Uranus Smells Like Rotten Eggs

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Recently, scientists have come up with some interesting conclusions about the gas giant’s atmosphere. Thanks to infrared observations, they managed to detect a certain gas that is quite likely to be present towards the top of Uranus’ cloud cover. Hydrogen sulfide is what gives rotten eggs their charming smell:

http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/ok-fine-lets-do-this-uranus-smells-like-rotten-eggs^

I always thought Uranus is a beautiful name for a planet. But then my English improved and, at one point, the punchline hit me. Saying “Uranus” was never the same again. I still think it’s a beautiful name. I mean, the human body is beautiful, isn’t it? In English, it’s a beautiful funny name for a planet, so that makes it even better. Still, it makes it really difficult to say that I come from Uranus. Journalists across the web raced in coming up with the most memorable way to report the analytical news:

http://time.com/5252381/uranus-stinks-smell/^

https://gizmodo.com/stinky-molecules-confirm-uranus-smells-like-farts-1825467106^

In closing, enjoy this short, brilliant clip from Futurama:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0czFnIvKOJY^

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My Wife Became a Mother in Sweden – Part 4 – Hotel

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This belongs to a series of 5 articles dealing with child birth and the medical system in Sweden – from both a man’s perspective but also from a woman’s perspective, thanks to direct input from my wife. The reasons for writing the series are presented on the start/summary page^ where all 5 articles are linked.

It took about 30 minutes for Rune to stop screaming just after being born. We started to get a bit worried, but we knew that he had also probably been awake throughout the 11-hour birth. He had been instinctually working together with his mother while in the same time wondering what’s going on. For a 9-month old, that’s a tough day, so no wonder he was a bit grumpy. Plus, breathing isn’t exactly something he was used to either.

Crina had lost more blood than is usual during the birth. This had me rather concerned for a while, but the midwives assured us that she will be fine. After the monumental effort she had been through, I was surprised to see her so alert, especially as I was slowly falling apart.

Never in my life had I abandoned myself in such a way. I hadn’t eaten since the day before, and it was almost 23:00. I lived through the birth with air and water alone. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, I was beginning to realize just how starved I was. Luckily, the Swedes had something special in store for us…

The fabulous post-birth celebratory snack! We had heard of this tradition. We had been told by multiple people that knew how it is to give birth in Sweden that it’s going to be among the best foods we would ever eat. But first, it was time to go to our room at the baby hotel.

The baby hotel is one of the most kick-ass things about giving birth in certain countries, including Sweden. This was the only thing we actually had to pay for so far, but it was at an amazing price for the value. We stayed there for 3 nights. The stay included two main meals per day, a breakfast, snacks and soft drinks. There was a good selection of courses, most of them microwaveable, available 24-7. All I had to do was to go to the fridge, pick whatever, whenever, warm it up and eat it in the kitchen or, take it in the room to serve the wife who was busy with the breastfeeding.

But here’s the real kicker: 24-7 support from midwives at the push of a button! Yeah, that’s right. There was a red button next to the bed. Minutes after pressing it, round the clock, a midwife would come and help us and answer any questions. So, paying roughly 180 Euros, grand total, for all of us for 3 days is arguably one of the best deals in the Universe.

We arrived in our room at roughly 23:30. It had its own bathroom, two side-by-side beds, a small bed-on-wheels for Rune and a baby nest, a table and two chairs. On the table, we had a “baby start pack”, consisting of diapers, some cremes and a couple of other baby-related products.

Important: first-time parents can find a baby hotel to be of great help. Even if it is expensive, getting a good start especially when it comes to breastfeeding can make all the difference during the coming days and weeks. If such a thing isn’t available in your country, perhaps other similar services are (for example midwives that come to your home, or health centers where you can go with first-time parent questions).

A bit before midnight, shortly after we had entered our room, a nurse came with the most wanted snack on Earth. It was more than I expected. On the platter were four slices of bread with cheese and ham, some vegetables, two glasses of sweet, bubbly cider and a little stick with a small paper Swedish flag (awwwww!). This was almost a dinner.

We ravaged the plate, trying to remind ourselves to also enjoy the sublime taste of the food. It really was very good, but I have to confess that us being famished probably contributed to the fact that, to this day, we still consider that simple midnight dinner to be among the best meals we’ve ever had.

We found this wonderful tradition to be cute, considerate and respectful towards parents. This is a country that celebrates its families more than I could have imagined. Even though it wasn’t me who gave birth and went through a titanic effort, I felt like a hero that’s being offered the royal banquet.

A few practical matters followed. Two midwives came and politely asked us if they can weigh Rune. Pay attention: this was roughly 3 hours after our boy had been born and, if we wanted, we were allowed to wait with the procedure until later. We looked at Rune. He seemed to be sleeping soundly, so we agreed weigh him now. They brought the scale in the room and that’s how we found out that Crina had been tucking a 4 kilos baby in her little belly. With the weighing done, the midwives quickly left us well enough alone.

Compare this to countries where they take the baby away from the mother shortly after birth and slam the poor creature in a glass container. I find those procedures to be utterly barbaric. I try not to make strong statements on this site, but I cannot contain my disapproval towards those who are ignorant enough to think that treating a baby that way is even remotely humane!

Whatever excuses they have, it’s the 21st century and Sweden, a country with record-low infant mortality, should be living proof that the “stick the baby in a jar” method has absolutely no medical benefit. Although perhaps it does have some economic benefit for drug companies and who-knows else, since it gives the poor kid his or her first major trauma. Oh, and for those claiming that light therapy requires the baby to be isolated in an aquarium away from the parents, guess what: in Sweden they bring the light treatment to the family’s room. Yes, technology can be amazing if used right.

Important: if the birth would have taken place at home, nobody would take the baby away from the parents. As a fragile being taking the first breaths, the warmth, smell and comfort of a parent’s skin is of critical importance. As Rune slept on Crina’s breast, he could hear her heartbeat, the same heartbeat that he had heard for several months already. He was no longer inside her but even so, he knew that his mother was nearby. Even if as adults we cannot remember those moments, the brain’s development is based on all the feelings that it experiences. Even if a baby is not able to understand what’s going on in the surrounding world, it is most definitely able to feel fear or comfort and these leave a lasting imprint on the very foundation of the baby’s neural patterns.

It was a magical first night. Despite the midwives’ advice to sleep, Crina could not, which isn’t uncommon for mothers. I managed to grab a few hours here and there, but would often wake and help Crina with whatever she needed: water, questions, changing Rune’s first couple of diapers (we had some help with this from the midwives, and they also showed us a good position for washing his behind, above the sink).

And speaking of washing – they don’t recommend bathing babies until they’re at least one week old. There are multiple important reasons^ for this, such as the protective “wax” the infant is born with. Another reason is the “stump” of the umbilical cord. In Sweden they allow it to fall by its own accord, and getting water in that area isn’t indicated during the first few days.

Rune had made an attempt to breastfeed during the first few hours of life, which is one of the most important reasons why over here they do not take the baby away from the parents (ever). Those first reflexes of the infant help the mother trigger lactation. After that, he slept for about 24 hours.

The next day we had a good breakfast and tried to get some sleep back. We also spent some time talking or chatting with family, close friends and a few other people about the birth. I made sure to keep Crina well fed and hydrated, as we were told this is very important for her milk production.

During the second night, Rune started to wake up and breastfeed. We called the midwives several times, just to make sure he’s always latching correctly. We received advice from several different women, from different shifts. This gave both of us a wide variety of methods to make sure that Rune feeds correctly. For example, they taught us how to remove him from the nipple if he doesn’t take it correctly (by inserting our little finger next to the nipple). I helped as much as I could in positioning him and making sure Crina can lie or sit comfortably.

Important: a baby that doesn’t learn to latch properly from the first days can mean a great deal of trouble later on. For example, the baby may start biting, a behavior that may take a while to change and can lead to sore nipples. Or, lactation might be affected. Making sure that breastfeeding works well should be treated almost as seriously as the preparations for birth, because breastfeeding is the most natural and healthy way a baby can eat.

Rune went through his first medical test during our second day at the baby hotel. They checked if he has jaundice. There was a little bit, but nothing serious, so he needed no light therapy. We ate and we relished in the spectacle of him sleeping “quietly” – babies often make weird (read: funny) sounds after birth, until their respiratory system clears up. He started to feed every now and then, increasing in intensity and duration.

During the third night, we got a bit worried regarding Crina’s lactation. After his solid, long sleep, Rune entered his “feeding frenzy days”, something that we had read about in the brief but excellent “new parent brochure” that we found in the “baby start pack”. He was feeding almost non-stop, sometimes exhibiting signs of frustration with the breast.

However, the midwives assured us that even though he might not get much from the breast during the first few days, Rune is well-equipped to survive with less milk than Crina could currently provide. This was information that was already known to us. Crina had to endure through his feeding frenzy, because Rune’s frustration is what would help in stimulating lactation. The more time he spent at the breast, the sooner and more the lactation would increase.

Important: in normal conditions (not talking about mothers who can’t breastfeed due to various medical reasons), babies do not need artificial supplements (aka formula) in addition to the mother’s milk. The infant can drop as much as 10% in weight (Rune dropped 7%) without any problems whatsoever. Moreover, introducing supplements increases the risk for digestion problems (colic) and other issues. There’s an even worse situation: relying solely on supplements deprives babies of natural, healthy nutrients. And, according to this^ amazing discovery^, the child is capable of requesting antibodies from the mother through saliva. The mechanism makes total sense: a certain amount of saliva is reabsorbed by the breast, and this saliva contains instructions for the mother’s body. The mother then produces the required antibodies and administers them to the child during the next breastfeeding. Isn’t our body amazing? Good luck doing this with formula.

Rune’s desire to eat was almost comical. Sometimes, he would “attack” the breast. He would squirm himself into the breast while whining a little bit. He didn’t need to cry though. We were there at all times and we co-slept for the entire duration. We didn’t even use the baby nest after the first night because he wanted to almost constantly be at Crina’s breast. Our worries transformed into soaring satisfaction when, after one period of feeding, we saw a drop of milk hanging from his lower lip.

Throughout our 3-day stay at the baby hotel, they came two or three more times to perform various tests. I wasn’t exactly thrilled by this, but I guess it’s good to know if your baby has a problem earlier rather than later. The tests didn’t seem to disturb him too much. They checked heart, lungs, eyes, head, testicles, feet and skin (a little jaundice, but again, nothing that wouldn’t go away in a week or two, they thought).

A psychologist also visited us. She wanted to check how Crina is feeling after the birth and to warn about the impending post-trip (oxytocin) crash called “the baby blues”. The psychologist gave us a bit of preventive couple counselling regarding the upcoming few “might be difficult” days and weeks. Post-partum depression^ is not taken lightly in Sweden.

Then, it was time to go home. As we were heading for the car, a unique, never-felt-before emotion came over us. A mix of joy, hope, relief and determination. It moved us towards the future, bringing tears in Crina’s eyes.

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How Tech Companies Ruin (Urban) Societies

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In general, it’s good for a country to have large, powerful companies that employ a lot of people and pay them very well (more taxes). However, the resulting income inequality causes some serious trouble in communities hosting or close to high-pay hotspots.

One of the saddest examples is San Francisco, where property prices have skyrocketed during the past decade, mostly due to an influx of well-payed employees from corporations such as Google, Apple and Facebook as well as a host of tech startups and highly profitable medium-sized companies.

Certain individuals fed up with the trend have taken matters into their own hands. They proceeded to smash the windows of shuttle buses belonging to large corporations, while in transit transporting employees to work:

http://fortune.com/2018/01/18/apple-google-bus-attacks/^

It’s a pity that the employees of these companies are the ones enduring social stigma^ for something that is not (directly) of their own making. In war, one usually can’t blame the soldiers for what their commanding officer has ordered them to do, if certain conventions aren’t broken. So perhaps some of the affected communities need to establish some conventions?

Fixing this situation is totally within the responsibility of the town administration, which can set certain rules for property prices. There are many other cities suffering from the Ridiculous Property Prices syndrome. I live in one of them. Despite having been able to afford a property here (thanks to being lucky enough to work in the “right” industry for these past couple of decades), I would vote for a “Convention for Fair Living”.

What would such a convention consist of? Hard to say precisely, but I would definitely consider an obligation for a community to get a higher percentage of the taxes gathered by the government from certain wealthy entities. The community would then have funds to build additional housing and a fast transportation network to ensure quick access to the city center even for those living further off. The newly-rich in congested cities could also have to pay higher taxes. Perhaps this would make a community less attractive to certain companies, but maybe this is exactly the sort of self-balancing that would cause and ensure fair prices for properties.

When it comes to areas where there are a lot of high-paying jobs, the employers could subsidize the construction of campuses or entire new towns. These would be located further away from large, already congested communities. This will keep the market prices fair and provide employees with good housing. As long as quick access to the nearest large cities is provided, this should keep things in balance. Furthermore, locals that have been living in an area for many years could be supported in purchasing a decent property through various means (lower prices, priority in a queue system). I’m sure smart solutions can be found if there is the will to do so. Until the manifestation of such will is obvious to the people, despair will continue to consume them and lead to more social conflict and tragic actions.

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The Best of George Carlin

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George Carlin^ is, hands down, my all-time favorite stand-up comedian. I am madly in love with the way his dark humor mercilessly punishes certain absurd traits of human civilization. Below, you can find some of my favorite moments from his illustrious career:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ib_bpljYBc^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILQepXUhJ98^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo-QIY7ys-k^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W33HRc1A6c^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1yHiaDC44g^

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Interesting NASA Experiments

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There’s some pretty interesting human activity going on in outer space during this period. For example, NASA recently launched InSight^, yet another probe heading for Mars (yes, I do believe we’ve spending a bit too much on Mars). Along with that, they also launched two cubesats^, the world’s first interplanetary such (cheaper) satellites^. “MarCO-A and MarCO-B are demonstrating a number of cubesat technologies during their nearly 7-month cruise to Mars, including a folding high-gain antenna and a cold-gas propulsion system.”

Then there’s this highly “visual” mission that saw a NASA rocket spew color clouds in the atmosphere, as part of a study on the magnetic field. “The vapor tracers that are released are made of barium, lithium, and trimethylaluminum, the same ingredients you might find in fireworks”:

https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/29/15892738/nasa-sounding-rocket-terrier-improved-malemute-vapor-tracers^

And last but not least, here are some findings about how spaceflight has caused changes in the gene expression of an astronaut twin. In order to make the analysis possible, NASA kept one brother on Earth and the another spent one year on the International Space Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-twins-study-confirms-preliminary-findings^

Say what you will about the USA, but their space program still kicks some major ass.

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The Dance of the Planets

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Draw a line between the position of two planets every several days and behold the apparition of beautiful shapes:

https://www.techworm.net/2016/03/enjoy-geometrical-dance-planets-splendid-patterns-form.html^

The article above lists some other funky coincidences about the planetary bodies in our solar system. It’s written in a slightly “new age metaphysical” tone, but facts are facts and these are undoubtedly interesting facts. Personally, what I draw from all the above is a feeling of complete agreement with what a wiser person has said before me: “Mathematics is the language of nature” (and I perceive even physics and chemistry as flavors of mathematics).

Astronomy (the mathematics of huge congregations of atoms) is one of my oldest passions. I’ve been fascinated by our solar system since as long as I can remember. When I went to gymnasium, I learned about the endless curiosities that can be found outside it. But my main area of interest remains our cosmic neighborhood, where I see the sun and planets as childhood friends.

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Best 99 Things That Happened in 2017

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There’s a lot of negative news out here, and for good reason I’d say. The world has indeed improved since a century ago, but we as a species know we can do better. I’m happy to see that people strive in that direction by wanting to improve and shouting about those things that are obviously wrong with our civilization.

But here’s a list of good news from around the world. And all of these happened in one, single year!

https://qz.com/1169003/the-99-best-things-that-happened-in-2017^

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My Wife Became a Mother in Sweden – Part 3 – Birth

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This belongs to a series of 5 articles dealing with child birth and the medical system in Sweden – from both a man’s perspective but also from a woman’s perspective, thanks to direct input from my wife. The reasons for writing the series are presented on the start/summary page^ where all 5 articles are linked.

It was a sunny Saturday morning, just like the Saturday when we found out that we’re withbaby. We started our day just like we did every other day but, of course, it wasn’t going to be just like every other day.

In the previous part^ I mentioned that, according to new discoveries, the signal that triggers the birth is coming from the baby. However, I believe that the communication is bidirectional and that a sort of negotiation takes place. Mother and child communicate through a language that we cannot even guess at. And, using this language, Crina, who knew that there will be less traffic on the motorways on Saturday, had agreed with WinterKid that they will meet this day. I’m only half-joking.

So yes, on this Saturday morning, Crina’s body started to help WinterKid towards his meeting with us. We later realized that her body had been doing preparations for a few days already. That’s probably why things moved quite fast during the morning.

Crina’s water broke without much pain, but then she started to have powerful contractions, which in hypnobirthing are referred to as waves or surges. I like that term, because it’s both an accurate and a creative description of how the body pushes the baby forward in a natural but relentless way. “Contractions” is, again, a rather cold medical term that sacrifices emotion for precision. And birth, as I found, is very much about emotion.

Important: a woman’s mood during her birthing time is very fragile. One wrong word or look can easily interrupt her focus. It is therefore imperative that the partner and staff show love, understanding and patience. Nothing short will suffice. I think this was one of the very few times in my life when I completely forgot about my ego.

I have to confess that WinterKid’s decision to come out and meet us caught me by surprise. The baby was a week early and, statistically speaking, first-borns choose to get out slightly after the average due date. But also as I said in the previous part, WinterKid seemed like an enthusiastic little fellow (“little” because Crina’s belly was considered below average given the baby’s age).

Thanks to my wife’s always “well-researched and well-prepared” style, we had a lot of stuff ready for immediate take-off towards the hospital. We called BB Stockholm to tell them that Crina’s and WinterKid’s work had started. They asked us to time the contractions and call back in about an hour. I spent that hour being close to Crina and supporting her when the waves were getting intense, helping her with the count and running around the house grabbing stuff almost at random and shoving them in bags.

Crina was walking around the house with slow steps, supporting herself against some wall when it was becoming too intense. She was moaning, under the pressure of her own muscles. I tried to assist with some hypnobirthing methods but her state of mind wasn’t exactly ready for that. Even so, I felt confident. I believed that she was doing what she had been preparing to do, and doing it very well.

I couldn’t help thinking of cultural references regarding childbirth (insert images with women in agony here). Compared to those, while not exactly having the time of her life, she was definitely “in control”. Of course, I suspected that the hard part is yet to come, but I harbored hope that the teachings we had from hypnobirthing would help us.

Important: a tip for a birthing woman’s partner: it’s ok to be surprised or even shocked, as long as you know what you have to do. Make sure you do your homework several weeks before the birthing time. Maybe you won’t have all your bags ready for departure, but a list of items and things to do will do miracles.

After one hour we called the hospital. They confirmed that it’s time for us to go there. It appeared like there was room for us at our favorite place, BB Stockholm. I went for the car (they don’t normally send an ambulance in Sweden; you either drive of they pay for the taxi).

I had time for one phone call as I was walk-running towards the parking lot, situated about 5 minutes away from our apartment building. I needed to beam out some of the strong emotions that were gripping me, so I called our friends with whom we had been at the African restaurant the previous evening.

When I came back, Crina was rather… spaced-out. I attribute this to the skyrocketing natural production of endorphins^ in her body. Body chemistry during childbirth is amazing^. Throughout a natural, healthy birthing process, the body is able to partially anesthetize itself. It is such knowledge which lies at the foundation of hypnobirthing. The assumption is that the more the brain is aware and connected to the present moment, the more it can work with the body to facilitate birth.

Important: the birthing process depends on a staggering number of variables. Psychological factors can ensure the production of more endorphins, but the woman’s pelvis might not have softened enough to facilitate an easy passage through the birth canal (practice daily perineal massage!^). The baby might be in the wrong position, but an experienced midwife can massage it back into place. Relax, nothing is under control.

I carried our stuff to the car, then helped her to the elevator and onto the passenger’s seat. We then set out for a calm, beautiful sunny Saturday morning ride. Her waves had taken a break, just like we were told they would. The body can (and will) temporarily pause the birthing process when surroundings change. This is one of the strongest arguments for homebirth: the environment doesn’t change and the birth is even more natural. But Sweden isn’t in the top 5 countries when it comes to birth safety for no reason. The system only supports home birth starting with the second child.

We arrived at the hospital quickly, thanks to the low weekend traffic. We were taken to our room without delay. I wasn’t sure if we were going to be allowed to stay. According to Swedish regulations, they accept a woman for birthing when her cervix is open at least 4 centimeters. When the cervix is open 10 centimeters, then the actual birth can begin. But the road to those 10 centimeters, we had learned, is long.

As a midwife was checking Crina, I was keeping my fingers crossed that her cervix is at least 3 centimeters open. Then, we could perhaps stay in the maternity ward as opposed to being forced to wait outside or, worse, be sent back home. It’s been known to happen.

So, knowing all this, imagine our faces when the midwife, rather surprised herself, said: “your cervix is 8 centimeters wide now. You’ve done terrific work all by yourself.” I could feel the admiration in her voice. My jaw dropped. Crina was too into it to take in that amount of surprise, but I compensated for the both of us. I kissed her, encouraged and congratulated her for the amazing work she has done with her body.

I am still not sure to what circumstance we should attribute this excellent start: hypnobirthing? The fact that she’s a strong, ambitious woman? The fact that her body is well-suited for giving birth? Luck? A bit of everything? It didn’t really matter. What mattered (at least to me) was that it seemed like this was going to be an easy birth. We were so close to meeting our baby. I could hardly believe she was that far into the birthing process.

Important: expectations are a two-edged sword.

We remained in the same room. This made me very happy because it was beautiful. In (most) other countries, you could easily have 4 births going on in the same space. Other than the sensor equipment and some extra piping on the walls, there was almost nothing else that indicated this is a hospital. There was a large couch in one corner, generous windows, chairs, a coffee table, a couple of closets and a bathroom. A bit later I noticed that there was a bit more to the room that met the (untrained) eye: a gym ball, a small chair and a walking frame – various tools (both ancient and modern) to accommodate a woman’s birthing needs.

The midwife, called Lysa, hooked Crina to a couple of sensors. It didn’t look exactly necessary to me, nor comfortable, but she was only taking measurements from time to time. It didn’t seem like she was distracting my wife too much either.

The first couple of hours went really fast. Lysa helped Crina to change positions a couple of times. She seemed to take a liking to the walking frame, which had supports for the elbows and had wheels so that she could walk around the room slightly bent over it. From time to time, when the surges were getting very intense, she would stop and get support from both the frame and the ones around her. Occasionally, Lysa would have to get Crina back to bed so that she could take measurements.

Then, all of a sudden, roughly two hours into our stay there, Lysa declared that Crina’s cervix was now fully open: 10 centimeters. Now it was time to start pushing so that WinterKid can start moving down the birth canal. I was overjoyed because I wanted Crina to have an easy birth.

She was having very powerful surges, but the baby wasn’t progressing too much. A second midwife joined us sometime during this period. Her name was Kiki and she sure knew how to make an awesome smoothie. She brought two such drinks, one for Crina and one for me. I just tasted mine, then gradually served both drinks to my wife, as I figured she needs the nutrition more than I do. I drank water when I was remembering to, which was not often.

The following two hours Crina continued to try and help WinterKid get out, but to no avail. Kiki massaged her while Lysa did some awesome acupuncture: it really helped Crina to go through the next series of surges. Sometimes the surges would calm down slightly. At these times, we thought the body is getting ready for the final push, as we had learned it does.

Important: a clock may show time as flowing with a constant speed, but we all know that a human’s perception of time can be quite relative. During this day, I found time to be very relative. For the most part, time flew with dizzying speed. Sunset came around 16:00. I could barely believe it when the golden light of the departing sun spilled into our room. Yet, there were moments that took an eternity and it felt like we had gone through weeks of work.

I supported Crina the best I could, following the tips I had learned during our hypnobirthing preparation. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like she enjoyed my style of support, or my talking, so then I reverted to just being there, giving her water, holding her hands or massaging her. I think my lack of training is partially to blame. I couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty over this: could I have prepared better? For sure! But what good is blame at times like this? Love, focus, do what you can!

Luckily, Lysa turned out to be an amazing midwife, who I believe had at least heard of hypnobirthing, because she was helping Crina relax using almost identical exercises to those that we had practiced at home. Between surges, Lysa was asking Crina to go to the special place of peace and beauty where she always imagined herself during her hypnobirthing preparations. She was also repeatedly encouraging her with a phrase that is now history in our relationship and that I sometimes use for my wife: “super-strong you!”

Five hours in, we were still there. Lysa discovered that a certain area of the birth canal wasn’t allowing WinterKid to progress. She tried to help by pushing upwards with her fingers during a surge, but it didn’t work. Kiki, who had assisted us for hours now, gave Crina some massage that she seemed to appreciate a great deal. Then, she received sterilized water injections in her back, another natural pain remedy.

At one point, she started to become a bit afraid that she’s disappointing me with her “hypnobirthing performance”. I was mind-blown by such an outrageous statement, but instead offered her all the encouragement I could muster. And on the birth went…

Important: the chemistry between mother and midwife (or doctor) is extremely important. As I said earlier, the birthing process summons some very powerful emotions. Experienced staff know how to anchor these emotions and how to reflect positive energy back towards the mother. If the mother or partner feel that the collaboration isn’t working the way it should, immediately request for a change of staff, if such a thing is even possible. In Sweden, it is. Don’t wait until the end of the shift! I can’t stress enough how important it is for the mother to have experienced, positive, connected people around her during her birthing time.

They asked Crina if she wants any sort of anesthetic. It wasn’t going to be of much use now anyway, since the cervix was fully open, so she decided that she will continue the journey using only natural remedies. I am happy she was in the position to do so. Not all mothers get this chance and neither should they necessarily yearn for this.

Important: The mother knows best what she needs during her birthing time. The more the mother is in tune with her ancestral, instinctual knowledge, the better choices she can make. This is why deprogramming and getting away from cultural trends is vital well before even becoming withbaby. Hypnobirthing (which consists of several different practice areas) is quite good at dealing with softening and even erasing social norms and pressures that would otherwise become a burden for the mother’s psyche during these critical moments.

Around 18:00, they proposed that Crina goes for a dip in the vertical bathtub that they had in another room. Kiki went and prepared it. Soon, we were in a dark room, lit only by a bunch of electrical candles. In the middle was the vertical bathtub, where Crina got in with our help. She could stand or sit; the water was high enough to cover her breasts. I brought our portable speaker and played some of Crina’s chosen music. Kiki brought us two glasses of very sweet lemonade. I gave it all to Crina again, since the sugar would provide quick fuel for her to burn.

She then tried some nitrous oxide, but didn’t consider it too helpful. After about 20 minutes, Lysa gave us good news: it seemed like the baby had cleared the difficult area and could now proceed onwards through the birth canal. Crina wanted to get out, so we went back to the room. All this took about an hour, as we paused anything we were doing to support her when the waves would come.

Important: a change of scenery is always worth considering. So is switching positions often. This facilitates the baby’s journey through the birth canal. Crina seemed to be in tune with her mother instincts regarding this, because she was very keen on changing positions often. She also loved walking around with her elbows propped on the metal frame, which we dubbed her “little car”.

Back in our room, Crina received another session of acupuncture. She was getting very warm, so I started applying cold, wet compresses on her forehead and neck, which she loved. I also joined Kiki in massaging her feet. I wished there could have been two of me in that room, so I could do more things. Crina really loved Kiki’s massage, who told us it’s a skill she learned from her husband.

I was and will always be amazed with the skill and dedication of our midwives at BB Stockholm. They went way beyond what was required of them, including staying with us even though their shift was over. They were both highly experienced, judging by the multitude of different ways they helped Crina.

One thing that I’ll never forget is how Kiki taught my wife about the primal scream. She said that when the surges are getting too intense, she should scream from the lower part of her chest. This, apparently, helps with pushing the baby. I also believe that it triggers other functions of the organism, such as generation of various hormones and neurotransmitters that help during critical situations when the body needs to give it its all.

Not only that, but the baby hears the scream and, thanks to the birth instincts that are at play, is possibly cued into action. After all, the baby wants to get out too. As an interesting parenthesis: battle cries^ have long been said to exist for the purpose of instilling fear in the enemy, but perhaps these powerful vocal manifestations are also generating hormones that help warriors in battle.

Important: a friend who is about to give birth soon, shared with me something her midwife told her. As a mother giving birth, you have a “birth card” that you can use to do whatever you want. Perhaps this goes without saying, but sometimes it doesn’t. The sooner the mother listens to her instincts and does whatever the body wants to do (scream, dance, box, jump around), the better.

Crina made constant progress after the journey to the vertical bathtub. Soon, WinterKid’s head started to show. The midwives invited me to touch it. The baby had quite a bit of dark hair. I touched it very lightly and respectfully. Somehow it just didn’t seem to me like a man’s hand belongs in this process.

And then we came to the climax. Crina preferred to be standing for the last portion of WinterKid’s birth, supporting herself against the walking frame. Lysa and Kiki positioned themselves on the floor to assist her. This moment is too powerful to describe in words. It has what I call a “singularity quality”, which is a scientific expression for the divine. The sheer intensity of what she was going through was blinding.

At long last, an expression of pure relief came over Crina’s face and then WinterKid was out. She cried with tears of joy. What I saw, heard or felt is irrelevant, and so is what others saw, heard or felt. What matters is what she felt.

What Crina says about her birthing time is that it was, quite simply, AMAZING. She told me later that evening that she would greatly enjoy going through this again. And that’s all that matters. That’s what I call a great birthing experience. Perhaps it wasn’t the easy birth I had wished for her, but it was all as it should have been.

Seeing her go through this ritual has increased my already-high respect for women. She was braver than I’ve ever been, and brought forward more determination than I’ll ever have. Women are heroes. I honestly wish more men worldwide to witness such moments.

She got back into the bed, with WinterKid screaming at her breast. I was so into it that I didn’t even consider looking if it’s a boy or girl. I was just stuck there, taking in the image of her and our baby. Only when she asked me did I look and told her we have a baby boy.

Lysa and Kiki were there, celebrating with us, a bit after 21:00, long after their shift had ended. Only now did I allow myself to take a couple of pictures. The second shift of midwives arrived and, after consulting with her, administered Crina a shot of oxytocin, to help with expelling the rest of the placenta faster.

They also asked us if we want to administer our boy a vitamin K shot^. I would have opted for an oral means of administration, but Crina decided, on the spot, that she wants him to have the injection (which is more effective). He was screaming without interruption so this was as good a time as any.

After some time had passed, they offered me the opportunity to cut the umbilical cord, which I humbly declined. Again, I didn’t feel like it was my role to interfere much. I felt like I should be a quiet (but present) supporter and stand aside, in awe and respect towards the ancient tribe of women, carrying our species forward.

Important: in Sweden, they perform delayed umbilical cord cutting^. This is in line with recommendations from the World Health Organization^. If this is not done in your country, then it is simply a matter of you instructing your staff what to do. And make no mistake here: YOU are the master of how your offspring should be greeted upon birth. Inform yourself and make the decisions you feel are right. Especially if you live in a democratic country, they cannot interfere in the birthing process more than you allow them to. And this applies to any and all decisions during the birthing time. By all means, take professional advice, but also be informed and listen to your instinct.

After they cut the umbilical cord, I got to hold our baby boy at my breast. Like many other moments during this day, it was one to never forget. I just lay on the couch and let him scream it out while I felt his skin upon mine. In Sweden, they emphasize the importance of the baby having as much skin-to-skin as possible with the parents during the first days of life.

I will forever be thankful to Sweden because it allowed us to experience such a birth. Not only did society here help us understand the importance of natural birth, but the maternity wards in this country are simply luxurious. Sure, it’s too bad they don’t allow water birthing anymore and I’m convinced there can be even better birthing conditions, but for us, this was way, way beyond what we would have dreamt of.

I still have no idea how come we were lucky enough to have two midwives taking care of us for almost 8 hours. And what midwives! Experienced, warm, professional and completely devoted. I cannot imagine a better team for Crina’s birthing time than the team she was gifted from BB Stockholm.

And so, Rune was born.

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Education in the New Machine Age

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Nobody can deny that we’ve entered a new era of technological progress. The so-called Digital Revolution^ is but the latest in a series of intellectual milestones that started with the Industrial Revolution^. However, there’s something special about this era: exponential development. Our technology advances faster than ever before.

It’s not only board game players that lose to software algorithms^. It’s all of us^. It’s not that we’re stupid; far from that. After all, we created the software that is right now outperforming us in an ever-increasing number of areas, eliminating jobs across all industries.

But the human brain is perfectly capable of adapting to the intellectual explosion going on. The problem is that our social structures aren’t. And there’s a very simple reason behind that…

Education

Our children are our future. Cliché? That which is a fact of nature cannot be cliché. But there is still a long way to go until we can claim that we truly have integrated this knowledge. Yes, we all know that our children will write history. Despite this, when the educational system is examined thoroughly, it’s obvious that most governments and societies on Earth see education as just a way to teach children to behave (i.e. program them to respect rules^).

As this article^ points out, “education’s goal seems to have devolved into facilitating the creation of a homogenized population, which has impacted everything from the job market to mental health.” Children are being taught the dos and don’ts, some skills so they can contribute to society, and then served some special sauce consisting of various forms of indoctrination (be it religious, nationalistic, materialistic – anything that can impair their decisional capabilities and make them easier to control).

That strategy worked for a while, but its days are numbered. We live in an age when vulnerable people can be manipulated by foreign agents instantly, through the Internet. We need look no further than the Russian interference in the 2016 USA elections^.

This is an age when almost everything can be (or will be) automated, an age when the push of a button can bring down entire nations^. We need empathic, creative, open-minded people that can keep up with the rampant technological development; not only to harness it, but also to defend us from those that would misuse it.

We can’t afford to have madmen in control of nuclear buttons. We can’t afford to have megalomaniacal CEOs in control of software that can easily cripple our economic ecosystem^. What we need is a generation of brave explorers that think beyond borders, race and culture^.

It’s only a matter of time until certain societies on Earth realize this. It is those societies that will prevail in the current phase of evolutionary competition on this planet. Those that manage to educate their population to take full advantage of the technology at their disposal will give rise to the next superpowers.

Agile Education

We have entered what one visionary calls the New Machine Age^. I highly recommend watching the 12 minutes video I just linked, or perhaps this article^. There, Erik Brynjolfsson explains how even though software can outperform humans, the winning combination is when both software and humans work together. In his words, the key is to “race with the machines”.

The current educational system has advanced a lot in the past centuries, no doubt about it. Every decade or so, it takes one small step forward. But now that our technology leaps ahead year after year, it’s time to unshackle our children’s minds. So, how do we do that?

The educational platform of the future can no longer be tied to update cycles longer than a month. Even in developed countries, the slightest of changes to what students are taught still take around a year until trickling down to educational institutions. That, simply will not cut it in the coming decades.

In the software industry, there’s something called agile software development^. In a nutshell, it’s a method for building a product through an iterative approach. The methodology facilitates product development through quick cycles of experiment, fail, learn, implement, improve. When executed correctly, this ensures that the product is kept up to date from both a market requirements perspective and also from a technology perspective.

In contrast with that, we have our current educational system, which is, at best, sluggish to adapt to market demands while in the same time woefully behind when it comes to what’s technologically possible. This isn’t surprising from a system that is, for the most part, stuck with a conveyor belt mentality.

It’s true that in the past 150 years education became available to many more^ social categories. Unfortunately, the way the expansion was implemented has more than one resemblance with a 1900s factory – one of the reasons is probably because it is around that period when governments realized they’d better educate their population so that their nations can be more productive.

There are, however, some countries that are slowly but surely dismantling the industrial education model; for example, Finland^. Such countries have understood that the educational platform has to be updated to meet the challenges of the Digital Age.

Goodbye Industrialized Education

The classroom of tomorrow isn’t comprised of a bunch of students studying the same material, being subjected to the same exam questions and then benchmarked in futile, wasteful contests. The classroom of tomorrow is a team of cross-disciplinary minds that solves challenges; each bringing their own skills, but relying on tutoring and technology to gather and integrate exactly the required knowledge to reach a certain goal.

The teacher of tomorrow isn’t a slave to a platform, blindly reciting from The Book and then throwing countless hours out the window rating duplicated work. The teacher of tomorrow is a capable leader that knows what challenges to throw at a team in order to stimulate intellectual growth and skill development based on real life needs. And just to be clear, art is a real world need too.

It’s interesting to note that both kindergartens and universities have educational models that are reasonably open and challenging. But everything in between has, in most countries, been reduced to a steady and boring destruction of potential^. Children wait too long until they can be part of a team addressing real-world problems.

Throughout the past century wiser people have thought about changing the educational system, with varying degrees of success. There is an education philosophy called constructivism^. There were attempts to integrate technology into the classroom. Some attempts failed short because of lack of funding (it’s expensive to train teachers, and even more expensive to train leader-teachers).

Other attempts failed due to gross miscalculations. Remember the $100 laptop^ that was supposed to unleash children’s minds? Unfortunately, throwing technology around without a systemic paradigm shift does little else than to disrespect the environment and cause cultural pollution.

But most of all, the timing just wasn’t right. And that’s about to change.

The age of educational enlightenment is about to dawn, of that, I am convinced. It is an evolutionary need that will burst into existence with unstoppable force. The first societies that manage to bring their educational systems up to speed will reap unimaginable rewards.

Empathy and tomorrow’s criminals

From education, straight to crime. How’s that for a detour? I’ve written at length about the dangers posed^ by the irresponsible use of technology^. One problem that arises when training high-performing teams is that those same teams might one day turn into the villains terrorizing society. Fortunately, there’s a human ability that, if properly cultivated, can greatly reduce the risk of us being hurt by destructive tendencies.

I’ve also written at length about empathy^. I believe that the only mandatory subject in the schools of tomorrow should be empathy. We simply cannot build a free high-tech society without empathy. Sure, perhaps a police state solution such as the one China envisions might work for a while. But punishing the inherent mischievousness that comes in the same package with human curiosity will always end up stifling innovative capability.

This is evolution’s catch 22: the smarter you get, the greater the responsibility becomes. And there’s no way to hide from that responsibility either. If you tie yourself up to a tree just to make sure you won’t drown, that will also mean you won’t be escaping any hungry tigers that might be lurking in the jungle.

Here’s to the next generation of teachers, students and problem solvers. May you prevail through the most glorious of challenges. May you prove that it wasn’t all in vain.

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Children and Apologies

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Children do not perceive mistakes the same way we do. They are oblivious to most social norms and cultural taboos. However, children have been found to have an understanding of right and wrong from as early as 19 months old^. I believe they can empathize from a much earlier age (depending on the emotional nourishment they received as infants).

The article below discusses how parents sometimes force their children to say “I’m sorry”. It’s a double mistake: first of all, the child is humiliated and secondly, the child doesn’t even understand the reason why the apology is made, hence damaging his or her understanding of the concept of being sorry:

http://www.janetlansbury.com/2009/12/youll-be-sorry/^

Around the same time I read this article, I also came across this beautiful poem about children. I think it is very much in the spirit of what the article says. Enjoy!

 

On Children

By Kahlil Gibran

 

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.”

I’ll end this post with this wise quote I found today. Again, something that just seems to fit right in:

“Respect the child. Be not too much his parent, but also his pupil…”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

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