Monday, December 31, 2007

more caffeine please

We just got a nice new espresso machine. Ok well it's not brand new but it's gently used. J's coworker bought it, used it a handful of times and then traded up for a 900 dollar model. That's fine because I was really jonesing for an espresso machine... This is the one that I originally pined for:

But it's nearly 500 bucks and it only takes espresso pods. Lame. So we didn't get it.

So J started looking around only to find out that the highly regarded, $400 starbucks barista espresso machine was for sale on craigslist for just $150. So he asked a coworker who is a coffee expert (and former starbucks employee) and what do you know, she was selling the very same espresso machine for just $50!


Hello homemade hazelnut lattes! How I love you so.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

la famiglia

I've had absolutely zero time for the internets over the last week or so. My family has been here visiting from NJ. They came to meet Fee McG and a fun time was had by all. We all took turns preparing delicious meals. We spent lots of time talking, telling stories and watching bad tv. I taught my mom how to knit. It was a blast. I love my family so much and feel extremely blessed to have them in my life. I can't wait til my sister (who is pregnant with twins!) has her little boy and girl. What a great thing that Fee will have little cousins just 6 months younger than him. It will be so cool to see them grow up so close. I hope they can be good friends to each other even if they do live on opposite sides of the country.

Anyways here are a few highlights from their stay with us(click to see the whole set):

Grandma feeds Fee:


With Uncle Johnny and Auntie Lisa:


Momma love:

Friday, December 21, 2007

etsy finds

my faves from a search for the term "phoenix":





how much fabric can i order?

Seriously how much fabric can a person reasonably stock pile before it becomes hoarding? Mind you, I'm not there yet but I can see how this is a very slippery slope that I'm headed down.

So why am I rambling about fabric anyway?
Check out this fabric store:
http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/fabric

They have some of the same stuff that repro depot carries but then there are lots of other very cool things that repro depot doesn't have. Also it looks like just about everything is roughly 9 bucks a yard. That is a sweet deal in my book.

Some faves from purl soho:


a round of applause

... For J McG. He now officially has a Project Manager title at his company. This is a tremendous Christmas gift for our family since the promotion also comes with a very very nice raise and increased bonus potential.

I'm so proud of him!

finally legal

After well over a year of procrastination I finally ran down to the social security office and made my McG name change official. I think that I was procrastinating because I envisioned long lines and indifferent staff --- something like the scene at your average NJ DMV office.

However the process was quick and painless. I was in and out of there in 15 mins (or maybe even less).

So I'm legally a McG now!

friday fenix fix

Hi.
I really do not have time to post much more than every few days now. This dude takes up alot of my time! It's hard to stay in touch... return phone calls, respond to emails, even get general housework done. I'm not complaining though... just an observation.

Anyway I did take some pictures this week. I had J take some with me and the bebe but here are some new ones of F, even one with his dad.





with daddy:


Click to see the whole set.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

blech. night sweats

So as if labor and childbirth are not enough for the woman's body, there is a whole bunch of stuff that happens to you postpartum that one must contend with.

I'm not going to get into most of it because it's very VERY tmi (lets just say that I had a small tear.... down there... from birthing his head). But there is this one thing that is happening to me that is particularly bizarre and annoying. Night sweats.

I wake up every night DRENCHED in sweat. I'm telling you that my tank top is wet to the touch and so are the sheets underneath me, my pillow and my hair. It is totally vile and god how I wish it would stop.

They warned me about this before I was discharged from the birthing center but I honestly had no frame of reference for how gross it would be. Apparently it's one of the ways (besides peeing) that your body gets rid of all the extra water that you retained during pregnancy. What I want to know is, how much farking water have I been holding on to? I feel like I'm getting the fire hose turned on me nightly.

Monday, December 17, 2007

gaining and growing

Not much time to post these days but his royal highness is sleeping now so I thought I'd jump on.

We went to the doctor today and what a big boy we have! He gained 6 oz... I know that doesn't sound like alot but it's a big deal for a little guy that only weighed 4lbs 10oz a week ago.
Apparently babies gain something like an ounce a day if all is going well. And since we saw the doctor exactly one week ago, Fenix is doing great. I am so relieved and happy. The doctor said that he is very very healthy and all is well.

There was one hilarious moment in the newborn waiting room (separate from the regular waiting room to keep the little ones away from the big kid germs). There was another new baby... this guy was 3 weeks old. He was TWICE the size of Fenix. It was really funny. I mean I know that Fenix is small but he looked downright miniature next to this big baby.

The only down note is that we are supposed to limit contact with others until he is 2 months old! The doctor is concerned about him catching RSV and now I am too. If he gets even a little fever he will have to be hospitalized and I REALLY don't want that to happen. It's a bummer, I'd love to have people over to see him and hold him all the time but at the same time it is the height of cold and flu season and I would be so upset if he got sick. I feel like we dodged a bullet getting out of the hospital with no health problems. Sigh. WTF are we gonna do about Christmas?! My family is flying out and staying here. I will have to ask them to wear masks if they want to hold him. :-((( Sacrifices...

Thursday, December 13, 2007

crap. christmas is coming

all this craziness with the baby coming early has really thrown a wrench in my plan to make all of my xmas gifts. luckily i got alot of things done before the drama started but i still have a bit to do. if i am diligent, i can still get it all done before the 25th.

Thank you pamguin!

This brown and tan blanket was made by a wonderful woman that I met on a craigslist forum where I used to post. I have met so many nice people through craigslist forums. If you are bored and looking to interact with people that have similar interests check them out.

Anyway thanks pamguin!!!

photorama

I can't stop taking pictures of this kid. Someone save me from baby pic overload!
The trouble is that I take all these farking photos and I have like no time to upload them. Uploading to my Flickr account is hardly a priority over pumping breast milk.

Anyways here are a few recent ones to satisfy your cuteness fix for the day.





um. i'm tired

So this whole 24/7 baby care thing is interesting. I certainly was warned enough that it would be hard so no surprise there. The funny thing is that it's not just an issue of sleep deprivation. There is also this thing that happens where you totally lose track of days and hours... night time and day time are a forgotten notion. You sleep when you can... when the baby lets you.

It's cool though. I am sort of enjoying the fact that the only commitment I have is caring for Fenix. I do not have to be anywhere. I don't even have to pick out an outfit. No meetings. No tasks due. No release to get out or bugs to regress. My life was consumed with those things before so a break from all that is just what I needed.

And you know... I am just loving every single moment of motherhood, yes even the poop diapers.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

with fruit


Last night J thought it would be cool to do a picture showing the juxtaposition of the baby and some pieces of fruit. You can really see how small he is with this photo composition. The orange is almost the same size as his head!

Also notice how he is swimming in that onesie... and it's even preemie sized!

Monday, December 10, 2007

birth story

Thursday around 2 am I woke up with very frequent and painful contractions. I counted/timed them for about half an hour and when I realized that they were roughly 4 minutes apart I decided to wake up Jason.

I called the midwife on call and when she called back she told me to run a hot bath, drink a lot of water and relax in the tub. If within 1 hour the contractions had not stopped, I should get ready and come in to the birthing center.
I took the bath and though it felt good these contractions were really starting to hurt. They were painful enough that I could not speak thru them. I began to sweat profusely and started to feel really nauseated.

I got out of the bathtub (I needed help because every time a contraction hit I felt like I couldn't continue. I sat down on the toilet because I felt like I had to go... That's when I noticed the blood.....


We scrambled to get things together - after the last preterm labor scare I was put on strict bedrest so none of my stuff was packed :-(
I can say that I did have some moments of INSANE IMPATIENCE with my husband during those 15/20 mins that he rushed around to get everything ready. I believe that I even threw a piece of clothing at him that I deemed inappropriate to pack in my hospital bag :-/

By the time we were ready to walk out of the door I was in the fetal position on the living room floor. This is how intense my contractions had become.
On the drive to the birthing center (about 10 mins door to door) I threw up several times in the car. Awful.

When we finally got there Jason ran up, got a wheelchair and wheeled me in.

They were waiting for me and pretty much admitted me right away and got me all hooked up to the monitors.


For the next 12 hours or so I labored hard.... I threw up over and over again even though i hadn't eaten anything except water since 8pm the night before.
The pains were horrible. Awful. I was totally gone in laborland. I remember at one point breathing thru the pains and focusing on the space needle which could be seen from the window in our birthing room.
I also remember focusing on the blue tiles on the floor of the bathroom to center myself. Sounds crazy but it works when you are desperate to focus on anything except the pain.

At hour number 13 i started giving up.... the pain was too much. I begged and pleaded with Jason thru tears saying how I could not take it anymore. He pushed me on for another hour or so. Then finally I used our "safe word" to indicate that I was done begging.
I wanted pain relief and I didn't want to ask again.

I should also mention a bit of TMI.... thru the entire labor I was bleeding... passing large blood clots... one after the other. This was troubling to the nurses, midwives and doctor on call. They didn't know the source of the bleeding and it didn't seem to stop.

I finally got an epidural. It was nice for about an hour. They checked me and I was at 8 centimeters.
The baby was nowhere near my birth canal and my bag of waters was still intact! Weird.

They did 3 ultrasounds to see what was up. Apparently there was an extra bit of membrane with water that was blocking Fenix's head from descending.
After this they talked thru 3 scenarios.
1. pierce my bag of waters with a very tiny needle. let the water slowly come out and see if the baby slips down into the birth canal
2. wait and let the bag break on it's own, risking a prolapsed cord from the gush and then of course i would have to have an emergency c-section if that happened
3. go ahead and just get the c-section

I'll take door number 1! So that's what we did. They prepped me and took me to the OR in case when they pierced the bag it ended up gushing anyway. They had everything staged for a c-section in the event that it was needed.
They broke the bag and I felt the warm water arc and splash on my foot! That was bizarre.

They checked my cervix again in about 10 mins and I was complete, baby's head was way down (+3) and it was time to push!

I pushed for an hour in the OR. They had a big mirror so i could see. Jason held one leg, the nurse held the other and our midwife sat on the edge of the bed looking at the baby.
We saw his head and hair within that first hour of pushing. They suggested that we go back to the birthing room since everything was fine now. So that's what we did.
I had a few very strong contractions on our way to the room. They call this 'laboring down' since I didn't push at all during those. Well the pressure was so intense that by the time I got to the room I knew he would be here within the hour
I pushed for about 5 more contractions and BAM there he was! I started crying and hyperventilating with joy. It was incredible. Jason was able to catch him and cut the cord.
My little boy had arrived.

Oh and as for the bleeding, my placenta had an extra lobe! That extra lobe had abrupted which is probably what started labor and was the source of all the blood clots/bleeding. I saw it and it was very bizarre looking... like an extra piece of liver hanging off of the placenta. Eww.

home again!

We were discharged from the birthing center today. W00t!
We actually ended up spending one night on another floor of the same building in a 'boarding room' that is used for parents whose babies need to spend time in the special care nursery. Thankfully Fenix did not need this type of care however given how early he was, the staff wanted to watch him for one more night even though they had already discharged me as a patient.

I will say that I was pretty frustrated with how things went for this one night in the boarding room. The nurses on that floor were not particular interested in supporting my efforts to breastfeed and supplement with formula. While I understand that the extra calories from the formula are a necessity given his low weight, I didn't appreciate the condescending attitude and overall dismissive tone that I was given every time the idea of breast feeding or even bottle fed breast milk came up. It was a total 180 degree change from the type of care we received just hours prior on a different floor of the same building. Bizarre...

Even worse still this morning we learned that parents of babies needing special care are only permitted to board for one night! It doesn't matter that there were NO OTHER BABIES in the nursery. One night is all you get. What if he needed 2 days? Or a week?!? I feel so blessed that he is thriving in spite of all the odds and that he was sent home with us today. I have my work cut out for me... making sure he gets everything he needs to keep gaining weight and growing but I am SO up for the challenge.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

the votes are in

42% of you said that you thought that Fenix would arrive on christmas day. Well I guess you technically win because he came even well before that date.

Who would have thought?

Saturday, December 8, 2007

hooray he is here!!!




Thats right. Born on decemer 6th 2007 at 6:59 pm.... Fenix Sebastian McG is here in the flesh. Weighing in at a whopping 4lbs 11oz and measuring 17.5 inches long, he is a total trooper. I would write more but he won't let me put him down. so look at these pics, I'll post a birth story later... p.s. we are still at the birthing ctr and will be here till Monday so they can watch him closely for signs of jaundice.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Release me

Greetings!

Theresa's contractions have stopped! We are being discharged / released in a little bit. Theresa will be on bed rest for about 3 weeks.

We'll send an update soon.

Thanks for all the well wishes!

-J

Saturday at the birth center


Greetings from the birth center! We had an eventful last day or so & things are going well.

Theresa was on an i.v. of magnesium sulfate all day to put the brakes on the contractions. That worked for quite some time, long enough for her to get the 2nd shot of the steriods that are designed to speed up lung development in preemies.

I forget the name of the steriod, but they only give it when pre-term birth seems inevitible. It comes in a big needle and they give you a shot in the ass with it. The first shot Tee had went in a bit better than the second one, which made her bum hurt for a time.

Maybe it's no surprise, but there are only women that work here. I've seen one dude since I got here and the rest are ladies.

So, the magnesium! Holy shit. When it's brought up around here, the staff get a pained look on their face. Then, softly, they'd ask, "Did they tell you what to expect with that?"

Um, they did, and you're supposed to expect, it seems, to get your ass kicked. Tight chest, headache, overheating. Deep, deep malaise.

It did its job, though, at least for a while, and she had minimal contractions yesterday and throughout the night.

Most babies, when their mom's are on magnesium!, absorb some of the side effects of the meds and are listless, don't move around much, and sometimes have lowered heart rate. Not my son! He's been in there playing tic-tac-toe with himself and jump rope with the umbilical cord. It's been kind of a wow factor with the nurses when they see his heartrate and stuff - pretty cool. Regardless of what else is happening, Fenix is super healthy.

After a time - oh dark thirty this morning - the magnesium! wore off and the contractions returned. Not returned in a "oh gosh this baby is about to come out" but "yyyyyep, that's a contraction. yyyep, that's another one", etc. So, thankfully, they removed the magnesium! i.v. and T started to feel better in pretty short order.

So here we are, Saturday morning. Been here at the birthing center since Thursday afternoon. Theresa is on bed rest, which not only means that she's in bed except for trips to the bathroom, but that she needs to be in bed in such a manner that does not put weight, and therefore stress, on her cervix. = lying down. = boring.

We're in the "wait and see what happens next" phase. Either labor will begin in earnest, or not.

Stay tuned!

Friday, November 30, 2007

Sigh. This little guy really wants to come

So as many of you know, I am in the birthing center. It appears that Fenix is really ready to come out now.
Here's what happened....

Early Weds a.m. I started having tons of painful contractions. This went on for about an hour and a half. I tried all the tricks to make them go away and eventually they did.

Fast forward to Thursday. I woke up feeling less then great so I decided to work from home. That afternoon I had an appointment with my midwife and I mentioned the contraction incident from Weds. She seemed concerned and decided to check my cervix. Well guess what? It was thinning and softening. Not a good thing at 33 weeks.

She sent me over to the birth center (across the street) for an ultrasound and to be put on the contraction monitor. We found out that I was still having contractions... some that I hadn't even noticed. Given the frequency of the contractions they gave me a shot to stop them and then another slower acting pill that does the same. They stopped for about an hour and came right back. At this point the decision was made to give me another shot of the drug and then a shot of steroids in my hip to help speed up lung development in the baby in case he was really coming soon.

I was admitted, transferred to a private room and got a sleeping pill to get me thru the night. Jason slept here too.

Well at around 1pm today the painful contractions started up again. That's when they decided to pull out the big guns and give me an IV of magnesium sulfate as a last ditch effort to stop my labor because a pelvic exam revealed that I am already 2cm dilated, my cervix is softer and thinner and the baby's head is low in my pelvis.
Bonus they gave me another ultrasound and I saw his little head and face. He is freaking so cute!

Anyway this latest drug makes you feel like ASS. And I mean that. But I am trying my best to stay positive and keep thinking good thoughts. I can still shoot for a vaginal birth (I'm told it will likely be easier on me now since he is small) and my midwife can still do my delivery.

As a bonus tomorrow my childbirth instructor, Penny Simkin, is stopping by to check on me. I have to say that this woman is my personal hero and if you are having a baby please please read her books. And better yet if you are in Seattle you must take her class.

But I digress. I feel like crap right now but at least I'm still pregnant. I don't want to leave my little boy here! I would love to have him stay in my belly to grow a little longer. Wish us luck...

Monday, November 26, 2007

and how cute is this?!?!

Talk about awesome overload!

I just saw this fabulous snail rocker on the Back to Basics website. It's an online store dedicated to classic toys but they have lots of other cool stuff too.

I think Fenix needs this.

baby shower/team awesome power

On the 17th my beautiful friends Ty and Lauren hosted an awesome baby shower for Fenix, Jason and I.

I can honestly say that we all felt so loved by everyone there. So much generosity and thoughtfulness. It was fantastic.

Enjoy some pics from the affair below (thanks to Lauren D. for the photos!):







Monday, November 19, 2007

and speaking of bartenders....

LOL... look at this
http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=171203&catid=27028

It's a breastmilk alcohol tester. Now believe me I am missing the adult beverages something awful during this pregnancy (what I wouldn't do for a glass of petite syrah!) but this seems just a teensy bit ridiculous. As long as you time your consumption of said adult beverage properly, you should be able to nurse without getting your kid shit faced. But I suppose if you want to not be uh, held down, by such things, well then this product is for you.

Friday, November 16, 2007

bartender, i'll have a boob juice, neat.

Read me:
http://www.alphamom.com/wonderland/2007/11/breast_milk_or_alcohol_which_i.php

I think I am actually more confused. But it was a fun read was it not?

Thursday, November 15, 2007

did you know....

....That the presence of people who upset the laboring mother can actually stall labor?

I have been reading alot about this and it's quite amazing that the progression of labor is so suggestive that this can happen. Woman who are not surrounded by people who love them and care about them are much more likely to end up with a stalled labor. Or more to the point, women who have a person or persons in the room who are negative, mean or not supportive can end up with a stalled labor. And when that happens, out comes the vaccuum extractors... the forceps.... and ultimately maybe even a c-section. It must be hard to cope with the pain and being in such an emotionally tumultious state when you know that one or more of the people in the room don't have your best interest at heart.

I'm really happy about who will be in the room with me during my labor. Besides the midwife and a nurse it will just be me and Jason in the room. I'm glad that I had the presence of mind to make good, sound decisions about that. I wouldn't want anything or any one to take away from my birth experience. It's a special time and *only* the people that love you and support you should be included.

Monday, November 12, 2007

maternity clothes rave - target!

Long gone are my days of insisting on only wearing certain clothing brands (god, I can't believe I used to be like that - oh the materialism!)

Now I've adopted a much more economical approach to clothes shopping. Particularly in the area of maternity clothing. Are the maternity style seven jeans really cute? Yes. Does the baby style site have the trendiest maternity wear I have ever seen? Yes. Will I be buying any of that stuff? NO.

So I went to Target on Saturday to get a few things.. namely a coat because this business of having a coat that won't close in the front is so not cute.

I got this:

and this:


Both were under $20 and fit really nicely. The cut is such that I plan to wear them post baby too!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

we shipped it! and other sh*t that is going on

So I finally finished up at work somewhere around 1 a.m. We've got a conference call at 11 a.m. today to discuss last minute hotfixes but the good news is that the late nights are pretty much over.

Anyway we agreed to get this crib from ikea for the nursery:


Jason is going down there in a few minutes to get it, a mattress and some basic bedding. I am priming and painting the changing table in bright white (as opposed to the distressed black that we originally agreed on).

Here's our latest inspiration nursery:

Friday, November 9, 2007

sigh. i'm still at work.

It's midnight... well almost and I'm still here at work.

FWIW I do get a sense of accomplishment after a big project like this comes to an end. To know that I had a big hand in shaping something that is really important to my company is a pretty cool thing.

All that said... I'm tired and I wanna go home!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

30 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay! Today marks the 30 week point for our pregnancy. I'm in the home stretch :-)

::cue final countdown song ala Gob Bluth::

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

teensy rave

I just bought ALOT of yarn (and a row counter) from the Joann Fabrics online store. Shipping was free with a discount code.

Plus every skein of yarn that I purchased was discounted.

In the end I spent way less than I would have spent if I went to the actual store - which is only about 2 miles from my house but still!

*sigh* I have alot of knitting to do.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

and now my ears are warm

I finished knitting the headband that I mentioned in my last post.

It came out really great in spite of the fact that I used different yarn than what was called for in the pattern and I neglected to do a gauge swatch first. It came out a little big but I washed it in hot water which shrunk it down quite a bit and gave it a nice felted look.

The finished product:


I used a little red plastic rose button as a fastener:


Ready for a cold damp Seattle day:

Friday, November 2, 2007

so i started this thing last night.

It's a new knitting project (free pattern from knitty.com)



To clarify, I am talking about the thing on her head.

I am doing it with orange/yellow/green variegated soy wool yarn that looks like this:


The pattern is really very easy to follow. The funny thing is that I looked at this pattern about a year ago and thought, 'oh boy, I don't have the skills to do that'- which is sad because I did but apparently I was having a seriously dumb moment when I made that assessment.

So just yesterday while searching for things to make as xmas gifts I came across it again and thought 'wow that looks easy and quick'.
Alot can change in a year!

I'll post pics when I'm done.

damn this belly is starting to get uncomfortable and other musings...

check it:


I had a slight moment of panic this morning when I realized that the baby hadn't moved nearly as much as he usually does since last night. So I spent my waking hours doing all kinds of wacky positions trying to get this little bugger to wake up. I was on all fours, I laid quietly on my side, I propped myself up with pillows and sat up in bed, I jiggled my whole belly around. Finally. Finally! When I ate my breakfast he came to life and started kicking the holy hell out of my bladder.

God, I love this kid.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

haha! i beat you to it mighty girl.

Ok it's not that big of a deal but awhile ago I posted about Gdiapers.

Well the word is catching on. The hilarious and cool Mighty Girl has posted about them on her site. And since I really do love just about everything that she has to say, I am waiting with baited breath to hear her feedback on these bad boys.

See the Mighty Girl post on G Diapers here.

i sold 5 things on etsy!

I sold 2 hats and three blankets from my etsy site. I have an offline order for another hat too. So exciting. I wish I had more time to do this stuff! I'd sew and knit stuff for babies any day over testing software.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

jason do your super kegels!

Last night we had our first childbirth class with birthing rock star Penny Simkin. Class is held at her super cute house in Capitol Hill.

We learned so much in just the first class. The format is really casual. The pregnant women and their partners all sit in a big circle with Penny at one end. This week she covered:

- How a baby maneuvers it's way thru the pelvic bone and out. It was much more complicated than I thought but it made a lot of sense once she explained it all. I didn't realize that the baby has work to do too just to make his or her way out. It's not all on the mom.

- Super kegels! I didn't know that men can also do super kegels. Apparently it's good for keeping your prostate from getting enlarged. Who knew?

- Cat/cow aka pelvic rocks help with childbirth. She had is practice on all fours so we got the hang of it. I had been doing this for a while because the pose helps ease stress in the lower back. I did not know that it was beneficial for childbirth as well.

- We watched a birth video and oh what a video. This woman featured in the video is now my personal hero. Seriously. She did not scream or cry out at all during all the phases of labor and childbirth. She seemed calm and centered. Her breathing was rhythmic and deliberate. Though she did look tired and in pain it seemed like she just gave her self over to the process instead of trying to control it. She didn't even push! I was intimated and impressed all at the same time. I realized that labor isn't about powering thru or brute force. It's about letting go and embracing what is happening to your body. I am really going to try and work on the relaxation techniques that Penny went over to see if I can emulate what that amazing woman in the video did.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

DAMN I love craigslist, part deux

Since the last “damn we love CL” post, we’ve sold 2 pairs of lamps, sold a couch, bought a sleeper sofa, bought some storage cubes, and sold a car.

DAMN I love craigslist.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

dammit i love craigslist

Between yesterday and today I managed to get the following items:

1 bottle warmer, new, no box, 10 bux
1 glider/swing thingie, gently used 35 bux
1 baby bjorn city carrier, black, new and in the box, 40 bux

I love deals and all of this stuff is at least 50% off the retail price... even the totally unused stuff! w00t!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

fabric.... want

Lookee here:
Repro Depot Fabrics
I haven't ordered anything yet but I'm pretty sure that I will. They have lots of vintage repro fabrics. Really love their stuff. I can't find anything nearly this cute in our local fabric stores which is a tragedy. And the prices per yard are really good.

Here are some of my favorite swatches from the site (can't wait to order a few yards!):



Saturday, October 20, 2007

etsy... finally!

Finally got my etsy site going. Only four items listed so far but I have a couple of hats to add to that and will add more and more as I make new things. Come check me out over there.

Metagestation on Etsy

Here's the final set of blankets that are up for sale on the site:




Thursday, October 18, 2007

scary thursday

So we just got back from L&D. That's right, you read correct, L&D. I had some weird weird stuff happen over the last two days. I got to freaking out about it so I called the midwifery. Well apparently I was right to freak. Worst case scenario, I lost my mucous plug and was leaking amniotic fluid. Best case scenario I am officially incontinent and was just pissing myself. TMI, I know but that was the deal and I was very very nervous.

Well we rushed down there to the birthing center. And you should know that I sobbed uncontrollably the whole way. It's crazy how scared and worried I was. I'm only 27 weeks along... I kept saying to myself that I can't have this baby now.

Turns out it was not the worst case (not the aforementioned incontinence either). I just have a simple infection that can be fixed with a dose of antibiotics. Thank the lord.

One cool thing about today is that they hooked me up to the fetal monitor so we got to hear his little heart beating and all of his little kicks and punches and hiccups in real time. That was pretty neat. I hope I don't have to see that place again for at least another 11 weeks. At that point it will be the right time :)

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

the fall thing - craft fair in phinney this weekend.

I am participating in a craft fair on Saturday. It will be held at the Phinney Neighborhood Association Community Hall.
If you are reading this and you are in or near Seattle you are hereby obligated to attend or I shall never forget this trangression. :-)

Go here for all the details:
http://www.yelp.com/events/seattle-the-fall-thing-craft-show

I'm not saying that you have to buy anything but I have a feeling that your cheddar will be burning a hole in your pocket once you see all the cool stuff that folks are selling.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

another blankie

I went back to the fabric store and got more minky dot backing in yellow and pink as well as some nice printed flannel and a brown and pink polka dot fine wale corduroy.

I also switched to a top stitching method for attaching the front and back of the blankets so that they will have a more squared edge.

What I don't sell at the fair, I'll either keep and use for Fenix or give away to a few of my pregnant friends as gifts.

Here is one of the fruits of my labor from today:

Saturday, October 13, 2007

saturday is sewing day

Today I tried my hand at sewing up some small baby blankets. My friend Tyesha asked me to participate in a craft fair with her next weekend and I wanted to have a little more to sell besides just a handful of baby hats. I've been trying my hand at knitting booties too but these blankets come together so quickly that I'd rather just make a bunch of these to fill out my contribution to the sale.

I bought 4 different types of fabric and made two different designs from them. The store didn't have much in the way of fabric with modern prints so I'll be looking around town for something more interesting. I plan to make several more before next weekend.

Anyway here are some of the designs that I made:

Friday, October 12, 2007

it's belly pic friday!

Watch me grow!
Here are two pics from this morning. I am 26 weeks now... only 97 days til my due date!


Thursday, October 11, 2007

chime balls?

I got these really cool soft fabric covered chime balls for Fenix's room.
I thought they were a really cute accent/decoration that can double as toys. They make very light chime-y sounds when you shake them.

rant

family drama makes me so pissed.
i moved to seattle to get away from family drama and what happens? i'm here once again, smack dab in the middle of some. it's like the shit follows me around.

i'm tired!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

w00t!

i just finalized the conditions of my maternity leave and post leave work schedule.

i will be off on maternity leave for 8 weeks (2 weeks @ 100% pay, 4 weeks at 50% pay, 2 weeks unpaid).
when I come back i'll be in the office 3 days p/week, working from home one day and totally off one day.
that will last for a month.
then for the following 3 months after that i will work 4 days a week in the office. i hope to re-negotiate at that time so that my 4 day p/week schedule is permanent.

i asked for a bit more time to work from home but they wouldn't budge on that. i'm just happy for what i was able to negotiate though!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

what i learned so far

Someone very close to me is newly pregnant with twins. yay! I have been thinking about how I can help her work through all the trials and tribulations that I went thru when I was newly pregnant. If I can spare her the grief of discovering a bunch of crap on her own then I will go out of my way to do that. Sure she can learn all this stuff by reading one of the many pregnancy books that are out there but that's a lot of info to sift thru when you are only 9 weeks pregnant.

Here is the list of tips/info that I sent to her:
- do not run out and buy a whole bunch of maternity clothes as soon as your pants start feeling tight.
try to extend the life of your regular clothes by using bella bands or the rubber band trick to make more room in the waist of your pants. wear empire waist shirts that you already have or wear and empire waist dress over some jeans or pants.
when you do buy maternity wear make sure you buy things that have room to grow or you will grow out of it by the 3rd trimester
old navy, gap and target are the best places to get nice maternity wear that is cute but very inexpensive. the motherhood maternity site also has very low prices but their quality varies greatly.

- drink water all the time. i mean ALL the time. if you have a choice between juice and water, try to choose water. you do not want to get dehydrated as it can lead to a lot of problems for you and the baby.

- your appetite will increase. you will become a ravenous animal when you are in your second trimester. don't be afraid! just make good choices about the foods that you choose to eat.

- you will crave a bunch of garbage that you don't normally eat. i have craved mcdonald's cheeseburgers and fries more than i can say. i do not normally eat that junk but i have been craving it like crazy.

- keep your belly moisturized. cocoa butter or sweet almond oil are good. it will become itchy and dry if you don't moisturize it daily.

- your feet will grow. i think i have gone up a half size since i got pregnant. do not run out and buy a whole bunch of new shoes because your feet may go back to their previous size after you give birth

- your vision will deteriorate. i had to start wearing my glasses all the time due to eye strain headaches. this will go away after you give birth so don't run out and get a new prescription unless you are really having a hard time.

- your hair and nails will grow like crazy! this is a cool thing but it also means that sometimes you might get some weird wild hair that grows out of your chin! scary but normal.

- your skin might break out. mine did until i hit the second trimester. it's all clear again.

- you can take baths. they give alot of relief. the water should be warm, never hot. when your belly starts to get big you will find that sitting in the bath helps relieve some of the back strain that it can cause

- there is a whole list of over the counter drugs that you are allowed to take and many that you are not. ask your ob to give you the list. if you get a headache or have a cold, you will REALLY want to have this list.

- buy the baby bargains book. it will help you decide what to buy. also you can look at my registry if you are not sure. i used baby bargains as a guide on what to register for.

- when you have your gestational diabetes test, drink the glucose drink when it is very cold. it will go down easier if it is cold. it tastes like sickeningly sweet fruit punch or flat orange crush.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

music. makes the people. come together.

I wonder what kind of music Fenix will be into. I hope I am not one of those lame parents that says shit like "your music sounds like noise to me" but alas I think that is the destiny of all parents. But what I can and intend to do that my parents did not do for me is humor my children's taste in music. I will take them to their first concert (no matter how much that music makes my ears bleed) and I will give them money to buy crappy cd's or download awful singles off Itunes. It's in writing here, so if you ever see me changing my tune you can send the url to this post to Fenix as proof.

Anyway after a brief dark period where nothing new was piquing my interest, I feel like I've rediscovered music again and it all sounds so good!

On my way into work I started thinking about what my fantasy concert lineup would look like. Here is what I came up with (and yes there are some defunct bands in there but who cares, it's my fantasy!):

The Smiths
Sparta / At the Drive In /Mars Volts
Sonic Youth
Stone Roses
Film School
A Tribe Called Questjavascript:void(0)
Publish Post
Common
The Roots
Jose Gonzales
Slow Dive
My Bloody Valentine
Lush
KMFDM
Cake (this lineup needs some levity)
Jesus and Mary Chain
Curtis Mayfield (this lineup needs some old soul)

I think a line up like this would make me so happy. I'm serious. I'd leave the venue glowing and elated. Concert promoters of the world, you can make it happen.

Friday, September 28, 2007

etsy finds

Etsy is one of my favorite websites. I check for new stuff almost daily.
I plan to do a regular series on cool things I find there. Maybe you'll buy something and I can live vicariously through you!?

I found these items while browsing the baby section:

soft baby shoes:



cute kimono set:


incredibly cute hat: