Happy Due Date to Me!

Shortly before giving birth to Linus I read or heard a quote that said something to the effect of "Women have babies, men go to war."  Well, now with the recent lifting of the ban on women in combat we know that won't be the truth forever, but to me that quote really captured the essence of preparing for childbirth.  Our culture gets so caught up in all the material and silly ways we can prepare for babies-- we throw showers, buy gifts, some (lucky enough to have space) set up nurseries.  Then we look towards that due date assigned to us at the beginning of our pregnancies like a light at the end of a tunnel.  If you're lucky the delivery is a smooth one, mama and baby come out of the hospital healthy, then we cue more gifts, cards and flowers.

  

39 weeks, the stripes accentuate my size

Well, I like to think I have a bit of perspective on this subject, this being my third delivery and all.  In all the things I've read since preparing for that first birth, this one quote continues to resonate with me, because what I'm preparing to do is the scariest and most physically challenging feat in my life.  Yes, I'll have Mattias with me the entire way, the support of an awesome midwife, and maybe the assistance of certain pharmacologicals.  But really,  I will face the intensity and pain of the challenge of birth on my own, my body will suffer great trauma, and after a few short days I'll be sent back to the battlefield of my life as a mother.  It's a miracle really, that more of us don't leave the experience with PTSD.

Well, today is my due date and I'm really hoping the end is near.  I'm glad I left work when I did, especially since I can barely walk anymore.  The hardest parts about the end of gestation for me is the inability to do much of anything and the relative social isolation.  So I've been trying to keep as busy as I can, wrapping up the older boys' baby books, doing light cleaning, blogging, and general putzing around.  Last weekend was so warm that we decided to meet up with Melissa's family at the Rock Creek Park Nature Center in DC for some outside time and a picnic.

It was only a 0.5 mile loop, and walking is supposed to get the baby out, so I decided to hike too.  Later that afternoon Kerstin watched the boys while Mattias and I went out for spicy Korean tofu soup.  These activities have disappointed me in their labor inducing properties.

Well, today is my due date and if history repeats itself I won't have this baby until next Thursday.  I'm frustrated and tired, and really uncomfortable, but am beginning to accept that mine just need to bake a little longer than others. 

One positive sign that changes are coming is that we finally got the winter weather we've been asking for.  At my 40 week check up my midwife said that the baby is sitting really low in my pelvis and I'm showing signs that it could be any day now. 

We might get more snow tomorrow afternoon, and if this baby hasn't arrived by then, you'll find me outside carrying on as usual.

Swedipino 3.0

Mattias is under the firm belief that, because he is the third child, his parents don't remember that much about his early childhood.  That's not to say they didn't remember anything at all, but in those early days when he didn't speak much, and in comparison to what they recall from Gunilla & Jonas' childhoods, it doesn't seem like much was written into their hard drives, if you know what I mean.  We ask "Was Mattias like this when he was little?" a lot, because from what we can tell Lille Magnus is an exact mental replica of Mattias.  And the answer we get most frequently is "Hmmmm, yeah, I think so.  I think I remember him doing something like that..."

So there it is: the third child experience.  Your parents don't remember nearly as much as they did with the previous two, or maybe it's that they don't pay as much attention.  They certainly don't sweat the small stuff and they sure aren't buying you anything brand new, if they can help it.  And for Swedipino 3.0, it means your parents don't even blog about you until the week before you are due!

3.0 was a mere gummy bear back in June, when we first saw his little heart beat.

 

By September, at the 20 week ultrasound, he was waving and sucking on his hand.

 

It was a break from our tradition of surprise, but this time around we had to know this baby's sex.  We needed to prepare ourselves for boymaggedon, give ourselves time to accept the chaos to follow.  Now that we've known for several months now, we're really excited about the idea of a testosterone-filled household.

 

This past weekend, we took the boys to the hospital for a sibling tour.  We weren't sure if Magnus would really appreciate it since he prefers to run wild during most structured activities, but he sat down and listened quietly as our nurse-instructor talked about what newborns were like.  From the looks of her face (below), they must think newborns suck.

After walking through the labor and delivery ward, and showing the kids what the mother-baby rooms looked like, we brought out the baby dolls.  After I sat down, I had a real "Aha!" moment-- there I was holding a baby, with 2 little boys looking up at me.  I am about to become the mother of three.  I am about to become the mother of three boys.  In that tiny moment, I realized all the joy and fatigue that is in my future. 

We changed the doll's diaper, which Linus and Magnus both retrieved for me.  I guess it's best to start training them now.

Then we went over handling basics: be gentle, no poking at his eyes, DO NOT touch his hands (you dirty little germ carriers!)

Lastly, they got to hold the baby with my help.  I might regret saying this, but I'm not really worried about jealousy issues.  Linus never showed a bit of negativity towards Magnus, and recently Magnus has shown a great interest in his baby brother's arrival.  Daily he says "Tiny baby in there. Pop from Mamma?" He's even given him a name: Mulli (moo-lee)

I'm officially on maternity leave now, even though I'm only at 39 weeks.  Standing, walking, and commuting to work got too difficult for me.  And after experiencing some early labor signs on Monday I didn't want to take any chances of going into labor at work (and having to get home through Beltway traffic!)  So here I am, resting/nesting at home.  Most days Kerstin takes the boys because all I can really do is yell at them.  I'm feeling helpless, tired, and really uncomfortable, and worst of all I've become an angry mega-bitch.  So even though I'm enjoying the rest and care I'm receiving, I'm pretty ready for Swedipino 3.0's arrival. 

"The bestest day ever!"

Mattias and I are coming to realize it doesn't take a whole lot for the boys to proclaim any day, "The bestest day ever!"  Lordags godis, or Saturday Candy is a tradition in Sweden where children forgo all sweets during the week, but get a small amount of candy on Saturday.  It sometimes involves a trip to the candy store (which they have a lot of in Sweden) or a special trip to the grocery store, all of which has a special bulk sweets aisle.  No surprise, every Saturday at our house is proclaimed "The bestest day ever!"

The only day that tops Saturday, is Julafton or Christmas Eve, when Tomte (Santa) comes to deliver presents.  After a wonderful dinner cooked mostly by Kerstin, Mattias descended into the basement, donned the suit and beard, added a pair of aviator sunglasses for added disguise and knocked on the front door.  This was Magnus' first year understanding the whole concept and he seemed to be excited and but not scared.

Again, Linus was not convinced.  After Tomte left, Linus told us he knew it was Pappa dressed up because he noticed a wedding ring, and that meant the guy in the suit was married to me.  Little booger notices everything.  Here are the boys with their stack of presents.

Lille Magnus, taking exactly after Mattias, revels in every gift he opens.  It was game over after he opened his new espresso machine from Lolo/Lola-- every attempt to convince him to open one of the 15+ presents left was met with a quick "Nope." or "No thank you."  Linus was thrilled to get the talking, web slinging Spiderman he requested by letter.

We didn't do many gifts for us grownups this year, figuring it's just more to move back to California in May.  We have everything we need, and watching the kids enjoy themselves is really the greatest gift there is.  Here's a bunch of happy Karlssons.
Christmas morning we finally got Magnus to open up a few more presents, his favorite being a pack of superhero underwear from Lola.  In true superhero style, he put them on top of his pants and gave me his toughest pose.  Linus built a gas station with mini mart from Jonas & Lauren.  We love that it came with a toilet, too.

Our house was littered with boxes and paper, and more small toy parts than we knew what to do with.  However the boys' enthusiasm and excitement, to us, made it "The bestest day ever!"