Klara Poppy Ekstrand is here!

Our beloved daughter Klara Poppy Ekstrand is finally here. On Sunday, August 19th, 7:38am she was born at the University Hospital in Lund, just a seven minute walk from our house. Her given name will be Klara, but most likely we will continue to call her Poppy most of the time. Time will tell what we and she will feel most comfortable with.

When I was one week past my due date I had a regular check up with my midwife whom I've seen every second week since I came back to Sweden in June. You don't have a doctor checking on you unless the midwife finds something out of the ordinary. This Wednesday she thought my blood pressure was a little too high and with my history of pre-eclampsia with Alice & Nils, she sent me up to the hospital to have a doctor check on me more carefully. He found no other symptoms or warning signals besides the pressure, so he sent me home, but wanted to do another check up two days later. On Friday the pressure was slightly higher and my thrombocytes were a little lower than he felt comfortable with so he kept me for closer observations. Best would be if the delivery would start by itself since I had a caesarian with Alice & Nils. Inducing is not so good under those circumstances.

I stayed over night in the hospital. Mats, Alice & Nils came over after school and stayed with me while I had dinner. They were not comfortable with the situation, but when they understood that I was there because they could take better care of me there than if I was at home, they were ok with it. The following day I rested most of the day in my bed to keep the pressure down, but they also wanted me to walk a little so the labor would start. Late afternoon the pressure went up even more and I started to leak some amniotic fluid so they sent me down the two floors to the delivery ward. There they monitored Poppy's heartbeats and my early contractions constantly. I called Mats, they served me dinner and slowly, slowly my contractions came more regularly. 

In Sweden you don't have a doctor that you have chosen to deliver your baby. You call the hospital when you have about 5 minutes between your contractions, they confirm that they have a spot for you and when you arrive they install you in a room. A team with a delivery midwife and a nurse guide you all the way. If there are complications there are doctors available too, but normally the babies are delivered by the midwife. There was one team when we came in, but their shift ended three hours later and a new team started working with us. She wanted to put me on stimulating drip and did so on the lowest possible dose. I had painful contractions for three hours, but it didn't help me open up. Poppy's heartbeats went down so they took me off the drip. Suddenly there was drama in one of the other rooms, so the team left us to ourselves for a couple of hours (still monitored though and we could call them any time). It all slowed down to a pace that was comfortable for me and for Poppy. Mats helped me out with massage and a TENS-machine that gives impulses on the lower back. Much better and much more effective. When the team came back my contractions were coming closer and closer and getting stronger all the time.

At 7am on Sunday morning our third team of midwife and nurse started. I had just entered the last phase of the delivery and could not open my eyes. I kept them closed to focus, took some nitrous oxide occasionally, but mostly just listened to my midwife's instructions and tried to keep calm. Thirty-eight minutes later our lovely Poppy entered the world. It was the most wonderful and emotional moment I have ever experienced. I was so happy to have Mats there with me and that we could both be part of this together. They immediately put Poppy on my chest and after a short while she found her way to my breast. It was such a reward to be awake and I was grateful that I didn't have to do a c-section again (they talked about it at one point during the night). With Alice and Nils I was so sick that they had to have me totally sedated and not even Mats could be in the room when they were born.

Soon they came in with be best breakfast I've had in my life. The "champagne" is Pommac - a Swedish kind of non-alcoholic cider. Mats walked home and came back with Alice and Nils (who had slept at home by themselves). They were surprisingly calm and so happy to find both me and Poppy in good health. 

They were proud and super sweet with their baby sister. One at a time they held her and were fascinated by her small fingers, face etc. They couldn't stop looking at her and commenting on how cute she is. 

After four hours we walked over to the hospital hotel where they have a special section for newborns. You have your own hotel room and in the corridor there are nurses/midwives to help you out 24/7. You just give them a call and they come to your room right away. They help you with any possible questions, get the breast feeding working etc. They do the first check ups on your baby and when you feel ready to go home, they give you advice about what to do. The dads can stay over night too, but in our case it was better for Mats, Alice and Nils to live at home and just visit me after school and have dinner with me in the restaurant downstairs. Cost: First night free. Then $10/night and that includes three great meals and two snacks in the restaurant. 

After two nights in the hotel I walked home with our three children (but it looks like I still have one in my stomach too in this picture). Mats took the bags in the car and was ready with the camera as we came home. It was a warm, nice summer day. Alice and Nils took turns pushing the stroller and the whole family was happy to finally be united on Tunavägen.

Pregnant update

I am one week past due date today and two days ago my blood pressure went up a little higher than the doctor was comfortable with. They looked for other signs of early pre-eclampsia, but everything else seemed fine. He sent me home with instructions to come back Friday for a new check up. Today it didn't seem as good, so he kept me here at the hospital to be able to do closer check ups and have me rest. Same thing as with Alice & Nils, but let's hope I don't develop pre-eclampsia this time.

The best thing would be if Poppy decided to start the delivery by herself. If she doesn't the doctor thinks they might help out a little after the weekend (if I don't get worse before of course). I don't feel sick, so it is actually ok to be here, but I'd rather be home. The good thing is though, that Mats, Alice & Nils only has a 5 minutes walk here, so it is easy for them to visit. They were just here and kept me company when I had dinner. As a reference to American hospital prices I can tell you that it will cost me $12/day to stay here. That includes 3 meals and 2 snacks/day and all the necessary tests and check ups. 

I'll keep you posted on how I feel and meanwhile I also hope to be able to blog a little from the summer. Now that I don't have the possibility to pack up boxes at home, cook dinner or do something else around the house.

Slow, lazy days in Yngsjö

When we were still in Palo Alto and were getting ready for the big move I just pictured myself on the sofa in the summer house in Yngsjö. Once I was there I would just relax and not do ANYTHING. Now that we were here, it was very relaxing and neither me nor the kids did a lot the first days. Slept in late, took short walks on the beach, watched Swedish TV (the kids) and took long naps on the sofa (me). All good ways to get the jetlag corrected and adapting slowly to life in Sweden.

After a few days we got the energy to do more things. Like walking the 10 minutes to the minigolf course and buy membership for the summer of 2012. I usually play, and beat, the kids, but this summer I was happy to just join them and keeping the score for them. It was enough for them too, so everyone was happy. This summer they played so well I think I would have been in trouble winning. That's what happens when you are 12 years old and play 1-2 rounds every day for a couple of weeks. We'll see if I can match up with them next year.

Fun to catch up with relatives and friends too. Here we have Mats' parents and sister with family over for dinner. Around the table are clockwise, starting with Nils (who wanted me to post both pictures since he looked so goofy on the right one that I had picked first), cousin Erik, uncle Johan, grandpa Sven, grandma Gertrud, aunt Ulrika, cousin Carl and Alice. Cousin Anna was at a friend's house this evening and missed this dinner, but we saw a lot of her during the rest of the summer because Ulrika & Johan has bought a summer house just a 3 minutes walk from ours. Absolutely perfect. The kids run back and forth as they wish and we can help out with different things at different times. Especially this summer it has been great to have them close if I would have had to leave for the hospital. Besides, they are both medical doctors so in worst case we jokingly said they could have helped me deliver in the summer house. Well, thankfully this did not happen, but it was a good fall back plan.

Grandma comes to visit

Arriving to the summer house was so nice. It is small, clean, organized and located in a beautiful spot on earth - Yngsjö. Not much to do so it truly felt ok to just lie down on the sofa, take a slow walk on the beach, play minigolf or just don't do anything. None of our summer friends had arrived yet since their kids were still in school and it was actually kind of nice. We could just land by ourselves and welcome Grandma, who HAD to come down from Stockholm to welcome us back to Sweden. She also wanted to see my stomach for herself to truly believe that their 13th grandchild was on her way. 

Alice, Grandma Margit, Nils

The days were cool, but it was so great just to hang out together without the pressure of doing a lot of things. Playing Risk during the day and watching a movie or European Championship soccer in the evening was about what we did. Very relaxing.

Alice (yellow) finally beat us all!

One day we actually did take a trip to meet up with my father's sister, Birgit, her husband Leo and their large family. Five children, spouses and 17 grandkids and the 18th on the way. They were doing a tour of the southern part of Sweden to celebrate Birgit's birthday and invited us to share an afternoon/evening with them. This day they were visiting Kyrkheddinge, where Leo's father was born and raised. Leo's grandfather was the minister/priest of the church in the background.

Grandma and Alice

Alice, Sara and Poppy

 MyAunt Birgit & Uncle Leo

Wonderful to see them all and extra fun since we will miss the BIG family gathering later this summer with ALL my dad's siblings with families - in total around 80 people. I don't know how many who can/will attend, but at least I know our little family can't go because it is held in the Stockholm archipelago and the dates are August 9-12. Poppy's due date. Typical - but not much to do. There will be more gatherings!

Tunaskolan

Jetlagged and curious of what the day would bring us we woke up early and were ready to leave the house at 8am. We walked to Tunaskolan, the school where Alice and Nils went to Kindergarten and 1st Grade before we moved to Palo Alto. The walk is very similar to the one from Seale Avenue to Walter Hays - walk a block, cross a larger road, walk through a park and there's the school - in less than 10 minutes. Perfect.

Since we don't break up the classes in Sweden their old class was still intact, only with a new teacher. It was their last regular day of school before the summer break, so we walked over to the classroom to see if we would meet any friendly faces. Alice & Nils were a little hesitant, but as I assumed the door was open and kids were running back and forth cleaning out their desks. Anders, the teacher we had never met, suddenly appeared. He looked at me, then the kids and said: "You must be Alice and Nils! Although I've never met you, I have heard so much about you. Please, come in and welcome back to Sweden!" 

We recognized almost all the kids but there were also some new ones who had joined the class. We talked a little to some of them and then Anders invited us to come back for their "end-of-the-school-year-lunch" a couple of hours later. Excellent.

We walked over to the principal's office and she invited us to come in and answer our questions. At Tunaskolan they have decided to break up the classes before you enter 6th Grade, the first year of Junior Highschool. The classes were already made, so she gave us the accurate lists. Good timing to move back this year, because now both Alice and Nils will have some familiar faces in their new classes, but also many new potential friends. The school is smaller than Jordan though, and there are only 3 parallell 6th Grade classes. Nils asked about tardies, but there are no specific rules and punishments for that here. Another question was about cellphones, and those are ok for students to have during the day as well. We will have to get back to this topic when school starts.

When we ran out of questions for the principal we went to Skatteverket - the Swedish Tax Agency - to register us as residents. I was expecting the worst, long lines, bureaucracy etc, but was positively surprised. We were in and out in less than 20 minutes, so we strolled around town a little. It felt somewhat familiar to Alice and Nils, but there is a big difference to be 8 and 12 years old.


Back at Tunaskolan they had set a long table across the classroom and they had ordered pizza, Chinese food and sushi. Yum. Nils is in the middle at the far end, surrounded by all the boys. He said that they treated him like one in the gang right away - not more, not less. That felt good.

Alice sat among the girls and felt the same way. (I'm glad she can still eat with a knife and fork after 4 years in the US, but apparently some do eat pizza with their hands here in Sweden too.)

After lunch we were exhausted with new impressions and contacts. We went home, closed the suitcases and left the mostly empty house in Lund for the summer house in Yngsjö.

Ready for Poppy

I understand that many of you wonder if Poppy has decided to join our family yet. Well, she is still in my stomach and we are both feeling fine. With only five days left to due date I'm getting kind of heavy though and I am ready for her to enter our world. And of course it can still be more than two weeks before that happens.

What is going to become her room is nowhere near to be ready. Instead it has been the spare room where we put Alice's and Nils' furniture when the painter fixed their rooms. She does have everything she needs in the beginning though, only a little spread out in the house:

Stroller in the hallway

Changing table in the kids' bathroom

Crib in our bedroom

The lower changing pad is going to be moved up to our (3rd) floor once she is born. Clothes and diapers will fill the lower shelves instead. Alice and I are going to organize that tomorrow. The kids' rooms are all on the second floor, but naturally she can't sleep there to begin with (even if Alice wants her to be in her room). Once we get to know Poppy and get more organized she will have her own room, right next to Alice's, but I'm sure it will take quite a while before she wants to have her little sister next to her ALL night, EVERY night. Time will tell!

Moving back to Sweden

After four wonderful years in Palo Alto, California, it was time for us to move back to Sweden. Two years became three, three became four and we knew that the time had come when we wanted to go back. Well, most of us wanted to. Nils and Alice were torn and would have stayed if they just could, but the deciding parts of us felt ready to return. Yes, it is tough to leave all you lovely friends, all the fun things we could do together and the gorgeous weather. On the upside we will now be close to our Swedish friends, Mats' and my parents, our four siblings with spouses and Alice's & Nils' 13 cousins. And soon, I hope, there will be another addition to the big family group when Poppy decides to enter this world (5 days to due date today).

On June 12 we took a last goodbye of Alice's soccer team with coach Savio. Two hours later Mats drove me, Alice and Nils to SFO for our return flight. It felt strange and sad to leave Seale Avenue. Luckily it was only the Rock family standing in their garden waving at us as we left. I don't think we could have managed to have a larger crowd waving us off, but once we were at the airport we had to deal with the practical things and that was a good distraction. Alice and Nils were both very helpful and didn't let their pregnant mother carry much at all. It was a long flight, but everything went well and about 20 hours later we entered our half-empty house in Lund and went to bed.

Finally arriving in Copenhagen and celebrating with a red hot dog. 

Wonderful to find this cute "Welcome Home"-card and flowers on our kitchen table when we came to our house in Lund. Two of our lovely neighbors and friends had also put everything we needed for breakfast the next morning in the fridge, including a big bowl of strawberries - so thoughtful!