Life lately: May 2016.

Watching | Three really good films this month - Miss You Already (so sad!), The Jungle Book (at the cinema) and Joy. Plus a bunch of things on TV thoughout the month, my favourite of which is Tänk om.

Listening to | Lots of 80s music before and during the 80s party we had at work. So much fun.

Consuming | More ice cream than I should have, as always at this time of year :)

Reading | I started reading Cider With Rosie but haven't finished it yet.

Visiting | The parents + my sister in Malmö.

Enjoying | The too-good-to-be-true summer weather we've had, all the flowers that have been in bloom throughout the month, being able to hang out on the balcony again, all the little summery outings we went on, picnics and, of course, ice cream.

Making | Project Life pages for May, which I will be sharing here soon.

Looking forward to | The little trips we have planned for June, summer and my vacation in July.

Outings: A summer day in Uvaklöva.

Project Life: April 2016.

Tonight I'm finally getting around to sharing my April spreads. I completed them a while ago but I used a random mix of products this month so finding the links to all the sources took some time...

Outings: A special birthday gift.

Infertility, part 3/3: The aftermath.

After I had emergency surgery, I was on sick leave for a week. I ate all the iron-rich food I could think of as well as iron supplements. I saw my own doctor who took blood tests to make sure the pregnancy hormone level was fading, which it did. Gradually, I grew stronger physically. About a month after the surgery I got a letter from the doctor who performed the surgery. She'd been in touch with the fertility clinic that performs IVF for patients in the area where I live, and they had decided that I would need to have my ovarian tubes removed before I could proceed with IVF. Some studies suggest that a salpingectomy can increase the success rate of IVF for patients who have had repeated ectopic pregnancies. Moreover, it would prevent me from having another life-threatening ectopic pregnancy in the future.

Infertility, part 2/3: My third pregnancy.

After a couple of months, when I had recovered somewhat emotionally and physically, we did another IUI. I was no longer so sure that it would work. And it didn't. However, a couple more months later, something strange and unexpected happened. My period didn't come. I took a test, and it was positive. I couldn't believe it. After two and a half years of trying, I had finally managed to conceive naturally! I was hesitant to get excited though, because it was still so early and I had learned the hard way not to get too carried away. I recognized the symptoms from before. The day after I took the test I went to a work party and had to try hard all night to cover up that I wasn't drinking. I didn't need alcohol to enjoy the party though. All through the night I smiled to myself about the secret I was carrying.

Infertility, part 1/3: The beginning.

I've been meaning to write about this for almost a year, but it hasn't felt right. For a long time I felt like I needed to end my story with a happy ending, in order to be able to share it. But I don't have a happy ending to give and I might never have, because as we all know, there are no guarantees in life. So I am going to put it out there, anyway, in the hope that it will make someone else out there feel less alone. As you can guess by the topic of this entry, I am also one of the "one in eight" who know the pain of infertility. This is the first part of my story.