Chasing Butterflies Daily

Before I start, and in case the title isn't clear enough. This is a  birth story , if that's not your cup of tea don't worry there are plenty other posts on my blog to chose from. I never wrote the birth stories of my first two previously (you'll find them & why I wanted a home birth in part one HERE). For a lot of us mothers our story means a lot, and so it should, your baby and how you met is precious to you. Some love to share it like a battle wound whilst others keep it to themselves. For some of us our birth plan means a lot for others it's not the journey and how you meet your baby, just meeting them is enough. This is a two part post where I will touch briefly on my first two births in part one purely because I think those experiences put me on the path I ended up on for my third pregnancy and birth. But in honesty it's my third birth that is the important one. Not because I treasure it more than the others but because it was different from everyt...

Before I start, and in case the title isn't clear enough. This is a  birth story , if that's not your cup of tea don't worry there are plenty other posts on my blog to chose from. I never wrote the birth stories of my first two previously. For a lot of us mothers our story means a lot, and so it should, your baby and how you met is precious to you. Some love to share it like a battle wound whilst others keep it to themselves. For some of us our birth plan means a lot for others it's not the journey and how you meet your baby, just meeting them is enough. This is a two part post where I will touch briefly on my first two births in part one purely because I think those experiences put me on the path I ended up on for my third pregnancy and birth. But in honesty it's my third birth that is the important one. Not because I treasure it more than the others but because it was different from everything I had planned and hoped for. I didn't make plans for my first tw...

Growing up all over the world it was always part of normality to me as a child to adopt other culture's celebrations. It was rarely just a case of learning about it in school but most of the time I had at least one classmate or teacher from the country in question. So it's never been much of a stretch for me to adopt the traditions of my husband's home country, Scotland. I love that we can mix, share and choose the things from both our cultures that we feel are close to us. I think my husband feels the same as he's often better at remembering about Swedish celebrations than I am and has on occasion been the one to educate me as I often feel I know more about other countries than the one I'm from. The 25th of January is known here as Burns night (also, but less frequently, Burns Day) and is a celebration of the work of the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns. Today is, or rather was, his birth date and the evening is celebrated in a manner that lives up to man...

One of the many check ups Elis has to have due to his achondroplasia is something that's called a sleep study . A full sleep study is normally done over night at hospital, the patient is hooked up to various machines that record information on breathing, oxygenation, heart rate and movements during the night. It is useful as it helps detect potential issues with sleep, in particular sleep apnoea : a sleep disorder that causes pauses in breathing and often is coupled with snoring. It can have serious impacts on daily life as it means the body isn't getting all the oxygen it needs when it stops breathing, it makes for poor sleep, higher risk for bad moods and tiredness throughout the day, it can even impact growth in children. Common treatment is removal of tonsils and adenoids if they are too large and are obstructing the passageways. In people with achondroplasia all their respiratory canals are already narrower making them high risk for infections, hearing problems and ...

I used to love snow, but last winter put me off it and now I hate the white shit so much now. The snowfall we had overnight is not much more than a dusting and a lot has now melted as it's been a bright day but the sight of the snow is still annoying me. Firstly because the play I'm in is due to perform this weekend after being cancelled before Christmas due to us all getting snowed in, so I feel very strongly that any snowfall we are due to get during this winter could at least have the decency to wait until after this Saturday. But last winter is what made me fall out of love with it (I'm hoping my feelings will change as it becomes a distant memory but for now it feels like it all happened just a few weeks ago). Firstly we were in a car accident which I'd love to write more about but legal proceedings are still going on, the fact that that experience is still impacting our lives definitely plays part in me disliking this weather. Secondly we were having ...

Watching little girls in leotards partaking in their ballet class is one of the cutest things ever. Still remember the first time our eldest put on her costume 2.5 years ago. It's far from the ballet classes I had when we lived in China. I was five and the teacher was Russian and so so strict, there was no play just straight into constant repetition of the positions. Worlds apart from the weekly classes we attend, both the teachers are fantastic and the focus is on fun and playful learning. The class is only half an hour long but they make use of lots of different props, and with the high tempo it feels like they fit in far more. Most importantly, our daughter loves it. The only thing that is cuter than her prancing about with pure happiness spread across her face is hearing her little sister cheer her on from the room next door. She dances along to the music and shouts out encouragement. "Good job, Sessa! Awesome jump!". To say it was cuteness overload when t...

For roughly two months of the year we live without sunlight in the house and it REALLY grinds you down after a while . When we moved into our house two years ago it was the beginning of February; the very end of the period when the hill opposite our house blocks the sun's rays from reaching the majority of our house so we didn't feel the impact of it at all the first year. But this is our second full winter in the house and it's been making me feel really down. I don't remember being too bothered by it last winter. But then I was pregnant, sick and just waiting for March to roll on and the baby to arrive so I was probably distracted. That said you'd think I'd be even more distracted this year with three children instead of two keeping me busy. I'm not distracted though, I just want January to be over and done with! I miss the sun! December wasn't as tough, Christmas is a good mind occupier after all. But I'm always more excited about the 2...

When I was wee I had an alter ego called "Skranna" (my own name being Anna). I'm not sure if she was named that by my mother or myself, but she was my naughty and cranky side. I have vivid memories of my mum stopping the car when I was throwing a tantrum, she'd open the door by me and tell me to throw Skranna out of the car. I'm also fairly certain I'd try to blame her for any naughty things I'd done. I'm at a point in life where my recall of childhood memories isn't great so my memories of her are fuzzy but I've had them retold to me plenty. Our eldest has taken to telling us a "magic ghost" has been up to things and loves blaming it for anything she knows she shouldn't have done but thinks she can get away with. I assume that she thinks we believe in ghosts, as she at nearly 5 most certainly does. Mostly I find out exchanges about the ghost kind of funny like the one above, however there are times where it's been ...

Yesterday the (almost) 5 year old got out of the bath and headed straight for the sink where she started frantically washing her hands in the sink. She was rubbing away at her palms and started crying "get it off, get IT off!" It took a moment before I understood she meant the wrinkles that had covered her hands. I tried to explain that it was normal, Christ, she's been in the bath enough times in her life for it to have happened before, in fact I'm fairly certain we've talked about it on previous occasions but for some reason she'd lost it. She ran into her room crying to her dad about it (who'd less sympathy to share than I did), and she started to truly freak out about it. It's not uncommon for her to "over react" at times when over stimulated. It's not constant, but things like her feet falling asleep can get her really worked up, or a strand hair on her hand. She LOVES getting messy but at certain times certain things push her ...

Another Swedish classic with my own twist, the coconut is an optional addition. The biscuits themselves (basically shortbread) are a popular childhood favourite for many Swedes. As with most of my baking I love how delicious something so simple can taste! Ingredients 250 g butter (room temperature) 150 ml sugar 525 ml flour 0.5 tbs vanilla sugar / extract 50 ml desiccated coconut (optional) 150 ml raspberry jam (at least, I probably used a little more because I love them filled to the brim!) Method Pre-heat the oven to 200℃  Mix butter & sugar till creamy, then add the rest of the ingredients. Roll the dough into two to three rolls till approx. 2 cm wide in diameter. Then cut into 2 cm wide bits and place on baking tray covered in baking paper. Use your finger to press little wells/groves into the centre of the dough & fill generously with jam. Bake for 7 minutes, leave to cool before enjoying - mind the jam takes a lot longer to cool than t...

I can still remember (very vaguely) what New Year used to be like before there were children. The angst of trying to figure out how you were celebrating, hoping to be invited to so-and-so's party or get into a club; incidentally always the worst option! The few club new year's celebrations I attended the line to get in was so long - despite pre-booking and VIP tables sorted - that we'd get in just as it became midnight and only be able to make a toast if we were luck enough to have been given our drink by then. I always preferred being at someone's house and remember, with fondness, two years in particular, 2007-8 & 2008-9 (if I'm not mistaken... There were a few blurry years around then). The last one before pregnancies and children was my first with my other half, also my first one in Scotland as we'd been over for Christmas. We were badly prepared though and instead of going to Edinburgh's famous Hogmanay celebration (which now has to wait t...