17 posts tagged “baby”
Now that I'm home all the time I've been catching up on the things I like to do the best - making stuff. I have been playing around with my new camera, organizing, and knitting up a storm, especially now that my feet get so swollen I can't bend my toes (knitting is easy to do whilst your feet are up higher than your heart!). So I'm taking time today to show off some of my newest creations for le bebe.
First, here is a little something I whipped up last night while listening to music outside at the Shopper's Stroll. At my knitting group yesterday (which I have started up again since I'm not at work every Thursday) a lady brought in a pattern for this dishcloth/trivet/pot holder/whatever. I have made Hazel quite a few washcloths out of cotton yarn, but they are too boring for words - just a plain knit stitch square - so I was super excited to see how pretty these are and how quick they are to knit!
I exaggerated the color a bit so you could see the pattern a little better.
This little cutie I have been working on for a couple of weeks. May I present my first knitted wearable clothing item!!
I used Lionbrand Microspun yarn, which is 100% acrylic but super slick and smooth. It really feels wonderful. In fact, I bought this yarn last year before I was married, way before I thought I would be pregnant, just because it felt so awesome at the store. It was kind of tricky to work with; if you're familiar with embroidery floss then you understand how loosely this yarn is twisted together. But I pushed through it and now I have a cute, lightweight, kimono-style sweater for Hazel in a gorgeous color. I love more adult colors on babies; who says all their stuff has to be ugly neon or pastel??
I have also been experimenting with stenciling onto clothing. I realized after doing these four that I've been using parchment paper, which is not the same as freezer paper, and infinitely more difficult since parchment curls up and freezer paper sticks to clothing a bit when you iron it. I can't even blame that on preggo brain! So here are my slightly smeared baby onesies (with more to come after a trip to the store for freezer paper!).
And this is a sneak preview of a super secret project I'm working on for someone else (you know I can't keep it totally a secret!!!)...
I had another check-up today. I'm going once a week now, and these visits are picking up in exciting news. For months it's been like a revolving door with me; seriously, I'm in and out in the span of 15 minutes. Now I go and we get to check on all this exciting stuff, seeing where she's at and having her kick at the nurses' hands!
Unfortunately I don't have any excitement from this visit, though. My cervix is soft, but closed, and the baby's still at station -5. For those of you who don't know, and really who knows about that except preggo's or women who have had kids, station refers to where the baby's head is in relation to my bony pelvis. The scale goes from -5 being at the very top, to 0 when labor usually starts, to 5, which is when the baby's head crowns right before she's born. The good news is I get another ultrasound on Monday!! The doctor wants to check on her size and get a more accurate feel for how low she is. The OB said she was sure the baby isn't really big, maybe around 6 lbs., but wants to get a better idea. I personally feel that she's a little small, and of course I'm worried that being a smoker before I knew I was pregnant is affecting her, even though the doctor assured me that's not the case. I can't help but worry just a bit though!
The good side to being so far away from labor still is that I'm cleared for travel! Our first anniversary is coming up quickly on July 28th. I can't believe we will have been married for a year already. I love Amos and am so excited that we can celebrate our anniversary with something special instead of just staying at home!! We are planning to spend a weekend in Ithaca, home to Cornell and, I've heard, tons of other awesome stuff. There are a bunch of cool restaurants and shops on their visitor's website, so I am really looking forward to a change of scenery. Especially if it involves delicious food and kitschy merchandise!! :D
I have been doing quite a bit in the business and DIY arenas, also. I'm not quite ready to talk shop just yet, but expect an update/new post by tomorrow to show off a couple of new crafty things for the baby.
We are at T minus 4 weeks! Four weeks! That's only a month!
I'm both surprised and dying for the end. I'm sure most women who have been pregnant understand what I'm talking about. On one hand I can't wait to meet the baby, have a drink again if I want, get out of the bathtub on my own (oh yes, I need a helping hand). On the other I'm going to miss feeling her squirming around in there, and once she's out I have to start worrying about what she's doing and where she is.
Amos and I have just about everything taken care of except packing a bag for the hospital. I'm not exactly sure what clothes to put in there. Every book I have suggests taking some nightgowns that are both suitable for breastfeeding and, to be kind of direct for a second, I would be okay throwing away since they could come back looking like I survived Vietnam or maybe a food fight involving only ketchup. You hear me? That's kind of a tall order. I mean, I like all my clothes! So I'm going out today to find something, I don't know what. Also I'm stocking up on mini-toiletries so I can just pack them and then throw them away there. Much less hassle that way!
Like most knitters I've got yarn in my stash that I bought because it was cheap, or I loved it, but had no idea what to do with it. I had four skeins or so, two being a black and white variegated and the others being electric blue and black variegated. I've been wanting to use it, so when I found this pattern for a circular baby blanket I thought this is great! I can make this blanket & give it to this couple I know who's having a baby boy right around when I am.
So I make the whole damn thing. It takes a few days, mainly because it was my first experience with DPNs and it took a while to get started. I went from 5 stitches on the DPNs to like 200 on the circular needles!! The only problem was I cast off a little too tightly. Since the blanket was a circle, that meant it wouldn't lay flat, but had a slightly curled edge. After spending almost 2 hours this morning trying to work on it, unraveling the finished blanket to pick up stitches and rework the end border, I finally just gave up that threw that piece of s$#* in the trash.
What did this experience teach me?
1. I hate baby blankets.
2. I hate DPNs.
UGH!!!
We have finally gotten everything set up for the baby. It feels wonderful to have all the necessary things in place!
I am very happy with how things look in here! The only addition I'm considering is a rug...but we'll see. Notice the lack of cartoon characters, obnoxious prints, and overt commercialism. This area makes me feel peaceful and I hope it has the same calming effect on our daughter. The small frames on the wall behind her crib are photos of family. I'm going to add a few more of grandparents, aunts, and uncles in the next week or two; I love the hodge-podge feel of the different frames so closely hung together.
These lily woodcuts were made by Amos's maternal grandfather Barney. He gave them to me this past May when I visited St. Louis for my baby shower.
This burp cloth was embroidered especially for our little sweetie by her Aunt Lesley! Right now it's hanging over the changing table more as a decoration. We've gotten a couple of things like this that are so pretty I'm not sure I want to use them!
This toy bag hangs off the changing table for some convenient and pretty okay looking storage. I knit this based on a stretchy reuseable market bag pattern that I've knit a hundred times, so I thought making alterations for this project would be easy. If I were to do it again I would make the top less stretchy - see how the buttons look like they are going to go flying off any second now? - but it is actually quite sturdy and gets the job done for now.
This was my (early) anniversary present to Amos. I had the two pieces of our wedding invitation framed with the print blocks used to make them bracketing the whole thing. For the first time ever I chose an Italian hand-finished frame; the expense made my knees quiver a bit, but this is another item that will definitely be passed down through the family. It makes me happy to create these heirloom pieces for our daughter.
Apparently I can't stay off the blog today.
But I had to post this cutie photo, and be prepared, because tomorrow I'm going to photograph the baby's things now that we've gotten her stuff all situated.
This was my coming home outfit 25 years ago, and this will be hers as well. I bought her some new shoes, and she'll be wrapped in a blanket that covered both my mother and myself as newborns.
I am, right now, feeling contractions for the first time.
Scary and cool!!
This is the first time I've been able to identify them, so I guess I'm a little surprised in a way. It feels like someone reached in from the outside, grabbed my uterus & stomach muscles, and squeezed really hard. I have this visual in my brain of when that guy grabs that other guy's heart out in Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's like that, but in the stomach. But not too bad, I did some deep breathing and that helped. This means she's getting closer!!!
Whew! I just got back last night and was too exhausted to do anything but go to bed. Well, eat first and then go to sleep! ;)
St. Louis was super awesome as always! Laura was able to come home from college for my whole trip, so she and Nancy and I had a lot of girly time, which is always appreciated and fun. We went baby shopping on Friday, and my pregnant self is so slow that shopping is the only thing we did. I got some really good deals though, and ended up with a few cute things for not that much cash.
The shower was sweet family fun. All the aunts and cousins were there, and we had a blast! Patty, one of Amos's aunts and hostesses, had about 58 games to play, and luckily none of them involved me wearing bows or hats or anything stupid. There was an adorable pink sugar-dusted cake, lots of good food, and even a watermelon basket (I secretly really love those things!!). It was so great to see everyone again, and the shower flew by. I wanted to take more photos, but I was pretty busy the whole time, so all I got was a crappy shot of the cake. It's seriously so lame I'm not even worried about taking it off the camera, but it's no big deal.
One of the best things was the huge SURPRISE I got right before we left for the shower. Nancy, Laura, and I were hanging out in the living room when the doorbell rang. We gave each other odd looks, since we weren't expecting anyone. Nancy opened the door to reveal my mom, stepsister, and her son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so shocked and elated that they came! It made the shower even more special, plus we went to dinner and hung out afterward until about 11 pm. I was just so overwhelmed, and it was awesome to get to see them <3
My last day there was pretty chill, although we did go to dinner and I beat Jim at backgammon with a triple gammon, which is a big deal for all you non-backgammon players. The trip back was really long, with me getting to the airport at 9 am and not getting home until like 7 pm, but it was well worth the super fun trip I had.
The baby had hiccups for the first time a couple of days ago <3
I was awake at about 5 in the morning, just laying there trying to get sleepy again. You know when you are still like that and you can feel your heartbeat seemingly everywhere in your body? I sleepily thought, cool, I can feel my heartbeat all down through my torso.
And then it stopped.
I thought, Holy CRAP my heart stopped!!! LOL! Then it started again, and of course I realized that couldn't be my heartbeat! I took my pulse and the rhythm was different than what I was feeling there, and I realized the baby had to be hiccuping. So precious!!!
