Craft room update

Howdy kids!

Been awhile since we talked about the craft room project (link and link) & wanted to provide an update. the project is going OK, all things considered. not moving too fast because life keeps us pretty disgustingly busy.

the best part about this project is reaching a minor milestone without screwing anything up, running out of materials, or hurting myself. the worst part has been tying twelve foot lengths of 2x4's and 2x6's to the roof of the jeep and driving home in the rain.

so anyway, here's the proposed floor plan, for reference (click to see it full size):



aaand here's the progress! First I had to do all the site plans and measurements and all that jazz, then relocate every damn thing in the garage to make room to work on the project.

I got up the walls as noted and the door temporarily installed.



After the main wall was up then I put on the 2 @ 2x6 header on top of the wall, then ran the joists as referred to here. the joists are also 2x6's, which should be strong enough to allow me to throw a bunch of storage on top of this whole thing.

it's really hard to see due to the cramped quarters in there and my non-wide-angle lens on my cell phone, but here's a couple shots of the space...

I'll keep working it and try not to hurt myself. cross y'fingers for me!

snowy haiku

happy friday all. i'm so glad this week is done. it was fairly hectic and i am looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

now, your weekly haiku and a pic from my backyard as it looks right now:

snow falls on cedars
love the way the snowflakes dance
spring is not quite here

craft room is coming!

J decided to consume part of the garage to build a pantry and a small crafting space for me. Our house is really tiny so this is a big deal. We are not doing the best job of maximizing the space that we have here and this is a step towards getting better at that.
he finished the framing and studs for one of the walls today. There's still plenty to do but he's moving at a pretty good clip for doing this work all by himself.

check it out:

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.

water births

I guess I always thought that the option of whether or not to have a water birth in a birthing center was just a forgone conclusion, like the option of whether or not to accept pain medications during labor. I thought I'd just get to say 'yes I want to do that, and so it would be done'.

Turns out I was mistaken. Water birth is not something that just any care giver or facility will allow. The midwives in the practice that I go to, do not perform water births. It is not clear to me if it is not allowed by the birthing center facility (owned by Group health) or if it is simply something that this practice does not do. Either way, it's not an option for me. I can labor in the tub in the birthing room all I want but I need to get out once that baby is really on it's way down the birth canal.

But maybe you have more options than I do. Or maybe you are not a chicken (like me) and you are having a home birth. Cue the aquadoula:


You can rent or purchase one of these to use in your own home for a water birth or even just so that you can labor in a nice spacious tub. How very cool that someone started this business.

Click here to learn more.