April 29th, 2021

Happy DUE DATE & Happy International DANCE DAY!

Two special days today to celebrate. Dance should be celebrated every day of the year, but I love that there is one day that is extra special. And today we can celebrate that I have been pregnant for 40 weeks, what an accomplishment. Still so so so grateful for the 9+ months I’ve had with lots of energy and feeling pretty good overall. Lets see when Lilliput wants to come join us earth side. 

 

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April 28, 2021

To not find out the sex of the baby is quite exciting. It means we have had months and months of guessing which is fun. One could say that it would be easier to shop for the baby if you know the gender, but since I don’t care if a girl wears blue and boy wears pink it’s really not important to find out until the baby is born.

In the end of February, Jim and I decided to go through some of the old wives tales to see if we could find out what we are having. This is our results:

* Lets look at my cravings. Sugar means girl, salty means boy. Well, I can’t get enough of sweet and spicy food and just like during the last pregnancy I have no salt cravings. I’m normally someone who over salt everything and I enjoy salty chips but when I’m pregnant, I don’t like it. But I think this one is because I’m drinking a lot more water than ever before and my body simply doesn’t crave it. And I have always had a sweet tooth so no difference now = GIRL

* Baby’s heart rate, if it’s over 140 it’s a girl, slower than 140 it’s a boy. The baby has since the end of first trimester had a heart rate around 155-160, but again, a heart rate depends on how active they are. If I sit down to relax in a doctors chair it might mean dance time for baby. If I drink cold water the baby might freak out and starts moving. There are many reasons for the heart rate to be high or low = GIRL

* Carrying high or low and the shape of the bump. Well, this one is a bit hard to tell because different websites says different things. But most sites says that if you are carrying high by the ribs it’s a girl, if the belly hangs down low it’s a boy. If you are carrying all over the place it means boy, if it’s straight out to the front it means girl. However some say that if someone see you from behind and they can’t tell that you are pregnant, it means boy. Confusing huh? My bump has been quite high and straight out the whole time until it dropped (still straight forward though). And J says that you can’t tell that I’m pregnant from behind, so I guess I’m having both? = GIRL / BOY

36 weeks

* Morning sickness in the first trimester means girl, if you felt fine it means boy. I have never experienced nausea, I felt great during this and the last pregnancy. So it should mean boy, but the last baby was a girl, so who knows = BOY

* This one is a bit gross for some maybe, but first thing in the morning I peed in a plastic cup and then added a teaspoon of baking soda. If it fizzes it’s supposed to mean it’s a boy, if it stays flat, it’s a girl. Mine stayed flat. Well, I don’t think this one is very accurate since urine mixed with baking soda fizzes due to acidity, so it really depends on what you have been eating, probably not so much of the gender of the baby = GIRL

* They say that girls steals moms beauty so if your skin and hair is flawless it means that you’re having a boy. My hair is kinda the same or possibly slightly better and my skin has never been this awesome, it really is flawless (too bad that I have nowhere to go or anyone to see to show off this glowing skin of mine and when I go out I hide behind a face mask). But, this can also be explained by that I don’t wash my hair too often so my scalp doesn’t produce oil to make it look crappy. And all the water that I’m chugging is clearly good for the skin. H2O is after all the best beauty trick out there = BOY

* Linea nigra is a line that appears on the belly on some women. They say that if the line goes from pubic up to the navel it means you’re having a girl, if the line continues above the belly button then you’re having a boy. I noticed that I had a very vague line before I was pregnant so I expected to get one. The line under the belly button became very visible after first trimester, and sometime after week 20 it started to appear above as well = BOY

* The ring test over your hand. What is it? Put your wedding band on a strand of hair (or anything circle and string). Place your hand, palm down, on the table, hold the ring over your hand and then swing it along every finger from thumb to pinky and then back from pinky to thumb, finish over your hand again and see how it moves. Different websites says different things, but mostly I’ve find that if it’s swings back and forth it’s a boy and if it moves in a circle it’s a girl. This is a test where you check all the pregnancies you’ve had or ever will have. So I have to count in “Wiggly” and potential future pregnancies. When I was pregnant the last time I got the same result every time I tried. After we lost the baby I kept getting all sorts of results (yes, I think this is a fun test and I have done it plenty of times haha). This time we did the test it meant that Wiggly was a circle = girl and Lilliput is a circle = GIRL

* Ring test over bump. Keep your ring on the strand of hair and hold it over the pregnant belly. Again, if it swings back and forth it’s a boy, if it moves in a circle it’s a girl. I asked Jim to do it on me this time and….nothing happened at all. Completely still. He didn’t even understand, he just kept saying that when I do it I make it move, but I don’t. We had to do some similar test like this back in school to check energies, so I’m not making it up. Anyway, I ended up doing the test myself and the ring went from a small circle to a clear back and forth = BOY

* Has Jim gained any weight? If the partner gains weight you’re having a girl. He claims that he gained a bunch during our last pregnancy and that was a girl. With this pregnancy it’s hard to tell. He lost some weight when the pandemic started and then I think he gained it back when I got pregnant, but overall I think he’s been pretty much the same = BOY

* Mothers intuition. Well, I thought it was a girl during the whole first trimester and then from the day of our 13th week scan I was sure of boy,… until the kicks started and I kept thinking that it’s a girl kicking. I had a dream of possibly a son, but at the same time I have a feeling there will be a girl popping out. Jim has been thinking GIRL the whole time.

And then we added some other tests as well:

* Chinese gender chart. This one is hard to look at. There are soooo many websites and it’s hard to know if they base the result off of what you can see directly or if they actually look at the lunar year and lunar month. So according to the lunar calendar I got pregnant when I was in lunar age 35 and it was the 6th month of the lunar year (34 years old and conception in August). But if this chart below for example is based off of lunar or not, who knows. So, some websites says BOY and others say GIRL

* Jim and I added a test of our own. I grabbed one of my tarot card decks. Jim got to draw one card to see what it would show. Then I grabbed a card. We got both a blue card and a pink card hahah = BOY / GIRL

The deck has pictures in many different colors so it was funny that we got a blue and a pink card

* We added another test that involved Thor. We put a blue plush toy and a pink plush toy in one end of the rug and asked Thor to go pick one. He picked blue = BOY

He normally loves to play with the pink one and doesn’t care that much about the blue toy, but he went straight to the blue.

 I think it’s safe to say that the old wives had no clue either hahaha. We just have to wait and see 😀 

April 28, 2021

Yup, another not super awesome phone picture, but I wanted a last family-of-three pic before baby:)

1 day til due. Very few babies are born on their due date though, George, my friends baby is the only one I know. Everyone I know here in America have had early babies but everyone else have had late ones. There really is no way to tell when you will have a baby, the baby is in charge. I read a study somewhere that the baby will release a tiny amount of substance to let mothers hormones know it’s time for labor, baby and body both has to be ready. However, here in America you can’t go too long after before they induce you which is sad and quite stressful for the baby. So hubby and I are of course hoping that the process will start on its own. But we’ll see.

I am still doing stuff around the apartment and on my computer, some stuff to keep myself busy, but I am also taking time to just do absolutely nothing. Some moments of the day I just sit and stare out the window… simply because I can:) I feel extremely calm. It almost feels like I’m faking it for myself, it doesn’t feel real to be this calm before a life changing thing like this haha. 

My hospital bag has been ready for weeks. I actually started to pack it in January when I packed for our babymoon and then from time to time I go check so that I haven’t forgot anything important. But the hospital apparently has pretty much everything you need so even if I were to forget something they’ll probably have it. I’m bringing a carry-on luggage, J has his backpack and then of course the car seat, that’s it. The backpack has basically nothing in it other than the big camera in it’s bag and my luggage is only 2/3 filled if even that. People seem to bring so much stuff to the hospital but I really don’t feel that I need that much, especially not now during a pandemic. If no complications then I’ll be in and out of there, all we need is going home outfits for us two and the baby, everything else will be provided. I have some travel toiletries, snacks for Jim, camera and phone gear, a robe, a pj, a swaddle, baby outfits in size newborn and 0-3 plus clothes to go home in. I packed clothes, a baby book for foot and hand prints and the big camera in J’s bag. It’s just standing there in the bedroom waiting to go. It’s kinda in the way so I can’t wait to come home from the hospital and be able to store the bags somewhere out of my sight haha. 

Looks kinda full here but everything is loosely packed. That camera bag to the left is going into the backpack. The pacifiers have been washed since the photo but not sterilized, not even sure I’m gonna bring them cause A) I’m hoping to never use one and B) the hospital has them I think. Oh, and we are also bringing a plastic bag with chocolate and tea for the nurses and doctors. We don’t know what is allowed to bring them now during corona days so we just picked out treats that is in single packages inside. 

I don’t have a lot to tell you these days. Going to the doctor this afternoon for a regular checkup, it’s Thor’s birthday on Saturday and that’s all there is in my calendar. Other than that, I am just a ticking bomb waiting to go off 😀

On Friday once J finished work we drove to Mianus Park and went on a little hike. It was absolutely lovely. Only walked for 30 minutes but that was enough to get my steps for the day.
On Saturday after our breakfast, we drove to Cove Island for a walk. A bit chilly wind but the sun was nice and warm, a real spring day. J’s job is to take Thor and me for a walk at least once a day and these days I ask him to take a picture every time in case it’s the last bump picture, even when I’m in weird outfits like this haha (it’s all about comfort these days)
Snuggles with my first baby is important. I’m trying to look at him to see if he can give me any signs that we are close to baby’s birthday but Thor is not like other dogs I guess haha:)I’m gonna miss this coffee table and the kicks that comes with it. Sometimes the kicks are so big that whatever I have on the bump flies out. Another family photo:)

April 26, 2021

Happy Name Day to me and my mom. In Sweden, each day of the year (or most of them) have one or two names in the calendar and we call it Name Day. On April 26 it’s Therése day which is a name that me, my mom, my grandmother and my great grandmother all carry. If “lilliput” is a girl she will carry this name as well of course:)

To something else…

24 weeks and 1 day

For the past few months, people I know and strangers have been asking me if I am nervous, anxious or even scared of giving birth. My answer is always “No, not even a little, it never crossed my mind”. And I really mean it. 

Social media, articles, baby apps and you name it wants to highlight the real stories of birth and parenthood which I of course appreciate and support. We should not sugarcoat any of it. But in my opinion, the problem is that it is a bit over hyped these days which can cause fear rather than excitement. You read or hear everywhere how painful birth is and how tired you’ll be when the baby is born and how hard life is during pregnancy and postpartum. That might all be true (for some), but that’s very negative and no wonder people are scared and worried. I am not at all ignoring the facts, I don’t believe it will be a piece of fluffy cake, but I have always chosen to see it from a positive point of view.

If I walk around thinking of pain then I will be afraid of giving birth, most likely hyperventilate through it all and wont enjoy my experience. So when someone mentions words like nervous, anxious, scared, worried, pain, sleep deprived, breastfeeding is hard, postpartum depression etc etc, I hear what they are saying but I’m also not really listening, cause I don’t need that kind of negativity preparing myself for it all. Women were meant to do this. Not every woman can for many different reasons, I might not be able to have the birth I imagine either, but I am not going to focus on that. I am also going to be at an awesome hospital surrounded by awesome doctors and nurses so if something were to happen then I have a team around me that will do their best to help me and the baby. So to be honest, I feel calm, excited, confident and I absolutely trust that my body knows what to do. And we’ll see how it goes:)

24 weeks 3 days

Every week I open the baby apps and read articles about baby’s development, what size of fruit or toy the baby is and what can be expected in the pregnancy. Once again, it has all been quite negative week after week which I think is a problem and they should look into making some changes. The first sentence should not be negative, it should be uplifting and exciting. And it should not be written as what they talk about will definitely happen to you, cause I have had minimal symptoms of what they describe every week and don’t feel like I can relate at all. For example, somewhere between 50-80% of all women (depending on what studies you read) experience morning sickness in their first trimester. But there are women, like myself, who never have to deal with this, yet, every single week in both 1st and part of second trimester you read about how bad your morning sickness is and that you have to suffer just a little bit longer. And you also read every week that you might have a miscarriage, that’s not very exciting at all. In third trimester (and part of second) you keep reading about that you’ll definitely will have Braxton Hicks contractions, heartburn, stretchmarks and about how hard it is to sleep and so on. I have had none or minimal of those symptoms. No, I have not been symptom free, I too have things going on in my body, like I have this weird tightening in my throat at night sometimes that makes it more difficult to fall asleep and after the bump dropped in week 37 I got my first stretchmarks (all in the front around my belly button cause the baby seems to think that’s the way out). But I don’t need to read that first thing when I open an app to read of what can happen this specific week. I want to start with something positive like “congratulations, you made it to this week and we should celebrate whatever whatever..” and then read about the symptoms that can happen. 

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And now to something else again…

As I’m approaching due date, hubby and I will not respond to questions about if the baby is about to arrive, is here yet etc. If someone is messaging and we don’t answer the question, it does not mean that we are at the hospital, it simply means that we don’t want to answer:) We know that everyone are curious and excited for us, so are we, but we don’t need that kind of stress or pressure right now. The baby will arrive whenever she/he is ready and we will let everyone know then. Ok, bye:)