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Tag: pregnant traveler

Week 38 pregnancy update and blowing up the Stalin monument

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

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”

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

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.

Trying altitudes – Schöntal and above

Our next goal was to see how Ulrika’s pregnant body handled altitudes so Schöntal was our option when we wanted to hike an easy trail and reach higher altitudes. Schöntal is a peak that we have seen from Sandra and Markus place every time we’ve visited them, so we felt it was time see how the valley looked from that part of the Alps. Ulrika was in week 27 so we were also curious how she could handle the ascent and the long trail – it was going to be a 18 km hike in the end of the day.


Vårt nästa mål var att se hur Ulrikas gravida kropp hanterade höjder så Schöntal var vårt alternativ när vi ville ha en lättare vandringsväg, samt nå högre höjder. Schöntal är ett ställe som vi har sett från Sandra och Markus plats varje gång vi har besökt dem, så vi kände att det var dags att se hur dalen såg ut från den delen av Alperna. Ulrika var i vecka 27 så vi var också nyfiken på hur hon kunde hantera stigningen och den långa leden – det skulle bli en 18 km vandring i slutet av dagen.

Pontus and the meadow. We started easy and we have to say that coming here during late spring is wonderful. The flowers fills the valley and the weather is great.

The first part of our 18 km hike was through the valley and not so much increasing in altitudes. Our mission was the green peak right in front of us.

We took a few breaks, because we knew that we had a long hike to manage, and waterfalls are always a reason to stop for.

Soon there were altitudes to climb and it went quite well.

We reached Schöntal and Ulrika still felt good to go so we continued and soon we had a nice view over Riezlern.

Finally, we reached a satisfying altitude at 1500 meter above sea level, a 500 meter ascent compared to our starting level at 1000 meters. The total ascent during the hike was 1000 meter.

Ulrika was very proud of herself. The pace during the whole 18 km trail was 14:50 min/km – it was not the best, but it didn’t matter. 27 weeks pregnant and still going strong! “Det lilla livet”  seems to like being carried up on mountain tops.

The view was incredible and we could see the snow still on Hoher Ifen, a peak/plateau we reached last year with Sandra and Markus.

Our adventure on Ifen!

Our way back was on trafficked roads, it was in case Ulrika should start having pains or cramps, so our back up option was to jump on a bus back to our place.

But the landscape was still absolutely stunning.

The roads around Schöntal are steep and narrow.

Ulrika still felt awesome so we abandoned the trafficked roads for more nature walk for the last part of our hike.

Soon back home, we just had a small ascent left.

Our last waterfall on our hike, so we had to capture it on camera. After this successful hike we decided it was time to try a more technical trail.

Road trip to Riezlern and hiking while being pregnant

Riezlern, we have been here before to visit Sandra and Markus, friends to us who have taken us on adventures on mountain bikes, hiking, climbing Aggenstein and doing klettersteig on mountain ridges.
This time around Ulrika was going to be a bit bigger and be less fit, so we had to find a pace comfortable for her. Ulrika has noticed that her walking pace slowly has declined from around 8.5-9 min/km to around 11-11.5 min/km on a flat surface, near sea level, and now we would be on 1000 meters above sea level and higher, hiking up on mountain tops. Pregnant in week 26 and fortunately enough Ulrika hasn’t experienced any negative pregnancy symptoms during the second trimester that would keep her away from being active.


Vi har varit i Riezlern förut för att besöka Sandra och Markus, våra vänner som har tagit oss på äventyr på  bl.a. moutainbikes, vandring, klättra Aggenstein och klettersteig på bergskam. Den här gången skulle Ulrika vara lite större och ha mindre kondition, så vi var tvungna att hitta en takt som var bekväm för henne. Ulrika har märkt att hennes gånghastighet sakta har minskat från ca 8,5-9 min/km till omkring 11-11,5 min/km på plan yta, nära havsnivå, och nu skulle vi vara på 1000 meter över havet och högre för att vandra upp på bergstoppar. Graviditetsvecka 26 och lyckligtvis har hon ännu inte upplevt några negativa graviditetssymptom under andra trimestern som kunde hålla henne borta från att vara aktiv.

 

After some intensive weeks, we were really longing for nature and mountains, so we hit the road down to Austria to once again have this view at the door step.

On our way south, we took the opportunity to pass Bamberg and visit our friend Michi! We had time to eat franconian food and catch up on each other’s lifes.

Finally in Riezlern and our friends Markus and Sandra have gotten a ping pong table. Pontus and Markus played well into the dark and had to use headlamps.

Sandra and Markus are going on their own adventures, so we said goodbye to them and we will do our best to keep their plants alive and the squirrels away from the bird feeding table.

Ulrika loves the overflow of non-alcoholic beer in southern Germany. Weissbeer, pils, lager etc can be found in a non-alcoholic variant and many of them actually tastes like beer. We stocked up and then returned to Riezlern.

There are so many hiking tracks to explore in Kleinwalsertal where Riezlern is situated, and we wanted to be out in nature and relax after a couple of busy weeks.

First we took borrowed bikes and biked through the center of Riezlern.

The main road through the town that continues further in to the valley.

Riezlern, a tiny Alp village, even has their own casino.

We were soon in between villages and the view is magnificent.

Ulrika’s stamina is not what it is used to be, but we managed to go for a 15 km bike ride in our new “Ulrika is pregnant”-pace.

The thunder and lightning are often rolling in during the evenings and nights, creating an amazing light show. This picture was taken one of the nights here and it felt like watching the”war of the worlds”. We wouldn’t be surprised if a silhouette of a tripod fighting machine would show up on the horizon.

The breakfast view is a favorite.

We didn’t want to go out to strong, because we didn’t know how Ulrika’s body would respond to longer and more technical hiking trails. Therefore, our first mission was to hike through the valley and reach Oberwäldele. It is a nice and easy trail through the Kleinwalsertal landscape and it was no problem for Ulrika to handle.

Spring is one of the best periods of the year to come here for hiking. The flowers bloom and most of the snow is gone.

We found a glade covered in freshly bloomed cow parsley.

The houses in the area look like traditional Alp houses and they are often nicely decorated.

The trail takes you through open landscapes and forests. There are a few waterfalls hiding in the forest, so we took a few breaks along the way.

The trail was easy and Ulrika had no problem hiking 10 km, so  next up was to try to hike up on one of the mountain tops surrounding the valley. This adventure will be covered in our next blog post.

Being a pregnant traveler – first 15 weeks

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.

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