Baby Photos, and Baby J's Finished Afghan

Here is Baby J sleeping the sleep of the innocent.


Isn't he just the most beautiful boy ever? Here he is with is Nana:


Again with Nana.



And now the long-awaited afghan.


I finished the border on Sunday, and finally wove in all the ends today. I still need to wash it to shrink the border, but it'll only shrink a little. My fingers have regained most of their feeling, and so once I was able to work on it again (last week) it went pretty quickly. I'm very happy with the finished product.

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. :)