WIP: Hexie Quilt

With my sister's wedding getting every closer (middle of May), I've been focusing almost exclusively on getting at least the top of the quilt done. This has been slow going, because infant (i.e. wailing/smiling, tiny dictator). He's getting so big that we've had to remove the bassinet from the pack 'n play and just bed him down on the mattress.

Anyway, my hexie quilt is coming along. I finished cutting all of my fabrics, and I think I only accidentally cut one green fabric twice. Then I decided to do some quilty math to figure out how many half hexies I actually needed after counting how many I had. Turns out I was about 9 short of my 425 that I needed. Pretty good. So I grabbed another five greys from my hoard of text fabrics and cut sets from each.

Here are my final stacks (minus the final 5 sets of grey):

Then I started figuring out the layout. Problem is I have a tiny space to lay things out in and a king sized quilt. So here was my solution:

I worked from left to right, continuously stacking and adding and stacking and adding until I came to the end of the row. Then I would look at the picture from the previous set of rows to work on the next several rows. Slow, but effective. The only problem is that I can't move anything around once I've put it somewhere and thus I painted myself into a very grey corner because I didn't space the greys out very effectively.

So today I laid out rows 10-25 on our living room floor, where it barely fit and rearranged some of the hexies into a more even layout.

I'm a little happier about this portion of the layout, although I'm not particularly happy about being unable to see the other 9 rows laid out with it so I can check the entire layout. I did send it to my sister and she likes it. So that's all that matters.

It's a Boy!

So our son arrived only a day late, and not for lack of trying. I was in labor for about nine hours from start to finish and only spent about half an hour of that on the way to the midwifery center and about an hour at the hospital complex. I wish I could say I spent that hour at the midwifery center, but unfortunately it's very hard to get someone to take you seriously when you say your baby is arriving NOW with your very first birth. But we did manage to make it to the midwifery center just in time for me to deliver, with my husband assisting the midwife.

Our son was born at 4:35am on February 25. He weighed 7 lbs and measured 10.25 inches. We named him Richard Michael (Richard for both of our fathers: Richard and Erich, and Michael for both of our brothers). The picture was taken by the backup midwife (who arrived as I was getting stitched up) as we were getting ready to leave the center around 8am the same day. Despite stitches and an "interesting" (harrowing) birth experience I am recovering well, Richard is doing great, and my husband has been a rock. And we're totally in love!

WIP Wednesday: Sports Fish

I've spent so much time in bed cross-stitching because I was sick all weekend that the first fish is almost done. I started this as a surprise for my hubby's 30th birthday, but that came and went and I didn't actually start this until a few days before and there's still two fish to go. So I got him a few other gifts and told him about this one. He was actually pretty excited about it when I told him what it was going to be and that we would hang it underneath his "A fisherman lives here with the best catch of his life" sign once it's done. This one is a Striped Bass. It's still missing most of the face, a dorsal fin and a lure. Then there's going to be a Rainbow Trout underneath and a Coho Salmon above, with a tackle box and fishing rod respectively.

I ironed the borders for the Braille Alphabet Quilt but have not attached them yet. And I actually pulled some fabric for my long overdue November Stash Bee blocks and started cutting. I have fussy cut the three center sections and cut out the churn dash portion for one.

In baby news, I'm now two weeks away from my official due date. Our to-go bag is packed except for my music, the stroller and car seat are sitting by the door (and Sir has discovered that there is the perfect amount of space for him to sit in the stroller underneath the car seat after initially being very leery about this new contraption).

I'm having more and more trouble getting good sleep. This morning I woke up around 5am to go to the bathroom and my right hip and back on that side hurt so bad I thought I was going to throw up. Not fun. Luckily that was gone by the time I had to get up for work. No amount of pillows between my legs or pads under my stomach seem to help me get comfortable for the night. Part of the problem is that once I'm asleep I really don't move, no matter how uncomfortable my body may be getting. But it lets me know in no uncertain terms once I wake up just what a bad idea it was to sleep with my head on my arm or curled up a certain way. I know I won't be getting a whole lot of sleep once this baby makes an appearance, but I cannot wait to be able to sleep comfortably on my back again.

Braille Alphabet Quilt and More Cross-Stitch

So the center of the braille alphabet quilt is done. I have also sewn together more grey squares than I care to remember and now have four rows of grey squares waiting to be ironed and attached to the top. It might actually get this quilt done at some point in the near future.

There are two other projects hiding in this picture (well, three)... The sashing for my blue, black, and white quilt can be seen below the quilt top. Unfortunately the next block I ran through my machine came out just a bit too small, despite double-checking the measurements, so now I have to rip it out, cut new sashing, and try again. :(

I also still have some of the Charming Kate Spain squares up, although most have now fallen on the floor and been picked up and stacked haphazardly somewhere in my craft room. And finally, that big box is the crib... which is still in a box... and should go in that corner, where everything else is currently stacked. Sigh. But at least our "to go" bag is packed and our letter from the pediatrician is signed saying they are ok with us giving birth at a birth center instead of at a hospital and that they'll see our child within the first 48 hours after birth. Baby steps, as it were.

I also finished the frame for February on my Story Time Sampler and started stitching the door. The door proceeded to screw with my OCD to the point where I ended up ripping out three rows of stitching to make it symmetrical. I set it aside for a bit and then came back to it last night and have gotten the door past the door knob. February is The Secret Garden, which was one of my favorites when I was a kid. So I'm really excited.

My goal for this week is to actually put together the backing for my Michigan quilt and contact the long-armer I started talking to almost a year ago.

It Worked!

So my hubby had an idea to get me motivated to make my September bee blocks and it totally worked. He told me to start by sewing my sister's baby quilt, which is what I'd wanted to do, and then switch to the bee blocks. And it totally worked! Not only did I get further with my sister's baby quilt (all the blocks are now sewn into rows), but I also made two blocks for the September queen bee (a bit late, but not as bad as August).

 

I really enjoy how they turned out too and I got them in the mail the next day. Whee! The tutorial for the block can be found on the Stash Bee blog here.

Progress shot from the baby quilt with all of the navy or magenta removed. I really hope I can use my long weekend to finish this quilt. I'm starting to get a little worried.

Here is my other work in progress:

The seedling had its 20 week ultrasound this week, but wasn't cooperating. So we know neither the sex (even though we didn't want to know, the ultrasound tech seemed to think it was a big deal that she couldn't determine this) nor could the tech get a good picture of the heart. However, the heart appears to be beating just fine (we saw it beating and she measured the heart rate), she just couldn't get a clear shot.

I'm getting more and more excited about our trip to Michigan next weekend and the chance to see my sister and have a joint baby shower with her.

Torture and Hope

(*Disclaimer: I am in no way equating this to what someone who has actually been tortured has gone through, but it's as close as I've ever come in my life thus far. Also, sorry this is long with no pictures.)

Let me start this out by saying that I am incredibly needle-phobic, to the point where I would rather deal with the pain of my dentist drilling a tooth with just the topical numbing gel than get the shot to numb half my mouth. I've largely gotten over getting vaccines, because it's in the arm (i.e. not terribly sensitive) and because I'm at an age where I only need the occasional booster, not to mention just how small the needles are. I also get incredibly nauseous when people touch my wrists and the crook of my elbows.

Put these together, and you may understand my complete and utter aversion to getting blood drawn. Add to that an aversion to seeing my own blood (although I have absolutely no problem patching up someone else, provided the cut isn't near their wrist), my propensity to faint when getting a blood draw after fasting, my tiny, hard to find veins, and sluggish blood, and you may start to understand why I considered the three hour glucose tolerance test a torture session.

My OBGYN told me I needed an early glucose test (at 15 weeks, because I'm overweight) and once the results were in, I was told I was right on the cusp of too high (130) and that I would need to take this three hour glucose tolerance test at a lab to make sure I do not have gestational diabetes (GD). When I asked what the symptoms were, because I felt just fine, I was told most women don't have any symptoms. After asking what exactly was involved, I concluded that it was going to be a torture session and asked if it was possible to skip the test. I was then told that if I did skip it, they would assume I had GD and treat me accordingly, which would involve daily finger pricks. I was unhappy about it, but scheduled the appointment online for a Saturday so I could save some sick leave at work. Since they had a 10:30 appointment, which meant getting to sleep in at least a little, I took it.

In the three days leading up to the appointment, I was supposed to eat a balanced diet and then fast for eight hours prior to the procedure, which meant no food or drinks including water. I was as mentally prepared as I could be, only to be told up arrival that their online scheduling system is screwed up and they can't do a 3 hour test at 10:30 on a Saturday, because they close at noon. No where on the website was there a warning or even their opening times. My husband and I were pissed, but I rescheduled the appointment for yesterday morning at 8:15am (that was the latest appointment slot they still had left).

So again, I do my best to eat a balanced diet the three days before the appointment, and then start my fast at midnight. We get there right on time at 8:15am only to be told that my doctor's office ordered a 1-hour glucose test, instead of the 3-hour one, as well as a panel of other tests that I never discussed with them. I immediately called my doctor's office and they said they would send a fax to the lab to change the order to the 3-hour test. Two and a half hours later, after several calls to my doctor's office, we finally figured out that they'd sent an electronic fax and the lab was waiting for a regular fax. They found the fax in their computer system and finally brought me back for the fasting blood draw (to determine my blood sugar baseline). The lady who drew my blood for that one was really competent, she didn't feel around for a vein for long, and was able to actually find the one viable vein in the crook of my elbow. But it still took a while for the one vial to fill up.

Then they made me swallow down the sugar crap on an empty stomach. My stomach was not happy, but I managed to keep it down. My hubby and I played a game of Cribbage while we waited and read our books. I could now also drink some water, which I did in small sips. The second blood draw was a nightmare. Not only couldn't the second nurse find a vein on my left hand, which I wanted to try first, she then kind of lifted up the needle while it was inside the back of my hand to try and get more blood to flow into the vial. That hurt a lot and didn't seem to make the blood flow any faster. She finally gave up, with only a partial vial full, that she wasn't even sure would be enough to test. Then, instead of letting me get back to the waiting room for another hour, she proceeds to feel around in my elbow for a vein to use for the next blood draw. This was completely unnecessary and only served to make me so nauseous that I had to excuse myself as soon as I got back to the waiting room to throw up. My hubby found me as I was trying to clean myself up and told me that they had to cancel the rest of the test. I had a good cry on his shoulder and then he drove me back home, fed me pizza, and let me nap. The only good thing about the whole thing was that the lab got the number of my doctor's office to tell them I would not be able to successfully complete the test in the future due to my lack of viable veins and my inability to keep down the sugar water.

Later that same day, hubby and I drove out to Annapolis to tour a midwifery center that had come highly recommended by a coworker. I couldn't drive because my right hand hurt like crazy every time I moved it the slightest bit and was tender to the touch from my wrist to halfway to my fingers. We got there, initially had trouble finding the place, because it's in the center of a large hospital complex, and then were told that the tour and interview was scheduled for the 15th. Someone had made a scheduling error on their part, because I had two separate emails that said that my tour and interview would be on the 9th and my first appointment was to be on the 15th. So they ended up giving us the tour and doing the interview anyway. The midwife who showed us around was incredibly nice and immediately put me at my ease. She showed us the delivery rooms and attached bathrooms with jacuzzi tubs. The only medical apparatus to be seen was a portable station that the NICU at the hospital insists they have on hand for emergencies. She also sat down and patiently answered our questions. One thing that made me even more furious about the 3-hour glucose test, was that when I told her about it, she not only questioned why they would even make me take an early 1-hour test since I have no history of diabetes in my family, but that their "too high" is 149 and my 130 was well within what they consider a normal range.

She told me about their policy of viewing birth as a natural process instead of a disease that needs to be cured, the fact that they have privileges at the attached hospital so the midwives will still be able to deliver the child even if there are complications or I change my mind about getting an epidural, and several other points that really appealed to me. It put me at ease with the idea of the delivery and gave me some hope that I might actually get through this. I was more than happy to fire my other doctors and transfer the rest of my pre-natal care to the center.

Big Announcement

So I have a big announcement and explains why I've been largely absent from both blogging and even sewing the last few weeks/months.

Meet the seedling. My due date is February 24. I'm now 14 weeks along and officially in my second trimester and really hoping that I get some energy and motivation back soonest. I have a baby quilt to make for my sister who is due at the beginning of January, as well as one for myself. I already know what I'm going to do for the seedling's baby quilt, so that's one large hurdle out of the way.

I am planning on a small version of the "Project of Doom" bookshelf quilt from Fandom in Stitches. But using some of their other patterns to fill in the little knick knacks on the bookshelf, not just Harry Potter ones. I think I'm going to keep either Hedwig or the Golden Snitch and replace everything else with one item from LotR, one from Beauty and the Beast, etc. Then I plan to embroider the spines of the books with Children's and Young Adult book titles. Pretty much anything I plan to read to my kid(s) while they're too young to read themselves (we're planning on eventually having two).

I apologize that I still have not picked any winners for the For Pinks Sakes give-away. I promise I haven't forgotten, but it's been all I can do to get home and eat something the last couple of weeks, much less try and figure out how many entries each person should get.