The long and dark days of a Swedish winter

One of our stipulations when moving to Sweden was that we would always travel home for Christmas, not only to see our loved ones and spend time in the USA, but also to get away from the long and dark days of winter.  This past year, however, we were unable to come home because of Toby's due date, so we experienced Christmas away from home for the first time.  Needless to say, Christmas day itself was a long day but one we will never forget or regret spending in Sweden.

Around 4am on Christmas day (our time), my water broke.  We called the hospital and they told us to wait until 8 or 9 to come in, so we called our parents to let them know what was going on on the other side of the world (since it was around 10pm their time), and tried to get a little sleep.  I think only one of us did  ;)

Of course, Christmas Eve night was when the first substantial snowfall hit Uppsala, so by morning, there were at least 4 inches/10cm of snow on the ground.  No, we did not ride our bikes to the hospital, as my mother had imagined us doing when we told her I was pregnant.  I stopped riding my bike in November just to be safe, even though most women here ride throughout their pregnancies.  We called a cab.  By 9am that morning, my contractions were pretty regular and I wasn't focusing very much on the driver or our 5 minute ride to the hospital.  However, Tyson said once the driver understood where at the hospital we were going and looked at me in his rear-view mirror, the speed of our journey increased.  Ha!

At the hospital, they have two observation rooms in the labor & delivery ward.  The nurse who was taking care of us told us that if he checked and I wasn't dilated enough, they would send us home.  So he wisely said for us to just hang out in the observation room for a few hours and then he'd check, hoping I would be far enough along to be put in a room.  And his plan worked perfectly.  They moved us to a room and about 10 hours later, a little after 10pm, Toby was born.  Here's his first picture - complete with a Santa hat - in the delivery room that we sent to the not-so-patiently-waiting grandparents  :)

We stayed in the hospital for 4 days, just to make sure Toby had the whole eating routine down.  The setup was quite nice and comfortable.  Our room was basically like a hotel room, and we had access to a kitchen around the clock where they had snacks and breakfast food.  Meals were provided for the mothers in a dining area on the floor, and you could get your tray with food and heat it up whenever you were hungry.  Toby did not leave our sight except for about 20 minutes one night while they drew some blood.  He slept on a special mat between us in bed - no rolling bassinets or offers to take the baby to the nursery in Sweden.  There actually isn't a nursery - just the nurses' workroom.  We were certainly ready to get home and after the first night here (which was possibly one of the longest and most sleepless nights we've every experienced), we began our new family life as a 3-some  :)

the view from our hospital room - wintery Uppsala

Because we knew months ahead of time that we would not be home for Christmas, our parents were sweet enough to send our Christmas gifts to us.  Most of the time, packages from Illinois to Uppsala take 1-2 weeks.  So both sets of parents sent of their packages in plenty of time, yet both packages were delayed and arrived in 2013.  Which, because of Toby's slightly earlier-than-expected arrival, we really weren't too disappointed or missing our gifts.  But when they did arrive, there were two very happy Americans in Sweden because all we asked for were food items that we cannot get in Sweden.  We had cereal - Life, Mini Wheats, Grape Nuts, Quaker oatmeal - mac & cheese boxes, chips, Velveeta cheese, Jif peanut butter, and so much more.  One cupboard in our kitchen looked like an American pantry for about a week because we had so much yummy American food.  It was great!  Both sets of parents thought us quite ridiculous, but we appreciated these Christmas gifts more than they could realize!

One other thing I discovered when feeding Toby during the long and dark nights of Sweden's winter is that Swedish TV stations play old American sitcoms in the middle of the night.  Cheers, Fraiser, the Golden Girls, and several other American shows kept me awake (most of the time) during the seemingly never-ending feeding sessions.  And yet like all Swedish TV, you never knew what show was going to be on at what time.  Shows here don't start on the hour or half hour, nor do they appear every weeknight or even the same night every week, so it was always a surprise what I would get to see!