Sunshine in our life

The sun is shining again in Svalbard. It feels already like the polar night is far behind. We have had a really warm winter, meaning that it has been mostly just couple of minus centigrades. It looks like that scooter season won't be that good. But for me it has been just perfect to have our daily walks without worries about frostbites. In stead I have been worried that our baby might get it too hot in his sleeping bag made of sheep skin.

We're really enjoying our new everyday life with our son. Days are going quickly with him and our faithful black coated companion. One thing which is very low priorised is time used in the front of screen. As we're not having TV that's already pretty low but lately I haven't used much time in the front of lap top either. So it might be that I might update this blog less regularly.

Where is our dog?

My partner is working again in Svea and I'm home with my boys. Or, just with our son, beacause our dog got borrowed for a week. He is having a skiing holiday. I have to admit that of course my life is easier when I don't need to think to have walks in early morning or late evening with our little one, but it's strange not to have a dog in the house. I have been looking around so many times after him, just thinking where he's now.

We're getting nice twilight in the middle of the day and then we have a walk, even without dog. Increasing amount of light is feeling very good and already giving a feeling we're having now real days.

Long-lasting weekend

Even though I'm alone at home with our young son while my partner is working for two weeks in Svea, I'm still feeling I'm pretty privileged to have him at home for two weeks after a working period. Those two weeks we were together was just like long-lasting weekend. Everyday was Sunday for us.

We were lucky with weather during those two weeks, now thinking from perspective of a small babys mummy, not from an eager snow scooter fan. We were having some days around zero centigrades. Then I took our son out just in a baby carrier. That's so much easier than use a baby stroller. Our son likes to be sitting in a carrier, where he can be looking around or taking a nap if he feels like that. When it's colder I'm feeling better to use a baby stroller, where he can be protected against wind. The horizon is getting lighter now so it's also pretty encouranging to have some walking tours middle of a day.

Together with the boys

My partner started with a new working plan after New Year. Now he's working two weeks in Svea and having after that two weeks free. That means that when he's working, I'm alone two weeks with our boys, with our little son and our black coated companion. But when a working period is over, is my partner also totally free for next two weeks.

The first longer period alone with our boys went fine. Luckily our dog is an easy and really patient sheppard. I'm really happy now that I have used all those countless hours with our dog - that makes our life now much easier.

And our son - he's now two month old, happily smiling and making some really strange sounds. He's starting to be interested in different things and can be looking at some toys for a good while. Best thing after milk is to sit in mei tai (a baby sling) and follow what mummy is doing. And when he gets tired, he can be also having a nap there, feeling himself safe by mummys warm tummy.

There isn't any trees in Svalbard, so we got one from our friend. Now our son can be playing under an evergreen foliage.

New clothes to Emperor

Our son has managed to gain about two kilos in two months time. Mother's milk is powerfull stuff! I can clearly see how much he has grown - he's getting bigger and he's learning new things. It's just amazing how quickly time goes.

Last weekend I needed go through his clothes and pack away clothes which were getting too small for him. It was kind of sad to pack them on a cardboard box. There were lot of memories in those first small clothes. But in the same time it was nice to take new clothes on use. He has got lot of practical and beautiful clothes. Those clothes are already having memories in them - they remind me on those people we have got them from. As a mummy I'm really happy for all soft presents. And our son is far too small to understand that toys are something every child is hoping for. That age comes later!

Christmas

We were celebrating Christmas with an other family with a little child. Christmas was time for good food, talking and board games for us grown ups, our son was consentrating on getting so much milk than possible.

One lady bought a Christmas tree but it was too tall for her, so she needed to cut the tree. The bottom part of the tree ended up on our friends house and there it was doing perfectly its duty as a Christmas tree.

Otherwise we were visiting people and getting visitors. Life has been so hectic lately, that it was nice to calm down and meet people we haven't met for a while and just sit down and use time with cosy chatting.

The picture above is from an evening with "Feuerzangenbowle". That is a German speciality, an alcoholic drink. There is a kettle with spiced red wine and over it's placed a sugarloaf which is burned with rum. Caramelized sugar drips in the drink and gives a good taste. That warm drink tasting a really good, but I hold anyhow with non-alcoholic drinks as I'm busy with nursing our son.

New home

We were planning to move to a new apartment before I was supposed to fly to Tromsø for to wait our sons delivery. We were thinking that it would be so nice to come back to a new apartment with the newborn. But things don't go always as planned. We managed to move half of our things to the new apartment when water suddenly broke and I was send with an ambulance flight to Tromsø. Everything just needed to be left as it was.

So, when we came back to Longyearbyen with our newborn son, we needed to continue with moving things and making the new apartment home. It's not an ideal situation to empty cardboard boxes between nursing and changing diapers, but it goes.

We got an apartment in Gruvedalen, up in the mountain side, in "Beverly Hills", as some people call it. Now in dark time we can enjoy a cosy view down to the town and towards airport. When the light comes back, we can see Hiorthfjellet, the mountain in the other side of fjord beside the town, and over Isfjorden, the big fjord.

Even though we have been busy just moving things in and putting them in places, managed we also make little Christmas as well. Our son is too small to realise it's Christmas, but it's cosy for us to celebrate in the darkest time of the year.

Alone with the boys

My partner has been having paternity leave since we got the baby. He got also little bit unplanned ekstra free because the baby came some weeks before the due date. It has been really nice to have him at home. But this weekend he left us first time alone and got to work in Svea. When you're working in Svea, then you're totally away over the working period as people are living there over the work weeks. Our son is now about one month old and everything is going fine with him, so it has been totally ok to stay home with him. My partner is also having now a shorter working period so he was supposed to be away only for four days. But because of the weather flights got cancelled and then he got an ekstra day in Svea. That's how the life is in Svalbard, you're always dependent on the weather.

Until now my partner has been having walks with our dog and I have been doing that if I have had an opportunity. Then I just went out mostly alone with the dog and my partner was staying in with the baby. I haven't taken our son out every day when it was temperatures around -20 centigrades. But it was good for me to have some walks anyhow. Now since my partner was away, it wasn't asking about an opportunity, now I needed to have some walks every day. Luckily our son have started to like to sleep in the baby carriage, so it has been fine to go out. And it's not only the dog who likes some walks - it's also mummy who likes to get fresh air.

First outing in -22 centigrades

If we don't count travelling and a visit to them who took care of our dog while we were in Tromsø, we had our first outing together with our son couple of days ago in -22 centigrades. He got packed well in with couple of layers wool and a huge dress. First we walked to the health care center, where he got weighted and checked that everything was fine. He was grown a half a kilo in two weeks, so I guess he has got enough milk.

Then we had a tour to the local grocery and bought some food for us who can't be living just with milk. In afternoon we dressed him once more and drove to the airport. There we met our friend who was coming from the mainland and continiuing then with a local flight to Ny-Ålesund (a research settlement in north).

It was nice to see, that he was doing just fine with his clothing even though it was pretty cold. That's just good when he's living in a island of snow and ice. I think he's a tough guy to be just couple of weeks old.

1000 km to home

After the delivery of our son we were staying a good week in Tromsø. We were lucky and were able to stay with our good friend. It's kind of brave to take a family with a newborn baby to stay at your place!

But, home sweet home - even though it was really nice to stay in Tromsø I was waiting forward to go home. That mean our baby under two weeks old should be flying 1000 km for to end up that icy island where we were having our home. To have a such a travel isn't for sure the best thing to do with a newborn, but that's the way when you're living up in the north. Everything went just fine. Boy got a scathing amount of mother's milk before the flight and pactically he was sleeping until Longyearbyen. Finally we were home again!

Where hospitals aren't always that close by

We're having a small hospital in Longyearbyen and I were able to get all the maternity controls there. But they don't want to get any planned deliveries in Longyearbyen. If everything goes fine, giving a birth isn't a problem, but if there is some complications which need special expertise, mainland is far away. That is why all the pregnant ladies need to leave the island latest two weeks before due date. Of course, it's safest to leave little bit earlier, because you never know when baby is ready to be born.

I wanted to give a birth in Tromsø, not in my small home village where there is long way to a hospital. We're having a health center in my home municipality, but they don't either have a maternity clinic there. Distances in Northern Scandinavia can be long and it's not that unusual that it can take some hours to get to the closest hospital. We were lucky to have a good friend in Tromsø where we were planning to stay and wait the delivery. Actually Tromsø is a nice town anyhow to stay. But just few days before we should fly to Tromsø our child decided otherwise - he wanted out now. For to avoid to get a delivery in Longyearbyen an ambulance flight from the mainland was called and we got transported to Tromsø. It gave me a real perspective for how far away from help from outside we are in Longyearbyen. It took about eight hours from the point the flight was called to we entered the hospital in Tromsø. That was in good weather - if weather is bad, it's not quaranteed an ambulance flight can be send up straight after an accident.

Everything went just fine in our case even though I wouldn't think to travel to Tromsø on that way. But just asking from the proud mother: I think we got the most beautiful baby in the world!

Child of the Northern Lights

I have had unforgettable last nine months. Everything started already last February and since I have been following amazed the new growing life. I have felt changes in my body, seen growing tummy, felt first the small slights movements, later the strenght of turning and twisting and huge hick-ups. For a while it really felt like I was carrying a child of a real miner - it felt like he was trying to dick his way out of my tummy just straight through the skin. I haven't been having morning sickness, not hearth burning or any enourmously disturbing other symptoms. Instead I have really enjoyed my pregnancy. I didn't get tired to my tummy at all - I just could't stop thinking how amazing it was!

Our child was made under the Northern Lights, just after a polar night was over. He grew up in my tummy during the midnight sun, while we were enjoying a half a year day-around light. He was following us on our scooter tours, in the small tours on the mountains, travelling with us in the Nordic countries where we spend our holidays. It was an easy pregnancy and it was perfectly fine with my work in Svea.

We were planning to have couple of nice weeks after my work was over before we got our new family member. Our Mørketidsbarn didn't want to wait that long, he was ready to breath his own lungs. We got an ambulance flight to Tromsø one night, at a night with Northern Lights. Suddenly he was here - without that we got unpatient with waiting for it.

Now, next months, we'll be enjoying the quietness of a dark time we're having in Longyearbyen. Life will be much around that new small creature. And that just fine - a polar night is quite a perfect time to get a child. When the sun is getting back, our son has also got bigger and then we can go together out and greet the sun back.