Leaving the hospital

From the beginning my plan was to only stay in the hospital for one night but I changed my mind. I had such a nice and quiet room at the end of a corridor, with a beautiful view from the window. I thought that these moments will be rare in the future, when I can just focus on Isak and myself without having tv, computer, phones etc etc around me. The second night went much better and he slept in 2 blocks for about 4 hours at the time. Can't complain about that. I couldn't believe it when it was nearly 7am this morning when we woke up.
Adam came to get us just before lunch. The trip home went great. Isak fell asleep in the car seat and woke up 4 hours later!

Me and Isak outside the hospital.

Celebrating the first night home with take away pizza. Isak fell asleep watching us eat.

Adam spent some time looking after 2 kids when I was having a shower etc. He did great! Jakob was attached to his legs pretty much the whole time...

Isak one day old

Here are some photos of Isak one day old. The first night in hospital Adam stayed with us. Since he wasn't allowed to do that in Adelaide when Jakob was born, it was really important to me that he stayed this time. It was nice to get that time the 3 of us. The night went ok even though Isak wasn't really so interested in sleeping. Around 5 in the morning he finally went in to a deeper sleep next to me in bed.

I am starting to think that he looks more and more like Jakob when he was born.

Finally born!

Saturday morning just before 7am I made the decision to go to the hospital. The contractions were getting stronger and I wanted to check if everything was progressing the way it should. I was so worried about having a similar experience to when giving birth to Jakob. Anyway, we got there and I got examined straight away, I was nearly 6cm open! Great news for me, I was so happy! I was also happy to find that the midwife was actually someone I knew and she had just started her shift. Great feeling to know that she would be the one looking after me.
The rest of the morning went fast, I opened about one cm an hour so everything was looking good. When 8cm open the midwife broke my water just to make sure that everything kept going, and that was like pressing a button. The last 2 cm happened quite fast and with extremly heavy contractions with nearly no break in between. I realised that I was getting close to giving birth. The pushing contractions kicked in and that was a great experience! after not having any when giving birth to Jakob I have been really looking forward to this stage of giving birth. It was a great feeling and Isak was out in about 10 minutes. I once again had a drugfree birth and this time without any problems and Isak was delievered natrually. I am so happy about that and felt great after.

We stayed in the delivery room for a few hours and it was nice to just take it very easy and slowly and not have to stress. I cut the cord since Adam didn't want to do it. Isak started feeding not long after he was born and did really well. Hope it will work as well as it did with Jakob.

3.2 kg and 52cm. A bit smaller than Jakob was.

When still in the delivery room we got some drinks and sandwiches to celebrate just the 3 of us. Adam was very disappointed when he found out that there was apple juice in the chamange glasses... Talking about Adam, he did a great job this time! didn't pass out, managed to help me out when I needed him and was sitting next to me when Isak came out.

Isak only a few hours old...

Mum with Isak only a few hours old.

Dad with Isak.

Jakob visiting in the afternoon, he was so gentle and cute with his little brother. After a few minutes he had had enough though and wanted to go out and play instead. Fair enough, a newborn baby is not that fun to be with for a 3 year old.

Getting ready

Last week mormor came over and played with Jakob and also brought dinner. She had packed a bag as well in case I would start labour in the evening and she would have to stay.

Friday morning and Adam is getting Jakob ready to go to mormor. At that stage I was only having very small contractions.

Friday afternoon when I hardly had any contractions at all for a few hours. Took a walk around the block, was really nice to get some fresh air.

It's complicated

We watched It's complicated and I thought it was really good and a perfect movie to watch with contractions. Had about 8 of them during the movie so about every 15 minutes. Since I got home I have had them about every 30 minutes so I don't think there will be a baby tonight either.

Jakob has had a good day with mum. He is a bit sick and was coughing so much that he puked when he had a sleep during the day. Tonight he has been looking better so I hope he will feel even better tomorrow. At least he has been happy all day and he hasn't talked about going home at all, I think he understands what is going on. I have prepared him for weeks so I guess that has helped. Going to bed tonight also went well. Dad stayed with him in bed until he fell asleep. I hope he will sleep well tonight.

If nothing has changed by tomorrow morning Adam will pick Jakob up at least for a few hours because who knows how long this is going to take?

Bedtime for me and hopfully there will be a baby in the house next time I write. But I doubt it.

Movies

Going to the movies soon. Waiting at home is driving me crazy.

Update

Just a little update. Still no baby :-( Thought it would be over and done with some time today but now I am not so sure anymore.
Jakob woke up around 2 last night and wanted to go to the toilet and me to come to his bed. He was coughing a bit and had a runny nose. Stayed with him for an hour and had quite a few contractions during that hour. Much more painful than yesteray. Went back to my own bed and had contractions about every 8-10 min all morning. Adam got up with Jakob at 6 but I stayed in bed. Got up a bit later and the contractions slowed down. We decided that Jakob would go to mum anyway just to give me the chance to relax and focus on what is about to happen. He did so well, he posed with me in front of the camera, the last photos of him and the belly maybe? he helped packing a bag with toys, a teddy, dvd's that he wanted to bring to mormor. He gave me a big hug before he left and wished me good luck. Adam said there was no problem dropping him off at mormor's place which is nice, at least I don't have to worry about Jakob. Tonight dad is coming back from treatment in Umeå so I am sure Jakob is looking forward to that.
I had the show about an hour ago, a sign that something might be happening, but with Jakob I had it 6 days before he was born so you never now... Not really sure what to do today before it all starts. Rest for a bit and maybe take a walk...

Bedtime

Nearly 10.30 and I am about to go to bed. If nothing happens in the next 24 hours I would be very surprised. I have had a few very light contractions tonight but the last hour nothing. It should be a sign that something is about to happen, but it could still be a while away. Part of the fun I guess, to not know when.
The day has been good, I went to the riding club around lunch time and watched some jumping, fun to watch but would be more fun to be on top of a horse. Went in to the city for a fika with Stina and Erika, then grocery shopping. Adam was in Kalix so I picked up Jakob from dagis at 3. He had a very runny nose but was in a good mood and had had a good day at dagis. Mum came over and played with him for a bit and also brought dinner that I heated up when Adam came home.
Have had a very quiet evening in front of the tv, on the phone, going through the bags that I am bringing to hospital etc. Time to go to bed I think since I don't know what will happen tonight or if Jakob is going to sleep well tonight. The problem is that I am not tired and have so many thoughts running through my mind, mainly about giving birth. Better think about it in bed instead of in front of a computer... Good night!

Thursday 11 am

Just got up from my morning sleep :-) I was up wtih Jakob for an hour or so last night so this morning I really needed it. He woke up just after 2 and said he needed to go to the toilet. Adam went with him and I heard Jakob crying saying I am sick, I am sick! I got up and took over since Adam was planning to go to Kalix today. I have worked so hard the last few weeks to make sure he goes back to sleep in his own bed, and not in ours. Last night it wasn't a problem and he came with me to his bed without complaints. He kept crying for about 2 minutes and wanted me to hold his hand and stroke his back and kept saying that he was sick. After a few minutes he said told me to stop and said he wanted to sleep. I stayed in there for a while before I went back to my own bed, wide awake as always when I wake up at night. At least Jakob went to sleep quickly, and woke up 6.30 this morning and happy. Adam slept in a bit and I got up with Jakob, weren't really sure if he should go to dagis at that stage. He didn't talk about being sick and had no temperature so we decided to take him to dagis. They still haven't called so hopefully he is ok.
I thought I had some contractions this morning but maybe it is just my own imagination because I want it to start soon. Mum thinks that I will give birth on Friday (tomorrow), I hope she is right :-)
Time to eat something and go out for a while. I am not staying in the house a whole day again!!

Wednesday

Not much to say about today. Jakob woke up at 5.40 this morning, don't understand why he is waking up so early every morning. Quite nice to get some quality time with him before he goes to dagis though, we cuddle on the couch and play games and talk. He always comes to me in bed in the morning and I pretend that I am asleep. After a while he puts his arm around me and says: Mummy can't we talk, like we did yesterday? Very hard to resist :-) As soon as Adam and Jakob left in the morning I had breakfast and went back to bed. Stayed home all day today (apart from a quick trip to mum to pick up some bread that she baked for me today). Jakob was a bit sad when he came home. When leaving dagis he put his tounge on the front gate to dagis and got stuck. Poor thing, his tounge was so sore and he was bleeding a bit. Remember doing that myself as a kid, hope he learnt from it though. Tonight we put him to bed at 6.30, will be interesting to see if wakes up at 5 tomorrow or if it has the opposite effect and he sleeps until 7.

Still no baby and it doesn't feel like he is on his way at all. But I guess it can all happen very quickly once it starts.

Tuesday evening!

The weather the last week has been a bit strange. It has gone from being sunny and cold to windy, snowy and not so cold. I took this photo of our back yard yesterday, it was around -20 but so beautiful! today we are back to windy and snowy again. Everyone is complaining and think it is horrible. I actually don't think it is so bad. I mean, we all know that it is like this a number of times during a winter. Why not look look at the positives with it. How nice is it to come in after having been out in the snow? and just watch the weather through the window? and how much do you appreciate the days with no wind and no snow? and if you put on proper clothes, is it really that bad? I don't know, I am not trying to be over positive but I don't think it is so bad. I am just getting a bit sick of people complaining sometimes and wishing they were somwhere else.

Enough about the weather, Adam has shovelled the drive way today and fixed the Ford so now I have my freedom back and a car that I can use tomorrow. We are very spoilt having 2 cars but to me it is very important. I want to be able to go out whenever I want to and it is just much harder without a car. Especially when being 9 months pregnant. Had a very nice lunch in the city and relaxed for a while at home before Jakob came home from dagis. He was like a different child today, so happy and in such a good mood.
Since I am feeling a bit restless at the moment I went to the riding club tonight to watch some friends ride, give Rubin a pat and just talk to people. Makes me want to ride.

It is a bit hard to make plans at this stage so I just have to take the day as it comes. Have no plans for tomorrow, anyone up for a fika or something?

Jakob opening presents...

Some photos of Jakob getting presents on his birthday yesterday. He loves the dvd Tom and Jerry.

And he can't get enough of cars...

He got a football from Jason, Karen and Hugo but he is not allowed to play with it until summer. Something to look forward to!

He also got some additions to his train track from me and Adam.

Lunch with Carina

Yesterday I had lunch with Carina in the city and today with Maria and Stina. I really appreciate getting the time to do these sort of things. Once the baby is out things will change and having lunch with friends won't be so relaxing anymore, at least not for a while.

40+0

This is me "the whale" taken yesterday on the due date. It looks worse than it is I think, not a pretty sight.
At the hospital here they let you go 2 weeks past the due date before they do anything (if everything looks ok). After 2 weeks you have an appointment at the hospital where they check you and the baby properly and if everything still looks ok I think they let you go a bit longer before they induce you. Hopefully I don't have to worry about that but you never know. Right now it feels like he will never come out.

Tuesday morning.

Just about to go in to the city and meet up with Maria for lunch. Slept ok last night but dream a lot about having contractions. Every time I wake up I am surprised to realise that I was just dreaming about the contraction. I think anyway. Maybe some of them have been real. Who knows? but I don't think so. Jakob slept until 6.20 this morning, not too bad. The Ford is still not fixed. The driveway is covered with snow and it has been snowing all morning again, and still is. Not very nice weather. Adam is feeling a little bit better so hopefully he can get on to it today. Had a sleep after Jakob and Adam left this morning. I really need that extra sleep since the night sleep is not as good as it normally is. Feeling good still but heavy and look forward to a life with a new baby and without a big belly soon!

New week...

...and Jakob's birthday! and still no baby. Only 1 1/2 left of this day so the chances of the baby being born today are very small.
Jakob woke up 5.50 this morning, I got up with him and we had a very nice start of the day together, letting Adam sleep in a bit. The Ford didn't start this morning (flat battery) so Adam took the saab to Kalix. Luckily mum is home this week so I didn't have to take the bus today. Maggi (dad's sister) is spending the week with dad in Umeå for his treatment so mum has a week "off" staying in Luleå. That means that she can look after Jakob if I go in to labor this week, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will happen before the end of the week. Had an appointment with the midwife this morning and everything is looking good.
Had a very nice lunch with Carina in the city and went shopping with mum after that. She dropped me home and not long after Adam came home with Jakob. Jakob was a happy but very tired birthday boy. He got to open presents from men and Adam and also from grandma and poppa and from Jason, Karen and Hugo in Australia. I took some photos that I will add to the blog hopefully tomorrow. Great presents again and thanks to everyone! Jakob went from being happy to being tired and grumpy to being happy again all night. For example when having ice cream for dessert, I put his spoon in the wrong spot in his bowl and that made him freak out. Not really sure what I did wrong but he got over it and was happy in the end.
He had a great day at dagis today and proudly showed me the birthday card they gave to him when he came home. They sang to him at dagis as well and all the kids got some ice cream, Jakob got a pink ice cream so he was very happy.
Adam has a cold so I am not allowed to give birth tonight... hopefully he gets well soon, I don't want to have to worry about him when pushing out a baby...

Jakob said to me this morning: Mummy, why do you drive cars? I didn't really know what to answer but I said something like that most adults do and I like doing it. He said: but you are a girl, you shouldn't drive a car! Hmmm, not sure where he got that from but it worries me that he is only 3 and has that opinon...

Still waiting!

Jakob's actual birthday is tomorrow and that is also the due date for the baby. Can't see it happening tomorrow but who knows, for some women it goes really quickly. Hard to believe that something that took 3 days with Jakob would take one day with another baby but you never know.
Still not sleeping so well but I guess that is part of it all. Was awake between 3-5.30, that doesn't happen very often. Adam got up with Jakob so that I could sleep in the morning wich was nice. The rest of the day was very busy. Adam took Jakob skating and then to Mc Donalds for lunch and that gave me some time to clean at home (how can a house get so dirty in just a week??). It has been snowing all day so I also went outside to shovel some snow and I nearly got it all done before Adam and Jakob got back. Luckily the snow was very light today but I think I need to give my back a rest tomorrow. I have to say I quite enjoy shovelling snow. Especially when it is light like now.
Thanks everyone for all the nice presents Jakob got for his birthday! Lets see if he will get a baby brother on his birthday. I doubt it...

Jakob's birthday...

... is not until tomorrow, but we had a small party today to celebrate him. Last week he had his friends over for a party and this weekend it was for the relatives. Jakob is so in to games at the moment and he got a great one from Maggi and Åke that he wanted to play straight away.

He also got some great presents from mormor and morfar, clothes, a bridge to his train set and some lego. All very popular presents.

Blowing out the 3 candles...

Watching Mac Queen for a couple of minutes before getting back to his new toys. He got a Bob the builder dvd from Åsa and Micke that he watched before he went to bed and really liked! He also got a book with very nice photos of farm animals. Today there was too much going on around him to be able to enjoy it properly but he loves his books and I really enjoy reading to him.

More celebrations...

Andreas and Karin came over for a fika a bit later on. Karin is just the best person to play with and I am pretty sure Jakob could have kept going all night if he had been allowed to. He got a very nice t-shirt from them and they also gave us some clothes for the baby. If he ever comes out...

Relaxing with Andreas and watching Bob the builder.

Saturday

We didn't really have any plans for Saturday but the day ended up being quite busy. Jakob got up in the middle of the night so I was tired in the morning and had a sleep in. When I got up Adam went to they gym, after that I went to the riding club for an hour and after that we went to Maria and Andreas place for a bit. The kids had a really fun afternoon with hardly any fighting at all :-)

Kids having fun means parents can relax...

Saturday night we spent at home taking it easy. Jakob really likes looking at himself in the video camera... He must get that from his dad!

Friday at Leos

As always Jakob loves jumping...

And ice cream...

Us girls having a fika and a rest...

Jumping again

Adam having a rest...

Friday at Leos

Slept really well last night and Jakob didn't wake up until 7 this morning, not bad. We had a nice morning at home before we went to Leos at 10. It has been about -24 all day today so not really a day for outdoor playing.
We were 4 mums with kids (everyone apart from me had a big one and a baby) that had a great day together. Adam joined us after lunch and it was nice to get some help with Jakob even though he is looking after himself quite well on his own. In the car to Leos I said to him: Jakob you know that mummy can't do the slides with you? He answered back: No mummy, I will do them all by myself. Daddy can go with me when he comes but you can't, because you have a big belly. We did play together at one stage but then I told him he had to take me to activities that I can do with my belly and he took me to 3 places that I could easily do with him. He is so understanding! hope it stays that way when I am feeding the baby and can't play with him... We stayed at Leos until 4.30!! and then Adam took Jakob home and I went to a toy store to buy Jakob a birthday present.
As you can see, still no baby. Have had a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions today but nothing painful. Can still be a few weeks away. Or a few hours. Or maybe on Jakob's birthday :-)

Thursday!

Only 4 days until Jakob's birthday, maybe the baby will come on that day! I thought I had one contraction this morning and waited and waited for another one to come, but nothing. So that means still nothing.
Yesterday it snowed all day and was extremly windy so I actually stayed home all day. I had planned to go out and see the girls that were getting together at Sigrid's place, but after a night with not much sleep I slept all morning after Jakob went to dagis, and just took it easy at home after that. Adam was also home all afternoon which was nice. This is what our driveway looked like last night before Adam went out to get rid of all the snow. He had to do some this morning as well and even I did some shoveling in the afternoon. He did all the heavy stuff and I did the last litte touches.

As always Jakob was in a very good mood in the morning and I played with him in his room for a while before he went to dagis, and I went back to sleep. After a nice kip I met up with Adam for lunch in the city, we had raindeer meet with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam. Really nice!

Jakob and I cuddling on the couch after dagis.

My belly is starting to look pretty big...

Carina came over in the evening for a really nice sauna and after that tea and some cakes (cakes for me only). We also looked at photos of us when we worked and travelled together in Israel 15 years ago and couldn't stop laughing at ourselves. Not a pretty sight.

Still nothing...

Tuesday night and still no baby. The weather forecast for the next couple of days is storm and lots of snow so I hope the baby will wait for another few days before coming out. I went to the midwife on Monday and the baby is now engaged and everything is looking good. I still feel quite good apart from that I am not sleeping so well at night and I can really feel that the baby is struggling to fit inside my body.
Yesterday I stayed home pretty much the whole day. Did lots of paperwork, had some rest, went grocery shopping and the visit to my midwife. Today I was home in the morning but had lunch and coffee with friends in the city, walked around in the city for a while, met up with Adam, picked up Jakob and just took it easy. Nothing exciting but nice to just be able to do what I want to and get some rest.
Jakob is doing really well and both yesterday and today when he came home from dagis he told me: I didn't push Linus today! and looked very happy. Last week he pushed his friend Linus over a couple of times and I have tried to tell him that it is not a very nice thing to do. Another funny thing about Jakob is that he latley has started saying things like: I really like the food, but I just don't want anymore. Or... I like you mummy, but I want to play with daddy right now. Or... I like those pants, but I want to wear these ones today. It sounds so funny. It is like he wants to start with a positive before he says the negative, sort of. Don't know where he got it from, not from me or Adam, we probably start and end with something negative when we speak :-)
He is still doing well without nappies both during the day and at night. His night sleeps are still a bit up and down, not sure why. He has had a few nights when he has been sleeping well at night, but been waking up around 5.40-5.50 wanting to play. Far too early for us but not possible to get him back to sleep. Last night he woke up in the middle of the night again but I took him back to his own bed quickly and he stayed there for the rest of the night. It took him over an hour to go back to sleep though... very annoying. Hopefully this waking up at night is just a temporary thing.
Now I am going to go back to my book about giving birth without pain. It is about how you can use breathing techincs to manage the contractions when giving birth. Very interesting.

Sunday night!

My due date is only about a week away. Feel good and have no signs of going in to labor at this stage. Hoping for a few more days to do my own things but I am also ready if he wants to come out now. The weekend has been good and the party went well. Jakob was very tired when he went to bed tonight but also still very excited and was playing with cars and singing in his bed for a long time before going to sleep.
Last night I slept much better and so did Jakob. The only problem was that he came in to our bed at 5.35. Too late in the morning to try to get him back to sleep (has never happened before) and thereby no point trying to take him back to his bed. Since I felt quite good I got up with him so that Adam could have a sleep in and I went back to bed a couple of hours later instead. That time with him in the morning is so nice. We watched tv together on the couch and we talked. He often puts his arm around my neck and says: Mummy, can we talk about something? Often he does it in the evening when he doesn't want to sleep, but sometimes you can really see that he just wants to talk about something. It can be about what he did today, about when we went to Paris, about a party he is going to or has been to, about his friends at dagis about something else. I really like those moments and it is SO interesting to hear what's in the mind of a 3 year old.
Nearly bedtime for me. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the midwife in the morning but apart from that no plans for the day. I look forward to it!

Birthday Party!

Today Jakob had his third birthday party! a little bit early, his birthday is not until 1st Feb but because of us not knowing when the baby will come we thought we have it a earlier rather than later. Adam took Jakob skating so that I could do all the preparations for the party at home without interruptions.




Zara, Micke Finn and Lykke were the first ones to arrive. Jakob had woken up from a day sleep only 20 min earlier and was not in a good mood when he woke up. He did not want to wear the clothes we tried to put on, the only present he wanted was a car that he has been talking about and was just not up for any conversation or games. Luckily Adam started running and falling on the ground and in a matter of seconds Jakob got interested and suddenly the bad mood was gone and he was happy again. The party could have ended in a disaster.

Jakob was really happy with all his presents and the first one was a dvd from Finn with his favourite car. He was in heaven!!