My Morning - A Picture Every Hour

7:00 am - I wake up, still pregnant.  I used to be able to sleep until 11:00 easily on a day off of work, but during the last nine months I've woken up early every morning starving for a piece of fruit or a bowl of cereal.  Or two.

8:00 am - After a couple of nectarines, I go back to sleep for a little while until The Swede wakes up and starts playing with his iPhone.  Between wanting to be nearby when the baby decides to show its face and the beast of a headache he's had for the past couple of days (stress perhaps?), he's decided not to go in to work today.

 9:00 am - We have a typical Swedish breakfast together.  Bread with butter, cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers.

10:00 am - I sit around, delaying the walk I know I should take and drink a cup of coffee while catching up on Facie and my favorite bloggers.

11:00 am - Finally I take that walk.  It's hot and there are already a couple of families out swimming and fishing in the lake.  I wish I had my swimming suit on so I could hop in too.

12:00 noon - Finally getting my face on after a cold shower.  It's not so nice to be waiting around for something to happen, but I sure can't deny the appeal of a leisurely morning like this one.

Sneak

So, The Swede and I decided to try the old spicy food thing again today and swung by the local Thai place for lunch.  I ordered something that had three chilli peppers next to it on the menu, but when we got it home The Swede didn't think it "looked" spicy enough.  Next thing I know, I've turned my head for a second and he's dousing my lunch in chilli powder he found in the spice cabinet.  Still and yet, it did not work.

Nothing To See Here

Just checking in.  It's been a lazy Sunday with lots of Amazing Race Australia episodes in bed, a long nap, a bath, a walk and a sick husband to tend to.  And now we're being bad sports fans and planning to watch a movie during the World Cup Match.  Good night, then, and I'll catch you tomorrow!

Food & Football

This evening Gurra and Gunilla invited us, along with Mama and Papa Swede, to dinner at their place.  It was a welcome distraction and a great excuse not to make dinner.  After the meal, we all gathered on the sofa to watch Sweden win third place in the Women's World Cup.  The Swede and I were a little disappointed that it wouldn't be USA vs. Sweden in the final tomorrow, but third place ain't too shabby and the Americans are clearly going to win the whole thing so I'm satisfied.

Training

We hiked up a mountain today.  Some may call it a hill, but not me.  First we walked along the lakeshore then through the woods to a mountain at the top of which was a pool built into stone tiles packed with trilobites and other fossils.  It was majestic.  Plus we got in a little practice with the new camera, taking no fewer than ninety-five pictures between us.  I'm obviously sparing you.  But please, I insist you savor at least these four.

The Due Date

We have waited for this day for so, so long but with just four hours left of July 14th I'm thinking it's not going to happen today.  Every day this week The Swede has walked in the door after work and looked at me with such disappointment, as though I might have gone ahead and had the baby while he was on the job and forgot to call him.  I'm getting a bit impatient too, I must admit, but I actually feel really good and I want little Baby Swede to take as much time as he or she needs.  The waiting is only a problem for me for the three small reasons that follow: 3) I'm starting to get pretty bored and the house and yard are super clean, 2) it's awfully hard to sleep when you go to bed hoping to wake up in labor and it's impossible to get comfortable, and 1) being this close to meeting our fully-cooked, ready-to-cuddle baby with no idea when we'll actually be introduced is torturous.  Maybe tomorrow, though, right? 

This Week, Two Years Ago

Two years ago today I stepped off a plane at Arlanda and became a resident of Sweden.  In honor of my Swediversary, I'm posting some pictures from my first week living here. 

On my first full day here, The Swede took me to my first football match at Råsunda, the national stadium, to see AIK cream Göteborg.  This was the beginning of an upswing in the season that ended with a legendary final match against the same team.

I was introduced to Swedish pizza and the fact that everyone gets their own.  There's no splitsky when the crust is that thin.  I was simultaniously introduced to the Swedes' love affair with béarnaise sauce , which is apparently good on anything. 

The whole family pitched in to introduce me to my new home.  Sarianne and I took the train into Stockholm and wandered around the city while she tried to teach me how to pronounce the word "sju".  Still not sure if I'm getting it.

Our friends Jesper and Isa from Göteborg were also exploring Stockholm on their vacation that week so the four of us checked out the animals, history and Stockholm skyline at Skansen.

Captain Swede took me out on the great Lake Mälaren with Papa Swede's boat.  I distinctly remember sitting on that boat and wondering how my life could possibly be this glamorous and exciting.  And nothing has changed in two years.  I'm still in awe of the sheer awesomeness of my life.

Trial By Fire

We just installed the car seat and I surely hope no one was watching because we probably looked like the two biggest fumbling, neurotic halfwits this side of the Atlantic.  Guys, they make it seem simple by color-coding elements and using distinct clicking sounds so that you know when things are properly in place, but then they also let you know a couple thousand times in the product literature that your baby's life is in danger if you mess up a single thing in the installation, so the pressure is really on.  After we were confident that the base was secure we practiced setting the carrier in it and taking it out (The Swede upped the ante by shouting out possible real-life scenarios: "The baby's screaming!  I'm in a panic because I have to go to the bathroom!") and I am here to tell you that it is impossible to do singlehandedly.  Needless to say, we are going to be a very tight-knit family who goes everywhere and does everything together.  Because that's what our car seat demands of us.



Tactics

I said, "Hey, babe, you know how I'm pregnant?  And how I'm not going to be pregnant for much longer?  And how, who knows if I'll ever be pregnant again?  And you know how I love Serrano?  And how happy you would make me if you took me there even though it's far away and the parking is super inconvenient?  You do?  Okay, just checking." 

Still The One

Today is Mama and Papa Swede's 35th wedding anniversary!  I feel so grateful and priviledged to be part of the family that their love created and to be a witness to this couple who, after all these years, are still clearly having a blast together.

A Perfectly Lazy Day

We were in real vacation mode today, my husband and I.  The Swede woke up at 7:00 am and headed out to the golf course with a couple of his buddies while I luxuriated in bed for a couple, okay, make that a few more hours with the air conditioner a'blowin'.  I stayed in my jammies and caught up on my Facebooking for a good long while after that and took my time getting showered and putting my face on and whatnot so that I was barely ready when The Swede came home in the early afternoon and suggested we head over to the fishing cabin and take a dip in the lake.  I was all over it, wanting desperately both a break from the heat and the sensation of being weightless and it was just as nice as I had hoped.  We spent the rest of the afternoon in the sun, The Swede helping his folks cut down some overgrown branches and me dozing on a towel while my swimming suit dried out, and finished the day with a pizza dinner picked up from a nearby restaurant.  And now we're sprawled out on the couch, totally worn out from too much time in the sun and with no plans for tomorrow except to wait.

Week Forty - The End Is Near

Well, it's the first day of the supposed last week of this pregnancy and there isn't much left to say.  On one hand it feels like I've been waiting forever to meet this baby and on the other it seems the last 39 weeks have flown by.  Either way I look at it, though, I'm just glad that this baby and I made it all this way together so that it's big and strong when it's ready to come out.  Hopefully this time next week I'll be posing with our baby in my arms instead.  And then my husband, the photographer, can really go wild with the artistic angles and whatnot. 

Old Men For Sale

Swedes in general aren't a very prideful bunch, but they know when they've got something good going on.  That's why you'd never buy nor be served a strawberry that came from any other country.  Swedish strawberries really are the best and they're ridiculously easy to come by this time of year, with roadside stands selling pints for about the equivalent of $4.  I don't know what a pint of strawberries is currently going for in the States, but I do remember that whatever I've ever paid there always felt like too much once I got them home and found that half of them were bruised or moldy or just totally rotten.  I have never found a single bad Swedish strawberry in the many pints that I've purchased so far this summer, and therein lies the value.  Also, the Swedish word for strawberry is jordgubbe, which means little old earth man and that's super cute, right?

Going... Going...

Last night The Swede took me out for what will probably be our last date as non-parents.  What a crazy, terrifying, exciting thought.  We went all out with appetizers and after-dinner cappuccino and lingered there a nice long while before heading home to watch 127 Hours.  We enjoyed our uninterrupted evening the way only non-parents can: no doubt totally underappreciating it's value. 

Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice

I finally got to meet Linda's beautiful new baby Sukai today and oh my goodness, what a sweetie!  Linda looks well-rested and fantastic, really better than ever, especially when she's holding this little doll.  Makes me even more anxious to meet my own.

Doing My Part

This morning I posted a status update on Facebook asking for suggestions for how to induce labor so that I could do my part to get that Independence Day baby we've been hoping for.  As a result, I've spent my day walking up and down the stairs and around the grocery store and our hilly neighborhood (at least as much as I had the energy for) and I'm having spicy beef teriyaky and pineapple for dinner.  I haven't done any yard work, however, nor do I dare try castor oil, which is apparently super effective but also super gross.  I won't be too upset if none of this works, though, as there are still eleven days till my due date and I figure little Baby Swede will decide when he or she is done cooking.  And I like pineapple anyway.

Like The Pros

Since we have what I suspect will be a really special event coming up, The Swede and I decided to invest in a swanky camera.  We're pretty useless about this sort of thing, though, and even though we have wanted to get a better camera for a while now, we didn't really know which one was right for us.  Luckily, though, Mama Swede got a great deal on a Canon 500D a couple of months back and it is FABULOUS, so we knew that we would like it.  So we popped in to MediaMarkt this afternoon and it was still on sale and we up and bought that sucker.  Doesn't it look super professional too?  I'm still going to use my pink Nikon Coolpix when I'm out and about because, well, it's pink and obviously much more convenient to carry around in my purse, but hopefully you'll notice a generally higher quality of pictures around here.  Oh, also, while we were out, The Swede fell in love with another.  I was heartbroken, but probably not as heartbroken as he was to have neither half a million kronor in his wallet nor a 103 inch wall to put this monstrosity on.  Though I will admit, it does match our grill.

Lesson Learned

At about 5:30 this morning, when the cats woke me up with their usual early-morning antics, I decided that I would take the train a couple of stops to Jakobsberg today and get a pedicure to celebrate my first day of maternity leave.  I have managed to painstakingly keep my toes painted on my own somehow because, as my nailtechnician aunt once said, to have unpainted toenails is to surrender your womanhood.  I've never had a real pedicure before, though, and I feel like if I'm ever going to now would definitely be the time because I am certainly incapable of doing it myself at this point.  So that was the plan, anyway, but once I got to the nail salon in Jakobsberg I was told that they don't do feet.  That was a shame because I had realized several minutes before, while stepping off the train, that any type of outing at this point is a terrible idea.  I was already exhausted and I had just gotten there, but it felt crazy to turn back after having made the trip so I forced myself to walk around the mall for forty minutes.  I was then forced to follow this stroll with a forty-one minute energy-gathering session at a coffeeshop before getting back on the train for the barely ten minute trip home.  I did get something out of my outing, though.  I bought several novels so that I never have to leave my house again.

Week Thirty-Nine - The Final Countdown

I know that it's been all baby all the time around here lately and if you're not into it I do apologize.  I can also pretty much guarantee that it's going to get significantly worse once the baby actually exists outside my belly.  I'm going to be obnoxious, I can feel it.  But lest we forget what this blog is (or was) supposed to be about, I'm using my Week Thirty-Nine post to talk about being pregnant in Sweden specifically.  Granted, I haven't been pregnant in the US or anywhere else, but I know enough to know how fortunate I am to be doing this here.  Today, for example, was my last day of work before over a year and half of parental leave that The Swede and I can split however works best for us, paid by the government.  I can't help but marvel that after a dozen appointments with doctors, midwives and technicians we have never opened our wallets.  There is no business office at the clinic, no invoices, no proof of insurance, nor will there be when I deliver and when we stay over at the hospital, regardless of what is medically or procedurally required.  I, even as a non-citizen, am getting the same care as Sweden's richest citizen and its poorest immigrant and the care is excellent.  No, I don't get to choose my doctor, nor will my baby be delivered by anyone I've ever met before and yes, we pay a lot of taxes here, but not as much more than a US resident as you might think.  Beyond the differences between Sweden and the US, though, is the much more significant reality of how lucky our family is compared to so much of the rest of the world where this experience which is so joyful to us could mean a high likelihood of death.  I don't want to take it for granted that I have the luxury of feeling safe.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program of superficiality:
It's a good thing today was my last day of work because I have nothing to wear.  Time to get a move on, Baby Swede.  My wardrobe can no longer accommodate you.

Lunch Meeting

Things have been extra busy at the office lately, what with folks taking vacation and having babies and our merchandise selling like hotcakes and all, so sometimes you need to slip out and hit the open road at lunch.  Today was one of those days, so The Swede and I swung through the McDonalds drive-through and headed to the lake to enjoy our lunch at a picnic table in the sunshine.  We weren't the only ones hankering for some crispy, golden fries, though, and were soon joined by a gang of really cheeky ducks.  Here The Swede thought he was going to have a nice, relaxing lunch break but actually ended up playing zookeeper and feeding them fries and croutons the entire time.

Wake Up Call

The Family Segersten stayed at our place this past Thursday and Saturday night while in town for Midsommar.  On Thursday night, Julia slept in bed with us and though neither of us knew at the time what the other was doing, we both spent the whole night waking up randomly and watching her just to make sure she was still breathing.  This obviously does not bode well for our sleep prospects when our own litte one arrives.  Julia had fallen asleep on the air mattress with her parents by the time we got home on Saturday night, but wasn't about to deprive us of her presence entirely during our sleeping hours.  Early Sunday morning she showed up at the foot of our bed with a bunch of books* she got from The Baby Suite and made The (sleepy) Swede read her a couple of stories.  Just a little taste of our future, Segersten-style. 

*Hilarious side-note: several of the books on Baby Swede's bookshelves were donated to us by Sarianne.  When Julia saw the books there she declared that she had many of the same ones at home.  Nobody had the heart to tell her that those books were her books.  Oh, and Sarianne also forbid us to tell her.

Midsommar 2011

Midsommar was spectacular!  The weather was gorgeous, the food was amazing and the company, well, these folks were the best.  Cousin Anne from London came over with her boyfriend and three girlfriends, the Segerstens were there, Gurra and Gunilla and their family, plus Mama and Papa Swede, of course.  We watched hundreds of Swedes, including Anne and little Julia, dancing around the middsommarstång before heading back to Mama and Papa Swede's for a traditional lunch with songs and snaps shots.

The Swede was the game host and led the group in some silly contests, a trivia game and a scavenger hunt.

We ate too much and sang too loud and stayed up late.  Yep.  Spectacular.

Provisions

It's Midsommarafton!  While we're partying it up at Mama and Papa Swede's with friends, family and guests from London, I've worked some sweet 21st century technical wizardry so that this pre-written post is published at a time when I am nowhere near a computer.  Magical, right?

A few weeks back Mama Swede mentioned that she would be kicking off the Midsommar celebration with a champagne breakfast.  I became immediately beside myself with excitement as I LOVE champagne and breakfast isn't bad either so this was great news.  Except that 2.2 seconds later I remembered that I am not on the guest list for the champagne half of the champagne breakfast.  I don't mind not drinking alcohol in the least, but on an occassion like Midsommar it feels like part of the ambiance.  With that in mind, I've set myself up with a bottle of alcohol-free champagne and a pitcher of alcohol-free sangria, which I fully expect will make everybody jealous of ME.

Week Thirty-Eight - The Final Countdown

As an adult, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the reasons that people have children and I’ve concluded that it’s probably almost always some combination of selfishness, narcissism and animal instinct.  Even what seem like good reasons, like getting to relive childhood and experiencing unconditional love, strike me as a little self-indulgent.  And so, until I met The Swede, I wasn’t sure if having kids was something I wanted to do.  But guess what?  I am an animal and there’s nothing more natural yet incomprehensible that I can think of than the instinct to have children with the man you love.  Without even thinking about it, my mind was wholly changed just by meeting him in, I’m sure, the same way that it happens for everyone who was ever unsure about wanting to be a parent and then ultimately (purposely) became a parent.  So there’s that piece. I’m having a baby because that’s what we do and also for dozens of other selfish, narcissistic reasons.  But then, this morning, it came to me: the only 100% noble reason to have children that has ever occurred to me, and I was pretty pleased with myself for thinking of it, let me tell you.  The best reason I can think of to have a baby is this: The Swede is constantly kidding around when it’s just me and him and I often feel sorry for the rest of the world’s population for missing out on his clowning.  With this baby, finally someone else gets to be around to enjoy all the hilarious jokes.  Until it’s a teenager, anyway.  So you’re welcome, Baby Swede. 

"I've Never Done This Before!"

Today The Swede shocked me by purchasing a fridge pack of canned Coke instead of his usual 1.5 liter bottle.  Canned soda is not big here like it is in the States.  You really only ever see it at take-out restaurants and it only comes in, like, three flavors.  So what got into him today, then?  On the drive home from the grocery store I got the whole scoop.  Apparently it was a combination of a supposition from his youth that when he was a grown man he would drink his Coke out of cans (perfectly logical and understandable, obviously) and harkening back to those summer vacations when we've visited Mom and Ray's and they had a fridge full of cans for the taking.  This sentimentality is as good a reason as any to buy canned Coke as opposed to bottled, and needless to say he was excited to get home and hear that satisfying snap and fizz when he opened his first grown-man soft drink in his own home.  There was one thing he hadn't bargained for, though: opening the fridge pack.  Sure there's a perforated line to tear away the corner, but I think we've all been stumped at one time or another about where and how to start the tear.  The Swede was no exception.  But ultimately, once the box was open and the first can rolled out, that challenge and subsequent success made that Coke all the more satisfying.

Welcome To Babyland

The final piece of The Baby Suite arrived in the mail today, with just 22 days left until D-Day.  That's D for delivery, btw.  At least according to the ultrasound technician.  I'm still going to try to squeeze 'er out on the 4th of July as a demonstration of my patriotism.  At any rate, that final piece - this mobile - is hung and The Baby Suite is done! 

If you've spent any time in Ikea lately you'll recognize a lot of this stuff.  The Swede made A LOT of trips to Ikea just to swipe the debit card and carry things to the car in the process of putting this bad boy together.  I'm pretty sure that's not what he had that in mind when he said I could do the baby's room on my own.  He also painted and helped put furniture together and was endlessly patient with the constant flow of incoming packages in the mail.

It was definitely a challenge trying to make it neutral and I think some things like the curtains and some of the art and maybe the rug cross the border into girly but, well, it's a baby, darn it, and I'm pretty sure it's not going to care.  Which begs the question, of course, of why I went through all the trouble.  Trouble, you say?  Bah!  This was one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done.  Plus, my nesting instinct required it.

Okay, so here is the part that took the most time and thought and Etsy.com browsing and is for sure one of my top 18 favorite things about the room.  I ripped the idea straight off of Young House Love and, like they did, tried to use as much art as possible that meant something to us.  You see, for example, the vintage maps of North America and Scandinavia, the watercolor of Sweden with a heart in the middle, the US print with a heart over Cleveland, where we met, and the Dalahästar in love.  There's also a vintage postcard from Niagara Falls, where we got engaged, a card I sent to The Swede when we were long distance that says "You will not believe how glad I am that I have met you.", plus Baby Swede's ultrasound picture and photos of The Swede and I when we were toddlers.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

And finally, that mobile that makes me smile just thinking of it hanging over the crib, which will actually reside in our bedroom along with a diaper-changing station for the first, well, geez, who knows how long.  The crib is extra boring (except for the quilt from Selah, of course) and will become even more boring once we remove the stuffed animals and pillows because apparently anything and everything that might make a crib cute could suffocate your baby.  It should look like baby prison in there.

So there it is!  All that's missing is a baby.  Now do me a favor and maybe look at the bill after I leave. 

Party on the Patio

As I mentioned yesterday, we hosted family and friends for dinner on our patio last night.  Everyone was wiped out from the big surprise baby shower of the afternoon, three of us had been out late the night before with our colleagues and, of course, the Segersten family had driven up from Söderkoping on Friday and would be driving back after dinner.  So it was low-key (at least for the adults, as the little girls were running all over the place with other neighborhood kids) and basically the best way to spend a summer evening.  Plus I never get tired of watching my hot husband grill. 

Feeling The Love

This morning The Swede and I hopped into the car to pick up some groceries for the grill-fest we were hosting tonight.  We also stopped off at two car dealerships to check out some Volvos that we've been contemplating investing in.  Then we took a little detour to drive by the golf course because The Swede didn't feel like going home yet.  And we got a slushie.  And we stopped by a roadside stand to buy some strawberries.  Clearly he was stalling because when we got home I found the house draped in balloons and other baby-themed decorations and Mama Swede, Sarianne, Gunilla, Elin and Julia popped out of hiding to throw me a surprise baby shower!

They don't have baby showers in Sweden, so these girls researched them on the net, special-ordered the decorations and asked friends and family for tips.  And it was perfect!  We played games and opened presents and ate lunch followed by cake.  The girls and The Swede had conspired with family and friends back home so that I had video and written messages and gifts from them, which I couldn't believe and was totally overwhelmed by.  It really felt like everyone I love was there somehow.  The greetings from my nieces and nephew in the States were especially moving and when the girls asked me if this was like a typical American baby shower I said that it was, exactly, except for the bit when everybody cried watching videos and reading letters.

After awhile The Swede and his dad showed up and joined in one of the games: guessing the diameter of my gigantic belly.  Everyone guessed WAY over with the exception of Sarianne who was pretty close.  That earned a couple of sister-in-law brownie points, to be sure.

I felt so much love all day today, I can't even tell you.  That my Swedish family planned and researched for months to give me an American-style celebration is incredible and the fact that my American family and friends got to be a part of it means so much to me.  Thank you all so, so much, from the bottom of my heart.