The Great Sweater Challenge

After finishing the quilt for the bed, I was well into the seriously icky first trimester. I had a sudden urge to embroider (something I hadn't done since living in Vermont years ago). I picked up some pillow cases and started a pretty flower and paisley pattern. I found out I was pregnant around the time I was finishing the first pillow case in the pair. It stays untouched in the bottom of my crafting chest.

Yes, I have an entire chest (an old toy chest) and closet filled to the brim with materials for nearly every crafty whim that overcomes me. The room that holds said chest usually is overrun by yarn and fabric during one of my, "does this go together?" rampages. The fact that this room must become the nursery was a fact I faced early in my pregnancy...thankfully!

Since I wasn't feeling very well at first, but have a difficult time doing nothing I gave myself a few...ummm..let's call them challenges...to keep myself occupied.

Challenge 1. An oldie but a goodie, go back to the Well-Educated Mind and finish the books on the first reading list (see previous entry). So far, I'm not doing too bad. I'm finishing up Crime and Punishment (number 11? out of 30), which I really like so far.

Challenge 2. Read the entire King James version of the Christian bible. Since my husband is Christian, it only seemed like the right thing to do...and it seemed like a) a great literary feat, b) something completely outside my comfort zone, and c) I might learn something. I think item "c" is the primary reason for taking on this project. The reason? I was once eating at a tasty Indian buffet for lunch with 2 friends. One is Jewish, the other Catholic. I turned the my Catholic friend and asked what a traditional Passover feast with like. She turned red and said I don't know. Then I turned to my Jewish friend and said, doesn't it have something to do with Lent? They both burst into laughter...there were tears... thankfully they knew I was seriously ignorant and not intentionally trying to be insulting. I have tried to educate myself about world religions ever since. For some reason, Christianity has been a difficult one for me to tackle. Mark has been very informative and I'm starting figure out why I've been so confused by it for so long...there are endless "versions" of Christianity. They all believe different things...well, not the major premise of course, but there are differences. Reading "The Year of Living Biblically" by AJ Jacaobs (one of my favorite authors because he's into weird life projects like myself) helped me jumpstart the great bible reading project. I have finished Genesis and Exodus. I think the rest will have to wait awhile.

Challenge 3. Ok. Back to the crafty stuff. For this project I decided that I had way too much yarn, fabric, etc. I also recognized that I would need to get rid of this stuff to make room for baby. There is no way I was going to shove it into a box in the basement. I also knew that the baby would be born in the fall (perfect sweater season) and would need clothing. My task was to find free patterns on the internet and make tons and tons of baby clothes using the yarn already in my chest. I have made quite a few baby caps and sweaters (most of which are so ugly I would never in a millions years put them on my child..I blame it on yarn limitations). There were a few cute successes though.

This is a little hoodie I made from a free pattern my sister gave me. Some of you may have seen pictures of Mark knitting this one. He only finished one row, but I say that counts as helping make one of our son's first sweaters. Aww!


This is probably one of my favorites. It's a little striped cardigan.




Here's an itty bitty v-neck. Another favorite.


These things are adorable! They are actually made to be handwarmers. The little bottom opens and you can put rice-filled bean bags inside, which can be warmed in the microwave for cold nights. I thought this would be nice if we go camping, or if we are outside of the house for a walk on a brisk night.

Yes, I Have Hobbies Other than Complaining

I am a recovering busy-body. I used to get up well before dawn, workout on a regular basis, take public transportation (which is a chore in itself), commute to work for many many minutes (often hours), work all day, repeat said commute, squeeze in phone calls with friends and family, do volunteer work, moonlight as an editor (hey, broken dogs don't pay for themselves), read books, watch movies, spend time with Mark, make healthy dinners, go to concerts, keep up with the housework, and deal with whatever ridiculous mishap was happening at the time (eg, broken water pipes, broken dogs). And all that might have been in the same week. Weew!

That got pretty old (and tiring) so I went for a serious change of pace and moved to the country. Yay boonies! Getting pregnant put a little damper on forging ahead with my freelance career though. I just couldn't get my mojo going when I was sick all friggin' day for nearly 3 months (followed by a wonderful bout with a ruptured cyst on my ovary). I know, too much info, but it kind of explains why I felt great one day and then suddenly felt so terrible that I dropped off the planet for another month. It was unpleasant to say the least.

Fortunately, my amazing future hubby works his booty off so that I can spend more time worrying about resting and eating than...well, anything! Isn't that sweet?! So blah, blah, blah... I was busy, busy, busy now I'm lazy, lazy, lazy. Although I'm still writing (and trying to avoid a serious TV addiction with that reading list), I have little else on my plate. This has led me to become...

...the fanatical crafter! What does one do when lying supine for days on end? Hmmm? Knit maybe?!

So...it actually started with a quilt for our bedroom, which was actually pretty labor intensive. I got most of it done during the holiday break before I left Takeda. Finishing the quilt was one of my first major projects. The original pattern for the quilt was much smaller than I wanted so I added panels to all 4 sides and created a unique patch for each corner. Once the day came to put on the batting and finish it up, I realize I was running short in the batting department. I improvised and turned it into a duvet cover for our down comforter. I also made it reversible. There is a really nice white on white print on the back for the days that I'm sick of red and brown. I think it turned out great!

COMPLETED DUVET COVER



IMPROVISED CORNER PATCH



I then realized our baby would be born just in time for sweater season...

To be continued...

Drum Roll Please....

Well, yesterday was the big "you're halfway there" ultrasound. We were excited, to say the least. The baby was measured, pictures were taken. Soon the technician asked the question, "are you sure you want to know?" Of course, I'm thinking, Huh!? Are you crazy bitch, I've been waiting for this day for a looooong time. I not into surprises. I'm into decorating and I need to know what color to paint the damn nursery okay? My baby is not about to grow up in the boring world of beige. (Snap snap snap, I should have been born a gay man.) I was also secretly hoping that I wouldn't have to experience the "pink" baby shower. Hey, we all have that "aunt" who usually isn't related to us and who has to make some pink shit out of lace.

So we get to see the creepy baby face/skull. Although its my baby so its f'ing cute if you ask me. We saw the legs, toes, feet, spine, etc. We even saw a yawn. Awwww! Baby wasn't cooperating so the techinician pulled a fancy little belly poke to get the baby to move. Next thing we know, the baby is mooning us.

Now, we've been told these ultrasound aren't 100% accurate. However, you if you look at the little butt cheeks below, you will clearly see some junk down there. I don't think our little man left any room for doubt.

IT'S A BOY!


BABY FROM THE FRONT (yes, I know the skull is sort of creepy)

The Complaints Continue

I promised to continue my list of pregnancy not-so-pleasantries (Note: it appears I'm very good at making up words these days, bare with me).
Where did I leave off? Huh-hmmmmmm (me clearing my throat so my fingers can type better)...

5. Knocking items over with my belly. This is truly inconvenient since I also have a terrible time getting down to the floor to pick up said items. Once on the floor, it takes me a solid 60 seconds to get back up. It's sort of like I forgot how to drive and end up doing a 20-point turn to get out of my parking spot. Needless to say, I avoid the floor unless I have something to help me up. I digress, back to the belly...

Let me exemplify the belly problem by sharing a recent incident. A few nights ago a storm moved in pretty quickly. I was in the kitchen making dinner. Once I heard the raindrops I headed upstairs to close the windows with a tall glass of OJ in my hand (don't ask why I was carrying this with me, I apparently forgot to put the glass down). Once I reached the bedroom, I was winded because stairs are evil and Mark is not yet convinced we need an elevator. Although breathless and fatigued, the catlike agility I have developed since becoming pregnant can only explain what was to happen next. I carefully place my glass of OJ on the night stand and gracefully reached to close the window. Success, no rain in this room. As I turned to the leave the room, forgetting my OJ, my belly ever so delicately brushed the glass. The aroma of fresh oranges filled the room as my feet and newly cleaned carpet were dowsed in my precious OJ...it was the last glass by the way.

I cried. OK I didn't, but I wanted to.

Later I reflected on this and I realized I should be thankful that I'm too short to clear most of the surfaces in my house with the belly. Another perk of being short. Then I got to thinking some more (dangerous, I know). Do you think it's possible with my ever increasing size, gravity will have a greater effect drawing me closer to the ground? Will pregnancy make me shorter? If so, will my next blog tell the tale of my belly clearing the coffee table as I walk by? Hmmm...this would be unfortunate.

Aren't you happy you're not my brain? Its filled all sorts of nonsense.

Mind Games

Some may wonder, what's with that list of books? Well...a while back I decided I was going to read every novel listed in A Well-Educated Mind. This was a very slow process when I started. The first book on the list is Don Quixote....for the love of God! Anyway, I have promised myself that I would a) finish the list before the baby was born and b) use my free time wisely now that I seem to have more of it. I have read all of the books with a plus sign next to the title. Since I have a long way to go I decided put this list out there for all to see. If I start to slack, all will know of my laziness. :) Hopefully this will be extra motivation. We'll see.

Week 17

This is my Week 17 photo, taken a few weeks ago. Sorry, I'm still behind. We're going for our 20 Week ultrasound on Thursday so I will be sure to post photos and (if we're lucky) the answer to the pressing question...boy or girl?

And The Triple Chin Award Goes To…

I have always enjoyed being…err…petite-ish (heavy on the “ish”). Of course, being short comes with its perks. For starters, I see nothing but back of heads at concerts. Usually this is much more entertaining than the actual concert for the following reasons:
1. Most people DON’T pay attention to their backside (eg, a skirt tucked into undies or supremely obvious TGIF hair).
2. Most people think they have rhythm, but don’t.
3. White girls who think they can shake-a-booty actually look like their having a mid-striptease seizure.
4. The fat guy with the ponytail will inevitably throw up the devil horns…it doesn’t matter where. I’m serious. It’s straight out of the Simpsons.
Of course there’s a downside to being vertically challenged. I know who dealt it. Trust me. If you fail to wear deodorant, I’ll probably pick up on that pretty quick too. I can’t reach the top shelves at grocery stores. I can’t drive most cars, but I can usually reach the pedals in most trucks (WTF!). And, the worst thing about being short…1 pound looks like 10.

Now I realize that pregnancy goes hand-in-hand with weight gain. I have feared being as wide as I am tall (I can only grow out and there’s not a lot of vertical, think about it). I have even had nightmares of becoming Violet Beauregarde (yes, I had to look it up…she’s the gum chewing girl in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Fears aside, I have been confident, until recently, that I would have moderate weight gain and at least be able to stay at a decent level of fitness throughout my pregnancy. Despite my healthy cravings for fruit (and my weak attempts at staying active) I have blossomed. Yes, my blooming bottom, baby bump, et al are proving that my nightmare may in fact come true.

In the spirit of entertainment, I have chosen a blue swimming suit this year and have been searching for sunscreen with a blue tint. If I already look the part, I might as well have some fun with it. We’ll see if I turn heads at the beach.



While I did imagine becoming the blueberry girl from that 70’s movie, I was in no way prepared for:
1. Developing a prominent second chin.
2. Observing (within a short time) said second chin devour the first chin.
3. Observing (yet again) the second/first chin, consume the neck region. By the time I give birth I’ll merely be a belly with a head on top.
4. Feeling (and looking) like a flailing turtle with a shell on backward. I often get this image while I’m trying to get out of bed. My night goes something like this. I just peed. I have my Tums next to the bed. I’ve got the pillows all arranged. I’m good to go. Huughghgh! (that’s me trying to climb into our bed. It’s made for giants.) Once I’m in, I flop around like a fish trying to position myself comfortably. One pillow for the head. One behind my back, not too high, not too low (this takes practice). One between my knees. Shhhiiittt! I have to pee again! I get up and repeat. Once I’m settled. I will inevitably swear again because a) I have sciatic pain and need to roll over, b) I have heartburn and have to climb halfway out of bed to get a Tums, or c) I have to pee again.

Well, I think that’s enough for now. To be continued…

Belly Photos

I know, I know. I'm not the greatest at keeping my blog up to date. I could riddle you with excuses, but I'm not going to. Instead I'll try to start where I last left off.

Here's a quick baby run down:

WEEK 11

I decide to take my first belly photo. I was already showing a little and didn't want to be huge before I took my first pics.



WEEK 16

We had our montly office visit. The babies heart rate was awesome (I think it was in the 140's) and we got to hear it for the first time! I personally thought that seeing our little peanut with a racing heart was the OMG moment. Hearing the heart was still very cool. The visit was brief, but we were glad to hear that my blood pressure was normal and I am super healthy!

At my first visit the nurse took my blood pressure in approx 5 seconds and said it was pretty high. This had me concerned about preeclampsia as well as gestational diabetes, which runs in my family. According to Mark there was no way she took an accurate reading. Mark took it upon himself to take my blood pressure at home from time to time to make sure all was well. He assured me that I was well within normal range. Still, I was happy to hear that my doc felt I was in perfect health.

Since the morning sickness seemed to be gone and I was in no mood to become a couch potato I started a prenatal swim class and got back to the gym with Mark. He's training for a triathlon so I started walking the track (my goal being 2 miles a day) while he runs.

I also took another photo, this is actually week 15.