Heartbeats

Today I went with Laura to the Doctor's office for her non-stress test, they strap a couple of monitors around her belly to listen to the baby's heartbeat and what they are looking for is regular heartbeat as well as heartbeat during movement. At first he was not very cooperative and did not want to move, so they gave Laura some orange juice and after that he started moving around, hehehehe. His heartbeat was 135 during normal resting and about 155-160 during movement which they said is good. Laura's stomach has grown a lot the last week, and she is very uncomfortable right now, I can't wait for him to move down a bit so she can breathe easier and not have so much heartburn all the time. A little less than 4 weeks now, and maybe even less than that, depending on when he feels ready to come out : - )

35 weeks, not much left to go

Well, less than 5 weeks to go now, Laura is very uncomfortable right now and she is also dealing with an oncoming cold and sore throat, not fun at all :- ( . It still feels sort of surreal, we talked about it the other night and I don't think either of us will feel like it is real until he's home with us. Went to a Christmas lunch at work today, all the women were telling me stories of their children and what to expect, sort of overwhelming at times, but interesting at the same time...and one thing everyone tells me...they are all different...and get lots of sleep now...

Speaking of sleep, I almost wonder if Laura will sleep better once he's born, she has not been sleeping well at all lately...I sleep ok, but I keep waking up several times at night, maybe in preparation for when I have to wake up several times/night ; - )

33 weeks and counting...

Well, it is 33 weeks now, I can't believe it is almost time for the little Baby to arrive : - ) , we finished painting the baby's room this weekend with the help of Karen and Mitchell, that helped out a lot! It would have taken me all day to finish that room on my own. Yesterday, Laura and I put together the crib, it looks so nice in there, next we're putting in a dresser and finally a changing table. Laura ordered a rocking chair last night with some gift certificates she received at the wedding and baby shower, it will look nice when it is all put together in there.

We are still undecided on names, we have a few picked out, but I think we want to wait until he's born so we can see what name fits him best :- )

Dreaming of the baby

Last night I had the most amazing dream, I dreamt our son was here and I spent some time with him doing different things, one of which was changing his diaper, hehehehe. He did not like it when I changed his diaper, he fuzzed a lot, but overall in the dream he was very happy and giggled and smiled a lot. He was very cuddly and wanted to give kisses : - ) . He was average size for a boy, some blond hair (not a lot of hair) and the bluest eyes I had ever seen in my life, he was absolutely beautiful :- ) . I remember waking up this morning and I remembered every detail of the dream because I have never dreamt anything so amazing....

Just think, in less than 3 months, he will be here : - )

Diapers

Well, it is time to start collecting diapers, it is closer to time now and someone told us to buy as many diapers before as we could, you can never have enough diapers, hehehehehe. We bought one pack at the store, but with the prices in stores, I was wondering if I could find a better price online, and sure enough, I could :- ) . http://1800diapers.com/index.aspx Here you can buy any brand name diaper for as little as 0.15/diaper!! So we can buy a 200-pack of diapers for about $30....200 diapers, should last about 1 week, hehehehehe.

Kicking and punching...

Well, he is kicking a lot more now, sometimes only when someone talks, like a new voice he's never heard before, or after we have gone to bed, it is so neat to feel it. I can only imagine what it must feel like for Laura as she is carrying him all this time and now feels him moving with his tiny feet and hands in there, it must be so amazing. I completely understand now why mothers and children develop such a strong bond with each other...the whole process still amazes me, I can't even fathom some days that a little life is developing inside of Laura : - ) .

We're still trying to find a fitting name, one name we had picked out and liked may now become more popular as a hockey player for the Portland Pirates (from Jonkoping, Sweden) has that same name...we want our little boy to have a unique name, but if people see the hockey players' name more people may name their kids that, unless of course they don't like it and don't really know what it means : - ) .

Like I said before, we'd love to hear from you about names and much more, will write more later.

138...

That is the baby's heart rate currently, which from what the Nurse told us is an excellent heart rate for a little baby boy (who is only -3 months old). It was so exciting to hear his little heart beat and Laura told me as soon as the nurse put the listening device to her belly, he started moving all over the place and kicking. He is really feisty and likes to move around a lot, especially at night-time when we lay down. I can feel his little feet kick once in a while, the feeling is amazing, I could never imagine this is what it would all feel like....

About 3 months left to go before Baby Bjorn is here :-)

What will he be like?

Now that I know we are having a little boy, I start to wonder what he will be like when he is here and growing up to become a man : - ) . I wonder if my parents thought about the same thing, or maybe once the baby is here you don't have time to think about that as you will be too busy doing all the other things that babies require : - )

I also wonder how and if he will be able to pick up the Swedish language and if he will even be interested in learning another language, but I will try at least : - ) .

5 1/2 months and counting...I can't wait!

IT'S A BOY!!

Well, it is public now, we're having a Boy! It is so exciting, some part of me knew for a long time we were having a boy, and the funny thing is, in my family it is usually a Boy first, then a girl, there are a few exceptions of course, but the majority has been Boy then girl.

Now we can start deciding on a name, we have a few names already, but if you have some ideas, please comment on here or on Laura's website, we'd love to hear more suggestions, it is not as easy as you'd think.

I would love a Swedish name of course, but any name will do really since we already have picked out his middle names : - ) .

It's a.......

Well, this morning we found out what we're having :- ) , but since we have not shared this news with our families, I am unable to publish the news until later ; - ) . It was so exciting to find out, it took a while for the Nurse to find out for us as the baby was moving all over the place as she did the sonogram, guess it will be a hyper baby when it's here : - )

Stay tuned for the Big News of what we're having!

Pappa Nicke

A link

This is a link a friend of mine sent me, Jens, aka Jedi Sthlm, it is a dad in Sweden whose blog has now become a book (sorry it is only in Swedish).

http://hemligapappan.blogsome.com/

10 more days

In about 10 days we will find out if it is going to be a boy or a girl, I think it is a boy, don't ask me why, but it is just this feeling I have, but of course I could be wrong, and either way, I will be happy. It is still sort of surreral imagining that by next year we will have a little baby with us and our family of two will now be a family of three. I am sure by the time the baby is born we will both be so excited (and exhausted), we won't have time to think how our lifes will have changed, but just be happy that they have : - ) .

Eye color

This morning as I was reading one of the parenting magazines, it was talking about eye color and how a baby's color will change at 6 months. It also mentioned how the baby's eye color is determined and by which genes, which I found to be very interesting. I googled the eye color genetics and found this really cool website - http://museum.thetech.org/ugenetics/eyeCalc/eyecalculator.html

It allows you to use this online calculator to better figure out what color your baby's eyes will be : - ) , for some reason, I have a strong feeling our baby's eyes will be blue, hehehehe ; - ) , but you never know...right?

Reading more..

I noticed that since I found out that I am going to become a "Pappa", I have started reading more about parenting, babies, and other related articles. Although, I have not yet read the 3 issues of parenting we have at home (sorry about that Laura..), I do enjoy reading this online blogg about a Dad, who is also a journalist for Aftonbladet. His blog gives me quite a bit of insight in a humorous as well as serious way, http://blogg.aftonbladet.se/8.

We also try reading and talking to the baby, studies show that they can hear and understand your voice even while in the womb, which is very interesting. I try to speak Swedish to the little one so that when he/she is here I can start teaching him/her Swedish

Memories

It's funny now that we're about to have a baby of our own how many childhood memories keep coming back, such as events as a child, books we used to read, shows we watched, friends we played with, etc. I wonder if I will be sharing some or all of these with our baby when he or she is here, and what they will remember as they grow up. I wonder if they'll remember the bedtime stories we will read to them, the pj's they wore when they were little, how they pronounced certain words (for example, I am remembering how I would say milk, and lion in Swedish, hehehehe).

It feels so surreal still, but so exciting, this little person will be here in less than 6 months, so impressionable and loveable, I can't wait!

Our little one

This is a picture of our little baby, we got to see him or her on Tuesday when we went to the doctor's office, it was so exciting, I just could not believe how little the baby is, but it moved like it was running a marathon, hope that's not an indicator of how it will be when it comes out, hehehehe.

I wonder if it will be a boy or a girl, not that I really have a preference, either would be nice, as long as they like to sleep in, hehehehe. I have never been a morning person, wonder if I was as a baby or not, have to ask my mom, because I have a feeling how Laura and I were as babies will determine how our baby will be, at least to some degree....

Not much new to report

Not much new to report on my end, Laura has posted several posts the last couple of weeks showing the progress of the baby, and on Tuesday we get to listen to its hearbeat, which is very exciting! Talked to one of the guys I work with about becoming a dad, he and his wife had their third baby a couple of weeks ago, and he said it is easier as they get older, and he also said that if you have 2 very close in age, it is super busy all the time as you have a little one and maybe a 1 year old...imagine having twins or triplets...oy ve....hehehehe.

Barnprogram

Do you ever remember the shows you used to watch as a kid growing up? I am sure we all do, but for some reason, the last few weeks I have been remembering books I used to read, shows I watched, my favorite movies, TV shows, etc. For example, Baltazar, was one of my favorite shows growing up, I am not sure where the show was created, but the show was about a Professor who would invent things using this huge machine and in the end a drop of fluid would come out and his new invention would come about : - )

Some of the other shows I watched was "Bamse", "Dr. Snuggles, and of course all the Astrid Lindgren classics (most of which are now on DVD), and the books I would read, Min Morfar ar en Sjorovare, as well as several Disney classics.

Now that we're about to have a little one of ourselves, I can't wait to share some of these old treasures with them as well as participate as they create their own favorite memories of their favorite shows, books and movies.

Week 6

Well, things are about the same, Laura still feels a bit naseuated from time to time, but she is doing so well, I know I would be a complete wimp and complain every second of the day, hehehe. I can't wait to go to the Doctor with her in July, feels like such a long time until then...

Week 5

laura has an appointment with the baby doctor, July 11, I can't wait! I am so excited and I hope we get a sonogram so we can see what's going on and if there is more than 1(!) baby? I never thought about it, but we have 2 sets of twins on my side of the family and Laura's grandmother is a twin, so chances are we may have twins, even if it is not this time around....

Either way, I am happy to have a healthy baby, girl or boy, does not matter to me : - )

A rough week...

This has been a rough week for Laura, she has been coughing and her cold is not getting much better, I feel so bad for her, I just wish I could make it all better right away for her. She is being such a trooper about it too, does not complain and keeps on smiling : - ) . She had her appointment with her doctor this week, she is going to set up an appointment with the pediatric doctor soon, it is still so surreal, 4 weeks have passed, going on week 5 soon. We talked about it the other night and we were wondering if this journey would go by quickly like most things in life or if we would have a chance to truly enjoy each step, hmm, well time will tell, right?

Week 4

Today is week 4 of our total 40 week journey, and I think we're both anxiously awaiting the day we can find out if it is a boy or girl. We have started picking out some names, but our favorite name changes each day, hehehe. This weekend our favorite boy name was Björn, which means Bear in English. Of course we're always looking for new name suggestions, so come on, send us some suggestions of what we should name the baby (which we now call "Hor-Haay", which means George in Spanish...long story...)

the news are spreading..

News spread fast, especially when it is something so big and life changing as having a baby, for example when I told people at work that Laura and I were engaged, within a week, I think people I have never seen before congratulated me. Not much new to report on the baby front today, Laura's morning sickness is a bit better, and she started her own blog, babysandberg.blogspot.com, very cool, make sure to read it as I am sure she will have more in-depth perspective to the whole process as she is carrying the little thing inside of her :- ) .

9 months, I have a feeling time will fly right by and before you know it we'll be at the hospital still trying to figure out what the name it...something Swedish is my wish and I know Laura likes that idea as well, now we just have to figure out what, hehehehe.

Nyheten ar offentligjord

So the news are now public, I posted a blog on my other site (www.sandbergs.us/word-press) and I think I have told all of my friends, maybe I missed a few, but if so, I will tell them when I see them. It feels a bit surreal still, we are going to be parents, one of the biggest life changing events ever, but I am still very excited. Laura has been feeling some morning sickness, which is not only a "morning" feeling, but sometimes all day and night. I feel so bad for her when she is not feeling up to par, think she is doing all the work carrying and nurturing this baby and I feel so helpless for not being able to make her feel better when she is not feeling well.

I am sure I am not the first Dad-to-be that experiences this, and I know I won't be the last..

I can't wait to find out if it is a boy or girl, or maybe one of each! Laura's grandma is a twin, so chances are we may have twins as it skips one generation....

Well, the day has come...

We found out 1 week ago that Laura is pregnant, we were both a little surprised, pleasantly of course, but we had just started talking about trying and voila, first time's a winner ;-). This will be my blog about what's going on and what it feels like to become a Pappa....