Adios, Ticker!

Today's the day! I'm far enough along that I'm cleared for homebirth. Woooo! That means, if I go into labor right now I don't have to go anywhere. Not that I want to go in labor right now, no way. Uh-uh. We still have way too much to do. Most of our supplies are gathered and we're picking up the Aquadoula on Saturday, but we're just not.ready.

That also means I'm removing the ticker from this blog. The baby will come when he's ready, so don't worry about how many weeks I am. I'll have the baby by mid-September. That's all you need to know. :-)

Everything is still going great. I'm measuring right on target, my blood pressure is great, and I have virtually no swelling. My GBS test came back negative (!!!) and my bloodwork was good. The only problem is I'm achy, crampy, and SORE. Ugh. None of it's a bad sign or anything, it just sucks.


I also have a project update for you. I haven't done a lot on it lately. We all had a stomach flu and then Matt was gone on his annual fishing trip for a week. I'm tired! Here's what it looks like now:


And here's the latest update (it's all Amy's clan!):


26. AmyLou -- Amy is awesome. She's a wonderful friend. She's also throwing me a mother's blessing party in a week. It's going to be so great. So, so great. :-)

27. Schenley

28. Jacob

29. Nicol

30. Shari

Thanks guys! Your block makes me smile.

Also, if there are any of you out there who still want to contribute yarn, now is the time. There's not much more time before the baby comes! If you want your section to be at least one complete circle, you should probably send 7-8 yards or meters rather than 3-5. It's getting pretty wide around.

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed so far. It warms my heart to see all the different yarns working together. Love it!

An Updated Picture!

Here you go, the Matchbox van is for scale. :-) If I were to take it off the needles, it would be a big circle with a diameter of about 30". Still too small to be anything, but much bigger than it used to be. Right now I'm all out of contributor yarn, so I think I'll just go around and around with the main yarn until I get any more (if I get any more, that is). I haven't been to the Post Office since Monday, so if you sent something in very recently it may be waiting for me in the box.

Here's a close-up with the labels:

(click for a bigger picture in a new window)

17. Pam of teh interwebz :-)

18. Mona & Sara. Mona's one of my 76-er cousins, there were four of us born in 1976. Mona and Sara have a brand new baby girl, so everyone send out huge congrats to them. Rumor has it I'm going to get to squish her next week. I.can't.wait. Oh, and a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mona today, too.

19. Shosh. Shosh is planning a VBAC very soon so she need some GO SHOSH!'s GO SHOSH!

20. Kathy. Matt's aunt and a wonderful woman. We love Kathy.

21. Rhea. Another mom of a Gabriel. :-)

22. Jos. Jos's yarn is all crazy and colorful, just like Jos. This yarn was really fun to knit in.

23. Gina & Michelle. Gina's also a 76-er, and it's also her birthday today. Happy birthday Gina!

24. Christina. I miss Christina. Move back!

25. Angela. Another great interwebz friend. Angela, you're a sweetheart.


So there it is. That's everyone. If you're still thinking about sending in yarn I would suggest you do it SOON. I'm 33 weeks today, which means time is ticking away. This Sunday we have a "get organized" home visit with the entire birth team and our home birth supply box is getting filled with all the necessities. We only have a few things left to get, including getting all the baby stuff out of the attic.

Time flies man, time flies.

24 WeeksToday!

Time keeps marching on, doesn't it? I haven't updated in a while because Gabe had a cold and then I had it. Now Matt's home early from work with it. Good times.

Things are moving along fine. I'm no longer in so much pain I'm in tears, my hips and pelvis seem to be working better now. I'm so relieved, I was panicking about things just getting worse and worse as I got further along. A breather is very nice. I just have to remember to wear some shoes while I'm cooking and doing dishes on the hard floor of the kitchen. *grumble*

The blanket is coming along great. I have been thrilled to get more yarn from all around. The notes and messages that have been included have been wonderful. I can't ever tell you how much it means to me.

Here's what it looks like so far:
I'm out of yarn again so I'm stalking the post office. Here's who's been worked in since my last update:

8. Yve (who sent the most sparkly yarn all the way from England!)

9. Kathy (the one from Colorado :D )

10. Aunt Marilyn

11. My mom

12. Yuling

(Click for full-sized photo)

Every contribution is deeply special, but I have to mention Yuling. When I pulled her package out of the box I squealed right there in the post office. Yuling and I spent countless hours together in graduate school. She was my mentor and my friend. She finished her doctorate (so she's one WAY up on me!) and moved to northern California. I haven't seen her in years, and we haven't talked in ages. Seeing her package warmed my heart and made my day. Here's a lesson to you all: if there's someone you really love out there, don't be an idiot like me. Keep in touch with them!

Progress!

(click for larger photo)

It took me a while to get this thing going. I had so many problems getting this on the needles. You'd think it'd be easy, especially since I've done this type of thing many times. It wasn't. It kept slipping off, I messed up the (embarrassingly simple) pattern, I dropped needles. It took me three days to finally get it going!

Once I got it going, however, it really started moving. This is my progress up through Sunday night. That was when I ran out of contributors. I have been working in the yarn I've received in the order that they have arrived, once I got past my three guys here at home. So far this is who is worked in:

1. Matt (He actually picked out his own yarn at the store! Have I mentioned how much my husband rocks?)
2. Gabe (I picked one of my stash yarns that he always wants to carry around, close enough)
3. Rocky (Yarn that's basically the same color as his fur, again: close enough)
4. Jenny
5. Fran
6. Michele
7. Tabitha

Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. I am really, really touched and am THRILLED at how it is coming out. True, it looks like a really ugly puffy hat right now, but that's because it's big enough that I need to swap out the cable for something longer. Trust me, it looks good.

I have to give a quick plug to the knitters out there. When I ordered my yarn I got a set of size 8 Harmony wood needles for my Options interchangeable set from Knit Picks. I am in LOVE with these needles. They are super pointy-sharp and smooth while still giving you the grip you'd want from wood needles. I couldn't be happier. Plus, they're really gorgeous. Now I need them in all the sizes! Plus the DPN's!

21 Weeks and All is Well

We had another prenatal visit with the "real" midwife this morning and everything is going great. The baby is doing fantastic and seems to be happy as can be. My blood pressure has dipped nicely and my insane craving for RED MEAT has settled in, so that means my blood volume is increasing nicely. Everything's just great.

Not much other news. Boring pregnancies are a gift, for sure.

As for my project, I am *this close* to getting it on the needles. I have one more i-cord tie to put on a baby gift that I won't describe, since there's a chance this little girl's mommies are going to read this blog. I'm just happy I'm going to finish on time! Too bad the OTHER part of the gift is stuck in limbo and will probably arrive after the baby. Oh well, points for trying, right?

As soon as I post this I'm going to settle into the big chair and knock out that tie, assuming my little monster doesn't cut his nap short. I hope to have pictures of the project actually on the needles tomorrow. Wish me luck!

It's here!

My yarn arrived! It's gorgeous and it's silky-soft. I can't WAIT to get started. I need to get my husband to pick something out because I want his yarn to be at the center, so I think I need to go stash diving to give him some options. I can't imagine him going to a yarn store, no way. I wonder if they sell yarn at the tackle shop? ;-)

The only problem with the yarn is I'm not the only one who loves it. I may have to sacrifice a ball . . .

Yarn Update

So, apparently the yarn I ordered is on permanent backorder. :S The other colors I liked are gone, too. Curses!

I was able to get another yarn, it's similar to a yarn I used for my nephew's baby blanket two years ago, so I know it's very nice. It's a 60% Pima Cotton, 40% Modal mixture. I've used the sport weight version before, but ordered the worsted weight for this project. After talking with the company on the phone for a while, I decided to go with Shine Worsted in Reef. It's not quite the aloe color, but it should still be nice. It'll match our house better, as those who have been there can attest. ;-)

It should be here on Wednesday and I can FINALLY get this thing going!

My first package!

I got my first package on Tuesday! I was so excited. Jenny sent me a beautiful skein of variegated yarn and a beautiful necklace she got at her own Blessingway. I can't tell you how much that meant to me.


MY yarn, the yarn I ordered, is backordered! I am so excited to get started but I'm in limbo. I really hope it comes soon. [grumble]

In other news, I went to my (hopefully last) shadow care appointment last night. This time I got less than five minutes with the midwife and she was twitching on the edge of her seat to leave the whole time. There was absolutely no joy in the appointment. At no point did anyone seem, I don't know, excited that a baby was coming. I'm halfway along (20 weeks today!) but it was so very impersonal and clinical. Is this what it's like for the rest of you in hospital practices? I'm just so used to seeing a midwife who knows me really well and is genuinely happy with the progress of the pregnancy and the amazing potential of a new life.

I noticed last night that no single person has looked over my chart totally. Different tests and visits are all done by different people who input the results into a computer. If something is out of order, the computer will flag it. Otherwise, there isn't a single person with a bird's-eye view of the pregnancy. That made me really uncomfortable. What if things are technically in the normal range, but there are enough things edging high or low that it might catch a person's eye and move them to work on prevention? Does this get missed until something is clearly wrong? Just more thoughts.

Anyway, last night my blood pressure was fine and the baby's heart rate was 150 bpm. I made the mistake of telling the midwife about the hip and pelvic pain I've been having and got interrogated about WHY I had PAIN. Well, hell, I don't know. Maybe I was hoping YOU had some suggestions. :-P

Thankfully I already had some good suggestions from my chiropractor and "real" midwife. Heh.

Here it is!

Here's info about the big project:

http://www.geocities.com/smack103/support_knitwork.html

I can't wait to get started!

Picking Colors

I'm getting closer to telling my big plan for my support project, but I still have some details to iron out. Let me just say that it's going to be a blanket/shawl similar to the blanket I made for the midwife for my son's birth. You can read about it here on my other, infinitely more irreverent (are rarely updated) blog. I'm not going to do the improvised ribbing, nor am I going to have the yarn doubled. I want something that will be a bit more "auto-pilot" because knitting with a 2 1/2 year old running around is different from knitting with a 1 1/2 year old. I'm sure you parents know what I mean.

Right now I'm trying to decide on a color. Obviously we don't know yet if the baby is a boy or a girl, but this is for me, not for the baby. I've picked a few colors and am going to have a poll in the margin for voting.

The yarn I have chosen is this: Swish Superwash by Knit Picks. The colors I am considering are: Ballerina, Fired Brick, Wisteria, Deep Ocean, and Aloe.

Go, take a look, and vote. :-)