Thermalgal’s Temperate Mumblings

Full term as of today

I’m 37 weeks today and can pop at any moment. My functional group took me out to lunch today for a little shower (it was also for a new dad in the group too). Now I feel so stuffed I could just burst!

The past two nights I’ve had trouble sleeping. I’ve been waking up at 3am and been unable to get back to sleep. Yesterday morning I just tossed and turned for a couple of hours. This morning I got up and read until about 6am and then went back to sleep. I’ve been really lucky when it comes to sleeping. The usual (except for the past two nights) has been at least six hours of uninterrupted sleep.

I got my thyroid results back yesterday and like I thought, my dosage increased. I knew it would probably have to at some point. The dosage is based on how well your thyroid is working and your weight. Obviously I’ve gained some weight in the past 8 months and they say pregnant women need a higher dose anyway. And I’ve been feeling like I do when I forget to take my meds (usually two days later with a funky sore feeling near the thyroid).

Surprise!

Last night Traci’s DH, Dave, threw her a surprise birthday party for her <cough> birthday. This is my favorite of the three photos I took when she walked into the room. It shows her surprise and I love how Dave is looking at her. They were way on the other side of the room, so I did play with the image a bit (increased brightness and contrast and cropped it down). I have lots more photos in my gallery from the party. I think everyone had a good time.

And what is a milestone birthday without a new pair of socks! These are my first attempt at custom sizing using the Universal Toe-up Sock Formula from Knitty. And they fit my sister’s tiny feet perfectly, well one sock does… I had forgotten what bind-off I had done on the first sock so I played around with the second. I thought I had figured it out (the stretchy one where you do a k2tog), but it was a lot tighter than the first, so I have to fix it so it can fit over her heel. And yes, I made her take off her shoes and try it on right there in the restaurant so I could see if they fit and to get a photo.

My So Called Scarf

Just for Sue…  Here is the start of My So Called Scarf using my handspun Cormo/Alpaca yarn.  It is very soft and squishy.  Since I only have about 220 yds and not the 267 yds called for in the pattern, I decided to go with 24 stitches instead of 30 to get more length.  I’d rather have a skinnier scarf that is longer than a short, squat scarf.  Right now I’m only working on it while I’m at my home computer (dial-up is sooo slow).  But I might be knitting on this more since my hands have been achy and tingly and numb lately (why do I get swollen hands while all the other pregnant women get swollen feet?).  I can’t knit more than a couple of rounds at a time with size 1 needles, but the size 11s on this project don’t hurt as much.

Baby’s first concert T

Okay, probably not what you were expecting. There were a bunch of leftover onesies from the shower, so I decorated two over the weekend. My little guy needs something to wear to when he goes to hear mommy play in May. So, I made him a onesie that all oboe groupies should have. It is actually a joke that Scott and I have (he is my first groupie). I also made a rocket one, since you know rockets go with everything! I’m going to have another go with tie dyeing the rest of the onesies.

One last picture on the baby related topic before moving on to Thanksgiving and crafty news. I took a picture this morning (36 weeks, 3 days). I was feeling pretty good about myself and my belly until Thursday. At the top of things a pregnant woman doesn’t want to hear is “You are fatter than me now!” Excuse me? I’m not fat, I’m pregnant. Also on the list, but not as far up is “how long do you think it will take you to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight?” I’m not going to think about weight for at least six months. First I’m going to concentrate on labor and delivery. Then I’m going to concentrate on taking care of the little one. After that will be getting back into running (I’m doing one leg of a marathon relay in May) and adjusting to work/day care. After the relay in May, I’ll take a look at where I’m at body wise and take any steps necessary to get happy with it again.

But let’s talk turkey…

Scott cooked a wonderful turkey (he used AB’s Honey Brined Smoked Turkey Recipe) and made lots of yummy side dishes (in the picture above you can see on the left his corn bread using Emeril’s Skillet Cornbread recipe and his chicken tortilla lasagne). I made mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes as well as the mango salsa (he forgot about it, so I ended up making it like planned). The day before was busy with Scott making banana chocolate chip muffins, chocolate dipped coconut macaroons, fruit cake (two pans), cranberry pecan pie, three loaves of bread (sourdough, multi-grain/seed, and cinnamon apple raisin), and two batches of ice cream (vanilla and butter pecan). I made my pumpkin harvest roll (on the foil in the picture below). Things I wish we had done better… we had no Cool Whip for the pumpkin roll since the french vanilla isn’t out and Scott didn’t get regular instead and we forgot to make the gravy (I made some on Thursday Friday without the drippings to go with the leftovers).

Also, the weekend I carried on the tradition of doing some demo Thanksgiving weekend. I cleared out the baby’s closet (including the rods and shelves that were nailed to the walls) so I can put in the Closet Maid organizer. Scott sanded the walls a bit (where the paint has built up over the years) and I patched the nail holes (and the new hammer hole I created). I have a little bit of patch work left (the hammer hole needs a second layer), then I can prime and paint the bare areas and finish that up. That should get the floor of the nursery a little more cleared.

Oh and some crafty updates. I finished up a gift knit this weekend (will post later after giftee receives it) and I started a new project. I’m making My So Called Scarf using handspun Cormo/Alpaca fiber that I bought at my first fiber festival (Md about three years ago) and that I spun up more than a year ago.

Still around

I’ve been trying to post every day during the week. I guess I should keep that up until the little guy arrives even if it is just small and stupid so I don’t have people thinking I’m in labor or something.

Grandma called yesterday and all 4 cousins are coming tomorrow. So, that gives us a full house at 15 people. I did a quick count of chairs and with the 8 folding chairs in the basement, we have just enough to sit everyone. I just need to figure out how many tables we will need. I have one of the big tables from church but think that only fits ten or so people. So, we’ll have to set up a second table for the 6 “kids” (ages 3.5 to 20). I’m going to make my pumpkin roll tonight and Scott took the mango salsa off my hands after he read my blog entry. That just leaves cleaning and potatoes.

I’m thinking about taking the easy way out on the outlet covers and just buy some cheap white ones instead of painting the bubblegum pink ones green. That will get it all finished in less than ten minutes! Scott had asked that I get the rocket up before Thanksgiving, but I haven’t even printed my template let along started painting it (it is small so it won’t take long).

I had a doctor’s appointment today and the fundal height was 38 cm. So, he is consistently measuring in the upper range of normal each time. She took the swab for GBS which was quite owie.  She also checked my cervix and it is still closed.  I asked if he was still head down (after this point he won’t turn breech so I just wanted to make sure) and she quickly whipped out the ultrasound and yup, still head down.  I’m now up to weekly visits to the OB.