Thursday, January 27, 2011

I'm Having A Heffalump

According to the scan I had yesterday, the babe is not petite, or even average - he's a Heffalump! In all the graphs he comes out around the 97th percentile, except for the diameter of his head which is off the scale! Fabulous!


No, I'm not worried - I know that the dates that they're using are out by about 6 days and that there's also a lot of discrepancies between scans and the actual sizes of babes. According to this, my 37ish week babe is currently the same size as his brother was at 40 weeks, and probably his big sister about a month after she was born!

Here's his face! Isn't modern technology amazing! (Can you see it? Turn your head sideways if you can't)


The good news is that the Heffalump appears to be head-down now too...I don't want to say too much for fear of jinxing things today but it seems a lot more promising than it was earlier this week. Now it's just a matter of keeping him head down till he decides to make his appearance. We're looking forward to him coming earlier rather than later now (I'm thinking that my wish for him to hang on till March might not be such a good idea now...he'll be completely humungous come March if the scan's anything to go by)

Oh, and while I'm at it - here's what he looks like from the outside at the moment. This was taken on the weekend with my sister who's due about a week out from me.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Not Rocket Science...

Nope, nothing too exciting here, but I thought I'd share anyway.

I was after some new baby items without having to spend a fortune. I thought it would be nice to find some new items of clothing for this babe so that not everything he wears are hand-me-downs from his brother, but it's also a pretty tight time of the year for most people, right?

Anyway, I remembered that I had these lovely plain white tees I was given when preggers with Timothy. They were still lovely and white. I thought maybe I'd have a go appliqueing some pictures onto them. So off I trotted to Spotlight to buy some fabric with some suitable images that I could cut out and sew on by hand. Unfortunately, I wasn't having much luck but when looking at the buttons (for some knitting I've done for the babe) I noticed some iron on transfers in the same aisle. On enquiring about their cost, I learnt that they were the grand sum of 99c at the moment (normally around $10 each the staff member mentioned) and so I was sold! In fact, I wish I'd bought more (and I may go back and buy more as Timothy would probably quite like some on some of his clothes and it's a good way to fancy up pressies for others too)


Now, they've sat around on my dining room table for weeks now, along with the tees - but today was the day that I finally ironed them on. It says that they should be completely machine washable, we'll see (I can always sew a few stitches if need be - though NB clothes get worn so little anyway...and I'm meant to be having a giant baby)

Voila - the finished articles.


Now I know I didn't do anything particularly clever, but my babe does now have 3 pretty cool t-shirts.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

!@#$%^&*

*insert your choice of expletives as the title

Baby = breech...again

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Phew!

I feel sorry for anyone that knows me well - either in real life or online. For the past couple of weeks I've been totally obsessed with the fact that my baby was still breech. I realise now I've never really understood what it meant when other mums-to-be mentioned it to me, I have a new appreciation for how they must've been feeling now.

A breech baby makes things a little more complicated. It's because the baby is not head down in the uterus like it should be but instead has found it prefers a different position. My little baby was bottom down - I could feel his little lemon shaped head right at the top centre of my bump and I could follow his shoulder and backbone around and down with my hand.

For some, this is no big deal. Often (in NZ) breech babies are delivered by a c-section. That wasn't something I wanted at all after having had 2 great natural births with my other 2 kids. To me a c-section also means being unable to drive for an inconvenient period of time, a husband that would possibly need to take longer than we've budgeted for off work as well as a stay of at least 3 days in hospital...all of which are not ideal considering my other children and problems we'd have then with childcare.

So after picking the brains of anyone who had any experience with breech babies and spending a fair bit of time searching the internet (spinningbabies is great), I then started my mission to get this babe in a more favourable position.

This included various inversion techniques each night (you'll have to excuse me for using other people's pictures...there was NO way I'd be photographed demonstrating each of these as some were FAR from comfortable and difficult to get into with a belly the size of mine!)

But things like this...
And this...
And even this...(and anyone who knows me knows I'm not gymnastically talented)

On top of various positions, I was thinking positive thoughts, visualising, talking to our baby

Then there's been the nightly moxa burning  (which we are still doing actually as the acupuncturist said it 'anchors' the baby into the right position) and the acupuncture.


And we were heading towards an ECV if baby wasn't going to move on his own. The music in this video is quite funny I think - I don't think there's anything pleasant about an ECV, but light hearted music sure helps a you tube video right? This video is probably more like it, it doesn't seem quite so Disney.

So, all in all, I was spending an awful lot of my time trying to be in a good position and worrying about the 'what if's' if our son decided to sit tight.

The GREAT news is that on Tuesday night at 36 weeks he swung around - and so now he's in the perfect position. I knew it had happened, not because I felt him move, but because his little head at the top of my uterus has been replaced with the smooth rounded shape of a bottom and his hiccups were coming from a different spot. My midwife confirmed my suspicions on Wednesday at her visit.

The good news for everyone else is that I am no longer completely consumed by my breech baby. Conversations with friends are no longer just me talking about it.

The good news for me is that I really feel like I can start to prepare and get excited about this baby's arrival rather than dread it. Phew! This baby is to be our last and I was feeling a little cheated that I couldn't enjoy the last trimester of being pregnant (I do love being pregnant!)

And so the countdown begins! Not too long till we meet the 3rd and final addition to my little family.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Tying Up Loose Ends

Today I was inspired to get a few things tidied up and put away. It could be that Viv's blog was the culprit - or it could've been because of a conversation I had with my friend Alison today about how much I hate sewing on buttons...but whatever the reason it sure feels good now.

Today I sewed missing buttons on about 10 garments that have been sitting in a bag waiting for me to get around to them. Only 1 won't fit the child it was meant for now, though luckily it was a boys item and #3 will get to wear it. The others have gladly be reclaimed by the kids - they're all summer items that will be worn and worn.


Today I sewed the buttons on 4 jerseys for our bebe. 3 are new ones I've knitted, and another was a little blue one I was given for Penny that had beautiful girly buttons on it. I always planned to swap them when Timothy came along but it never happened.


Today I took out my handy-dandy sewing machine and repaired and altered a pile of clothing that was waiting for just such an occasion

It does feel good to tie up a few loose ends and get them out of the way.

NB - It does seem a little funny to be typing a post about such menial things when there are so many people in Queensland, Australia contending with that terrible flooding. I'm thinking of all those lovelies I know, as well as those I don't and hope that the water levels stop rising and that you and those you love are safe.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

A New Baby

Sorry to disappoint, this post isn't about our baby due in Feb...he's still cooking at the moment with his mummy (that would be me) giving plenty of instructions on turning out of his breech position into one more favourable for labour - and less likely to need an unwanted c-section. While I'm at it - we're still struggling to agree on a name...any thoughts on a name that would go with Penny and Timothy and without an S/th sound in it (our surname starts with a S)?

But this post IS about a new toy I got for Christmas. I must say, I do love it x a billion. Have you ever seen a machine as cool looking as this? It's got no bells or whistles, but I'm not scared of it at all - it's just a good sturdy basic machine. And it looks cool too.


I wrote a big long post about why I needed to use it today - but it was boring so I deleted it. The short version is that we've decided that blacking out the curtains in the kids room *might* get us a little more sleep in the morning.

So, after picking a very knowledgeable sewers brain, I headed to Spotlight today to purchase some blackout fabric with the intention of buying it and sewing it to the existing curtain, Can I say, that today I had the most helpful Spotlight employee that must exist. She not only helped me select the right fabric but showed me (twice in fact) about sewing the right curtain tape to the fabric so that it could be removed if necessary.

So, home I go - armed with fabulous info and excitement that today my pressie was going to come out of the box for more than 'oooohing' and 'aaaahing'.

And voila - the curtains are up (the blackout one is the one between the blue and the nets), and they are fabulous! It's so dark in there - if it gets me a bit more sleep then it's worth every cent.


While the machine was out and taking up a space on the table, I decided to whip up the bibs I finally got around to cutting out yesterday. I've another 10 or so planned, but good things take time, right ;)


And already snapped - ready to go! Reversible too if I wish with minky on the back


Modelled by my delicious kids. Now you see them...


Now you don't...


Is it odd now that I look at clothes that the kids have outgrown as fabric that I might be able to upcycle? Or that the packets of pink pjs that Penny never wore as not things to pass onto people now, but as bib fabric?

Oh yeah, and feel free to send some fab boys names our way

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Soaking Up The Sun

Summer is so fabulous for kids isn't it?

I loooooove that at the moment the kids are spending so much time outdoors that I'm not constantly having to pick up toys and clean up after them (picking up toys isn't that easy to do at the moment with my bump).

Just before Christmas though we added a few more things for the kids and they've been very popular.  In the weekend before Christmas, Blair made a sandpit - this was because a lovely friend of mine had some surplus sand that needed a home - and our clam shell sandpit was a little on the small side for both kids anyway. So, Blair drew up some plans, went and bought some wood and then set to making the sandpit - with the intention to go and collect the sand from Nikki and Dane's driveway on Monday after work. The weather wasn't the nicest - but it was just annoying more than really wet I think (says me who watched the whole thing from the comfort of inside)


We also added a new (to us) playhouse that we purchased from another wonderful friend whose kids had outgrown it. The kids love being outside now - there seems to be plenty to keep them amused out there. It reminds me of my own childhood when we would spend all day outside and just come in to eat and find homemade lemonade.


Speaking of homemade lemonade, my mum has the best recipe that I've been meaning to both make with the kids and share the recipe with you. Whilst staying with my mum after Christmas I managed to snaffle a few lemons to bring back to Wellington with me - I love lemons and all things lemon flavoured. I'll get onto that tomorrow maybe.

Oh, and don't think I'm sitting in a stuffy house while I write this blog entry...nope, I've got extension cords to my 'puter and I'm sitting like a lady of leisure at the outside table under an umbrella.


STOP PRESS - my husband is the best when it comes to doing handyman stuff (well, when he's on holiday anyway). I've been moaning to asking him for ages about the swing in our backyard. He *may have* disposed of the brand new proper swing that went with it as we were using a baby swing on it and I've been asking him for ages to do something about it now that both kids have outgrown the baby one. Voila - he's just made another swing for the kids out of a plank of wood and some ropes - see...

Monday, January 3, 2011

A bit of a thing for chocolate

Yes, it's true - I do have a bit of a thing for chocolate...both the edible kind and anything chocolate coloured.

So I've been doing a weeny bit of knitting with chocolatey coloured yarn too.

This was my first knit for our babe due in Feb. I loved the look of the pattern, and the idea of double stranded knitting appealed too as it says to me 'I knit up quickly'. I was originally going to knit it in WOOLganics Deep Earth but in the end I found 10 balls of gorgeous chocolate brown Bendigo Woollen Mills Melody (a cashmere, merino and microfibe blend) in my stash and so that's what I decided to go with.

Voila - 4 days after casting on - the blanket was done. And after blocking, looked like this:
It's lovely and squishy too - I can't wait to snuggle a new baby up in it.

The pattern is Jared Flood's 'Wool Leaves' and you can purchase it through Ravelry for what I thought was a very fair price, I think it was $3.50USD.

I did make a few minor modifications - the pattern is written to double strand 10ply, but my melody was 8ply (which I actually like, it's not too heavy in 8ply - especially once blocked) so I downsized my needles to the equivalent of a 7mm and cast on 91sts so there were 2 more repeats across. This worked out perfectly in my opinion.

I was also taking part in a Vintage Purls KAL - this was for a selfish knit and I thought it was about time I actually knitted something for myself. There was a lovely group of people taking part and after reading what others were knitting I cast on a Wispy in VP lace - 'Mmm, Brownie'

This took me significantly longer than most things I cast on - but it was satisfying to finish. From memory I cast it off the night before the KAL ended officially. I haven't got fabulous photos yet, but I managed to get my 3 year old daughter to snap this picture of me wearing it the next day (excuse the undried hair!)


And then finally, I had almost a skein of my chocolate lace left - and I really liked that Wool Leaves pattern, so decided to double strand my lace and downsize my needles to knit my midwife a scarf.

After looking at a few other lacy scarf patterns on Ravelry, I used the equivalent needles to a 3.75mm and cast on 41 sts and then just knit the pattern till I had had enough. The result - a lovely soft silky lacey leafy scarf.



Watch this space too - this isn't the last you'll see of the Wool Leaves pattern...I may have cast on something knit using it over the Christmas Holidays ;) But that'll need a post all of it's own.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

A New Years 'Note To Self'

Julia...seeing as you've been entering your knitting into that fabulous KnitMeter all year, why not have a look at the total before the new year clicks over - ok?

This is the first year I've used KnitMeter - this funky little thing (I've got it on the right hand column of my blog)


Unfortunately though, I had it adding up my yardage all year...but when it clicked over to 2011 it went back to 0 before I could add my last couple of items and perhaps record what I'd actually managed to knit up this year.

Never fear, of course all my entries were there and using a handy-dandy calculator I was able to add it up - I've knit a whopping 30,720m this year - over 30 kms of yarn.

This year, with the arrival of our precious babe number 3 though I'm guessing that the final figure for 2011 might be somewhat less with sleep and early nights becoming more of a priority.

And while we're at it, this cheeky fellow is currently still breech - if anyone has any great tips for getting him to move into a more desirable position I'd love to hear them! I've still got approx 6 weeks - but he's not giving any indication of budging at the moment.

Wishing you a Happy New Year and a wonderful 2011!