Thursday, March 31, 2005

gbs+

dammit.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

cluck, cluck

Simkin's 'The Birth Partner' lists nesting as a possible sign of impending labor. I can hope, can't I?

I feel so good when I have a somewhat productive day! I sewed Tristan's soaker this morning, then this afternoon, I finished washing up the newborn diapers and covers, washed the slings that needed it, and packed our hospital bags. And...

I dyed prefolds! These are preemie-sized Chinese prefolds that I got in a trade a couple of weeks ago. OK, dyeing them was not a necessity, but having them a different color than our larger ones will make it easier to grab the right dipe when we need it. They make me smile, too :). Dyed with lilac Dylon, which I decided was too blah, so I overdyed them with ultra violet Dylon. Not the most amazing tie dye job ever, but it's my first and I'm proud.

soaker shorts, redux

We woke up dry this morning. Hooray! Since I know the basic system of two layers of fleece will work, I decided to tweak the pattern to better fit ds.

I decreased the width overall--the stride and each leg by about 2". I actually decided to only add a stride panel in the back, and I made it angled, so that it is wider over the bum than at the crotch. The fleece is cut so that it stretches width-wise for the front panel and legs, but length-wise for the back panel and inner layer. I increased the rise overall, but after sewing the panels together, I decreased the rise in front by about 2", so that the extra rise is only in back, where it is really needed. Instead of attaching the inner layer to the waistband (which ended up really, really bulky), I sewed it in with a zigzag in front and back, about 1" down from the top. Then, I used a lighter weight fleece to make a cuff/casing at the top, which I then put elastic into.

Here's a photo of the pieces, to give you an idea of what I did. I think that this basic setup works much better with the bulkier fleece than the original pattern did.



And the final product:



They fit a lot better!

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

the mother of invention...

We're having nighttime diapering issues again. Tristan is diaperless during the day (potty trained...?), but still quite the heavy wetter at night. We had the hardest time finding a system to work for us at all. A little over a year ago, we stumbled upon using fitteds (preferably Liz's Cloth Nighty Noodles, which I think are no longer made) with a Stacinator So-Simple cover over it. I think that the covers have about had it after so much continuous use. I've re-waterproofed them once, but would rather not deal with the chemicals again, especially since the recent info about the hazards of DWR waterproofing.

Wool has never worked for Tristan, so I figured I'd get a (non-dwr treated) polar fleece cover like a deluxe Stacinator. Then, late last night, it occured to me---I have some 200wt Malden Mills fleece in my fabric stash! I got it in a trade from another mama maybe six months ago. So, using the Domestic Sphere's 'flat pants' pattern as a jumping off place, I sewed him up a pair of fleece soaker shorts. I put two layers in the wet zone---the inner layer is only attached to the waistband, but snugly covers the diaper---so it should be as waterproof as anything. I had to make them quite a bit narrower than the pattern calls for, probably due as much to the fact that I was using bulky fleece (as opposed to lightweight woven cotton, as the pattern was designed for) as the fact that my boy is skinny like his papa. I did add a bit to the rise, though, to ensure a good fit over huge dipes.

I'm pretty pleased with the result:

Monday, March 28, 2005

term!

We had our 36 week midwife appointment today. Whee! I'm officially full term. I am really getting to that place that all pregnant women get to at some point...I want this baby OUT! My pelvis hurts every time I move or just shift my weight, my joints are beginning to hurt like heck (last week it was my thumb, now my left wrist, both of which make it difficult to knit), I can't rest well, I'm tired of feeling my guts gurgle around my lungs. Four more weeks of *this*?! I've started taking evening primrose oil and red raspberry leaf supplements (I have a hard time drinking all the pregnancy tea I should), so maybe once she decides to come, my body will be quite ready. My midwife said today that she's in a perfect position, has dropped even further (I measure 1cm less than last week), and that all signs point to a fairly quick and easy labor. Let's hope.

The big news today, though, is that Jon got a call and an invite to an interview! Before I got the job offer, I was really, really wanting to move back to Arkansas to be around my parents, so he applied for a few jobs there. At this point, it's a more difficult thing...the job doesn't pay nearly as much as he could get for a similar position locally, I have that new job, and we're also the caretakers of his mom's home at the moment. On the other hand, it would definately be a better environment for the kids, both because it has less pollution (a big concern since Tristan had developmental delays caused by pollution up here) and because they'd actually be near family. We are pretty much family-less here. He's planning on flying in for the interview at the beginning of next week and getting an idea of how everything would be, then we'll have to discuss it all.

So, according to Murphy's law, the baby should come then, right? Or maybe she would come Sunday or Monday morning, directly before he has to fly out. You know, I probably wouldn't complain.

Sunday, March 27, 2005

red handed

Back in December, we decided to add to our family via a fish tank. Our initial tank included three live bearing fish (a molly, a platy, and a swordtail) and two snails (the cleaning crew). At the population's apex, about a week later, we had many, many more teensy fish because it turned out that the molly had been pregnant when she came to us. Since then, the population has been steadily decreasing, without obvious reasons. I worried we were overfeeding, but even after becoming more careful, we kept loosing fish, and eventually also lost one snail.

A few weeks ago, the swordtail died, leaving one lone fish---the largest of the molly's babies---and one snail. This morning we discovered the culprit of the mass death.



The snail did it! Jon found him on top of the struggling, pinned down little molly this morning. The molly did not last long, and floated away...tail-less. Needless to say, this snail is truly a monster. He finally left the molly alone, with only half of his body intact. Though apparently snails don't care for fish bones.

We're undecided on what to call the lone remaining denizen of our tank. I suggested Uncle Joe, Jon prefers der weiße Engel.

Saturday, March 26, 2005

mama's day out

For a day that began rather worse than usual (I was tired as all get out), today ended up being surprisingly pleasant. Jon and Tristan took off for lunch with a friend and then a playdate with the friend who has offered to watch Tristan during the birth. I had the entire afternoon to myself!

I went to a yarn store that I like but isn't quite close enough to visit often. They happened to be having a Two Old Bags trunk show, with lots of knitted up samples to check out. I've been trying to find a good use for some handpaintedyarn.com merino that I got in December and have been dreaming of a felted diaper bag, so this was perfect. I ended up really liking the Hold-It-All Handbag pattern, which looks pretty plain online, but awesome in person. It has a really nice shape to the pouch of the bag. I think I'm going to knit it up with a longer strap, so I can wear it messenger style. Whee, another project!

After the yarn store adventure, I visited a surplus store that has really nice stuff, but is generally a madhouse. I really don't like going there with Tristan, but it was very enjoyable solo. Even when I don't buy anything, I enjoy discount stores, lol :)

And to top it all off, a late lunch at the Cracker Barrel! Jon suggested that I take myself out to a restaurant, and since he's veg he really doesn't care for CB...so it was the perfect choice. Yummy food and a wonderful book ('Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years' by Elixabeth Wayland Barber). The weekend's only half over, but I feel like I've already milked it for all it's worth.

Friday, March 25, 2005

still life with ice cream

The weather has been incredibly gloomy this week. That's why I'm not motivated to do anything, right? It's not just that I'm lazy...?

We had our weekly playdate this morning, which was awesome as usual. I'm really glad that I have that one thing to plan my week around; Tristan loves playing with the boys and I'm happy to get some adult conversation. I suppose I'll be having much more of a schedule soon, but I think that might help me retain some sanity in those early newborn days.

I went in and did all of the paperwork for my new job on Wednesday. Personnel said that I'm scheduled to start on Monday, but I haven't heard a peep. I sent an email to the project coordinator, so hopefully the lines of communication will stay open. I'm starting to understand why they said in the interview that organization is a continual problem for the project.

I went grocery shopping a couple of days ago and was thrilled to see that they not only had pickles on sale for almost half off, but they had Ben & Jerry's ice cream pints on sale too. Mmhmmm. The tiny details that make a preggo's week so much better.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

arrrrgh!

I just caught the cat chewing on Tristan's glasses! I am SO angry with that cat! ARGH! Between him and the other, they attack just about anything. They've torn up my knitting, chewed up clothes, randomly scratched Tristan without provocation, and now attacked glasses---glasses!---chewing up the temple and leaving a scratch on the lens. I swear, they are so close to going back to the rescue society.

getting closer...

Exactly one month until my due date, as determined by the quite well-known date of conception. Less than one month until my ultrasound due date; the sonogram set it at April 19, based upon baby's size.

I am so tired. I had horrible insomnia starting around this time with Tristan too, and it was awful. I hope I don't go into labor exhausted again. Guess I'll get some Sleepytime tea at the grocery tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

more birth thoughts

I have pretty much come to peace with the logistics of the birth at this point. My new worry, of course, is about the birth experience itself.

As a young person, I was never afraid of death---until after I gave birth to my son. Before then, I could never have even imagined that such incredibly all-incompassing pain could exist. I know about the research that shows post-birth hormones dull the memory of the actual birth pain and that hypothesize that their existence is the only way that the human race has survived, since mothers would not go back and birth so eagerly if they could fully remember what it had been like the first time. That is so true. I have seen it in women close to me; my mother told me her labor hadn't been any worse than menstrual cramps and my grandmother was actually shocked when she learned that I was quite vocal---and somewhat vulgar---close to the end of my labor. Last summer, when we were beginning to try to conceive, I remember thinking that it hadn't been that bad and, besides, second births are easier. Now that the actual birth is becoming imminent, I can't recall the actual experience of the pain, but I can certainly recall its existence.

All the books tell you that you should not be afraid, that fear increases pain. And that you should think of contractions as rushes, energy surges, waves. Uh huh. Maybe I'll be a Zen-like Birth Master next week, but here at 35 weeks, I'm just scared.

Monday, March 21, 2005

baby genius

So, this child may very well be the sharpest thing since Schmetz needles.

Yesterday afternoon, Tristan 'helped' Jon inflate his bicycle tires. He seriously had an awesome time; he thinks that the gauge on the pump looks like a clock. The surprising thing, though, was that he was counting as he pushed down on the pump handle...and he counted all the way from one to ten, pretty understandably! I was shocked. Only six months ago, his only word was 'mama'. He has come so amazingly far.

In my neverending quest to stimulate his young mind and to give myself something more interesting to watch with him than 'Baby Neptune', I used a B&N gift cert today to get him the absolute BESTEST kid's video I've ever seen. Released only last month, They Might be Giant's 'Here Come the ABCs' is truly destined to be a classic. I've loved this group since my dad gave me one of their albums back in 1994; but, great as all their earlier stuff may be, I think that they've really found their niche in kids' entertainment. The entire video is about the alphabet and is filled with lots of new songs, illustrated by animation and puppets (my favorite is 'Who Put the Alphabet in Alphabetical Order?'). The music is really refreshing and Tristan is certainly entranced and seems much more engaged than he does with most videos. After watching it only time, he's already noticing letters more. At dinner tonight, he got a huge thrill from telling me words and watching me write them out. He seemed particularly interested in 'baby' and 'bear' starting with the same letter.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

sahm...wohm?

I guess that being labeled as a full-time stay at home mom was rather transitory because I GOT A JOB! I am so thrilled. I applied for a job as a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor back in January. It is at a university med center, as part of a federally-funded study to see how to encourage breastfeeding among teenaged mothers. I interviewed in February and really thought it went well, but wrote the whole thing off by the beginning of March, since it had been so long and I hadn't heard back. I got a call yesterday offering me the job! It is very part-time (4-8 hrs/wk), but a lot of it can be done from home via phone calls to participants, and, besides, that work load is about all that I need with a new baby on the way. We are going to try to get all of my training in before the birth. I think that this could be an amazing opportunity for me---it is the perfect introductory job into the lactation consulting field. I will also be working closely with School of Nursing staff; I have periodically thought about going to nursing school, so this will likely convince me one way or the other.

So, that's the big news! In an update from earlier this week, the Denise folks sent me a replacement cord! Wahoo! Unfortunately, it is the wrong size :(. I am going to give them a call on Monday and just order a couple of new cords.

Friday, March 18, 2005

little hooligan

I have a tendency to be a pretty judgmental person. I've been that way for most of my life, but I think that parenthood really brought it to the surface; yet, as a parent, I feel the need to keep the judgmentalness under greater control than ever before since I'm now a role model. Being the mom of a toddler, I'm not as critical of other parents as I was when Tristan was a baby. I generally do my best to sympathize with the mother, realize that I don't know anything close to the whole story, and go on. Though sometimes I can't help but commenting things like, "Oh, that baby is crying. What do you think he's trying to say he needs? Maybe he wants to be held." I want the boy to grow up to eventually be a good father, after all.

Every once in a while, though, I see enough of the story to realize that, geez, that mom is just not parenting well. Perhaps she's overworked and stressed out, perhaps she doesn't like parenting, or maybe she's just incredibly lazy. Enter the Local Yarn Store Kid (LYSK). We have been visiting a LYS since I started knitting last October; I really enjoy this particular store because they have an amazing variety of harder-to-find yarns. I was also impressed initially because they have a children's room, with toys and a television, etc. Tristan was impressed because those toys included toy trains. The first time we visited, we met LYSK, a child about Tristan's age. He was stuck in a highchair, in front of the television, eating various sugary snacks. OK. I figured that his mom was just trying to get in a well-deserved moment of solo yarn shopping. After visiting a few more times, and finding LYSK present in various temperaments, I realized that his mom was not just shopping; she was moving in. I am still not sure if this lady works at the LYS or whether she's just hanging out knitting, but we have only visited once (on a Sunday morning) when LYSK was not stuck there.

As LYSK moved more deeply into toddlerhood, he became more and more...uh...difficult. This child is as close to a hooligan as a toddler can be. We visited the LYS today before meeting Jon for lunch. LYSK met Tristan at the door of the playroom and immediately shoved and then hit him. "No, we don't hit," I told him, holding his hand back from hitting Tristan again. "MOMMY!" LYSK shrieked, running out into the store. Tristan just looked after the kid like he was nuts and went to play with the trains...until, of course, LYSK ran back in, grabbing the train Tristan was playing with and screaming "Mine!". These scenes replayed in various forms for the entire fifteen minutes we were there, and I only saw LYSK's mother once, right before we left. Tristan was crying because he didn't wasn't ready to leave the trains and the mom came in and said, "oh, I thought my boy was trying to start something." Uh-huh, where were you for the past quarter hour?

It's not that I begrudge any mother from having a life outside of her children; but when a young child is spending much of his time with minimal adult interaction and supervision, he is suffering and I certainly do grudge. Greatly.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

sacrilege

I am working on my first non-100% wool soaker. Acrylic! Oh, the humanity of it.

I was convinced to give this a try by a skein of $1 Wool Ease at my local Michael's. I know that a lot of moms have great success with acrylic and wool/acrylic blends, and you can't beat a $1 soaker. Wool Ease is a machine washable acrylic/wool blend; I'm using leftover Artful Yarns Supermerino for the waist and cuffs. I really like the way that the colors are coming out, though this photo doesn't do it justice. I'll surely post a better photo after it's done.



In other news, Tristan said "sorry" completely unprompted for the first time. He'd knocked a skein of yarn off a table while throwing his ball around. Almost made up for him telling me to "shut up" last week (a sad mommy moment...we don't even say that in our home!).

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

pickles and a 30 day notice

We're going to be moving! Jon's sister was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis about a week and a half ago; she is responding to treatment fairly well so far, but their mom has decided to stay out there with them to help with her and her two kids. So, today, MIL asked Jon if we'd like to stay in her house. Of course! Our apartment is the nicest one I've ever lived in---I love seeing nothing but trees outside our living room---but it is a tiny, washing machine-less one bedroom. With the baby coming, a larger home would be very nice, but what really makes me salivate is that we'll have a washer and dryer readily available. To a mother who cloth diapers and has washed five loads of laundry in her apartment building's coin op this afternoon, this has huge implications!

We gave our 30 day notice today, so we're set to be totally moved out about a week before my due date. I think we're going to get hopping on it right away, though. The house is not very far from where we're living now; it's still in the cleanest area of the city, pollution-wise. We will be paying the mortgage, but that will still save us $100 per month, not even counting the expensive laundry loads we currently do.

Oh, and as for the pickles...I love them! The only other time that I have been able to sit and eat gherkin after gherkin was a few weeks before Tristan arrived...

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

diapers!

I finally got around to actually putting some diapers together, yay! I am using the Poquito Pants pattern and they are coming out quite well. It looks like they'll fit perfectly underneath the ribbed soakers. Hemp jersey outers, organic cotton inners. They are fastener-less at the moment, but I got notification that my package of fabric and notions shipped from Sewzanne's today, so hopefully I'll have the first batch of ten finished up by this time next week.



Not the most amazing looking thing in the world, but it's my first, so I expect them to improve.

Monday, March 14, 2005

anticipation

This morning, I met with Sarah, the woman who has offered to doula for me. We brought the kiddos over to my friend Jaime's house for a playdate/meeting. It went really well and I feel quite good about having her help us out with the birth. Jaime will also be there, most likely, and has said she'd be happy to act as photographer as well. Talking over my last birth with them, my fatal flaw seemed obvious---I had absolutely no labor management help until I had been in labor for fifteen hours and was in quite a lot of pain. Though one of the midwives did visit around 6pm, about nine hours after it all began, she decided that I wasn't far enough along and left; Jon and I were left to our own devices until a call to the other midwife at midnight. It seems obvious now that a woman in that situation would choose to go to a hospital for medication.

This birth will be in the hospital by default; there are no nurse-midwives (read: legal midwives) doing homebirths in my area any more. I am a bit anxious because the hospital is a half hour to 45 minutes away from our apartment, but Sarah assures me that she'd be happy to come over and help figure out when it's time to transfer. I would like to get there in time, but certainly not too early, both because it can (of course) stall labor, and because the idea of having Tristan present is becoming very appealing, but I just can't expect a toddler to be happy in a hospital for hours on end.

I guess I'm somewhat apprehensive and worried about the whole situation. I don't think that I handled birth well last time, but in many ways, that is probably just because it went so very differently than I had expected...I traded a homebirth for a labor helped along with Nubain. I am going into labor with fewer expectations and a more open mind this time, but I cannot help but worry that the interventions will snowball and I will be powerless in my daughter's birth.

34 weeks along as of yesterday. So, three more weeks and I'll be considered term, but she dropped about a week ago, so I'll just have to see how much further than that we'll go.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Tragedy strikes!

While knitting away at a Little Turtle Knits ribbed soaker last night, the cord on my so-dependable-for-three-months Denise circular broke. The connector completely snapped off, leaving me scurrying to save the dropped stitches and, finally, circular-less. My mind filled immediately with visions of horror: a newborn, with only (gasp!) four mother-knitted wool soakers to keep her comfy and dry. Denise needles are covered by a warranty, but I could not imagine sending the broken cord off and waiting, waiting, waiting for a replacement. After firing off a distraught email to the Denise folks, I had a night of awfully interrrupted sleep.

Things don't seem quite as bad today. I've been working on the Plymouth Encore baby blanket that I should have finished last month. I also finished cutting out the pieces for the fitted diapers which will go under the soakers, and have started sewing them together. Hopefully by the time that my (as yet unplaced) order for aplix arrives, they'll be pretty much finished and ready for fasteners.

Surprisingly, Tristan actually got a nap in today without much fuss. He's still obsessed with skiing and got quite upset a bit ago when his idea to ski with plastic forks didn't work out so well. This child has quite a bit of perseverence: though socks, boots, printer paper, and junk mail have all given him unsatisfactory skiing experiences, after a quick tantrum, he picks himself up and looks for a new 'ski' to try.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

obligatory introduction

Ooooh, a new blog. A rare chance to recreate myself. Or to simply help my tired pregnant mind remember what happened yesterday.

These days, I think of myself as being a fairly uninteresting person. I am the young mother of a wonderfully active toddler boy and am expecting a tiny new babe in about six weeks (give or take a month...my ds was three weeks late!). I am a stay at home mother who has ambitions, or at least dreams of having ambitions, that go far outside the idea of the SAHM that I held only a few years ago. I have just enough education to make me dangerous (a BLA) but not quite enough to make me Educated. At the moment, knitting is about all that my brain can handle, though I still have much to learn in that area as well.

So, dear Invisible Reader, I hope that this post, and subsequent ones, don't put you to sleep. Though I will of course not know if they happen to. C'est la vie.