pregnant in Sweden!

April 23, 2012

pregnant in Sweden!

A momma at the Ålidhem playgroup looked up the phone number for the Ålidhem hälsocentral for me.  She explained that I should call between 8:30 and 9:30 and leave a message on the voice mail and a midwife would call me back. 

            After I listened to a bunch of Swedish I thought I got to the point where I was supposed to leave a message.  I must have been successful, a midwife called me back.  I told her that I was pregnant and wanted to schedule an appointment. 

            “What’s your personnummer?”  With that she has all my information.  “You have been assigned to the downtown health center but you are welcome to come here.” 

            I went to a 10 week appointment at the nearby health center and met Ann-Cathrine, the midwife that will be seeing me for my prenatal care.  She’ll care for me during my pregnancy but when it’s time for labor and delivery I’ll go to the hospital and be in the care of a midwife (whom I’ve never met) that happens to be working that day, or a doctor if there are complications.  That’s the standard way for pregnancy and birth.  Everything seems fine so far with me and Iggy Piggy (our baby’s name so far).  Unfortunately, I’ve experienced more pregnancy symptoms this time around.  I was able to ask Ann-Cathrine more about Sweden’s system, most of which I had already learned about prior to this visit. 

            There is a Home Birth Group in Sweden.  They are mostly active in a few cities further south, although there are a couple of people here in Umeå.  There are only a few home-births a year in Umeå and only 1 in 1000 in Sweden.  Water births are illegal in Sweden.  A baby died in a water birth at home about 20 years ago and they have been illegal since.  I did talk to the one midwife in town that will do home births.  She works at the hospital and is very proud of the space they have there.  She said that they have ONE water tub that is available for laboring in with candles and music… and if the baby is born in the water, accidents happen.  However, there is just one, so there is no guarantee that it will be available.  She suggested that I visit the hospital in August or September and decide if I want to labor and deliver there.  If not she’ll meet us at our apartment in the fall.  I’ll likely decide on the hospital.  We live in a tiny apartment with no tub.  The thing that I think is odd is that you have a different midwife for the prenatal care and the labor and delivery.  I was so comforted when Stacy (midwife for Amelia) arrived at our home.  I’ve talked to one other local, who is part of the Home Birth Group, who also thinks it’s odd.  Overall, pregnancy and birth are taken more lightly here than in the US, which does have its pros.  Although I am looking forward to my next appointment (May 28^th) which is at 18 weeks – TWO MONTHS – from my last, where we’ll have an ultrasound and use the doppler for the first time to hear the baby’s heart beat.  I’m feeling great now at 13 weeks pregnant, nearing the end of the first trimester.  I’m looking more pregnant but Chris says that people wouldn’t assume that I’m pregnant because I’m in that in between phase of looking pregnant and looking like I have a big tummy.  ;)

            I’m thankful for the health care coverage here.  There was a typo in my immigration paperwork so it took longer than normal for me to get into the system.  However, I did get into the system just in time to schedule a 10 week pregnancy appointment.  Apparently as soon as a woman becomes part of the system they also get scheduled for a womanly check-up.  I also received a letter from the downtown health clinic stating a day and time for an appointment.  It was scheduled a couple of weeks after my visit to Ålidhem hälsocentral.  Ann-Cathrine asked me if I had received mail regarding an appointment since she knew that I had just recently entered the Swedish health care system.  I told her that I did from the downtown clinic and it was scheduled in the next couple of weeks.  I didn’t need to go to it since I was seeing her.  She had me sign some papers that I was switching to Ålidhem.  I kind of assumed that took care of my downtown appointment and I kind of dropped the ball by not calling and canceling my appointment downtown.  I received mail from the downtown clinic a few days after my proposed appointment.  It was a bill of 150 kroner ($22) for NOT SHOWING UP.  This got me to call and explain (and they dropped the charge).  People don’t slip through the cracks here, especially if they are frugal like me.  I was told that I won’t have to call for an appointment for Amelia’s annual check-up.  She’s in the system so we’ll get a letter with a day and time for her appointment… at the downtown clinic…unless I fill out some paperwork.

 Amelia got the chicken pox!  I thought the outfit she picked out was kind of funny.   At first she wasn’t phased by them but then spent a day an a half with a fever.  We had lots of snuggle and reading time.  She quickly got back to her silly self.

barnbidrag/child support

We got notice in the mail today that our first monthly ‘barnbidrag’ deposit was made into our bank account. Google Translate translates barnbidrag to child support. It’s a different kind of child support than what we think of in the States. Chris is indeed Amelia’s dad and yes we are still living together. Barnbidrag is coming from the Swedish government. Even though they didn’t have any part in the birth of Amelia they are kindly going to help pay for some of her expenses. I think it is absolutely amazing that the government provides financial assistance to families raising children: 1050 kronor a month per child which is about $150. It’s helpful, but then I also remember that Chris is paying at least 40% of his income to taxes, so it’s nice to get some of that money back. Everything is so expensive here too that any little bit of financial assistance is helpful so that we can get out and do things. I just spent 100 kronor/ $15 for Amelia and me to play in the little indoor kiddie pool down the road, and the pool isn’t even a hot spring.

Other tax money goes to day care and maternity leave. Once the 18 month paid maternity leave is over then free daycare, including meals, starts up at 18 months until kiddos start kindergarten at age 6. However, there is a long waiting list (up to 6 months) for the free daycare. This is yet another way in which the government is family friendly. Or is it family friendly? I haven’t met a Swedish stay at home mom or dad beyond the maternity leave. I wonder if the deal is so good – having free daycare and a two income family – that it is too good to pass up or maybe it is so expensive to live here that you need two incomes. ?? I have noticed that Swedes have a way of doing things (very little diversity) so perhaps the work and day care system is just the way it is, just because.

In any case, from an out-sider's perspective their system seems to be working. People dress nicely; have lots of vacation time; the downtown shopping area is large and bustling; all schools including Universities are free; and everyone has health care. I'll try to dig deeper and get the in-siders' point of view.

our first adventure in our *new* old car

We bought a Volvo wagon! I couldn’t go any longer without a car. The longer and warmer days are making me stir crazy to get out of the city! Today the Volvo took us out to the coast to the Strömbäck-Knot nature reserve. We did some walking and playing in the snow at the shore’s edge and some skiing.

Amelia has become a really good skier already. Today she figured out how to kick and add some glide to her step.

icy coast...




snow waves

spring is in the air

The short winter days are over. We’ll revisit them again along with the beautiful soft winter light next year. Lately the sun has been bright and gets high in the sky. Today the sun rose at 5:49 am and set at 5:46 pm. It’s hard to believe that in a few days we’ll have more light than darkness. We still have at least a foot of snow in town and there are no flowers popping up or trees budding, so it seems hard to believe that the first day of spring is next week, but we are enjoying the sunshine.

Here are some pictures of our winter life:

This is outside our front door. Amelia is getting more brave lately. There are 20+ foot piles of snow all around town and she has been enjoying climbing them and making slides down them. Yes, we wear snow pants every day!

We are fortunate to be able to ski from our front door into the forest near our home.

Amelia is enjoying taking a dance class and wants to play dance class just about every day. I add a little yoga so I get to do some yoga ;)

We've spent many hours doing arts and crafts. She particularly likes making fairies. She's drawn them, painted them, made play-dough fairies, and even fairies out of pipe cleaners.

In this picture she's sewing a bear. Thanks Grandma Cindy, Grandpa Klatt, and Emily! He is stuffed, has a bow tie, eyes, a smily face and has been named Sewy.

Thankfully there are indoor play areas. There has been lots of jumping on the coach and bed too.

There are several neighborhood centers around town and churches that have a space for children, young and old. The spaces are very nice with toys and kitchens and gyms. Amelia and I have been consistently going to two playgroups. The öppna förskolor/playgroups are for parents and children to attend. However, most of the children are under a year and half. Families are given 18 months of paid leave to be with the little ones. The time is split between both parents and I think it is required that the dad spends at least two months with the baby while the mom goes back to work. The 18 months do seem flexible though. The family can spread these 18 months paid leave time and work part time or postpone them. Once that paid time is over it seems very common that both parents are back to work and children go to förskolan/daycare, which is free. It seems very uncommon to be a stay-at-home parent beyond this paid leave. (There isn’t a lot of diversity in ways of doing things here in Sweden). The only older kids we see at playgroups are the siblings of the babies. The parents tend to reduce the older children’s time at the daycare to be with them during their paid leave with the new baby.

We have made some friends and learned about Swedish culture by going to the öppna förskolor. Amelia has learned some Swedish! Can you tell which song it is?

getting out of town

Thank you Europcar! I must admit, I felt like an adventurous 16 year old when I drove off the car rental lot. I just wanted to explore and drive out to the coast just 20 km away but still unseen after 6 weeks of being here. I felt a sense of freedom having a car!




It was foggy Saturday so we drove just outside of town to Leo's Lekland, a large indoor playground.

Upon entering Leo's, Amelia's eyes sparkled and she got an ecstatic skip in her step at the sight of the slides, tunnels, ladders, balls, bikes... Chris and Carrie had a lot of fun too!

Later in the day we drove to the coast. Amelia was passed out in the carseat, tired from play at Leo's Lekland, and the weather outside was dismal. We didn't venture far or hang around too long. At least I've now seen the Baltic Sea/Gulf of Bothnia.










Saturday night the clouds dropped their snow and then cleared away, giving the sun a chance to shine down on us! We drove north out of town to ski part of the Tavelsjöleden. (I think leden translates to trail.) Beautiful blue ski, no wind, relatively warm... magical! While we were skiing Amelia mentioned several times that she wanted her own skis (rather than sit in the Chariot). We stopped at the Vintercafe in the small town of Tavelsjö on the way home. Reindeer antlers hung on the wall and a ski race played on the TV. Once again Amelia said she wanted her own skiis...




On the way home, we stopped by a huge grocery store on the north side of town. It is kind of like a super Target with groceries and much more. Chris spotted some children's cross country skis on sale and picked them up for her. I was a bit shocked at his impulse buy. Seriously, he doesn't want to look at Blockett first (the on-line classifieds) or other places around town. I ask him about it. He says, 'Oh that is all too complicated here'. And we have a car now. As soon as we got home she tried on her skis and did some laps around the apartments. She likes the downhills! Alright, Amelia and I will do some skiing this week. Fun!
I do hope she will get into the Chariot again so Chris and I can actually do some skiing.

Will you put dinkelmjöl on the grocery list?

Will you put dinkelmjöl on the grocery list?

We are speaking in Swenglish ;) Dinkelmjöl is spelt flour in case you are wondering.

Now that I’ve been to seven grocery stores, I’ve decided that I can write about them. There seems to be a grocery store in every neighborhood, although it may be small. There are basically only two grocery stores companies, COOP and ICA. It also seems that most areas have both competing stores. They are often even right next door to one another (see picture in Ålidhem central). (Oh yeah, they are capitalists here!) I haven’t yet decided which one is my favorite, as I haven’t really figured out how they are exactly different. It’s not like there is a Safeway, a Town ‘N Country, and a Bozeman CO-OP (reference for the Bozeman folks) with differences in price, health food, organics. The COOP here is not a co-op, it is pronounced ‘coup’ like a chicken coop. I guess both stores are a bit more like a Town ‘N Country, stores where you can find a bit of everything, including organic food and even a biodynamic/organic line Salta Kvarn, produced in southern Sweden. The selection just depends on the size of the store. There is also one kind of “health food store” that also sells other natural products. They have a few things that ICA and COOP don’t but mostly have the organic and natural brands that are also at the other stores.

Unfortunately the COOP doesn’t have Bozeman’s co-op yummy bulk tofu or the large bulk aisles of whole grains, oils, flours, and beans. Instead most of their bulk is CANDY! Yes, a large area of their store is devoted to candy. I found this at all COOP and ICA stores. Note in the picture that there are three candy areas in ONE relatively small downtown COOP store. And I wonder why they have three different areas. Why don’t they just put all the candy in one section?

I’m trying to figure out how they organize their stores. I look at unfamiliar labels of flour or beans and try to decide which to buy. Sometimes I can figure out the meaning of the Swedish if it’s similar to English, like röda linser (red lentil). I’m lucky if there is a picture on the label or the package is clear and I can see inside. I finally make my decision and then find a couple aisles over that there are more packages of flour or beans or tomato sauce to choose from. Besides candy, the store also has a very large variety of cheeses. I wish I was a cheese connoisseur to fully take advantage of this jackpot. Amelia likes the mild creamy Herrgård while Chris is fond of the salty strong tasting regional cheese, Västerbotten.

Fortunately we are able to find most things we like to eat. I suppose we can live without tempeh and molasses. Thanks to friends for sending us nutritional yeast! Its actually quite amazing what foods are available considering how far north we are. We are almost at the Arctic Circle. I suppose people don’t want to eat moose and reindeer stew all winter long. I have been surprised by what they do have here. There isn’t much of a selection of winter squash or greens but their exotic fruit selection is immense. I’ve never seen fruits they sell shipped here from South America, the Mediterranean and Africa. We haven’t explored the exotic fruit selection yet or all the diverse dairy products including shrimp and cheese in a tube. However, I am excited about all the berries we will be picking this late summer. I dug down a few feet in the snow in the forest near our house and found blueberry bushes!

I am starting to learn Swedish food words so shopping is starting to get easier!

Most herbs and some lettuce are sold in pots… so far north they have to ship them in pots so that they survive? Do you see the sad leaves? This basil plant did not like our cold walk home.

*Our favorite word at the store is jordgubbe, pronounced ‘yourgubber’, which is Swedish for strawberry.*

Our favorite character so far is this Turkish yogert guy. What do you think he is saying? ‘Oh so good!” ??

Or maybe these characters are even better. ?? They aren't found at the grocery store though. This is the alcohol store bag. ;) Wine, beer, and liquor is sold at the government run liquor store.

the key that opens the door

Imagine having a room with treats and comforts inside. You know that things like your pillow, sunglasses, your favorite coffee mug, salt, honey, a chocolate bar, and hot running water are inside the room; those things that add comfort to your life. The only thing is THE ROOM IS LOCKED. At some point you know that the key will be mailed to you but you don’t have any idea when. It’s out of your control, you must wait.

Here our key is a personnumber and the room is the Swedish system. Once we have a personnumber we are allowed to hop onto the tracks of everyday life here in Sweden. We are officially acknowledged as residents in this country.

Today, Monday January 30^th, a bit more than a month after being here, our keys arrived in the mail! We momentarily jump for joy. Yeah! Now we are covered by the Swedish health care system and have been told about other benefits that we will receive. For instance, I will receive a small stipend for being a stay at home mom. Amelia is entitled to 15 hours a week of free preschool. However, now that we have a key, we walk through the door to find a maze in order to gather up all these comforts and luxuries.

We walked downtown today at 4:00 to open up a bank account, which requires a personnumber. The door is locked, lights out. The bank closes at 3:00 everyday of the week except for Thursday. A man coming out of the bank says, ‘Oh you can do it on-line.’ He says it as if it is SOO easy. We believe him. We got on-line at home and after lots of Google Translate we give up and decide that we’ll just go back downtown on Thursday. We need someone to show us how to do the internet money transfers anyway. I don’t think there is much cash flowing around Umeå, instead bank transfers. I asked if I could pay for Amelia’s dance class with cash since we didn’t have a bank. The response was ‘Um, no. You can just wait to transfer money once you have your bank account set up.’ Even some yoga classes ask for internet money transfers.

Here we go in the maze to figure this all out. On the list of things to do now that we have personnumbers also include getting a phone and a frequent shopper card at the grocery store so we can attempt to cut some costs there. Can you believe it? You even need a personnumber to get a phone and to save on those special deals at the grocery store.