MERRY X-MAS!! / FELIZ NAVIDAD / GOD JUL!

Eva & Christer at home - 24th of December 2010

140 days left... Friday 24th of December 2010 - 5 months today!

24th of December 2010  - Merry Christmas!!

20 weeks / 5 months today. Would not say that time is flying (May seems too far away!) but here we are. The baby is abotut 16.5 cm today and very active. Eva has a hard time sleeping sometimes, Amelia is kicking about a lot! Nothing I can feel though, not yet... But I can feel the "cluck, cluck, cluck" inside the belly, like bubbling water. That is Amelia moving around, amazing!

Eva 24th of December 2010

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Eva 24th of December 2010

http://se.babycenter.com/pregnancy/fetaldevelopment/20weeks/

Tuesday 21st of December 2010: New weight

New weight today: 70.2 kg.

Slow and normal increase, definitely no need to panic.

21st of December 2010: The Heartmaker - sold!

Tuesday 21st of December 2010: Today we sold our bookstore. It´s a pitty but it was impossible to continue with it. Too much work and Eva can definitely not work at the moment, and less 10-12 hours per day, 7 days per week. It has been an amazing experience though: 4 years of incredible success, utter despair, up´s & down´s, new experiences and many, may new friends. Let´s celebrate and start thinking about new businesses!

Christmas lunch in Isla Mayor

Loli invited us for lunch at El Estero in Isla Mayor

Sunday 19th of December 2010

Fried crayfish with onion and pepper

Rice with wild duck

http://www.restaurantestero.com/entorno.html

147 days left... Friday 17th of December 2010

19 weeks / 19 semanas
147 days left...

We went to Carmona to celebrate Cajsa´s birthday and being at "Teatro del Arte", I think I felt the first kick! It´s hard to tell since I don´t know how it should feel but Eva felt it all too well, it was an enormous kick! I think Amelia was not too happy with the noise and the smoke at the bar. We must realize that party time is over...

Let´s see if I can feel another kick soon to confirm!

We´ve got buns in the oven!!

We have got buns in the oven!

Tenemos bollos en el horno!

Monday 13th of December 2010 (Sankta Lucia)

Eva made some delicous buns for Santa Lucia!

It´s a girl! / Es una niña! / Det är en tjej!

Wednesday 15th of December 2010 - 18 weeks and 5 days (149 days left)

It´s a girl! / Es una niña! / Det är en tjej!

New ultrasound today and finally we got the confirmation: IT´S A GIRL!! Mummy was right, as always! She will be called Amelia Tatiana Heljestrand.


Everything looks perfect, God, what a relief!! We were a bit worried, too long between the appointments and as Eva has not felt anything yet one wonders: Is everything really OK in there? But in the end everything looks just fine, both with the baby and the mother. Amelia´s heartbeat is good and she weighs 276 grams today, all in order! She was moving around  A LOT, making somersaults and kicking and boxing. She looks really healthy! The gynaecologist is 99% sure it´s a girl, and she says she never made a mistake so far in her career. We are so extremely happy!


Estimated birth date / Nacimiento estimado / Beräknad födelse: 16th of May 2011 / 16 de mayo de 2011 / 16 maj 2011

La minicuna / The mini craddle

Minicuna - Domingo 12 de diciembre de 2010

More furniture- we are ready!!

Sunday 12th of December 2010

Chest of drawers & Nursing table

                        Chest of drawers "Hemnes" with nursing table

                                Nursing table "Gnomitos"

Painting & organizing the baby room, and waiting for the first kick...

Sunday 12th of December 2010: 18 weeks and 2 days - 152 days left.

Eva has been painting leafs in the baby room and now she is mounting a piece of furniture from IKEA. We are now in the 19th week and waiting for that very longed for first kick. The baby is about 13-15 cm and weighs around 200 grams. It still has to put on 15 times of its actual weight!

http://www.blimamma.se/gravid-vecka-19.html

153 days left - Saturday 11th of December 2010

Today, Christmas lunch with friends at Club Zaudín Golf:

http://www.clubzaudingolf.com/en/main.php

Really close to our place, just across the olive groove and the golf course! Great lunch and great fun with dancing and singing

Weight today (before the X-mas lunch!): 70.0 kg
18 weeks and 1 day, 153 days left

Friday 10th of December 2010: Half-time!!

Friday 10th of December 2010: 18 weeks = 4.5 months. Half-time today! Only half of the way left (154 days)!

157 days left - Tuesday 7th of December 2010

17 weeks and 4 days of pregnancy - 157 days left

Weight today: 69.9 kg

Holiday in Spain yesterday (Día de la Constitución) and tomorrow (Festividad de la Inmaculada Concepción, Patrona de España). The weather is really horrible: very windy, thunderstorms and heavy rain since Saturday. Another rainy winter... Impossible to go out!

We have been painting the baby room and now it´s almost finished!

Friday 3rd of December 2010: 17 weeks

Friday 3rd of December 2010: 17 weeks of pregnancy
161 days left

No real news. Eva keeps growing but now she feels OK most of the days. Some days she feels a bit sick in the evening/at night but nothing like the first 3 months. She also sleeps quite well, but with 3 pillows!

One thing: It´s too long between the ultrasounds! I´d like to see the baby every week!

Training: Doing practice with Luis III

Saturday 27th of November 2010 - Dinner at Luis and Mariana´s apartment

Training with Luis III: What a cute and funny guy! Good to get some practice, no doubt that this will be hard work! But we will never be bored again!!

Friday 26th of November 2010: 16 weeks - 4 months

Friday 26th of November 2010: 16 weeks - 4 months

16 weeks today, time flies (well, wish it would fly a little faster). 168 days left.
Everything looks just fine and today Eva has been feeling very good. She still has some bad days though.

Today we also booked the baby carriage, which will take some 3 months to arrive (how is THIS possible?) The carriage will be paid byb they proud uncle (Eva´s brother), thanks a lot! Have a look at the modell on:

http://www.jane.es/es-es#/catalogo-jane/de-paseo/cochecitos/slalom-reverse/strata

Thursday 25th of November 2010: First acquisition!!

Today the baby´s grandmother bought the first furniture for him/her: a mini cradle! This cradle will stand in our bedroom for the first monhts/year.

Will upload pics when I have put it together (IKEA style)

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169 days left - Thursday 25th of November 2010

Thursday 25th of November 2010

New weight: 68.5 kg

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Wednesday 24th of November 2010: Making room for the baby...

Wednesday 24th of November 2010: This week we have been organizing the office to make room for the baby (not ideal but we have to adapt, these are hard times...) In the end I will have a office corner and the rest of the space will belong to the baby.

Organizing the office has taken some 4-5 days, and still we are not completely finished. How can one have so much crap?!

173 days left - Sunday 21st of November 2010

15 weeks and 2 days of pregnancy - 173 days left

Apart from feeling sick because of the pregnancy, Eva has now also caught a cold. Not strange since the weather in Seville has been crazy. Fairly warm and sunny during daytime most of the days, some +20 C in the shadow, and some other days rain, fog, wind and very cold. Very cold in Seville is around +9 C but the humidity is horrible and the termic sensation is definitely not +9 C.

Seems like it´s going to be a rainy year again...

Fresh orange juice, kiwis and Actimel to treat the cold!!

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Growing belly... (15th of Nov,)

Eva´s belly - 15th of November 2010 / La barriga de Eva el 15 de noviembre de 2010

177 days left - Wednesday 17th of November 2010

Time for a new weighing in today: 68.4 kg

Eva is playing music for the baby with her iPod and it seems to like it! Eva noticed some slight movements for the first time today. Fascinating and I cannot wait to feel the first kicks.

Supposedly the baby can hear male voices more easily so I need to keep in talking to the belly!

179 days left - Monday 15th of November 2010

The sickness is back. Supposedly the baby is growing a lot at the moment and Eva has noticed it. Weekend was bad and today as well. One never stops to get surprised...

The baby´s hearing is now developed so now it can hear us! I have already started with the Swedish lessons...!!

184 days left - Wednesday 10th of November 2010

Got orders to do weight checks once a week. Life and weight became a mess with the feeling of sickness.

Weight today: 67.7 kg

Cute info material

Info material from the new clinic, Centro Médico Milenium: Pregnancy booklet, the book "School for parents" and the portfolio "Your first steps".

http://www.sanitas.es/sanitas/seguros/millenium_centro_medico/la_buhaira

191 days left - Wednesday 3rd of November 2010 (appointment with the gynaecologist / ultrasound númber 3)

12 weeks and 5 days - 191 days left / 12 semanas y 5 días - Quedan 191 días

Hola de nuevo! Hoy otra cita con la ginecóloga, esta vez una nueva (Elisa en el Centro Milenium de Sagrado Corazón). La otra ginecóloga de aquí de Tomares era sinceramente malísima.

Pero con la nueva, Elisa, estamos contentísimos! Qué diferencia! Hicimos la tercera ecografía y midieron el pliego nucal para valorar el riesgo de síndrome de Down. También le hicieron otra prueba de sangre a Eva, también para mirar el tema de síndrome de Down. Todo parece estar en orden!! El bebé ya mide 5,6 cm, más del doble que la última vez. Escuchamos de nuevo el latido del corazón del bebé, late muy rápido! Eva iba en ayunas y la cosita estaba un poco floja, no quería moverse. Pero después de dar unos golpecitos a la barriga empezaba a moverse! Realmente impresionante y emocionante! Se veía el cuerpo perfectamente: la columna vertebral, los brazos y las manos, las piernes y los pies, una oreja. Increible!

Elisa explicaba las cosas muy bien y es muy profesional. Además, es experta en tratamientos FIV. Próxima cita: 15 de diciembre de 2010 (18 semanas y 5 días de embarazo, quedarán 149 días). Entonces es posible que nos puedan decir el sexo del bebé. Dicen que es fácil ver si es un niño, no tan fácil si es niña.

También tenemos cita para la ecografía Doppler: 4 de enero de 2011 (20 semanas y 4 días).

*******************************************************************************

Hey again! New appointment at the gynaecologist today, and with a new one. The other one in Tomares was, to be honest, really bad and the pregnancy is too important to take any chances. So we decided to change gynaecologist and start going down to Seville instead. Our new gynaecologist is called Elisa and what a difference! She is also and expert in IVF treatments, makes you feel much safer.

We made the 3rd ultrasound and Elisa measured the wrinkel in the neck, to esteem the risk of Down´s Syndrome. Eva also made another blood test for the same reason. Everything look just fine! The pregnancy seems to have stabilized and there is no longer any big risk of abortion.

The baby is now 5,6 cm, more than twice as big as the last time. We could also hear the heartbeat of the baby, the heart is beating really fast! Eva had gone down without having breakfast and the little one was a bit lazy and did not want to move. But after giving some light taps on the belly it started to move! Absolutely amazing!! We could see the baby´s backbone, arms and hands, legs and feet, one ear...

Next appointment: 15 of December 2010 (18 weeks and 5 days, 149 days left). Then we might be able to see the sex. If it´s a baby boy it will be easy to see, not as easy if it´s a girl.

We also have an appointment for the Doppler ultrasound: 4th of January 2011 (20 weeks and 4 days).

192 days left - Tuesday 2nd of November 2010

New weight today: 68.2 kg

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We made it!! 12 weeks - 3 months!!

Friday 29th of October 2010: We are there, 12 weeks - 3 months!! Second step cleared off!

During the first 12 weeks, 1 out of 10 pregnancies ends up with a spontaneous abortion. After 12 weeks the risk is much lower. We are extremely relieved!

Eva is also feeling much, much better so now we look forward to enjoy the pregnancy a bit!

198 days left - Wednesday 27th of October 2010

 Viva la siesta española!!

2 days left for 12 weeks, almost there!!

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200 days left - Monday 25th of October 2010

200 days to go!!

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203 days left - Friday 22nd of October 2010 - Exactly 11 weeks of pregnancy

Hey everyone! Exactly 11 weeks of pregnancy today, one week to go for the horrible first 3 months!

The baby is about 4,1 cm from the top of the head to "its behind" (legs curled up). Now it´s starting to move!! The babys´ hands is often close to its face. The neck has extended so it can be flexed and also allows lateral movements. If we would make a scanning, we could now see the eyes. The ears are moving upwards to their final position but the baby still cannot hear. The baby is quite active but since it´s so light, you still cannot feel the "kicks". For that, we will have to wait until week 19-20 (almost 5 months of pregnancy).

 Eva has been much better this week and we have been able to be out quite a lot. Seems like things are stabilizing but that we have said before, crossing my fingers.... The weather has been amazing in Seville this week (as usual) - beautiful sunshine and around +30 C during the day - so it was a perfect week for a stroll! On Thursday the 21st we went to fish in the river Guadalquivir, in front of La Cartuja Monastery, and then we went to Plaza de España and Parque Maria Luisa. They finally managed to finish the renovations of Plaza de España, after at least 5 years of restoration!!

This week we have also decided to change gynaecologist. We went to a gynaecologist here in Tomares beacuse it´s much easier than going down to Seville BUT from day one we were not too happy with this woman. She is quite rude and does not explain almost anything. She seems fairly careless and when we realized she calculated wrong for the important 3rd appointment - they have to make important tests between week 12-13, tests which can not be done before nor after - we decided that this is too important to leave in hands of someone as slipshod as this girl. We have to make the test between the 29th of October and the 5th of November, and she gave us an appointment on the 8th of November. Bad luck but waht can we do. This girl is as social as a brick! How can you be so unpleasant when you work as a gynaecologist?!

We now have a new appointment on the 3rd of November, with a gynaecologist in Seville. Supposedly she is a specialist in IVF pregnancies, sounds good!

208 days left - Sunday 17th of October 2010

10 weeks and 2 days of pregnancy. Back again after a really horrible week. Eva has been really, really bad, worse than ever with feeling of sickness and heartburn. Thursday night was a torment, partly because Eva was really exhausted after 4-5 nights virtually without sleep (eventhough she has been sleeping during the day). The feeling of sickness sets in at around 19:00 and then she has to eat every hour until 24:00. She feels really bad until 04:00-05:00 in the morning.

So if we finally could enjoy the pregnancy a bit and talk to the belly and caress it two weeks ago, this week all focus has been on the feeling of sickness again. Many people say "Enjoy the pregnancy" but seriously, how the hell can you enjoy something like this?! This doesn´t seem to be a pregnancy, it seems more like a bad illness. We would enjoy the flu more than this...

According to our book - "The Day-by-Day Pregnancy Book" (Dorling Kindersley 2009), the baby is now not any longer an embryon but a foetus. Supposedly it has grown A LOT in just two weeks. On the 4th of October the baby was 17,9 mm, now it is supposed to be around 40 mm (according to the book).The placenta is fully developed.

New weight for Eva today: 65.8 kg (up just 300 grams)

12 days to go for 12 weeks/3 months, time is passing slooooooowly....

215 days left - Sunday 10th of October 2010

Back to scratch. We have been abusing too much of our "liberty" (yesterday we went to Carmona to celebrate Gabriel´s birthday) and now Eva is really tired and feels very sick again. Even if she was sitting down almost all the time, we will have to take it much more easy in the future.

217 days left - Friday 8th of October 2010

Eva is definitely feeling better and today we went down to Seville to have sushi! Apparently sushi is not bad for pregnant women and we are completely addicted to this food!

http://www.samuraisevilla.com/

Photos from the exposition "European Modern Art and Young Flamenco Promises"

                                                 WEDNESDAY 6th OF OCTOBER 2010

Reales Alcazares in Seville: http://www.patronato-alcazarsevilla.es/index.php

Manuel Chabrera: http://www.chabrera.com/chabrera/

ARTE MODERNO EUROPEO Y JOVENES PROMESAS DEL FLAMENCO: http://chabrera.com/eu2010/eu2010/INICIO.html

219 days left - Wednesday 6th of October 2010

Today we ventured out of the house to go and see an exposition at the Reales Alcazares. Our friend Manuel Chabrera (http://www.chabrera.com/chabrera/) was opening the exposition. We did not stay too long - there were no chairs and Eva cannot stand up for long periods of time - but at least we got some fresh air. Nice event at a very nice place, Reales Alcazares is magic!

220 days left - Tuesday 5th of October 2010

8 weeks and 4 days. Knock on wood but Eva seems to feel a little better. Yesterday was not too bad and today has been more or less OK as well. She feels really tired and sometimes dizzy but the new medicine against the heartburn seems to be working and she does not feel sick every minute of the day. She also slept more or less OK tonight.

When the hunger sets in she still has to eat instantly, i.e. within 30 seconds, otherwise she throws up (one has to be a good and very quick chef!) but this new state is still a huge leap forward. Crossing our fingers that the feeling of sickness is now in decline...

New weighing in today: 65.5 kg

221 days left - Monday 4th of October 2010

8 weeks and 3 days of pregnancy, 221 days to go! Today, second appointment at the gynaecologist and above is the 2nd ultrasound! Now we can confirm it´s "only" one baby, I think it´s enough to start with. Then we can get some practice and go for twins next time!! The baby is 17.9 mm and according to the size it should be about 8 weeks and 2 days.... Finally our book and the gynaecologist seem to coincide, she missed the correct date with only one day. Today we could hear the baby´s heartbeat, really amazing and an astonishing feeling!

Everything seems normal, even if there is some kind of hematoma in there and that have to cure. The gynaecologist prescribe relative rest for Eva since there is risk of abortion. The rest is no problem: Eva could impossibly to get more rest since she cannot stand up due to the feeling of sickness, heartburn and dizziness... The hematoma was probably the cause of the bleeding on the 23rd but in any case hematomas and bleedings are not something unusual, they are rather common. But we better take it easy though, better safe than sorry...

The gynaecologist took away one of the medicines (prolactina) but added another one for the heartburn so Eva will still be taking 6 different medicines. A pain in the neck but it will help the process and help curing the hematoma.

Estimated birth date according to the gynaecologist: 21st of May 2011. It still seems very far away. When I stop worrying about the dangerous first 3 months and the absolutely horrible feeling of sickness I will start to worry about the delivery (and most certainly about something else). As a father, I have realized that it´s important to always worry about something...

We are convinced that the baby is a girl. Why? Because girls always seem to give horrible pregnancies and it can hardly get any worse than this. Eva says: "Espera que tenga culo, verás lo que va a cobrar" (Wait until she gets a bottom, then she will pay for what she did to me...)

Next appointment at the gynaecologist: Monday 8th of November. Then we will be able to see the baby move!

223 days left - Saturday 2nd of October 2010

Here we are again after another 4 loooooong days. Eva feels bad most of the time and horribly bad the rest of the time. She doesn´t throw up that much but the feeling of illness won´t loosen its grip... Sometimes she only feels "slightly bad" in the morning but the evenings and nights are a nightmare: feeling of sickness, heartburn and Eva hardly get some sleep at night. Since Wednesday 29th of September I´m putting the alarm clock at 03:00 AM and I prepare food for Eva. This seems to work a little better and now Eva can get some more sleep at night. Sniffing fresh ginger is also something that soothens the sickness a bit.

Yesterday we tried to go the "Oktoberfest" in Tomares but we had to go back after 10 minutes, Eva could hardly stand up. Today we went down to Seville to "La Feria de las Naciones" and lasted a little longer, about 1 hour. Moving or simply standing up seems to be a bad idea... We will go back to moving between the bed and the sofa....

You would think we would delighted to finally be pregnant and that we should be planning for becoming fathers, etc but at the moment 110% of the focus is on the HORRIBLE FEELING OF SICKNESS. This is how women felt during thousands of years?! It seems impossible! And then they say that men and women are equal, my ass... If men would have to give birth, mankind would have become extinct thousands of years ago, we wouldn´t even have had time to climb down from the trees... Women are extremely long-suffering.

227 days left - Tuesday 28th of September 2010

Seven weeks and four days of pregnancy (since first day of last period)

Eva has had two horrible days (Sunday and Monday). She is feeling ill absolutely all day and now also have heartburn. She cannot do anything, just sit or lay down.

It´s true that she feels horrible all day but there is one cursed hour: 04:00 am. She always wakes up at this hour with horrible heartburns.

Let´s see if we can discover the pattern of this illness and find some remedy. We are trying everything but so far without any success...

231 days left - Friday 24th of September 2010

Another complete blood test today. Eva would probbaly loose less blood in Transylvania... I don´t really see the need of ANOTHER complete blood test but what do I know... Results on the 4th of October.

Big alarm this afternoon: Eva had been bleeding. We knew this could happen and they say it´s "normal" BUT my heart stopped for some seconds!! As I said before, pregnancies is all about frights, worries and small heart attacks...

232 days left - Thursday 23rd of September 2010

New weighing in: 64.5 kg.

233 days left - Wednesday 22nd of September 2010

After having talked to a friend who is gynaecologist, Eva is taking pills to stop the vomiting attacks. Now she does not throw up but still feels horribly ill all day, especially in the evening and at night. Seems like there is nothing to do against this.

235 days left - Monday 20th of September

Week 6 (six weeks and 3 days). Another horrible night for Eva. Who said morning illness, this never stops!! It´s more like "24/7 illness"... Trying to find a way to soothen this, not easy though. I have a horrible feeling of not being able to do anything...

My mother lost a lot of weight when she was pregnant with my sister and only weighed 56 kg, thin as a rake eventhough she was pregnant. She could not eat almost anything. Let´s cross our fingers that it will not be that bad...

236 days left - Sunday 19th of September 2010

Nausea gravidarum: The feeling of sickness is here. Thought this could be avoided but it seems like the answer is no. Eva had a horrible night and has been feeling ill all day. Why do they call it "morning sickness" when you feel bad 24 hours per day?! Trying to find some remedy for this but I really wish there was more I could do...

237 days left - Saturday 18th of September 2010

Eva´s birthday, CONGRATULATIONS!! Amazing weather in Seville and we were out all day in the city center. Seville can be magic...

238 days left - Friday 17th of September 2010

Weighing in: 63.5 kg. Up some 2 kg or something like that. Eva will not even come close to my weight of 0.1 ton... She eats and sleep more now but the problem is that I adapt to the same biological rhythm. I´m not worried about Eva gaining too much weight but rather about myself. Will have to do some exercise, otherwise I´ll gain 20 kg during the pregnancy...

239 days left - Thursday 16th of September 2010

Week 5 (five weeks and six days): Our first ultrasound! First appointment at the gynaecologist, really just to get some information about what will happen next, it´s difficult to know what the steps are...

The gynaecologist said it was really too early to see anything, she said she will count from the day they transfered the embryos (23rd of August), i.e. 24 days ago. Does anyone really know how one should count the days?! I´m going crazy with this, there seems to be 200 ways to count! Back to this in later blog post...

In any case we did the ultrasound and it seems like there is "only" one baby in there. The embryo is really small though, 1.8 mm, and it´s hard to see anything and tell the number. Really exciting to do the ultrasound but a bit surrealistic. Aren´t these the things you just see on movies?! ;)

Next week (week 6): Blood test! And then a new apppointment at the gynaecologist on the 4th of October (week 7).

243 days left - Sunday 12th of September 2010

5 weeks and 2 days of pregnancy: 243 days left. Eva is feeling well, no feelings of sickness yet. She is a bit tired though and she still has to take quite a few medicines. The baby, or the babies, is/are about 3-4 mm. At the end of this week you could possibly hear the sound of the heart, with very advanced equipment.

Is this about being nervous? When you are young, you are nervous that your girlfriend will get pregnant. Then, when you decide to have kids you realize that it isn´t that easy, why doesn´t she get pregnant?!

In our case, it turned out I had a problem and it was very difficult for us to have kids the natural way. IVF treatment and time to get nervous again: Will we be able to pay this and isn´t very aggressive for my wife? When we finally decided to go ahead with the treatment and had to wait 15 days for the result: did it work out? And now that everything went well and my wife is pregnant: The first 3 months are "dangerous", time to bite those nails again, this time until the 20th of November, more or less. You need to have nerves of steel and a good heart to become a father!!

245 days left - Friday 10th of September 2010

My wife is becoming a real fan of the Spanish "siesta"...

247 days left - Wednesday 8th of September 2010

Booked the first apppointment at the gynaecologist (for Thursday the 16th of September). I wonder if we can see how many guys there are in there after just 41 days...?

Eva is fine but a bit blown up, incredible how the body starts to change after just 33 days!

248 days left - Tuesday 7th of September 2010

Christer´s birthday and D-Day: Today we will make the blood test to see if this worked out. I woke up some 20 times tonight and wanted to go to the hospital at 08:30. Eva told me to relax and get some more sleep...

Made the blood test at 11:45 and then we had to wait for 1.5 hours. Nail-biting suspense... When we got the results at 13:00 (could not wait until 13:15) we got a paper with a number: 984,97 mUI/mL. Hey, what number is this?! I could hardly dail the number to the IVF clinic, what a stress! When I mentioned the number they said: Congratulations, Eva´s pregnant! TJOOOOOOHOOOOO! Amazing! What an increible happiness!! Screams, hugs and kisses! We called both grandmothers first to tell them the good news! Then Eva´s brother and Christer´s sister. The rest of the day was phone calls, e-mails, messages, etc. I got an amazing 137 posts on my wall at Facebook (birthday wishes and congratulations on the pregnancy). Lunch in Seville with my mother-in-law (Loli) to celebrate!
Thanks to all our friend for all the phone calls, SMS, e-mails, wall postings, etc.!!

256 days left - Monday 30th of August 2010

Back after one week of total rest. Eva is fine but extremely bored after spending one week in the bed and the sofa... Now she can move around a bit more (inside the apartment).

263 days left - Monday 23rd of August 2010

Introduction of embryos!! In the end we had a total of 8 embryons. 7 survived and of those 2 very excellent, 3 very good, 1 good and 1 OK. We wanted to insert 3 embryons (maximum) but the doctor decided it was too risky, Eva still produced a lot of hormons. In the end they introduced 2 embryons (the best ones). We could see the embryons on a screen and also when they inserted them, amazing!

Everything went fine and we rested for some 2 hours in a room at the clinic. After that, trip back home to climb the stairs really carefully... From now on: 1 week of complete rest for Eva!

267 days left - Thursday 19th of August 2010

Appointment at CIVTE to extract ova. A bit nervous about this part which is the worst one. Eva was anaesthesized and the extraction took some 15 minutes. One hour rest in a room at the clinic. Eva´s OK but in some pain. I had to leave my "sample" today as well, not nearly as aggressive as Eva´s part but no great fun...

269 days left - Tuesday 17th of August 2010

New appointment at CIVTE. At least 30 couples at the clinic and we had to wait for 4 hours to see to doctor. One question: If you know that August is the bussiest month of the year, why do you send half of the personnel on vacation?! Spanish logistics...

When we finally got in, everything was just fine. Appointment for extraction of ova: Thursday 19th of August!

273 days left - Friday 13th of August 2010

Appointment at CIVTE to see how Eva reacts to the treatment. Everything looks just fine, enormous quantities of ova! Adjustment of the treatment with less hormons, risk of overstimulation.

Eva is not too happy with the treament: bloated stomach due to all the hormons, really uncomfortable.

277 days left - Monday 9th of August 2010

Appointment at the clinic and Eva will start the hormon treatment this afternoon. Off to the pharmacy to buy medicines!

280 days left - 6th of August 2010

First day of the period, call to the IVF clinic CIVTE (http://www.civte.es) Appointment number 1: Monday 9th of August.

Estimated birth date: 13th of May 2011

Introduction

Hey: We are Eva Jimenez Lopez and Christer Aronsson. Eva is Spanish and Christer is Swedish and we live in Seville, in Andalucia en the south of Spain. After four years of hesitation, tests, economic hardships, ups-and-downs and various etceteras, we finally decided to go ahead with the IVF treatment! Let´s cross our fingers and start...!!