A Fig in Sweden

christmas in Älmhult

You know you're celebrating Christmas in Sweden when...

1. The turkey you're about to cook has the name, address and photo of the person who raised it on the packaging. (The same is true for honey and all other meat products.)

2. The biggest turkey you can find at the store is less than 10 lbs.

3. Your house is filled with clementines.

4. Your house smells like hyacinths.

5. Your windows have some form of light in them: advent star or candles.

6. You have to tune into iTunes radio to find familiar Christmas music.

7. The grocery store is closed on Christmas Eve but open on Christmas Day.

8. And you've been drinking too much glögg.

At least this is what Christmas was like in our house this year. Since I'm only a few weeks away from delivery, I wasn't allowed to fly back to the states. So Lewis and I had a cozy Christmas here. We invited the other orphans stuck in Sweden from Lewis' program to come join us as the vegetarians attempted to cook a traditional American Christmas meal, complete with turkey and gravy. We had 3 guests from Mexico, Guyana and Ukraine, and they really helped us make the day special.

And did I mention Lewis bought me a new mobile phone??!! Very exciting. Now I don't have to worry that my 5-year-old phone will freeze up just as my water breaks and I need to get a hold of Lewis.

Having Christmas here meant we got to go out and buy a tree in the square. I figured we'd get the lowest priced one. But nooooooo. Lewis shocked me by snubbing the "regular" trees and picking a "silver" level tree. Dad and Dick, I can already see that Lewis will take part in your annual who-has-the-best-tree competition.

Having a tree meant we needed to buy some Swedish ornaments. We like the traditional ones: the doves with the symbol, the straw garland and the little santa heads (photos below.)

God Jul och Gott Nytt År!

a princess at Christmas

I don't think I have ever written about the princess cake. It's a Swedish specialty and is known for its green marzipan exterior. Inside is a sponge cake with whipped cream layers. It's common to serve for birthdays and other special occasions.

This week I've been all about the princess cake. I feasted on one Wednesday afternoon at a holiday copywriter meeting. And then I had another when my team wished a coworker a happy 40th birthday. I saw another being served today and steered clear.

But there were more goodies to be had this afternoon at our annual Christmas gathering with IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad. All employees flocked to the distribution center -- a gigantic warehouse -- where we listened to Christmas carols, ate pepparkakor (gingerbread), julgröt (christmas porridge) and glögg (mulled wine), and heard IKEA's leaders speak about the business. The highlight of the event was collecting our Christmas gift and then shaking Ingvar's hand. I thought I would work up the nerve this year to say something more than merry christmas. But I froze up. I couldn't even get a decent picture of him (it's the blurry pic at the bottom).

IKEA really is a special company. I can't think of any other that would have an event like this. Where the founder of the company personally thanks each and every person. It's so uncorporate. It has the intimacy of a really small family business yet it's one of the biggest companies in the world.

Then my coworkers and I hugged each other before heading home, where I passed out cold on the couch for a few hours. Like any exhausted 8-month-pregnant princess would.

getting ready for the real thing

Yes, that's a fake baby. And a fake boob.

All part of our predelivery education. Classes are normally offered in groups. In Swedish. Instead, my midwife gave me and Lewis a private lesson in English. What happens during delivery. When to know it's time. How to breathe (something many Swedes have been telling me is very important). And how to breastfeed. They want you to breastfeed within the first two hours after the baby is born.

Then we watched some videos in Swedish. The first documented the birth process for a few women. It pretty much showed everything. I think I was on the verge of tears a few times seeing how uncomfortable painful it was for them. It didn't make me scared, but it did open my eyes about how long I will be in pain. How long it takes to wait before you start pushing, etc. We didn't really need the movie to be in English for that.

The second film followed a few sets of parents home for their first days on their own. Nothing too interesting in that one. The people looked pretty happy, so that was good.

The baby and I were checked out as well. The baby's heartbeat is now 144 (down from 150 a few weeks ago) and my fundal height (uterus) is now exactly on the line of where it should be. I had been a little low the first few measurements. Let's hope this jump doesn't mean I'm going to have gargantuan baby!!

I've been a bit nervous about that since they don't like to do Cesarians here. It truly is a last resort. But the midwife assured me that if it looks like the baby is having a problem coming out on its own that they will do it. And that they track the health of the baby the entire time.

I definitely feel a bit out of the loop going through this in Sweden. I mean, we were at the bookstore the other day, and there are tons of books you can buy to be prepared. But they are all in Swedish. Maybe it's good that I'm a bit naive. Sometimes it's when you know too much that you can freak yourself out. That seems to be a Figlar trait. :)

 

the transformation

After I posted that last belly pic, Lewis said he thinks I look like a truck driver who drinks too much. Oh, yes, he'll pay for that comment. :)

Here's the transformation from month 3 to 8...

one week till Christmas but...

... one month till we become a family!

I started the ninth and final month today. Kicked it off with an ultrasound to see how the baking has been going. All measurements were normal. They estimate that the baby weighs 2.6 kilos right now. So roughly 5.5 pounds. The baby was sucking its thumb the whole time and was very active, which the technician said was really good. Its stomach was full of water, which she also said was good. It means the baby has been drinking. She also showed us that the baby was using its lungs to try and breathe. Another good sign apparently.

Oh, and the best news of all is that the placenta moved up and he or she is head down, so all systems are a go!

(To all those on the edge of your seats to know the sex... Hi Barbara!... well, we looked and looked but who knows what the heck to look for. I didn't see anything. It made me think that it's quite plausible it's a girl like everyone in the world seems to think. But me. I had a boy feeling from the beginning.)

We had a bit of a "scare" Saturday as we drove down to Malmö for our last-hurrah weekend (movie, dinner and hotel). I started feeling menstrual-like cramps that were pretty strong and came and went sporadically. We stopped the car and thought about calling the hospital. I had the number in hand and was ready to call, but I didn't want to overreact. I think we both handled it pretty well. I did have to wake my sister up at 7:45 a.m. her time, though, just to double-check if it was normal. It eventually went away and we had a great weekend. SO glad we didn't turn around and go back to Älmhult only to find out it was nothing!

We also bought our Christmas tree this weekend, and we've decorated it with some traditional Swedish ornaments. Pics coming soon... 

got your goat?

Your Christmas goat, that is.

As you can see, it's an old Swedish tradition. They are made of straw with red ribbon wrapped around them. We intend to buy ours from IKEA this weekend.

Thursday marked Santa Lucia day, the festival of lights. We're nearing the darkest time of the winter, and as the story goes, Lucia went door to door to bring light into people's homes. She brought light into our office yesterday, too.

my domestic diva-ness

It's official! I finished my first quilt. All with IKEA fabrics. It's a bit poofy because I used a summer-weight IKEA synthetic quilt as the "batting." This presented quite a problem this morning when I went to quilt the three layers together. I did one row and it looked terrible. I spent like 30 minutes ripping out the seam.

That meant I needed to initiate plan B... tying knots of yarn at the intersections to hold the layers in place. This required working up the courage to step inside the little sewing shop in Älmhult. The shop looks like it's designed for die-hard sewers, so a beginner like me was a bit intimidated. Especially with the language barrier.

I brought my canvas shopping bag thinking I was only buying yarn and some polyfill for a nursing pillow I'm making. HA! I walked home with the yarn and polyfill PLUS 4 different jersey cotton fabrics to make swaddling blankets and little hats PLUS some real quilt batting for quilt #2.

The woman in the store spoke perfect English, and I even chatted with another woman who was planning to make baby blankets to get some ideas. (Mom, we are totally hitting this store when you come visit!!!)

I feel like such a geek, but I am just totally giddy about this new-found craftyness.

(Update Sunday night: So much for being a diva! I just noticed I messed up one of the squares. Oh well. Even divas started somewhere...)

elvis var här

Being pregnant during your company Christmas party can do wonders for your productivity level the next day. Last year, it took me a while to even be able to get out of bed. This year, I downed glass after glass of Sutter Home Fre... alcohol-free white wine.

It made watching the performance of a Swedish Elvis that much more interesting.

Tito went WILD, and I mean WILD, when this guy was singing. I thought I was going to have to leave or that maybe labor was starting. This has my coworkers convinced it is girl.

The party was a lot of fun. I really love the people I work with. The guy on stage with Elvis is in my team, and he's always like this. A real goofball with a great heart. I'm going to miss them a lot when I go on maternity leave. I only have about 3 full weeks of work left! Yikes.