It was tougher than we thought
Hi Hanna and Gabbe, thank you for allowing us to look into your life. What a great apartment and so clean, what's the trick? Or should I ask, how many hours did you panic clean before we arrived?
Hanna: Haha, we're probably a bit obsessed with keeping things nice around us and like to keep things tidy. It will be a nicer feeling to be at home then.
Gabe: But right now we're not too keen on putting that much more love into this apartment because we've just sold and are renovating a new apartment so mentally we're very much in the new apartment.
Exciting, renovating an apartment and children, you are busy in other words?
Hannah: Yes, we're moving (hopefully) in just a month or so, but we've been so lucky. The new apartment is in the same building as we live in now, but two floors up, so it has made managing renovation projects a lot easier by just running between. Then we think this kind of thing is fun, it also gives energy even if it's tough sometimes.
A closeness-thirsty and perfect little guy
Hanna & Gabbe love their turn of the century dream in Uppsala.
Excerpt from the book about the first time as a parent.
"We had a rough start. Mom-shaming from midwives and breastfeeding that messed up."
Now you have had a few weeks to land, how is life as a parent?
Hannah: We had a tough start. Everything from mom-shaming from midwives to breastfeeding that messed up and a child who from day one had a BIG need for closeness and is on us around the clock.
Is there anything you wish someone had told you about what it's like to have a baby?
Gabe: We wish more people talked about how tough it can be in the beginning. It's not something you talk about, but what you see is just pink clouds with a little baby.
Hannah: I cried a lot at first and felt bad, and it's hard to solve things on your own when you don't get the right help and support from healthcare. You're as fragile as a new mother, so hearing that you're doing wrong or that you're bad because you think it's tough affects you incredibly.
Gabe: We were prepared to sometimes be able to put our baby down when he was sleeping, so life really turned upside down when we realized that one of us had to carry him all the time.
Hannah: Yes - the baby carrier has really been a good investment, haha.
After a baby is delivered, new fears also seem to be delivered. What does that piece look like, what is the greatest fear and greatest desire right now?
Hanna : This is going to sound strange, but apart from sleep, my greatest wish is to window shop all by myself for a whole day. Strange that something that was previously taken for granted to be able to do is now a luxury.
Gabbe : For me, it's been hard to be away from Noah during the day, I've been afraid that he won't remember me the same way when I come back. Therefore, I have tried to work a lot from home.
"There is something magical about older apartments. The ceiling height, the light and the feeling are difficult to achieve in a new apartment"
What do the days look like right now?
We spend an incredible amount of time planning for the new apartment, says Hanna. It feels like we're living renovation and baby talk right now, haha.
Sleep, that question always comes to new parents. How do you sleep, on a scale between "Sleeping Beauty" and "what sleep?!"?
Gabbe : It feels a bit difficult to say that I sleep well when I know that Hanna is up all night breastfeeding.
Hanna : It's still been lucky that Gabbe was able to be at home so much now during Covid-19 and released me in the morning so I got a few hours of sleep anyway. I was totally unprepared for what sleep deprivation does to one.
Lastly, what is the best thing right now?
Hanna : That I'm starting to feel better and can enjoy myself more, seeing his smile and how he develops into a little person of his own is magical.
Gabbe : That we are a family, that's big.
