riezlern. We had a few days of unstable weather before we left this place, so it was a quiet and peaceful celebration this year. After the birthday we had to leave Austria for another central European country – the Czech Republic.

Being a pregnant traveler – first 15 weeks

March 12, 2018 / Ulrika / 2 Comments

We thought it would be interesting to write a blog post about our experiences being pregnant and nomads traveling the world. We are not doing this pregnancy the traditional way, so at least we can tell you about our pregnancy journey so far.
We are still in the planning stage for the rest of the pregnancy so we will update you about the future when we know more. For now, here is how the first 15 weeks have been for us.

Vi tänkte att det vore intressant att skriva ett blogginlägg om våra erfarenheter av att vara gravid och nomader som reser runt i världen. Vi gör inte denna graviditet på det traditionella sättet, så vi kan åtminstone berätta om vår graviditetsresa hittills.
Vi är fortfarande i planeringsstadiet för resten av graviditeten, så vi kommer att uppdatera er om framtiden när vi vet mer. Just nu kan vi berätta hur de första 15 veckorna har varit för oss.

Ulrika’s belly appeared last week and some days it is bigger than other days (like this day). The picture is taken around week 15 in sunny Barcelona.

Ulrikas mage visade sig förra veckan och vissa dagar är den större än andra dagar (som denna dag). Bilden är tagen runt vecka 15 i soliga Barcelona.

We got a positive pregnancy test after Christmas while we still where in Paphos (Cyprus) and we were excited to celebrate the new year being three humans in our family team. Just before we left the island Ulrika started bleeding just a little, so we wanted to do a check up to see what was causing the bleeding. It is nice being in countries with easy health care systems, here in Cyprus we went to a private hospital and got an emergency appointment just one hour after our arrival.

Vi fick ett positivt graviditetstest efter jul medan vi fortfarande var i Paphos (Cypern) och vi var glada över att kunna fira in det nya året som tre människor i vår familj. Strax innan vi lämnade ön började Ulrika blöda lite så vi ville göra en kontroll för att se vad som orsakade blödningen. Det är trevligt att vara i länder med bra vårdsystem, här på Cypern åkte vi till ett privat sjukhus och fick en akuttid bara en timme efter vår ankomst.

We got to see a tiny “worm” with one pixel blinking, confirming that we did have a heart beating inside Ulrika’s uterus, in week 7. The bleeding came from a rupture in the endometrium (black area above the amniotic sac). The doctor prescribed rest and two shots of progesterone, two days apart, and we could move on if no more bleeding occurred. The cost was 84 Euro for everything (emergency-visit, ultrasound, examination and two progesterone shot appointments).

Vi fick se en liten “mask” med en pixel som blinkande, vilket bekräftade att vi hade ett hjärta som slog i Ulrikas livmoder, i vecka 7. Blödningen kom från en bristning i endometriet (svart område ovanför fosterhinnan). Läkaren ordinerade vila och två sprutor progesteron, två dagar mellan sprutorna, och vi kunde resa vidare om ingen mer blödning inträffade. Kostnaden för allt blev 84 Euro (akut-besök, ultraljud, undersökning och progesteron administrerat vid två tillfällen).

Ulrika started feeling nauseous just before we left Cyprus, but the full storm of nauseousness and vomiting came when we had arrived to Athens (Greece). The first week in Athens was so bad that Ulrika barely could leave the apartment. We had a lovely park with pine trees next door that we could visit those hours when Ulrika felt a little bit better. Most smells of food and drinks were repulsive to Ulrika and Pontus had to be in another room if he wanted to drink coffee. The only things Ulrika could eat were choco pops or strawberries with milk, and raw carrots.

Ulrika började känna sig illamående strax innan vi lämnade Cypern, men den fulla stormen av illamående och kräkningar kom när vi anlänt till Aten (Grekland). Den första veckan i Aten var Ulrika så dålig att hon knappt kunde lämna lägenheten. Vi hade en härlig park med tallar bredvid som vi kunde besöka de timmar när Ulrika kände sig lite bättre. De flesta lukter av mat och drycker var motbjudande för Ulrika och Pontus var tvungen att vara i ett annat rum om han ville dricka kaffe. Det enda som Ulrika kunde äta var choco pops eller jordgubbar med mjölk, samt råa morötter.

Our great airbnb-hosts in Athens could recommend a gynecologist, so we could do a follow up in week 9 to see if we could actually hear a heart beating this time. The Greek health care system is as dysfunctional as the Swedish health care system, but in one way the Greek system is better. A lot of the Greek doctors have a private practice after the state working hours, where they see patients during evenings and weekends. So if you pay privately, it is quite easy to see a doctor in Athens. The cost was 30 Euro for ultrasound, examination and pictures.

Våra härliga airbnb-värdar i Aten kunde rekommendera en gynekolog, så att vi kunde göra en uppföljning i vecka 9 för att se om vi faktiskt kunde höra ett hjärta som slog den här gången. Det grekiska hälsovårdssystemet är lika dysfunktionellt som det svenska hälsovårdssystemet, men på ett sätt är det grekiska systemet bättre. Många av de grekiska läkarna har en privat mottagning efter de statliga arbetstimmarna där de träffar patienter på kvällar och helger. Om du betalar privat, så är det ganska lätt att träffa en läkare i Aten. Kostnaden var 30 Euro för ultraljud, undersökning och bilder.

Here is the first real picture of “det lilla livet”, 1.4 cm from crown to rump and now we heard a beating heart.
Another thing that we love and that you can’t find in Sweden is private labs where you can go to get your body fluids analysed without having to go through a doctor. Most countries we’ve traveled to has this kind of system. In Athens, the labs have a drop-in system in the morning when they draw your blood and for most analysis you come back in the afternoon to get your result. Ulrika’s gynecologist wanted Ulrika to see how her thyroidea was working, so the morning after we went to one of the labs nearby and got the results back a few hours later. This kind of easy system is what we like. The lab analysis of TSH-levels costed 15 Euro.

Här är den första riktiga bilden av det lilla livet, 1,4 cm från huvud till rumpa och nu hörde vi ett slående hjärta.
En annan sak som vi älskar, och som du inte kan hitta i Sverige, är privata labb dit du kan gå för att få dina kroppsvätskor analyserade utan att behöva träffa en läkare först. De flesta länder som vi har rest till har den typen av system. I Aten har laboratorierna drop-in på morgonen när de drar ditt blod och för de flesta analyser kommer du tillbaka på eftermiddagen för att få ditt resultat. Ulrikas gynekolog ville att Ulrika skulle kolla hur hennes tyroidea (sköldkörtel) fungerade, så morgonen efter åkte vi till ett av laboratorierna i närheten och fick resultatet några timmar senare. Sådana smidiga system gillar vi. Labbanalysen av TSH-nivåer kostade 15 Euro.

The routine check-up around 12 weeks where done in Torrevieja (Spain). Ulrika had been feeling nauseous up to this point, but around week 12 it finally stopped and Ulrika’s “vomiting in restaurant toilets”-tour, which where especially bad in Torremolinos (Spain), went away.
The Quiron Salud private Hospital in Torrevieja is an internationally known hospital and people come here from all over Europe for surgery, cancer treatments, IVF’s etc. It was really easy to get an appointment here and we got to experience a modern, service-minded and customer-centered health care.

Den rutinmässiga vecka 12-kontrollen gjorde vi i Torrevieja (Spanien). Ulrika var illamående fram till denna punkt och omkring vecka 12 slutade det äntligen och Ulrikas “kräkas i restaurangtoaletter”-turné, som var särskilt intensiv i Torremolinos (Spanien), försvann.
Det privata sjukhuset Quiron Salud i Torrevieja är ett internationellt erkänt sjukhus och människor kommer hit från hela Europa för kirurgiska ingrepp, cancerbehandlingar, IVF etc. Det var väldigt enkelt att få en tid här och vi fick uppleva en modern, serviceinriktad och kundcentrerad hälsovård.

We were even asked if we wanted a Swedish or English interpreter with us and we heard Dutch and Norwegian interpreters in the waiting room, so the language barrier isn’t a problem here. We wanted to do a number of different tests, including the NIP-Test where you get to know the risk for a trisomy pregnancy, and it was possible to do here.

Vi blev även tillfrågade om vi ville ha en svensk eller engelsk tolk med oss och vi hörde även holländska och norska tolkar i väntrummet, så språkbarriären är inte ett problem här. Vi ville göra ett antal olika tester, inklusive KUB-testet där man får veta risken för en trisomigraviditet, och det var möjligt att göra här.

They had just gotten a new ultrasound machine, so the details we could see was incredible. Here is “det lilla livet” in week 12 of the pregnancy about 5 cm from rump to crown. She was quite active during this ultrasound so we got to see her ninja skills, her sucking her thumb and some waving of arms. It was after this ultrasound we could announce to the world that our family now consists of three humans.

De hade precis fått en ny ultraljudsmaskin, så detaljerna vi kunde se var otroliga. Här är “det lilla livet” i vecka 12 av graviditeten, ca 5 cm från huvud till rumpa. Hon var ganska aktiv under detta ultraljud så vi fick se hennes ninjafärdigheter, se henne suga på tummen och lite vevande med armarna. Det var efter detta ultraljud som vi kunde tillkännage för världen att vår familj nu består av tre människor.

In addition to the NIP-Test, Ulrika also got a full body analysis: hematology, microbiology, biochemistry, serology etc. We had to wait for the results so we extended our stay in Torrevieja.

Förutom KUB-testet fick Ulrika också en fullständig kroppsanalys: hematologi, mikrobiologi, biokemi, serologi etc. Vi fick vänta på resultaten så att vi förlängde vår vistelse i Torrevieja.

The nice nurses at the blood analysis station. Ulrika was happy to give away some blood to find out the status of her pregnant body. The vitamin D-concentration is one of the tests she has wanted to do for a long time.
We’ve paid 568 Euro for two doctors visits with English interpreters, two ultrasounds (one with the 3D ultrasound feature), blood and urine work and the NIP-Test. Ulrika has a maternity add-on insurance coupled to her international medicine and accident insurance, an insurance we recommend to have if you want to live as a nomad.

De snälla sjuksköterskorna vid blodanalysstationen. Ulrika var glad att ge bort lite blod för att få reda på statusen för hennes gravida kropp. Vitamin D-koncentrationen i blodet är en av de tester som hon har velat göra länge.
Vi betalade 568 euro för två doktorsbesök med engelska tolkar, två ultraljud (ett med 3D-ultraljudsfunktion), blod och urinanalyserna, samt KUB-testet. Ulrika har ett graviditetstillägg kopplad till hennes internationella medicin- och olycksfallsförsäkring, en försäkring som vi rekommenderar att ha om du vill leva som nomad.

We came back a few weeks later for the second visit where we got our results and to see our little Gollum using the 3D-feature on the ultrasound machine. Ulrika was now pregnant in week 15 so “det lilla livet” was now 9 cm from crown to rump. She was sleeping with her face towards Ulrika’s spine so we could only see her back and she didn’t move this time around. We got confirmation that it is a girl we are expecting and everything looked good for both our girl and Ulrika.
We carry Ulrika’s own journal with us wherever we go, because our life style doesn’t permit us to stick to one doctor. So this far Ulrika’s journal consists of Greek and Spanish papers, so we will see which other languages will be included in the journal before “det lilla livet” enters the world. We prefer to be in full control ourselves and we don’t want to be dependent on one doctor or health care system, but we are welcome to contact our Greek doctor any time if we have questions.

Vi återvände några veckor senare för det andra besöket där vi fick våra resultat och möjligheten att se vår lilla Gollum med hjälp av 3D-funktionen på ultraljudsmaskinen. Ulrika var nu i vecka 15 i graviditeten så “det lilla livet” var 9 cm från huvud till rumpa. Hon sov med ansiktet mot Ulrikas ryggrad, så vi kunde bara se hennes baksida och hon rörde sig inte denna gång. Vi har fått bekräftelse på att det är en tjej som vi väntar på och allt såg bra ut för både vår tjej och Ulrika.
Ulrikas egen journal bär vi med oss vart vi än reser för vår nomadiska livsstil tillåter oss inte att hålla oss till en läkare. Ulrikas journal består så här långt av grekiska och spanska papper och vi får se vilka andra språk som kommer att ingå i journalen innan “det lilla livet” kommer till världen. Vi föredrar att själva ha full kontroll och vi vill inte vara beroende av en läkare/vårdcentral eller vårdsystem, men vi är välkomna att kontakta vår grekiska läkare när som helst om vi skulle ha frågor.

We traveled to Barcelona and Ulrika’s belly just appeared over night so we went to H&M to buy Ulrika’s first set of maternity jeans in week 15 of the pregnancy. Now we are patiently waiting for our girl to grow big enough to come out and join us.

If you have any questions about pregnancy and nomad life, please feel free to send us a message on our social media accounts or email.

Vi reste till Barcelona och Ulrikas mage visade sig över en natt så vi gick till H&M för att köpa Ulrikas första uppsättning av graviditetsjeans i vecka 15 av graviditeten. Nu väntar vi tålmodigt på att vår tjej ska bli stor nog att komma ut och slå följe med oss.

Har ni några frågor om hur det är att vara gravid och nomad så får ni gärna skicka ett meddelande till oss på på några av våra sociala medier eller maila.

Waiting for little brother – the King family

September 21, 2017 / Ulrika / 0 Comments

The day Edward Satoshi King decided to come out was getting closer and we kept ourselves busy so the days wouldn’t feel so long. The Czech Republic has stupid laws about medically induced birth, so Caroline did everything she could to start the birth so that Caroline could get the home birth she wanted and had planned for. You can read more about it on their blog “den andra resan”. In the mean time we were just hanging out with the King boys and their parents.

Dagen då Edward Satoshi King bestämde sig för att komma ut kom allt närmare och vi höll oss sysselsatta så att dagarna inte skulle känna så långa. Tjeckien har idiotiska lagar om medicinsk-inducerad födsel, så Caroline gjorde allt hon kunde för att få förlossningen att börja självmant, så att Caroline kunde få hemfödelsen hon ville ha och hade planerat för. Du kan läsa mer om det på deras blogg “den andra resan“. Under tiden umgicks vi med King-pojkarna och deras föräldrar.

We got to spend a lot of time with the King family, especially Winston and Henry. We took the boys exploring and we first planned to go to the KGB museum, but we changed our minds and started walking towards the Museum of Communism. We think it is important to educate children about the destructive powers of communism and collectivism, so that’s why our theme of exploration looks like it does.

We walked over the tourist magnet, the Charles bridge in Prague, and luckily for us it wasn’t so crowded as it could be. It was a bit of a walk so Henry got to sit on Pontus shoulders overlooking the people.

The view from Charles Bridge.

We passed a medieval torture museum and suddenly we were looking at what humans are capable of.

The imagination is the only limit.

The King boys are fascinated by different car models, so the walks often take longer than planned when we are with them.

Exploring more vehicles and this one had participated in the Dakar rally, a race that used to go from Paris (France) to Dakar (Senegal), but now the Dakar rally has moved to South America due to terrorist problems.

Breakfast with the King family, probably watching an interesting Youtube-video at the same time! By this time everyone thought that it was time for the fifth member of the King family to join us.

The morning of August 18th, we finally got the word that something was happening. We went over to the King family at 7am in the morning and helped filling the birthing pool. Then our mission was to be standby in an adjacent room so we could be ready to take care of Winston and Henry if it was needed. It was an amazing experience to be apart of and the delivery went quite fast according to us :).

A few minutes after Edward Satoshi King was born, we were welcomed to join the family and Ulrika got the precious task of being the photographer. We can recommend everyone to read Carolines birth story linked below.

The birth of Edward Satoshi King

The whole family captured in one photo.

Pontus holding Edward!

And Ulrika holding him!

Baby sleeping on a table! You have to put up with a lot if you’re born into a nomadic family 😉 We have gathered more pictures of the King boys in a slide show below for those who are interested.