Baby J has arrived!

I finally went into labor on Saturday December 22. I had had a really long day and hadn't had a nap so I was really tired. I started getting ready for bed and all of a sudden, I made a mess. My water had broken. I found this to be very strange given I hadn't been experiencing any hard contractions. The doctor sent me to the hospital, where I was admitted 50% effaced, 1 cm dilated Baby J was a 0 station (at the cervix) and turned face up (not good). As the morning progressed I was given Pitocin. I found some comfort on the birthing ball, also called a yoga ball by non-birthing persons. The projectile vomiting commenced after 4 hours and continued until they gave me some very nice drugs for it. Around noon the epidural was suggested (again) and this time gratefully accepted. Sleep commenced for 2 hours. Around 4 pm the fever set in and Baby J began to have difficulty. Pitocin was shut of and antibiotics begun. Around 5:30 pm the fever was gone and Baby J's heartrate returned to normal and Pitocin was reistated. I was checked at this point and found that I was 90% effaced, 5 cm dilated, and Baby J was at a 0 - +1 station (right at the cervix and ready to go) and still face up. They had me try laying in a position to help turn and waited. The c-word came up during this phase. I tried to ignore that, determined to have a normal birth. At 10:30 the doctor came to check me, found that Baby J was a 0 - +1 still, but now face down which was perfect. I was 100% effaced, and........ wait for it......... wait........ 5 cm dilated. So at the 24 hour mark (the window for normal birth after water breaking) I was not dilated enough to deliver. For whatever reason, my body failed to dilated any further during the last 4 hours of active labor. The instinct to push was setting it, which was not helpful. So the cesearean section was again suggested. I couldn't have continued in labor for a few more hours. Even if I managed to stave off pushing (try ignoring instinct and see how you do) I wouldn't have had the energy to push, and Baby J was again having heart rate issues. So I agreed to the c-section. I love my ansethsiologist. He had a wonderful bedside manner and was very skilled and gentle in his work. He was very supportive and comforting during the whole c-section. Mama came in with me and Husband would have passed out as he nearly did during the epidural (which he hadn't even actually watched). My Darling can't handle people doing hurtful things to me, even if it's necessary. Baby J was born and cried right away. His 1 minute and 3 minute epgars were both 9, which is wonderful, so he came through everything very healthy and doing very well. I however lost way too much blood. I heard them order blood to have ready for a transfusion. Several minutes later I heard them say they had it under control. So I am fine, but taking iron and dealing with some side effects of massive blood loss. We settled in to breastfeeding right away and have had a little frustration but it's going quite well. He is adorable and very healthy. We will get to go home soon. Thankfully everyone has time off and so we'll all be able to be at home while I recover and while Baby J needs the most attention. So Christmas gets put off for a day in our household. Our little miracle arrived and is healthy and so is everyone else in the household. It has been a wonderful and contented Christmastime.

Updates: No baby or afghan, yet

I haven't posted in a while because I haven't had anything real to post about. But I have been steadily working on Baby J's afghan as my numb hands would allow, even working with completely numb hands at times. It's strange how much knitting I can still make my hands do without any sensation whatsoever. Okay, so the fine motor skills are impaired somewhat, but my hands know what they're doing, even if I do have to pay a little closer attention. And here's the big news: I'm finally on the border! Let me repeat that. I'm finally on the border!!!!! I thought this day would never come, and yet, here it is. I decided on a moss stitch border to add a little contrast and to prevent any rolling, and I must say I do like it so far. There's something fitting about having a moss border in green for an afghan with a lace leaf motif. Okay, maybe it's a bit cliche, but I like it. It satisfies something in me. I refuse to post a photo of it in this unfinished state, mostly because it's on circular needles all the way around and it looks like some sort of sea creature. I cast on for the border going around the corners rather than starting and ending at them, so it's not flat. That makes for a bit of a mess, but it works, and I wanted to protect the corners from being stretched out too much since they'll get enough of that in use. In a few days, I expect to have it finished and blocked and ready to show off.

In baby news, he's still snug in the womb. He's big, but the doctor says he's confident I can deliver him normally because he's already in the pelvis (has been there for a while actually) and he wouldn't be there if he couldn't fit. Makes sense. I'm still very uncomfortable all the time and actually, there are a few new aggravating pregnancy woes, but I'm not going to get into that. You're welcome. I am a bit concerned that I won't really know when active labor starts. I've been having real contractions hourly for over a month, and I've learned to mostly ignore them, even hard ones. It rather surprised the nurse when she hooked me up the the fetal monitor and found I was having a strong contraction, but I didn't feel any more pressure than normal. Oh, well. I guess we'll see when the time comes. Whenever that is.

There was a major breakthrough in my work. But that means having to redo a bunch of models that had already been "done". So the breakthrough means a redo as well. Such is research. At least we have confirmation that the method is improved and correct.

Let it Snow... Let it Snow... Let it Snow!!!

It's snowing! They say we'll get 2-3 inches by morning, so no blizzards, but a nice dusting. I just love the snow. It's so pretty and puts me in a wonderful Zen-ish mood. There's just something so peaceful about a blanket of white covering and smoothing over the landscape.

The blood test results are in and I don't have preeclampsia. However, my blood pressure is still a little high, so I have to take it easy. The numbness in my hands gets worse and better periodically, so I'll just have to knit when I can for as long as I can. The doctor I saw yesterday said I was on track to be full term, but told me to watch for signs on when to go to the hospital. So I guess I could go into labor at any time, but I could go another four weeks. Another four weeks of having useless stubs on the end of my arms when I have a bunch of knitting and crochet to do is a bit distressing. Pregnancy is a serious pain. Thank God it's for such a good cause. I'm very excited and impatient to have Baby J born and in my arms, especially now that he's fully mature and only gaining weight from now until birth. His growth slowed and is now about on track with standard fetal size, so that is a bit of a relief for me if he's going to go full term. I must say that the recent eruption in new stretch marks tells me he may be hitting another growth spurt. I guess we'll see.

So knitting. All other projects have been pushed aside for Baby J's blanket in the hopes that it can be finished prior to his birth. I finished the purple strip and am working on the blue one. I don't even have 10 rows done and I started it 2 days ago. *Sigh* I've been debating with myself about what stitch to have on the border. The first thoughts were of making it in stockinette like the rest of the blanket, but it'll have the tendency to roll up, which would be annoying. So the next thoughts went to garter and moss stitches. I really like the moss stitch, but I don't know if it would be right. More investigation is needed.

Persistance Pays Off in Spades

Okay, so I can still knit a little. I can do about 50 stitches per 15 minutes if I take a longer break every hour and don't do it for more than 3 hours at a time. Otherwise I lose complete control of my fingers as the numbness sets into my palms, and run the risk of making horrible errors. At this crawling pace I've finished the next strip of Baby J's blanket. I now only have one left and then I can do the border. If he holds on for another 2 weeks, I might be able to finish his afghan. :) Yay!

In other news, I have done good research and gotten past a block that had me preoccupied for two months. I still have some things to do to iron out the details, but the major part is resolved. Such a relief of frustration!

Oh, the Agony!

I won't be able to finish Baby J's afghan in time. Even if he isn't born early (which I'm still convinced he will) I won't be able to finish it. I can only knit about 50 stitches before my right hand goes completely numb and I have to wait a half hour for enough feeling to return to knit again. What kind of progress can a person make with a rate that slow?! WWAAHH!! The numbness is a result of pregnancy induced carpel tunnel syndrome. The doctor said it should go away within 6 weeks of delivery. 6 weeks! Mama assures me it doesn't take that long for most of the water retention to go away, so I should be able to knit again before then. But until then... WWWWAAAAHHHH!!!! Sadness!

I have made a decision about the size of the afghan. I've added the next pink and yellow strips and am working (if you can call 50 stitches an hour working) on a purple, then I will do a blue strip. The purple and blue strips will be added to the other side of the afghan so that green is what would be next on either side, and so that green is the center strip. Then I'll add a green border to the whole thing. So I'm very close to being done, really. And yet I can't just finish it. Pity me.

Pregnancy update

Baby J and I are very healthy, and he's actually "in position", but it's still too early for him to be born without having to stay in the hospital for a while. I have been having contractions periodically so the doctors want to see me again after a week. Otherwise, I only have normal complaints for a pregnant lady. :)

It's been a long time

Baby J's blanket:

So here is the latest photo of Baby J's blanket. I'd be a lot farther along if I hadn't taken a break, twice. To be honest the second break was forced by factors beyond my control. The first break of one week was because I was SOOOOO tired of this one pattern, that I was becoming a little violent about it. Since I want only love knit into this blanket for my first born child, I decided a break was in order. Then, over the weekend, I forgot my knitting bag a work. Yes, I said that right. I forgot my knitting bag. I don't know how this happened. I can only say that I am very VERY pregnant and having a hard time moving around and am very uncomfortable all the time, particularly when I'm having contractions, which happens pretty regularly, and so I get a bit distracted sometimes. I'm going to make this the center portion of the afghan. I'll add a pink (already finished and being blocked) and a yellow strip (almost done) to the left side, and a purple and blue on the right, then add a green border. That will make the size about right for a baby afghan, and it won't be too organized and linear looking. As a scientist, I do tend to make things a bit too orderly for my own good. In creative endeavors that's not always a good thing.


ANYONE NAMED RACHEL, MARY, KRISTIN, CHERI, OR BILL NEED TO LEAVE THIS BLOG NOW!!!!!!!!! OR YOU WILL SPOIL YOUR CHRISTMAS PRESENT SURPRISE. SO LOOK AWAY NOW AND DON'T EVEN TRY TO GET SOMEONE ELSE TO LOOK FOR YOU! I WILL FIND OUT AND I WILL GET REVENGE!!!!!!!!!!!










YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! LOOK AWAY NOW!!!!!!





























Okay, on with the blog.
While I was without what I needed to work on Baby J's blanket I finished 3 crochet projects I had lined up. They are for my sister's in law for Christmas and here they are:

For Rachel:

For Mary:

For Kristin:

I tried to get photos that showed the color better, but hopefully you can get the idea about how gorgeous these really are. It's hard to see in these pictures, but the stitches are different in each one. I picked out a pattern I thought would best suit each one, and they didn't take long to make. I still have one for my mother-in-law and one for my father-in-law to make yet. I think they will really like them.

From Now On

From now on, I refuse to talk about college football. This is your only warning.

I had to rip out all of the work I had done on the next strip for Baby J's afghan. I was SO pissed. I dropped a stitch, and before I realized it, it had fallen down five or six rows, involving yarn overs and slip passed over stitches. Thank God I was only 23 rows in. Then I got to the same spot and somehow had done the wrong rows at the wrong time, and I couldn't tell where exactly that started. Being the perfectionist that I am, it made be see red and lose faith in all things yarn. That's a bad place to be in, I'm sure you understand.

It was not my night for knitting or anything else. I just wanted to cry. I didn't sleep well last night. I'm in the middle of my Autumn "Everything must be clean and organized and in it's place" mode, but I have no time - read me NO TIME - to do anything about it. I ran errands with Mama and My Darling this morning, which left me sore and tired. I found a stretch mark. An ugly, hot pink, stretch mark on my lower abdomen. I guess that's why I haven't felt so much lately like my belly was going to rip open and have Baby J come flying out. The thing that I'm not talking about didn't go well. And my knitting was not keeping me sane. In fact, it was letting me down. I just need to go to bed and cry.

Update:
Mama helped me clean out and organize my closet. I feel loads better. Yay for organized closets! Now the only clothes in there are my pregnancy ones that fit now. :) I can now see what I have to wear! My mind has found some peace.

Finally Some Photos!!!!

So here are some photos. Finally. The one above is from just after the green strip was added. It's a good close view of the pattern, too. The one below is from just after the blue strip was added. It's hard to see the green and blue since it's a little washed out, but you get the idea. I now have the purple strip ready to be added and the next white strip is half done. HA! I'm making progress rather quickly now, and I may finish it before I burn out completely.



I really love this pattern, but I'm burning out. This is the only project I'm working on (well, actively anyway since the other projects are on hold) and it's getting old. This is how I end up with 10 projects going on at once and none of them get done in any sort of timely fashion. I really do work on my projects. Really. I just work on so many. But now I'm just doing this one, and it's ...... not killing me really .... just wearing a little thin. But I do love this blanket.

Camera Cord MIA

I still can't find my camera cord, and I'm becoming a little desperate. I have the afghan for Baby J half assembled (minus the edging) and yet no picture to show. The last time I showed a photo of this WIP it was a quarter assembled, so now with all the colors it's even more impressive - AND YET I CAN'T SHOW IT OFF!!!!!! So frustrating. I'm knitting like an insane person (if such a thing were possible for a knitter) so I think I may be able to finish this afghan by the end of the month, including the edging. That would be great, because I'm not sure how early Baby J is going to be, and there were a couple of other things I wanted to make him before he's born. Okay, I realistically only have time for one other project, but whatever. I'll take what I can get.

I have been SO good lately. I've wanted to skip work and go yarn shopping. Have I done this? No. I look at my knitting bag, my crochet bag, my almost done quilt still on the sewing table, the other two knitting bags, the hand sewing bags, and I refrain. The urge to cast on is huge! Why? I have some really nice things to work on and yet there are so many things that call to me to cast on! If I give in, then I may never finish a single project. Ever. This is my greatest fear, hence the great restraint. I even have my stash stashed away so I can't see it and have to go to some trouble to get to it. (Do I know how to avoid temptation or what?) But, this whole being good thing sucks and it's getting old. After I finish Baby J's afghan (I swear, pictures will arrive as soon as I can find the @#&%*#$*!$#& camera cord), I will allow myself to shop for and buy and cast on a new baby project. Then I can't buy or cast on until the Christmas crochet is done. (ha HA! That won't take long! The fingers fly over crochet!)

See how good I am? See? I can do it.

Stop laughing. I can do it! Really!

Seriously, if you laugh any harder, you'll need Depends.

Stop it.

Now you're just embarrassing yourself.

It's not that funny. I have will power.

Yes, I do!

Workin' Workin' Workin'

Great progress has been made on the afghan for Baby J. I am now almost halfway done with it and I am able to work on it much more lately and at a faster pace. I have completely memorized the pattern now and only have to keep track of what number row I'm on. And yet I want to put it away and not look at it again. I am nearing burnout but still going strong. I took almost a week off already and then worked like a demon and got two strips done in one week. That's pretty good, if I do say so myself. If I can keep up the pace, then I'll be done completely (including border) by the end of the month. Then I can move on to faster projects. Keeping that in mind is a wonderful motivation, but what really keeps me going is seeing it come together. I have the white, pink, yellow, green, and blue strips put together, and the purple will follow on Tuesday or so. It really looks wonderful. I'm a little unhappy about the "loopy" end, but I'm hoping the border will help make that less pronounced. If I ever use this pattern again (note the if) then I'll be sure to do four or six rows of stockinette first to keep it even on the ends.

Now, none of this description helps you at all, because I don't have any pictures for you, at the moment. I took some photos. Then I took more photos. And they're really quite nice ones. But I can't find my camera cord to connect it to the computer. As soon as I find it, there will be some new photos. And you will be amazed.

(And if you don't get the reference of my post title, that's okay. It's from an ancient tv show I used to watch reruns of at 2am when I was a teenager, holed up in my room, refusing to sleep. God, I was such a rebel!)

Diapers

Diapers. Okay, maybe not the most titillating topic ever, but one on my mind lately. As I near the due date - not changed despite Baby J being over 2 weeks ahead of schedule in size and development - I find that I want to work out these details. I have been trying to decide between disposable and cloth diapers. So I finally called the diaper cleaning service to get a price quote and then I did some math (clearly my strong suit). In the end, with the diaper service, cloth and disposables end up being about the same price. But add to the mix that if you launder the diapers yourself, cloth ends up being half the price. And I thought to myself, "Hey, I'm already cleaning up after Tiggy and changing her diapers, why not for my own child?" And then I asked myself if I had a brain tumor and just how much crap (literally) did I feel like wading through? I called a cooler head and the decision is made. We will use the cloth diapers, and we will launder them ourselves. We'll also use disposables when we're out, simply for the sake of convenience and sanitation of the diaper bag. So here's the logic and reasoning behind the decision.

1. Cloth is better on the skin. I have very sensitive skin, and Husband has normal to sensitive skin (prone to heat rash), so Baby J will likely have similar issues.
2. Less diaper rash. Because cloth diapers breathe more, you can smell when they need to be changed sooner, and so you do change them more often. The greater airflow allows the skin to stay drier and therefore less prone to irritation even if the diaper doesn't get changed fast enough.
3. Less landfill trash. I am a bit of a hippy, and believe in conservation as much as possible, and this isn't an unreasonable step to take to keep tons of trash from building up each year. It's not like asking me to live like a pioneer or cavewoman, so I was willing to consider it.
4. Save some money. It's a savings of about $500 a year. While that may not seem like a lot, it's enough to make affording other things a little easier. And with a new baby, I'd prefer to spend money on things that will last and are actually important.
6. We get our own diapers back from doing the laundry ourselves, while God only knows whose diapers we'd be getting from the diaper service. Okay. Fine. They're laundered to be highly sanitary, but that's because you're getting someone else's undies. I don't want my child wearing something that someone else has pooped in. It may be perfectly safe - and I'm sure logically that it is - but the idea is just too gross.
5. We already have to do gross things for the dogs, so it's not unreasonable to be willing to do the same and more for our baby.
6. I don't have to do all the poop duty myself. There are three adults in the household. Husband and I will split being at home during the work week so we can both fulfill our grad student duties, and Mama will be at home on nights and weekends. So there will be times I'll get a break from the gross stuff.

So there you have it. The arguments for using and self-laundering cloth diapers. And here is the latest ultrasound of Baby J:

I'm on Ravelry! (and Baby J afghan update)

I had time to knit this weekend. So guess what I did? I didn't knit. Knitting on this afghan is already getting a bit old. I have the pattern memorized (mostly, I only need to look at it 2 or three times per 10 rows to double check which stitch sequence I'm doing) and it's getting monotonous. It's really beautiful, and I'm thrilled with it and I'm 25% done. Only 25% done. But the colors are gorgeous, the pattern is lacy but not too "holey" or fragile. I really need to just suck it up and keep moving. The photos of Baby J with his blanket will be such an awesome reward for all this work. It may wear out from use, but I'll always have the photos, and seeing him using it will be the best part. (I'm doing a bit of the cheer leading stuff at myself to make me work on it, but I'm feeling a bit better after having had a couple of days away.) I think if I ever do this pattern again, I'll add several rows of stockinette to the start and finish of the strips so that the bottom edge doesn't "bubble" out so much. You can see it did the same for others who did this pattern. Annoying, but not enough to start over.

Ravelry is awesome! My screen name is saneknitter. I finally got the flickr photos linked in properly (um, I forgot to make the photos public, my bad) but it's still not checking my blog. It's found it and on my profile the correct page is there and the link works properly, but it doesn't seem to be reading it otherwise and updating the post info. I wonder what I'm doing wrong now. It's embarrassing that I'm having any trouble with this when I work with computers and programming all day. Oh, well. Live and learn to deal with humiliation. ;)

The Wait is Over

I came home this evening from a nice outside tea party with a dear friend (and Mama and Husband) and what do I find in my inbox? MY RAVELRY INVITATION! If I could stay awake much longer I'd do all the cool stuff, but I guess I'll have to settle for just setting everything up. I created a Flicker account, but it doesn't seem to want to load my photo to Ravelry. Hmmm... I'll have the play with it. Oh, boy! I may never sleep again! Oh, wait. I'm going to sleep now. I guess I will sleep, but I'm sure there will be some late nights. Ah, the joy!

Ravelry Wait (Part 9) - Under 1000!!!!!!

OMG! Only 864 people ahead of me in line! OMG! It's almost my turn! I'm almost in! When I checked the list this morning, I almost had a heart attack with joy!

Photo and Dog Update

Okay, so I finally got the time to take and upload the most recent stage of Baby J's blanket.

Not including the border, it's about a fourth done. I have the next strip in progress after a major incident whereby I lost a lot of work (okay, all of it - tears were shed), but it's coming along nicely now and is a fifth done. That's actually pretty good progress given the amount of time available to do any knitting. I get something done mostly every day since I carry it with me everywhere I go. What's that? Ten minutes until the next meeting? That's a ton of time for knitting! And sadly sometimes all I get in a day. But whatever. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was this blanket. Baby steps, baby steps.

How sad is it that the only time I could find to take and post a photo was while I was in my office? I really do work!

The dogs are fine. They scared us silly! We spent time calculating how much chocolate they could actually have ingested, and if the little Bichon had eaten it all, it would still not have been lethal, too close for comfort, but not lethal. We did worry anyway in case he was especially sensitive (since some dogs are), but he's fine. And all evidence now points to the Dachshund getting most of it. Let's just say the fat content of it didn't agree with her stomach, but otherwise she's fine. Since she's twice his size, she could handle twice as much before approaching toxic levels. Here's the math of it for chocolate: If you have a very high dose of poison, let's say toxic levels, but share half of it with someone twice your size, you get half of a toxic dose, while the other person only gets a quarter of a dose. It may have been closer to her getting two thirds (she's quite the oinker). Either way it was mercifully okay, since if she had the whole thing it would have been close to a half a toxic dose, while for him alone it would have been close but still not toxic.

Now they all get locked up, not just my Border Collie and my Golden Retriever. They have separation anxiety, so I cage them for their own good. It keeps them calm and prevents them from chewing on things that could hurt them or cost us a bundle to replace. Mama didn't want her babies locked up, and since they were usually good (99% of the time), we left them loose. Well, since Alex got neutered, he's been a real pain in the butt about food. He has no compunctions about getting up on tables (which he somehow manages even with the chairs pushed in!) to get at bags of food ready to be gifted to others (this is how he got the bag of brownies). Before the snippy-snippy, he didn't do this. Tigger can't get up on anything because she has permanent damage from her blown disc from 4 and a half years ago. So if it's not on the floor, or within two feet of the floor, it's safe from her. This is why the house is basically baby proofed already. Now here's the rub. Alex will get whatever goodies he can find, then bring them down to share with Tigger. He could take them up on the couch or the bed, and have it all to himself, but no. This generosity on his part potentially saved his life. So after the scare last night, Mama gave me carte blanche to discipline them as I see fit and not coddle them. So they are all in the doggie room Michael and I have been working on in the basement. It's not done yet, but it's good enough for now. All we need to do is paint the walls, but it doesn't have to be done to be a safe place for them. Kelsey barked for a few minutes after we put them in it, but that's pretty normal for her, while the others were more quiet. She's the one I'd worry about ripping the door off and getting loose. Don't laugh! Once, she ripped the molding off from around a door and was halfway to getting through when I stopped her. I was only gone 10 minutes, but the noises she could hear motivated her to want to get out to help me. (It wasn't serious, but she didn't know the neighbor wasn't a genuine threat to me.) Anyway, that was fun to fix. So it was nice this morning that we could finish getting ready and leave without them getting hyper and underfoot.

Another plus for the dog room is that I never again have to worry about any of the dogs getting at my yarn. Yay! Actually, since I've been home from California, none of them have even looked twice at a ball of yarn. I guess it just smelled like me and they absolutely HAD.... TO.... HAVE.... IT. I should be flattered that they love me so much, but we're talking yarn here.

Progessing, But With Distractions

Okay, I've finished more of Baby J's afghan, but I haven't had the time or the equipment necessary to take a photo and post it. Since I'm now in the middle of watching the dog be manic from eating chocolate (non-lethal amount) that he found on the table in the kitchen while I was at school teaching a help session, it's unlikely to happen at any point tonight. But I promise another picture is forth-coming.

Ravelry Wait (Part 8)

Under 2000, HOLY CRAP! It's going so fast now!

Ravelry Wait (Part 7)

OMG!! I'm under 3000! This last 1000 went very quickly. In fact, by the time I get my invitation, I may not be done taking photos of my stash and projects. Okay, I should probably start taking photos, but whatever. I'm a bit busy! No, really! I'm TAing and doing research and getting ready for Baby J and taking care of the dogs and the Husband and having a social life (tame though it may be, I still know people!). I'm also getting ready to give a talk at a Seminar that I only found out about yesterday, and getting ready to go to a conference that I only found out yesterday that I was going to attend. At least I'm not bored...

Ravelry Wait (Part 6)

Below 4000! OMG, it's like I just won the lottery!

Seaming and a Prenatal Visit

I finally got the first two strips seamed together two days ago. It looks wonderful and it reduces the curling of the stockinette. Here's how it looks:


The next strip is coming along, but there doesn't seem to be much time for knitting. Time for knitting is at a premium right now.

Pregnancy update: I had my latest prenatal visit yesterday. Everything looks good except the baby (okay, actually the uterus) is measuring at 26 weeks while I'm only 23 weeks. So the doc wants to do another ultrasound next time to see if he's just normal or growing big from gestational diabetes. I'll have the blood work done in 2 weeks to check for diabetes, but he still wants the ultrasound. He said it could be nothing, and that it would measure big if the baby wasn't laying sideways. I think that's what it was. I could feel him kicking down low and punching up high, which usually puts him as being upright. But it will be good to get another look at him and make sure things are developing normally.

Setbacks and Progress

I had a setback in my afghan. The yarn is cotton, and every cotton anything I've ever had (yarn, shirts, socks, jeans, headbands, etc.) have all shrunk even when they say they're preshrunk. So you understand my surprise when the strip didn't shrink. Not even a little. In fact, I think it stretched some. I blocked it flat, but I must have pulled on it. So I remeasured and recalculated the dimensions of my afghan. Um... If Baby J big enough to fit that blanket, then there's no way I'd survive the delivery. I began to be ill. I thought and thought, and finally worked it out. I had to frog back 50 rows and finished off. 50 rows! You should all be proud of me, I didn't cry at all. It did make a difference that all the other strips will only be 200 rows instead of 250. I was able to adjust the dimensions so that it will still be of standard size (36" x 35"). I had to spend time fixing things, reblocking, and now I can move forward again, knowing it will be okay, and actually faster than I thought. So I had a setback, but it turned out to be a good thing. :)

Ravelry Wait (Part 5)

Below 5000! Yea baby!

Well, I must be pregnant.

As if I didn't already know I'm pregnant, I've had two events confirm that other people also know it. Two weeks ago a lady on the street saw the Husband and me walking along. She stopped us with, "Young lady... Are you pregnant?" Imagine my surprise! Even people I see on a daily/weekly basis are hesitant to ask me this question. Actually, they don't ask me. Anyway, I said yes, after all, it's a bit late to look bewildered and/or lie. The shape of my belly is just too clear even if the size isn't that big yet. She then asked if this was the daddy, and again I smiled and said yes. Then she said, "You can tell if he's gonna be a good father by how he takes care of you now. Does he take good care of you?" I was happy to tell her that he indeed does take very good care of me. She then smiled and waved and continued on her way. :) Yesterday I went to the Stash (only decent yarn store around). As I was checking out, the lady showed me the new baby afghan she had just finished and said she highly recommended it and told me the basic pattern. It was a lovely thick blanket and only took her a week to make. And so I told her about my most recent project and how long it's taking since it's 24 stitches by 250 stitches and I have to make about 16 strips. She made the appropriate noises of appreciation over how much time that's going to take and said that's why she doesn't usually do baby afghans. Then she asked me if I knew what I was having. Yep. There's no hiding it now.

Well, there's no hiding it from women. My advisor, however, has yet to ask and doesn't seem to notice. Trust me, he'd say something if he had any clue. That's going to be a nice conversation. I can just hear it now: Are you pregnant? Yes. Are you dropping out of grad school? No. But babies take so much time and energy. Can you handle the pressure? If women can have a family and a career, I don't see why I can't. Especially with my husband and mother actively involved. *Head shake in resignation and disappointment as he determines resolutely that the strain will one day be too much and I that I'll quit to stay home to spend all day gazing adoringly at my baby while my brain turns quickly to mush.* Seriously, you'd think it was 1907. He was similarly amazed that a former student of his, RH, didn't quit to "get a real job" after his wife had twins (children 2 and 3 for them). The fact that RH worked even harder and finished in a year impressed him no end. Why is it that people expect the worst of you and when you fail to follow through on their unreasonable fears they then brag about you like they had anything to do with it? Ok. Rant over. For now.

The afghan is going well. I haven't had time to work on it for the past 5 days. We've been visiting friends and getting ready to go home. I've also been working extra hours on my research while at home since I have some things I want to make sure I can do on my own before I leave the font of all knowledge and rely solely on my advisor of assistance. (Oops, sorry. That jab slid right in there.) Now, since the Husband had to return home (yes without me) to prepare for his conference (for which he will have already departed when I return home in two days), and since I will not be staying at the apartment with the Unreasonable One, I will have time to knit in peace. I'm house/dog sitting for a friend. She and her family left yesterday for Disneyland and they get back on Saturday after I have gone to the airport, so it was very convenient. She knows I love dogs and that I needed the peace.

I can't wait to go home. I can sleep in my own bed. Mama can cook for me and we can chat in person, not on the phone. Mama and I can shop for baby things and plan out some of the baby crafts we'll be doing. I can have my dogs around me. I can work with Murphy to help ease his separation anxiety and get his room ready for crating him while we're gone during the day. I can get ready for TAing my tutorials and help sessions. I can nest. I can get ready for the Fall, my favorite season. I can put away all my wedding gifts and send my wedding dress off for preserving. Mama and I can pick out the new china cabinet. I can set up the new craft/sewing space. I can finish the late birthday present for a dear friend. The list goes on. And on.

OH! I didn't mention that I bought a bunch of patterns of baby knits! They are too adorable. They're Dale of Norway/Dalegarn pattern books. *Swoon* Okay, need proof? These will be on the needles by the end of September:

NOTE TO SELF: It is important to remember that I have responsibilities to fulfill and that my family and friends will want to see/talk to me sometimes.

Not all the patterns will work, though. Like this one:
After all, I don't think Baby J would much appreciate wearing a dress, no matter how gorgeous or how sweet it would be of me or his Nana to spend all that time knitting it for him. Those photos would likely end up missing one day. ;)

Ravelry Wait (Part 4)

Under 6000!

Working Hard and Hardly Resting

My advisor aggravates me! Damn absent minded professor syndrome! That's all I have to say about it.

Baby J scared me this week. He wasn't moving much. He's usually so active that I think he must be doing gymnastics in there every couple of hours. But this week he moved only a few times a day. So yesterday I woke up and was a bit upset. But I sat down and had breakfast, and as I did he started doing his normal back flips and karate kicks in there. :) I was so happy. I was pretty stressed out all week, so maybe that put some stress on him, and once I felt better so did he. I also read that babies will go through periods of lethargy, or they'll be faced backwards and you won't feel the movements as much. Whatever the cause, I'm happy he's back to his normal hyper self, even if my bladder takes a beating. ;)

I visited a old friend, Jackie, yesterday, and we had a great time. She as a new guinea pig named Wiggy. Her older guinea pig, Proxie (after Proxima Centauri, haha fellow astro nerd!) is doing well, spunky as ever. I was with her when she got Proxie two years ago. Both guinea pigs are very friendly. In fact, Wiggy just sat in my arms and purred (trilled is more like it). I had a guinea pig when I was a kid, and she always bit me and drew blood. I was always gentle with her, but she still bit me. She was from a pet store, so maybe she hadn't been socialized enough or had been mistreated. When we moved overseas, we gave her to a guinea breeder to take care of. We later heard she was doing very well and had several cage mates of both genders whom she would play with. Anyway. Jackie is doing well, and we had a great time catching up.

A new girl moved into the apartment. She seems nice. She's an art major from Great Britain.

I can't wait to go home. I have a lot of things I want to do and I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again. And I have some dog training to do. Murphy has serious separation anxiety, so have some work to do with him. I need to do some obedience with him and there are some desensitization exercises that should help. We're also going to set up a room in the basement to put all of them in while we're going. We can't actually crate Murphy because he seems to have some severe claustrophobia. Strange. Genuine claustrophobia is rare in dogs, but Murphy clearly has it. Also, severe separation anxiety is pretty uncommon. He didn't have any problems until I left for the summer. Poor baby. Also, I have some wedding gifts to put away, and do stuff with. And a nursery to put together. :)

I'm almost done with the second strip of my baby afghan. It's a good thing I have 19 weeks to finish it.

Mostly Good News

The home front is peaceful again, after a day of fighting. All is resolved. :) I made brownies. Chocolate fixes everything. :)

I get to dog sit and house sit for a friend next week. She has an adorable little dog and she's a sweet person, so I'm happy to do it for her.

One of my collaborators died this week. He was pretty old and had been sick for a while, so it wasn't unexpected. But it's still sad. He was a nice guy and he was very healthy until the last few years. He had a brilliant mind and was a world class mountain climber. He was a cool old dude.

I've finally gotten some knitting done and it makes me so happy. I have a fifth of the next strip done already. Okay, that's only 50 rows, but give me a break here, I'm working on it!

Mama did well in her class. Yay, Mama! And her friends at the office know about the baby now, and are thrilled for us. Her boss was a little worried that she'd leave to become a "full time Grandma". Haha. The woman needs Mama and she knows it. So Mama assured her she wouldn't be leaving.

Okay, back to knitting. :)

Football Injuries and a Rant

So the Husband and I went to a 49er's preseason game against Denver. Denver won after the 49er's failed three separate times to follow through on excellent setups that should have resulted in touchdowns. For a preseason game it was pretty exciting. Clearly there were some guys actually fighting to impress the coaches so get some play time during the season. They didn't just sit down anytime they had the ball like most preseason games. While we were there the sun was setting in front of us, beaming straight into our eyes, so I took the Husband's blue Notre Dame hat. To replace his now stolen hat, I bought him a red 49er's hat to match his red 49er's sweatshirt, which he was wearing. Other than for our wedding, I don't think he's ever been so well coordinated! He proudly wore his 49er's gear, while I proudly wore my Notre Dame ensemble. Now I ask you, who was the sharper dresser? (Although, I do look chubby in that photo! boooooo!)

The only hiccup in our outing was when I overstretched the ligaments in my abdomen (ask me how it was a ligament) while trying to let someone by me on the bus back to the BART station. I can tell you that the round ligament pain I've been having is nothing to whatever the hell it was I did to the ligament. I thought maybe I'd torn it, but today it feels okay, if somewhat more sore than normal. Damn changing body.

I love Baby J and am thrilled to be having a baby, but this whole pregnancy thing is very inconvenient and uncomfortable at times. All those women who loudly proclaim how much they loved being pregnant and how much they miss it must not remember what it was like. I don't hate it, mind you, but it's annoying far too regularly. And seriously, morning sickness is just awful! Thank God I'm done with that! One friend of mine was only a little nauseous in the mornings, but me... well, it was bad. Projectile bad. All day. Yuck. Anyway. I really have been healthy, so I shouldn't complain, but I'm human, so I will occasionally. ;)

Finally, Some Progress is Made!

I finished the first strip. It looks rather bluish in the photos, but it really is white. The edges are rolling somewhat even after stretching it due to the stockinette on the sides. I'll block it to check the length when I get home. It's still in the range of average sized baby blankets, so it should be fine, but it is 250 rows. Now I'm doing the next color, because I got tired of looking at the white. I need variety! I also decided to do a purl cast on. It looks better and will be easier to pick up stitches from for the edging. And the edging... I can't decide if I want to do it all in white, a color, or cycle through the colors. Okay, so Baby J will be a boy, but that doesn't mean the edging has to be in blue. I'm leaning toward cycling through the colors, starting and ending in white.

So I got all this done, despite the home front drama. Not with Husband. Him, I can talk to and come to compromises with, and he won't take advantage of me. Not so with this person. I think my blood pressure has gone up at least 10 points. Baby J is still moving normally, so it doesn't seem to have put any real stress on him.

Ravelry Wait (Part 3) and Baby Afghan

I'm under 7000 now in waiting for Ravelry!

The baby registry is set up now. We didn't really put in a whole lot of stuff, mostly just necessities. I didn't get the afghan strip done the other night. I ended up needing to make it longer than I thought for length. I should finish it tonight and start the next one. I'll take a photo of it before I block it.

Ravelry Wait (Part 2)

There are now only 7271 people ahead of me on the Ravelry waiting list! And there are more people behind me in the list than ahead of me! Yay for progress.

I've been working so hard on research lately that I haven't had much time for knitting. And I really want to be knitting pretty much all the time to work on my baby afghan for my own baby. :) Today however, I was able to spend a whole hour just knitting. Ahh.... Luxury! I'm going to finish the first strip of my afghan tonight come hell or high water. Then I'll take a photo and post it. :) Life is good.

It's a boy!

The image is a little fuzzy but that's his little face. We also have lots of images from various directions (in 2D and 3D) that show absolutely that this is a boy. We've told the grandparents, now we're going to make up announcements to send to people. He seems very healthy and is VERY active. He was moving a lot during the whole ultrasound. I thought I had been feeling him moving all the time, but it seemed too much, so I was beginning to get a little paranoid. But after the ultrasound, it's proven. He's just an active little scamp. :)

The End of Dogs

The dogs are going to die. I am going to kill them. He got at my stash of yarn. And they played with it. And ripped it to shreds. Yarn was strewn from one end of the living room to the other. In bits. They never, repeat NEVER, go after my yarn. When I'm home. But I'm not home. I'm in California for the summer. And so they go for my yarn. And so they must die.

Stash on the Brain

Okay, I've made a decision about my stash. (My stash may be thousands of miles away, but it's still cluttering up my mind.) I am using it up, even if I have to make a large number of ugly scarves that I can give as gifts. Big Needles, here I come! I thought about selling some of it, but I bought this stuff with hopes of finished projects, and darn it I want some finished projects. (Where's my fairy godmother?) After that, I will only buy yarn for specific projects. I can have 100 projects going at once, right?

Non-update

Okay, I'm a slacker. At knitting. I've been working instead of knitting. I know, what was I thinking? Obviously my priorities are totally messed up. I promise I will get some professional help.

On the bright side... Ravelry says there are only 7878 people ahead of me! That was a big jump in just a day. I wonder if things are becoming streamlined now. I won't have a chance to take photos of my stash and other completed projects until after the summer is over and we're back home, and I may get the invite before then. Oh well. I'll get to it asap.

Ravelry Wait (Part 1)

Only 8140 people ahead of me on the waiting list for Ravelry! WOO HOO!

On a project note, I got relatively nothing done knitting wise this weekend. I think I only got about an hour's worth of knitting all weekend. Sigh. I was working. And the Husband and I were walking around exploring the rest of the time. Oh well. There's always today. :)

Nerd Score

Okay. Everyone knows I'm a nerd, but I didn't think I was very far from normal. So on the recommendation of a friend, I took a test to rate my nerdiness. It was bad. I scored a 99, and they mocked me with "All Hail the Nerd God". Okay, so it has officially been proven that I am only 1% normal. Whatever. At least the Husband thinks I'm cool.

And My Envy Grows...

So Amanda is finally on Ravelry, and I'm green with envy. I'm eagerly awaiting my invitation and today the Ravelry look up page said this:

Found you!

• You signed up on July 10, 2007
• You are #15594 on the list.
• 8371 people are ahead of you in line.
• 5765 people are behind you in line.
• 32% of the list has been invited so far

Sigh. I have quite a wait ahead of me. And everyday until I get my invitation I'll be checking this page and imagining the greatness that awaits me.

Back to Knitting!

Okay, so I'm back in Berkeley, married and with Husband in tow, back to work, and also back to knitting. I didn't get a chance to knit for a while, what with all the last minute wedding details and all. But I'm back to it. And I've discovered something. If you use circular needles, but the connecting wire is too short, it really does mess things up. I sometimes use circular needles if I'm traveling because then I don't have to worry about losing a needle somewhere. Anyway, I've been using circular needles for making my baby afghan strips but the wire was too short. After a third of a strip I decided I couldn't stand it any longer and I bought new needles. (Now, to anyone else this would have been a simple decision and not have taken so long to do, but did I mention I've been on my honeymoon and going to work everyday?) So I dragged the Husband with me to Stash where I bought straight bamboo needles in the size I needed and the rest of the yarn I'll need for the baby afghan. He was very patient while I looked over the knitting books (I couldn't resist). Anyway, I started using the straight needles right away, and it was SO much better. But I did notice that the new needles are slightly bigger than the others of the same size. The knitting is now more regular and a little looser. In the end, I don't think the difference in the first portion and the rest will be noticeable, so I'm just continuing on from here rather than starting again. I don't think I could stand to rip out the 100 rows I've done so far.



While I was at Stash I did pick up a sock book. I bought Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. I haven't yet delved into sock making but that's next on the agenda. I wanted to get a book and start looking at the particulars and variations and pick out a pattern. I think I have just as much fun looking at patterns and reading about variations and options as I do actually casting on for the next project. I can't wait. Any recommendations on a pattern for a first time sock knitter?

Yarn for Baby Blanket

I didn't say anything about the yarn I am using. It's Dalegarn, aka Dale of Norway yarn (good eye, Sarah). I found it in this nice little yarn shop in Berkeley called Stash. It has limited selection, but what they have is very nice. I've never used Dalegarn before, but I really like the quality of the yarns I have seen. This yarn is called Stork (very appropriate for a baby blanket, so someone knew what they were doing when they named this yarn), is 100% cotton, and cost me $5.00 a skein. I'm using (1) white, (8) pale pink, (3) pale yellow, (5) pale blue (it's green), (6) sky blue, and (7) lavender. Stash is the only yarn store in Berkeley I have access to, since it's only 3 miles away from my apartment, and I don't have a car. Yes, I walked 6 miles for yarn in 95 degree weather and I'll be doing it again next month. Ain't exercise grand?

Baby Blanket

I've decided to stop wasting time trying to get my blog updated with all my old projects. I'm just going to put in what I'm doing now and move on. :)

I am currently obsessed with making a new baby blanket. I liked the pattern on this website:
http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/baby/lace.htm
However, I wanted to use 6 different colors, and I couldn't go against the "grain", so to speak. So I modified it into strips. I started making it with a garter stitch on the sides, but after knitting for way too long, I found the seaming was not going to look the way I wanted. So I pulled out a week's worth of hard work, and I'm sick over it. I'll be using the mattress method for joining, which I haven't used before, so it'll be a nice experiment. Here are my colors:

Busy Busy

I was able to get some knitting time in last night! How wonderful it was to knit again! And Amanda told me about a yahoo group that gives patterns for dishrags twice a month. They post directions for 2-3 rows per day and you knit them up and figure it out as you go along! Nice. I'm excited to do the next one. And after this conference is done, and the paper submitted, I'll be able to knit a lot more. *sigh* I can't wait. My nights will be free for knitting again, and I'll only have my research to do.

No real update

Where did I think I would get this free time? I was on crack or something. I have no time, but hopefully I will have some after I finish my oral exam. I did finish a scarf for my fiance, but the blocking doesn't seem to be holding. It keeps curling up. I'm going to block it again and see if I can get it to work out. I'm now crocheting an afghan for my future in-laws. And I'm still knitting a ton of scarves and shawls for friends, but I can't seem to make any progress. Oh, well.

Working on it

Now that I'm done with the written exam, I can get back to knitting. I have one more scarf to make before I can send them all off as really late Christmas gifts. Boy will that be a big post! So check back and see my stuff. I don't have anything elaborate ready to show, but I will. :)