Family Madsen Blog: May 2011

Friday, May 27, 2011

Keeping busy

This past week has at times been a bit trying. Mostly trying on my patience. I’ve been trying to keep busy, but not too busy so that I can be rested and “ready” when the big day does arrive.
I am now officially 1 week overdue, but I visited the midwife yesterday and everything looks good, so that is a relief. She says “Any day now!” But I guess I already knew that. We are so excited!!
Søren had a big exam yesterday so it was nice that he was able to go to finish it before the baby came. We were very curious if the baby would come right on that day since we first found out his exam was that day, so now we can just be excited for our baby’s arrival. He did very very well on the exam and we went out for dinner to celebrate yesterday!!
Thanks for all the emails and facebook messages asking how I’m doing!

Baking goodies for the freezer in comfort

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Due date–come and gone

Well my due date has come and gone, and well, I am still huge! We didn’t actually expect our baby to arrive on time or on that day, but still it could have been nice. So yeah, even though it could have been any day before, it is definitely true to say “any day now”!!!

Søren and I have really been enjoying ourselves though. Since we didn’t know what could happen, he worked very hard and quite quickly on his last paper that has to be handed in on Monday. That meant that he had a lot of time to be with me and we have had a blast hanging out the past few days. We’ve played in church together, gone for walks, visited friends and today we took a drive to the ocean/fjord and walked by the water!

Thursday we went looking for cars, yes we wanted to be in the station wagon clan. We had looked at many online and decided to see a few of them in person. We really liked the car at the first stop but decided to look at the others just in case. In between car dealerships we stopped for lunch. During lunch we began talking about how it kinda stunk that we wouldn’t get as much for our current car if we did a trade in, and well maybe we should just try to sell it ourselves or keep it. We were thinking we would need to buy another car when I began working again in February anyway. So after a little bit of reflection we were quite sure that we were just going to keep our beloved Yaris until I started work again and then buy a cheaper station wagon at that time. However, we did have one more car to look at so we decided just to check it out. We really liked this car as well and just wanted to hear how much they would give us for our Yaris before we officially decided on keeping it. This is where the story gets funny! (Well to us at least) The other car dealership had offered us 65,000 kroner ($12,500). It was a reasonable trade in price but if we could do better here, then maybe we would buy a car now. The man did some research on our car, and a little later he told us……”Yeah, we will give you 35.000kroner ($6,750).” Søren and I looked at each other trying not to laugh, then Søren said, “And that is for a 2005 diesel Yaris?”….”Yes,” said the man. And well needless to say we got out of there quite quickly after that. We knew that if sold privately our car was worth at least 80.000 ($15,500)!!! The whole way home we made jokes back and forth about 35.000, and just laughed. It was so ridiculous!! So yes, the end of the story is that we are keeping our Yaris. We tried out the baby carriage and car seat and it does fit. We will be a little scrunched but we just want to prioritize other things, so we will just have to deal with it. We are happy with our decision…so far! Smile

Otherwise, we have just been hanging out enjoying our new home and time with each other and friends. We had quite a few things planned up to my due date but then nothing after that, so we will have to be spontaneous this week if our little boy doesn’t arrive!

39 weeks

Here I am on my due date!
40 weeks

Monday, May 16, 2011

No news

Yeah, it is time for an update, but there isn't much new to report here. I have now officially been on leave from work for 5 weeks already and each week I get better and better at taking it easy. According to my countdown there are only 4 days left until my due date. That is crazy, but I am definitely feeling ready most of the time. I feel so huge and there are no comfortable positions anymore. I have been trying to keep busy to not just feel like I am waiting. I have been to the ocean with a girlfriend and sang in church for 3 different events in the past week. Also my friend Jette and I finished the baby room by painting some Mini Cooper (Mascots) on the walls around the green edge. It turned out really well and we had a lot of fun.

Jette putting on the stencil

Adding the color

Otherwise Søren and I have gone to the movies and had friends over to pass the time. He has been kept busy working on some exams, but has been very productive so now it won't be that difficult to accomplish the final projects before he graduates if I do happen to give birth soon!

So yeah, not much is really new. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we try to relax and enjoy these last few days before we get to meet our son. We are so excited!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother’s Day

Today is Mother’s Day and I guess I am officially a mother now, even if our baby has not shown it’s face to the world yet. Søren surprised me this morning with a bouquet of flowers and a sweet card wishing me a happy Mother’s Day. That was strange. But the life inside of me is my child and I am his mother, so I guess it is appropriate, but it will take some getting used to. I’m sure I’ll feel the motherly instinct even more when we finally get to meet him, but it is such a beautiful things that I can love another human being so much without even having met him. Happy Mother’s Day to all Mothers!

Flowers at the breakfast table!

The past week and a half has been quite relaxing as I am finally learning to take breaks and take care of myself and our baby. I’ve just been taking care of some baby stuff: washing clothes, painting the crib, buying last minute things, packing for the hospital, etc. It’s been fun to see it all come together and now there is just time to wait.

Sorting all the clothes we have borrowed!

The Nursery (now equipped with crib)

The other half of the nursery

As for Søren, he probably has a different way of describing the last week and a half. He has been working feverishly to get his Bachelor assignment finished. He has spent many hours in the office and finally on May 4th he was finished and ready to hand it in! I went with him to school to hand it in, and we went out for a celebratory lunch afterwards. He now has a few exams he must prepare for, but the end is near and he will soon be an official teacher! Yay!!

Ready to hand in!!

Oh and actually just a week ago some of my Danish friends held a baby shower for me! It was so sweet of them. Because baby showers are not a tradition here, they were able to look up some information on the internet and put together a whole party!! There was a sports theme and everyone had some type of sports jersey on. There were many Vikings jerseys represented and other MN clothes that people had found. There were American flags hanging on all over and I felt very much at home. We played some different games like: Who knows Mommy best, put on the diaper fastest while blindfolded, guess the baby food, pregnant belly pick-up pasta, and there were some crafts where we drew on one-sies and made posters of what our child would be like. (see the pictures for a clearer idea of these games!) It was all very fun and I was also given a lot of wonderful presents. We ended the night singing some worship songs and they all prayed for us and our baby to come. It was truly a very special night!