So this year was our first full Christmas in Malmö as we couldn't go back to the UK due to me being 39 weeks pregnant :)
Even though I was very skeptical as to whether we would be ok and have an enjoyable Christmas, we both actually had a really good time. We made Christmas Eve our Swedish Christmas and Christmas Day our British Christmas.
We had Julbord (a Swedish term for the buffet style spread you have for Christmas meal) on Christmas Eve with films and a chilled day and then English Roast Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, present opening and the good china, cutlery on Christmas Day.
I missed my family so much and my homesickness was at its most it has been since moving here but I knew how worth it, it was going to be and knew that it was for an amazing reason not just because I couldn't go.
New Year was a very quiet affair to be honest we struggled to make it to midnight but we managed it and we sat outside on the balcony and watched Malmö light up by all the fireworks that were set off to celebrate 2013 beginning and hubby & I couldn't believe this was going to be the year we became parents.
The following week was a very slow one I was certainly struggling to have any energy and had to waddle when I walked, baby was in place and ready to meet the world but decided to make us wait.
The 2nd January (babies due date) came and went and there wasn't even a glimmer of baby making a grand entrance. I started to try all the usual things to bring on labour - pineapple juice, raspberry leaf tea, spicy food etc I tried it all...
I was given an induction date of Thursday 10th January and this was my target to make sure baby had arrived naturally before then. I spent the weekend eating Mexican, Indian foods and walking lots and lots (well waddling).
Sunday night I went to bed and was woken by very strong contractions that were 20 minutes apart during the night, they never got any closer or stronger and Monday day they stopped. Monday I spent resting and walking to try and get things going again and Monday night I was woken again by strong contractions that never got less then 20 minutes apart. My husband rang the hospital to explain what had been happening and they advised we had to wait for the contractions to get to 5 minutes apart, so we carried on waiting it out.
Tuesday we went to the midwife for a normal check up on things and she advised me that I was in labour and she believed I could have actually broken my waters and needed to go to the hospital to check if the water had gone or not. We came home collected our thoughts and things together called a taxi and went to the hospital.
On arrival we went into the labour ward and I was examined by a doctor who said the baby was in the way of seeing if the waters had broken and from monitoring me there were hardly any contractions and advised me to go home and rest and they would induce me the next morning, Wednesday 9th January.
That evening I took the dog for a good long walk, had a spicy curry and a cup of raspberry leaf tea and soon I was having contractions every 10 minutes so I took a long shower and when I came out my contractions were 6 minutes apart. We rang the hospital and we were advised to come in.
4am on the 9th January we arrived at the labour ward, I was shown to my room, settled in, told to take a long hot shower and had the monitors connected up to me, the midwife was happy my labour was active enough to stay in hospital but as I was not actively in labour she told me to try and get some sleep. I was monitored throughout the night and about 9am I was given some breakfast and told to have another long hot shower as things were beginning to speed up.
Between 10am and 12pm everything speeded up and I was told to keep walking around and stay active and keep my labour active. The midwife was happy with me and how calm I was but was not happy with the progression of my labour so she decided to see if my waters had in fact broken, which they had not. So I was put on a hormonal drip and my waters were broken and that's when the labour stepped up about 5 gears.
Soon after I was on the gas and my calm persona had gone :) I was very good and never had anything more then the gas and came out of it pretty much unscathed.
2.25pm on Wednesday 9th January 2013 our son Aadi was born and the highlight was that once the head and shoulders had passed I was told to reach down and deliver my baby myself, it was me that pulled Aadi out and delivered him, I pulled him straight onto my chest and he lay there looking at the world with only a little cry so content for what seemed like an eternity. It was only when I wanted to know if I had had a boy or a girl that I realised no one had seen because I was the one who pulled him out and had laid him down so hubby had to remind me I needed to look so I could tell everyone :)
He was then left with me for a good few hours and had his first feed long before anybody took him away to mess with him. It was all made to feel as natural as possible.
I do want to say how amazing I found the health care in Sweden, from the minute I met my midwife at the very beginning all the way to the midwives in the labour ward and post natal ward. I have been blown away by how caring, amazing, educated, tentative, the list goes on about how awesome they were. I had the same midwife all the way through pregnancy who was always at the end of the phone and during labour I have 4 midwives in my room with an assistant midwife all there for my every need, it wasn't due to anything being wrong it was the norm to have so many, one talking me through it, one holding my straw making sure I drank enough, one doing what needed to be done, it was such a support network and I couldn't of asked for more.
Then in the post natal ward they made sure I stayed in the hospital long enough to establish how to breastfeed and that it was going ok and they even told me off for not buzzing them enough to ask for help or ask questions :) And now the midwife we see with Aadi for his check ups etc is the nicest person who puts Aadi and me first and is very good at reading me.
Not once during my whole pregnancy, birth or aftercare has being in Sweden been a problem and there has never been a language barrier. They have always put my needs first and have always tried there best to explain it in English and even during delivery when they needed to talk to each other in Swedish they would then tell me what they said in English even if it had nothing to do with me. I really do think having Aadi in Sweden made it the amazing pregnancy and birth it was and considering Aadi was a miracle baby I owe a lot to moving to Sweden, as it gave me my Swedish miracle <3
One month on Aadi is a very happy content baby who is a dream and were so proud and full of unconditional love for him and even without much sleep you can't take these smiles off our faces. xxx
But more on that in my upcoming blogs...
Even though I was very skeptical as to whether we would be ok and have an enjoyable Christmas, we both actually had a really good time. We made Christmas Eve our Swedish Christmas and Christmas Day our British Christmas.
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| Very pregnant on Christmas Day |
I missed my family so much and my homesickness was at its most it has been since moving here but I knew how worth it, it was going to be and knew that it was for an amazing reason not just because I couldn't go.
New Year was a very quiet affair to be honest we struggled to make it to midnight but we managed it and we sat outside on the balcony and watched Malmö light up by all the fireworks that were set off to celebrate 2013 beginning and hubby & I couldn't believe this was going to be the year we became parents.
 |
| The New Year Fireworks over the Turning Torso |
The 2nd January (babies due date) came and went and there wasn't even a glimmer of baby making a grand entrance. I started to try all the usual things to bring on labour - pineapple juice, raspberry leaf tea, spicy food etc I tried it all...
I was given an induction date of Thursday 10th January and this was my target to make sure baby had arrived naturally before then. I spent the weekend eating Mexican, Indian foods and walking lots and lots (well waddling).
Sunday night I went to bed and was woken by very strong contractions that were 20 minutes apart during the night, they never got any closer or stronger and Monday day they stopped. Monday I spent resting and walking to try and get things going again and Monday night I was woken again by strong contractions that never got less then 20 minutes apart. My husband rang the hospital to explain what had been happening and they advised we had to wait for the contractions to get to 5 minutes apart, so we carried on waiting it out.
Tuesday we went to the midwife for a normal check up on things and she advised me that I was in labour and she believed I could have actually broken my waters and needed to go to the hospital to check if the water had gone or not. We came home collected our thoughts and things together called a taxi and went to the hospital.
On arrival we went into the labour ward and I was examined by a doctor who said the baby was in the way of seeing if the waters had broken and from monitoring me there were hardly any contractions and advised me to go home and rest and they would induce me the next morning, Wednesday 9th January.
That evening I took the dog for a good long walk, had a spicy curry and a cup of raspberry leaf tea and soon I was having contractions every 10 minutes so I took a long shower and when I came out my contractions were 6 minutes apart. We rang the hospital and we were advised to come in.
4am on the 9th January we arrived at the labour ward, I was shown to my room, settled in, told to take a long hot shower and had the monitors connected up to me, the midwife was happy my labour was active enough to stay in hospital but as I was not actively in labour she told me to try and get some sleep. I was monitored throughout the night and about 9am I was given some breakfast and told to have another long hot shower as things were beginning to speed up.
Between 10am and 12pm everything speeded up and I was told to keep walking around and stay active and keep my labour active. The midwife was happy with me and how calm I was but was not happy with the progression of my labour so she decided to see if my waters had in fact broken, which they had not. So I was put on a hormonal drip and my waters were broken and that's when the labour stepped up about 5 gears.
Soon after I was on the gas and my calm persona had gone :) I was very good and never had anything more then the gas and came out of it pretty much unscathed.
2.25pm on Wednesday 9th January 2013 our son Aadi was born and the highlight was that once the head and shoulders had passed I was told to reach down and deliver my baby myself, it was me that pulled Aadi out and delivered him, I pulled him straight onto my chest and he lay there looking at the world with only a little cry so content for what seemed like an eternity. It was only when I wanted to know if I had had a boy or a girl that I realised no one had seen because I was the one who pulled him out and had laid him down so hubby had to remind me I needed to look so I could tell everyone :)
He was then left with me for a good few hours and had his first feed long before anybody took him away to mess with him. It was all made to feel as natural as possible.
 |
| Aadi soon after birth |
Then in the post natal ward they made sure I stayed in the hospital long enough to establish how to breastfeed and that it was going ok and they even told me off for not buzzing them enough to ask for help or ask questions :) And now the midwife we see with Aadi for his check ups etc is the nicest person who puts Aadi and me first and is very good at reading me.
Not once during my whole pregnancy, birth or aftercare has being in Sweden been a problem and there has never been a language barrier. They have always put my needs first and have always tried there best to explain it in English and even during delivery when they needed to talk to each other in Swedish they would then tell me what they said in English even if it had nothing to do with me. I really do think having Aadi in Sweden made it the amazing pregnancy and birth it was and considering Aadi was a miracle baby I owe a lot to moving to Sweden, as it gave me my Swedish miracle <3
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| Aadi 1 week old having his first bath |
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| Aadi 4 weeks old - our gorgeous boy |
But more on that in my upcoming blogs...
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