Category Archives: Freya

Veganism And The Art Of Iron Levels During Pregnancy

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Since Freya’s conception I’ve been aware of the importance of iron-levels during pregnancy, making sure Jo not only got an increased amount of iron-rich vegan foods, but which foodstuffs to combine/avoid in order to effect a higher intake of the much-needed mineral; however, it wasn’t until last week I actually bothered to find out why, and what the test results actually mean.

Hemoglobin is an iron-rich protein found in red blood-cells. Its function, amongst others, is to carry oxygen to other cells, like a pizza delivery guy. About 1/3 of a woman’s iron reserves are given to the child, which makes it reasonably vital that a decent iron level is maintained.

Before Jo got pregnant with version 2, her “blodvärde” was around 130. This number represents the number of grams of hemoglobin per litre of blood, and should be between 120 – 150 g/l for women. During her first checkup mid-January her level sank to 111, which was low, but not quite sufficiently so to start taking iron supplements; when Jo was tested a second time, last week, her level had risen to 127. The midwife was, apparently, impressed.

I was going to end this entry with an aside that spinach is not, as everyone believes it to be, a fantastic source of iron, due to it also including a fair amount of oxalates, which inhibit iron absorption. Without doubt, that would have been a perfectly good and informative finishing sentence to an otherwise quite mundane blog, but then I chanced upon MakeupTalk’s forum, that had a question about low hemoglobin:

Just got my blood results back and my midwife said I have low hemoglobin in my blood but its nothing to worry about. Apparantely its caused by lack of iron. Is it safe to take iron/vitamin supplements through pregnancy?

asks ForeverPink, to which one of the forum moderators, Lia, replies:

Every pregnant woman HAS to take iron to supplement the body, because the income by food isn’t enough – to women who doesn’t have anemia, it’s 300mg per day, and for those who have, more. You should take it every day, and it’s at least 600mg if i’m not mistaken.

Check with an ob-gyn about it, because he/she will be able to treat you correctly.

Obviously Lia is talking shite; even capitalising will not make it any truer, Lia. In none of the articles I’ve read has it ever once stated that one HAS to take iron tablets (maybe the law is different in Brazil, which wouldn’t surprise me), with a certain site informing me that one should never take iron tablets if one’s level is not low.

What I found more worthwhile than that nugget of bollocks as an end to this entry, though, was Lia’s forum signature, which comes from the lips of Lia, herself:

Learn everything you can, you never know when you might need it.

Brilliant, Lia.

Mini Mission To Haga

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We decided to go on a mini-mission this afternoon, on the spur of the moment, and ended up at Fjärilshuset, just north of Stockholm.

There were a fair number of people, most of them in the restaurant, it seemed, which was to our advantage. I wouldn’t say we roamed leisurely (Freya was far too excited, particularly at the various pieces of fruit that had been placed in the frogs’ and snails’ aquariums), but we could roam most of the time unhindered by human traffic.

As nice as the park was, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed at the lack of actual butterflies. We spotted many koi, but, as nice as they may be to look at, that wasn’t the reason for paying 160kr entrance fee. I suppose, in fairness, we came out of season (I’m supposing butterflies have mating seasons in rainforest climes, don’t they?). If not then they need to do some serious rethinking or illegal importing.

The gift shop seemed geared towards receiving a fair number of visitors. I was mightily impressed by the range of rubbish merchandise and embalmed scorpion lollipops on offer (no batteries though, of course), but my eye was caught by the aptly named “Eco Expedition ™ Rainforest Exploration” toy-pack (see photo). Indiana Jones (whoops, it’s obviously not him) is out in the jungle, with his reasonably well-scaled binoculars, when he comes across a fuck-off huge frog. Not quite sure why Wild Republic bothered making the animal swallow-safe when Indy’s (there I go again, tut!) looking device is a certainty for death by choking. Maybe it’s because there exists such things as scorpion lollipops, and a lime-green and orange amphibian looks far too enticing to be given a reasonable scale.

Not far from the exit of the gift shop, just above eye level where most people would not ever bother to look, is a dusty advert for that (now) well-known company, Wild Republic. I’ll skip any scale-related errors here, to point out what I consider to be one of the nattiest slogans I’ve come across this year: World Leader In Nature-Related Fun. I reckon if I have to explain further the wonder of this little gem, then it’s not worth knowing why. I will point out, though, they are (self-claimed) world leaders. Where the statistics are for nature-related fun contenders is anyone’s guess, but if Wild Republic say so, who am I to argue.

And to end on an educational note, which all my entries do, we come to the notion that the word “butterfly” was originally “flutterby”. I have always reckoned this to by a sack of dogs cocks, so far-fetched as to be beyond risible, and into the realms of, well, a sack of dogs cocks. Extensive research (i.e. Wikipedia and browsing the first few results of googling “butterfly etymology”) seems back up my dogs cocks theory, though I did find out that:

a) butterflies do not poo.

b) caterpillar poo is called frass.

c) Sign language for the word butterfly involves interlocking thumbs, flapping flat hands like wings.

To Be A Giant

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Some time after we had moved to our current accommodation we were contacted by the company who owns the flat, Familjebostäder, who wanted to send a photographer to take pictures (obviously) of Jo and Freya, for use in their adverts/website. I have never known how they found out about and decided Jo and Freya should be the models they were after, and it feels slightly creepy thinking about it, though I’ve no doubt the methods used were above board, and no spies or hidden cameras were used.

Despite our foreknowledge it was still a pleasant surprise going to their site and seeing us (I say “us”, even though I was not asked to appear, not even in the background, under a bed, out of focus). Freya, however, being used to seeing digital pictures of us all on the computer, and not really understanding the concept of the Internet, was unmoved by the whole thing. Until the large-scale version came along, that is.

A few months ago Jo was again contacted by the FB(I), this time wanting to know if they could employ one of the pictures in a larger format. Jo was okay with the idea, thinking it would probably be a couple of metre-high indoor advertisements that’d be easy enough to miss or (mis)take as part of the surrounding scenery.

A 7-metre high hanging is currently emblazoning the FBI offices in Stockholm. Not quite what Jo had imagined when she gave the okay; in fact, very few (minus egomaniacs) could have foreseen the enormity of the end result. Even Freya was (quietly) impressed.

Freya meets Link

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Freya has started to take a deeper interest in videogames, and it’s thanks to the Nintendo DS and Zelda.

Jo received Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for Xmas, and is already addicted. She has spent the last two evenings, stylus in hand, even lying in bed and playing late into the night, whilst Freya and I sleep soundly. I’ve also played a bit, and could easily find myslef in the same situation as Jo, had we the luxury of two DS’s.

Yesterday morning Freya sat next to me while I started the game. She sat silently, watching the screen as I relayed the story to her. And she calmly watched as I made my way around Mercay Island, talking with its inhabitants, trying to cross the broken bridge to get to the port, and receiving the first puzzle. Freya helped me to count the palm trees on the south beach, the answer then being written on “Grandfather’s” storeroom sign, which then opened up to reveal a chest, where Link’s sword lay.

Freya then took a more active role, taking the DS and stylus when we came across the first monsters. She tapped the screen wildly, initiating Link’s thrust attack, and demolished said monsters with aplomb.

Since then Freya has watched while Jo or I play, and has played on her own. While she misses the finer points of the game, it is encouraging to see her involve herself in one of the best game-series ever created. She is quite able to steer Link using the stylus, entering houses and caves, dispatch enemies and pick up rupees (“diamonds” according to Freya). I shall be encouraging her newfound interest in games, which have also recently included Eye Toy 3 and a simple Dora The Explorer game for the PS2. I may even invest in a mini controller for her.

Christmas Eve 2007

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Christmas (meaning Santa) has come and gone, and I’m left with some fine memories and finer presents.

We’re at Mormor’s, as we usually are this time of year, with Christmas Eve really beginning in the afternoon. We went down to Auntie Bettan’s to eat dinner, watch the annual Disney Christmas program at 3 o’clock, and wait for the imminent arrival of Santa.

He came at 4 o’clock. He was a tad smaller than I remembered, being about Bettan’s height, though I was unable to compare them because of Bettan’s sudden absence. Santa was very nice, and I thanked him accordingly for each gift I received.

Not long after he departed, when Bettan had come back into the room, we made our way upstairs, and…more presents under our tree!

I was, of course, exulted at the sight, but smiles soon led to tears. You see, there was a definite unfair distribution of presents, as I was given one after another, and so I felt it only right to share my gifts – at least the unwrapping thereof – with my family. Mum, Dad, Mormor and Uncle Jeppa tried to convince me that they did not want to open my presents (madness, I say), and that they would have their own to unwrap. I was still unhappy, so much so that tears fell from my eyes and I became unwilling to open my mound of gifts.

Eventually my sadness subsided, and I began the gargantuan task of unclothing the assorted packages, revealing a multitude of toys and other useful items. Christmas, it seems, truly is a time for giving.