Tag Archives: Our daughter

Three months

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Yesterday Ellinor turned three months old. Not bad, she is growing and we have managed to stay sane.

One good reason for that is this:

She is just the cutest when she sleeps and she does that during the nights up to about 10 or 11 in the morning with only one break for food.

Last Thursday she got her first vaccine shots. Not my favourite activity. I took the afternoon off to be able to be there as support. That was necessary. Ellinor did not like the shots and got really angry with Susanna, who held her while the nurse gave the shots.

I totally understand the anger, the needle was super thick and it must have hurt badly. Then I could help calming her. As soon as she got into the elevator on the way out she fell asleep though. She slept well for a few hours, but then she was whining and not really eating well the rest of the evening.

She didn’t get any real reactions to the vaccine though, and already on Friday she was acting almost normal.

We are so happy to have a daughter that gives us joy and doesn’t make our lives too difficult.

Ellinor is blessed!

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Last Sunday we had a special day for our little girl. She was blessed at church. We do this to dedicate her to God. It was a wonderful ceremony.

We were especially happy for all the friends and family who came to join us. It is so great to share moments like these with them.

The meeting in itself was a typical “New Life meeting”, with the translation and the “fika” in the middle. (Fika is a Swedish word that for a short coup of tea or coffee and some small ting to eat (like a cake) with friends). Stewart was leading the meeting in his usual humorous way. Katti was leading the worship (the songs we sing). That was really good. Both Susanna and I really like it when she is leading. Kjell was preaching with his typical orderly way. (I somehow wasn’t paying too much attention).


Caroline (the children’s pastor) was in charge of the blessing. First she said a few things. I prayed for Ellinor and then Caroline blessed her. After that the congregation came up to us and prayed for us as a family.

Us on stage

Here a picture of us on stage.

One a little more non-typical event was the collection of money, due to the fact that the church made it a special collection to get the last money to buy the new building. If you are wondering, yes we got the money to buy it, now we just need the money to adapt it to our needs, but there we have a little more time. The big move will probably be in the end of February.

Back to Ellinor’s day:

After the meeting we had invited a few friends to our place. It was a great joy to have them all over.

Thank you who came! We were really happy for you and Ellinor is so happy for her gifts (at least Susanna and I are, Ellinor is still not entirely getting the concept of gifts). It was a great evening.

And all of you who couldn’t make it, we were happy anyway, we can’t be at everything we are invited to either. Actually when we invited you we thought more wouldn’t come due to the short notice.

All of you we didn’t invite, we are really sorry, but there is just not enough space at our place to have all of our friends over at once. Just give us a call and we find some time to meet (probably just not this year).

One other great thing with the weekend was that Susanna’s parents and brother were here. It’s so nice to see grandparents taking care of Ellinor.

I have reached a goal

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Last Wednesday I reached a goal. Since the 9th of June I have biked to work 80 times.

Not much of a goal to reach, but I’m happy about it anyway.

In reaching the goal I have biked more than 4 out of 5 days I have been working. That was what I thought would be reasonable to manage, in regard to weather, work trips summer holiday and days off when Ellinor was born.

So now I’m on bonus time. I’m working three more weeks this year; will I bike 12 more times? Probably not, this week I’ll be on two business trips, it’s a bit tricky to bike to Örebro and Göteborg just for the day. (And I have got train tickets already). That make two out of five (I’ll be staying the night in Örebro, first night away from home since Ellinor was born).  Then in two weeks I’ll be going to Göteborg once more. So if I bike every day (I have already biked Thursday and Friday after I reach my goal) that I am at the office (as far as I know now) I will be biking 11 more times. In total I will have biked 93 times to work since the 9th of June. We’ll see if that will happen; as long it doesn’t snow so much I can’t bike, but then I probably won’t be able to get to work at all.

Within the next two weeks I will have biked more than 4000 km since I bought this bike. Not bad for one and a half year (I bought it in September 2010) mainly commuting.

More than two months

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Last week Ellinor had her two months birthday.

This weekend my in laws and brother in law are here. It is nice to have the home full with happy people.

Friday when I got home from work, a bit earlier than usual due to more work on other days, I was struck with fatigue like coming back from a week of hard labour.

I haven’t changed jobs; I haven’t had super exhausting things going on at work. So that shouldn’t be the problem.

I have slept okay, something between seven and eight hours every night, just like I always have.

I haven’t helped more with home chores than before. Making dinner some evenings, but not even close to every. Taking care of laundry a bit or cleaning a bit, nothing out of the usual.

So why am I so dead tired?

I just have to look at the differences: I just can’t dough down in the sofa when I get home. There are diapers to change, a daughter to entertain or a wife to give some extra time too. Not big things in my mind.

Obviously my body thinks different.

I have to get into better shape to cope with it. Or get more rest. Or just learn how to deal with the fatigue.

Friday morning I went to the gym, like I do most Fridays. That’s a refreshing thing to do and since we have breakfast at work on Fridays it’s the perfect day.

I have a hard time to eat somewhat fast in the mornings, if it’s not white bread with sweet spread on it. If you didn’t know it, white bread with sweet spread isn’t exactly the healthiest thing to eat. So I eat oat porridge at home on weekdays. (Weekends I’m too much of a sweet breakfast kind of guy, so that just happens).

So I do things to keep in shape. Main thing is bicycling to work. I have the intention to go running once a week, right now it’s more like once a year. And I do some cross-country skiing, but that’s on hold until the snow comes, who knows when that is?

Okay, enough with the rambling!

I’m so happy I have Ellinor and Susanna in my life. Being more exhausted on Fridays is worth it all and a bit.

Every day a new first

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I’ve been much less tired. Haven’t had as much time here, but that’s a small price to pay for the privilege to not be tired.

I think I’m actually in a very good place. Ellinor sleeps between five and seven hours every night in one go and after a good feed a few more hours. That is a true blessing.

There are new things happening every day. Most of them are small. But the other day, (a week ago or something like that) she turned over, from belly to back. That’s early. Susanna didn’t really believe it first, so I turned her over again. And after a few gruffs she did it again. I realised I need the camera. So I got my phone and started filming. Now it wasn’t fun anymore, only gruffs, but no turn.

On Thursday there was a not as nice kind of first. Ellinor had a rash in the morning. Susanna asked me to look at it and it was kind of small, so I didn’t think it was anything.

In the evening, during the marathon-feed evenings are, she had the rash again, but this time it was much bigger. We called the medical advice and they said it would be good to go to the hospital to have it checked.

Yippy! Going to the hospital late at night just when I wanted to sleep isn’t something I really like. Even less so not knowing how long we would be there. But if it is for the best of Ellinor it’s just no question.

Arriving there the nice nurse at the reception checked her and said we should wait for a doctor to look at her. She already warned us that it may take some time. And time it took. About three hours later we were called. (We then found out that there was one more Ellinor at the hospital, since the other kid’s mother also got up, there were at that time only two kids in the waiting area we were in, but there is one other waiting area too).

The doctor did some checks, and then asked if it itches. “How to know?” was our reply. “She has been really calm this night”. She did some more checks and looked something up and then she said that there isn’t much to do. If it doesn’t annoy her it is best not to treat, the medicine treating rashes isn’t good for so little ones. So we could go home.

Puh! It’s always nice to hear it’s not bad, seeing her sick was painful. (Being dead tired didn’t make it easier).

Friday was a bit hard, but a red bull in the afternoon and too much cake and sweets during the day made me go through it without collapsing on my desk and even accomplishing something.

Now Susanna’s cousin is here for the weekend. That is nice. That also gave me the possibility to make my filled aubergines, it’s not that often I make this my favourite vegetarian dish; normally I’m just too much of a carnivore.

Now it’s time to get some sleep, tomorrow we’ll take an easy day.

I have to change some things

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Last week I worked full time for the first time since Ellinor was born.
When Friday came I was so tired I didn’t even get that extra boos my trip to the gym normally gives me in the morning. When I finally came home, I almost fell asleep standing.
That’s just not okay. I have to try to do something about it.
Now you think: “But Johannes, you are a parent of an infant now, get used to it!”
“Why?”
There are things I can do to actually improve my sleep, without neglecting the family. (Actually I think not being awake while awake is even worse than sleeping a bit more).
I have to start getting to bed in time. Shouldn’t be that hard, lat in the evening Ellinor is feeding, I could then go to bed. Last week I somehow waited to her going to bed too, leaving me with just under seven hours of sleep, with a short break when it was time for the night-feed.
This week I’ll be trying to get to bed earlier.
Just hope I don’t get stuck here.

She is growing

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Today I was back to work fulltime. The day went fast, I think because of a fun task, (making a map) and an afternoon meeting.

I picked up the last part of the bike-trailer on the way home, so now it is fully functional, except the fact that Ellinor still is a bit too small to use it. We’ll have to wait to try it out on her until spring, now it will only be used for shopping or other transporting tasks.

Ellinor is growing! That is always exciting. She still doesn’t like to sleep when we want, but I guess that will stay until she has moved out of the house, sure it will be easier in a while and some nights it already is.

We realised that there are plenty of pictures of me with Ellinor. Like this one:

Ellinor and I

But not many with Susanna, so we made one with her too:

Ellinor and Susanna

They are just lovely!

This was just a short little update; more comes as more thoughts show up.

A happy day coming up and some other things

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Today I’ve been back to work for two weeks. Time flies.

Tomorrow is a big day. Not because Ellinor is becoming four weeks old, but because two good friends are getting married.

This will be a challenge, we still have not gotten into all the routines we want, nor do we get all the sleep we need. I think it will work. We just hope she is in agood mood and won’t be too scared by all the people.

Back to my good friends: Jordana and Suppe:
Sad to say I’ve been a bit too busy to spend time with them lately. Anyhow, I’m convinced that they are a perfect match.

Suppe with his cool and calm ways, rubbing some of that off on Jordana. Jordana with her temperament and social skills that just lift Suppe. I know Jordana, how she sees things in people that no one else sees. I remember when she said that Suppe would be a great guy, but that he was a bit young. Good she changed her mind on that. I remember when Suppe first helped out with the sound, really getting it all together. Now when he leads worship it shows he has tried that too, knowing how to make the life of a sound technician easy. And he has a great voice too.

I’m just so happy that they are getting one tomorrow.

And now to some total unrelated stuff:
I managed to rip off the wire to the gears of my bicycle on Wednesday, after only 3300km. I thought my new bike would be better, but somehow it ripped off anyway. Luckily it wasn’t too difficult to change. Actually it was easier than on the old bike. (There I had to change it every 1000 km or so). I bought it on the way home.

Soon I have to get a new winter tire too. The back one had worn out this spring. It’s just safer to bike with spikes when there is snow and ice.
We still aren’t sleeping nearly as much as we need, but I have the feeling it’s getting better. I get enough to get by, but I don’t know how Susanna makes it. Today I was surprised by them being out walking, I met them out at the big road while biking home.



Just one more picture of Ellinor

So far so good!

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So far sogood! That is how it feels now.

Ellinor keeps us awake during the nights, but not more than we can handle. Some nights I get plenty of sleep, others Susanna gets a bit more.

We are getting into a good trot. Even if there still are some things that have to become more regular. I don’t know how to get there. But with some trial and error we will get there.

She is not the big screamer. Sure, once every now and then she cries so that one wonder show she gets all the air into her lounges to make it that loud. Other times she has some kind of coughing cry. During the first days she had a strong vibrationon her lower lip, that is almost gone now. When she cries it almost sounds like she is saying “nej” the Swedish word for no.

I most like the moments when I can carry her around. That is the highlight of the day. When she looks up to me, it’s like nothing else matters any more. This is not something she does all the time, most of the time she is sleeping while being carried in the sling, but the moments are precious in a very special way. (And Susanna gets sleep, gets to eat or does anything else she can’t do with Ellinor on her lap).

Just two more pictures of her:

 

On the sheepskin
One very special expression on her face

Back to work

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Yesterday Iwas back at work for the first time. Two weeks have already gone since I became a father.

It’s amazing how fast time flies. It feels like it was just yesterday we came back home from the hospital. Sure we have accomplished many things. But still, many things are so brand new that I’m not used to them yet.

Two things I have noticed:
  1. Susanna is an even more amazing woman than I ever could imagine. She takes care and nurses Ellinor all the time, sitting with her for hours at a time, total patient. She sleeps less than half of what I sleep and I don’t really sleep enough. She has basically given up all of her own things, even if I try to give her some time to do things she just wants to do. (That’s tricky, she has to sleep too).

  2. I can take care of Ellinor. I thought I would have problems changing diapers, calming her down when she is crying or even carrying her. I can do all those things. I even like doing them. (Maybe that’s the biggest surprise).

Still we are not at routine yet. There are many things that will have to work better for us to manage in the long run.

  • We have to learn how to get the sleep we need.
  • We have to get more regular food times. (Not for Ellinor, but for us, she eats whenever she wants).
  • We have to learn to get out and walk every day. Susanna needs the exercise, (I bike to work), and Ellinor the fresh air.
  • We have to get our place in order, so that we easily can keep it clean.
I am so looking forward to everything that is to come. Last night Rob came by with his son Benjamin, he’s 11 months. Seeing a kid that is just a bit less than a year older than ours give a glimpse of what is to come.

Just one more thanks to all of you congratulating us and you helping us I various ways!

2011-09-10 05:05

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2011-09-10 05:05 is a very special point in time. This is the exact time when Ellinor decided to show her beautiful face and I became a father. The road up to this point was mere preparations. From now on it’s serious. I have a baby daughter.


I will never forget the long day and night that led up to this.

When she finally came it was total joy! I was over tired but that didn’t matter at all. First time I held her I just knew this is great.


Now a few days in, I’m more and more amazed about how she is and how much one can learn from a baby.
So she was born early Saturday morning, a few hours in we were transferred to a family room at the hospital where we could stay until the breastfeeding started and some checks were made. This was good. We had to feed her with a cup every 3 hours due to Susanna’s diabetes. That was hard. Both on us and on her, we all wanted to sleep.


On the Sunday we tried to start the breastfeeding, but that didn’t really work out in the beginning. First on Monday did we get help so that we felt that things start towork out and Ellinor did get the food she so badly wanted.


Tuesday morning we were released, actually it was more like lunch, but by now our daily schedule had become somewhat strange. We were happy to finally get home. Starting to organise our place to the new circumstances. We had left in kind ofa hurry, since we thought that she would come a few days later.

In the evening my parents came over. They brought pizza! They are really happy to have agranddaughter. Ask them and they will brag more than I do.


Back tonow:

Some nights we sleep. Some we try to get Ellinor to sleep. I’m amazed how Susanna is coping with only feeding and sleeping. But I think just sitting with Ellinor in her lap is such a great thing.


Yesterday I tried the baby sling for the first time. She really liked it. I could walk aroundwith her for a few hours (between two feeding-occasions) and she was calm and seemed happy. Then I tried it again this morning, when she didn’t really want to rest. The best thing is that she is so close; it feels much closer than when she is in my arms or on my lap. And if she starts to get unrestful I just walk around a bit and she is calm again.


Learning to understand her signs is tricky. I thought that I had learned how she acts when she is hungry, but realised that it also could mean that she wanted closeness.


I’m so happy I can be home these first days, there are so many things that have to come in place and this way I can help out in all the ways that are necessary.


Thanks to all of you that congratulated us, on facebook, via mail and phone. We really appreciate it even if we haven’t had the time to thank you all personally.


The joy of becoming a father

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Yesterday we had our first ultrasound. You know the kind of examination where one can see into a belly to see the child.
Somehow it’s sinking in now.
I’m becoming a father.
I am a father.
Am I ready to become a father?
It’samazing. Things are changing already, but there will be more, I’m well aware of that.
I can’t imagine how things will be. I think they will be great. I think we’ll be tired and stressed. I think we won’t know what to do with our joy. I think we won’t know what to do with our worries.
All I can see now is that since so many others have managed and brought up decent people, will do too.
Up until now it’s been unreal. I have seen the changes of Susanna. I’ve seen her belly grow. But still.
Now it’s much more real. I saw the pictures. I saw it move. Saw it react when the belly was poked. There is a little life in there. My child! Our child!
Now what?
Preparations will go on. We kind of started even before we were married signing up for this apartment we live in. Still there are so many more things to prepare
Susanna isa real planer. I’m more of a doer, without planning. Not that smart I guess when it comes to a kid. Now I have to listen to her smart and really precautions plans, while I’m dreaming of a wall painted with figures by me inthe child’s room. While I think of what kind of bike trailer would be the best.I’m so glad I have her in this.
What next?
Here a picture of the child.