And you thought your stash was huge?

Check this one out.

I wish I had that kind of space. One day, maybe, right, SuperGeek?

Forget me?

Oh, I hope not!
I've been busy, with a very important project!




I made the baby, but not the quilt. SuperGeek's Aunt made it for Stella Grace, who was about 2 weeks old when this photo was taken. She was born on June 27, at 8:21pm, well past the promised time of noon. My doctor induced labor after lab results showed pre-eclampsia-like results. She will be 7 weeks old tomorrow. So, yeah, I've been slacking on the blogging. And knitting.

H-bomb is going to be starting kindergarten in 3 weeks, while I return to school in 2 weeks. I'll have one whole week with both of the girls together, and I'm fairly certain all of my hair will fall out and I will develop an enormous amount of new wrinkles.

I really haven't been doing much knitting lately. The needles don't seem safe next to such a small person while she's eating, which is almost constantly. I have a few more inches on the Mac socks for SuperGeek and I've finished one golf club cover for a "friend" of my sis-in-law. I'm also plugging away at a baby blanket that is for a baby who will be one in October. I'm obviously good with deadlines....

That's about all we've been up to at Chez Madisonienne.
Ooh, and watching far too much E! during the day. I now know far too much about the personal lives of Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears than is healthy. Sigh. But they make it so enticing!

Exciting Update!

Well, probably just for me....
I just got back from my 3rd OB appointment in less than a week. I have been ordered to go on bedrest, which involves me not working and a suggestion of watching tv. I've decided to take my doctor's advice because of his concerns of pre-eclampsia. I'm borderline right now, and he would like it if it didn't get any farther along. I don't have any risk factors for the condition, but it seems like nobody really knows what causes it anyway. We just want to avoid the NICU this time around.

And so....
I'm scheduled for labor induction next Wednesday, the 27th. At 5:30 in the morning. This shouldn't be a problem for me, but I'm not sure how SuperGeek is going to handle such an early wake-up call. He kind of likes his sleep. Sometimes I try to wake him up in the middle of the night so that he can keep me company, but it generally doesn't work.

So, yeah. That's where we are. Unless something drastic changes, we'll have our newest family member at home next weekend. Needless to say, we're thrilled. That doesn't even come close to how we're feeling, but blogs are like that and words can only convey so much.

Babies

My 5 year old "baby" just lost her second tooth. She starts summer school tomorrow and can't wait to show all of her friends her baby tooth. I don't think any of them have so much as a wiggle in their mouths, so H-bomb's feeling pretty grown-up right now.
As far as the other baby is concerned, H has decided that it might be ok for her to come home from the hospital. Last week, she was sure that a new baby wasn't going to work at our house. I'm sure that her opinion will change a few more times between now and July, but hopefully the transition will be easier than I'm imagining.
H-bomb is looking forward to my lap reappearing. She also thinks it will be nice when I'm not so uncomfortable and can play on the floor with her again. I think it will be nice when I can get up off the floor once I'm done playing on it.

I'm finally scheduled for more than 5 hours this coming month, which should keep me busy and my mind off my tummy (at least until I deal with patients). Plus, I got a raise, so the paychecks will be even nicer than before. The company is restructuring their pay rates to be more competitive, so I didn't earn the extra cash, but I'm still going to accept it - happily.

We have just over 5 weeks to go and I haven't started on any baby projects for myself. I haven't been inspired by anything lately, I guess. And the above-mentioned uncomfortableness isn't relieved by sitting, which is how I prefer to knit. Crazy, I know. But if anybody has links or ideas they'd like to share, I'm open to them.

Til next time!

It's A Girl!

We had a 19 week ultrasound yesterday. The doctor was able to see girl parts on the scan. Everything still looked normal, so we won't have any more for the rest of the pregnancy. We're excited to start thinking about names, and it should be easier since we'll only have to choose from one gender.

New Things

It's official.
After 5 years of cleaning laundry, dishes and sometimes the bathroom, I've decided to re-join the workforce. I was offered a phlebotomy position at a local clinic which I accepted and start on Monday. Not only do I get to schedule my hours around school and family, I will also be paid in real money. Instead of the (wonderful) hugs and sloppy kisses that I have been getting for my efforts. I don't get any benefits like health insurance or 401k, but I get an "in" in my field and hopefully, a position in the company when I graduate. I'll be spending most of my time in the Sun Prairie lab, but may get a chance to work at other clinics in the Madison area.

I haven't been doing much knitting lately. I seem to have lost the inspiration for the projects I started. I blame the cold weather and the more challenging courses I'm taking this semester. Even the new issue of IK didn't do much for me. Probably because I can't really knit any of the sweaters I like since they won't fit me when I'm done. Or else they'll look too "cute" on me and my tummy. I wish I could alter patterns for pregnancy, but that skill is still beyond me.

We have another ultrasound coming up on Thursday, and if the baby cooperates, we'll be able to tell the sex this time around. I've moved past the looking-fat part of the pregnancy and now look like I'm going to have a baby. I'm even wearing some of my maternity clothes, which are still a little big, but more comfortable than the clothes that were getting too tight. They probably look more attractive, too.

15 week ultrasound

Photos can be found here.
Everything on that wasn't right on Alex's ultrasounds are perfect on this baby's. We were able to see a stomach, bladder and 4 forearm bones today. All fingers and toes appeared to be there and the measurements were spot on for 15 weeks. The baby weighs 5 ounces already, and the "normal" size is usually 4 ounces at 16 weeks. I'm not sure if that will equal a big baby or not, but I've definitely got a tummy. I probably only have a couple more weeks of regular clothes, and, thankfully, my maternity clothes still fit from 5(!) years ago.

I started the spring semester at school today. Bright and early at 7:30 with blood banking. The courses this semester look much more interesting than the ones last semester, and more challenging, too.

I haven't been doing much knitting lately. I think it's the glut of gardening catalogs that I've been getting in the mail. Paired with the spring-like weather we were having until this past weekend; I was itching to get out in the dirt. I noticed that some of my bulbs were already popping up, irises, I think. They have a good mulch of leaves from the fall, so they should make it through the rest of the winter and spring back when it gets warmer. I have big plans of digging more gardens, or rather, having SuperGeek dig more gardens for me. We would also like to finally get around to putting in the patio we've been talking about for the last 3 years. My sister and her boyfriend gave us an outdoor fireplace, so we'll have to do something in order to use it, because it's just not cool to hang out in the driveway.

Just Because

He's so cute. I took this in Sister Bay, Door County, WI. We were up over the weekend for Christmas with my family. The squirrel is eating on the back deck of the condo. He would chase away a chipmunk that was trying to get some food, too. The chipmunk would keep trying to get to the food, but he never made it while I was watching. H-bomb found it entertaining for a while but then the shiny presents caught her attention and she was lost.

First Trimester Testing...

Came back within in normal ranges. We have another set of blood tests coming up in 3 weeks, but nobody's expecting anything other than normal results for those as well. The tests were for Down syndrome and trisomy 13, 16 and 18, I believe. All are chromosonal disorders that usually include mental retardation and physical abnormalities in the baby.

Merry Christmas!

We spent last evening at my in-laws' house in Milton. We had a delicious dinner, complete with blueberry not-wine for me. There were many gifts under the tree, but I think the best one was the gift of a heifer through Heifer International, from Mema and Bapa.
Although it's not a gift to me, I've named my heifer LuLu. I believe she will be a wonderful addition to somebody's life. SuperGeek also received a heifer, while H-bomb was given a flock of ducks. She doesn't really understand what that means, but I think she's happy anyway.
H-bomb was pretty excited to see that Santa did show up at our house last night. He even found the Christmas stockings! She's been painting on the kitchen floor all morning, wearing the bathrobe he brought her.
We'll be heading back down to Milton for more food (cranberry steamed pudding, yum!) and family today.

Happy Holidays, everybody!

Baby's First Photo

We had our first ultrasound today, and everything looks perfect, according to the doctor. The neural tube is 1.5mm, which is well within the normal range (1-3mm). We have another scheduled for January 16, which seems like many years away. SuperGeek and I are both feeling a bit less anxious, although I'm still nervous and probably will be until the baby is born and everything is perfect.

Another FO

This is a phenobarbital molecule I made for my organic chemistry class. I have to give a presentation on the drug tomorrow and I'll be using this as a visual aid.
The gray is carbon, blue is oxygen and white is nitrogen. The green pipe cleaners represent single bonds, while the blue are double bonds. I left out the hydrogen atoms because I would need to make 22 of them and I don't have unlimited time.
Tomorrow is my last class for the semester and I have only 2 finals to take next week. I'm looking forward to a month off of classes, especially since H-bomb will still have preschool and I'll be able to get some much needed rest.

A New Toy

I'm the kind of person who never wins anything, no matter how hard I try. So imagine my surprise, and delight, when my name was called during the raffle at the ETC Holiday Party. I am now the proud owner of a Breville Cafe Roma Espresso machine. After checking websites and the information from my doctor, I found that I can actually use it, too!
SuperGeek and I have now won something 2 years in a row. Maybe it's the beginning of a streak?

Thank You

Thank you, everybody, for your very kind thoughts and words. We are very nervous at Chez Madisonienne right now, but we're hopeful we have nothing to worry about. We will be having an ultrasound on the 19th which will give us some insight into how the baby is developing.

For those who would like more information, here's a link to my husband's webpage.

My Birthday Present to You

Today is my birthday and I thought I'd share some good news.....



We're due on July 8, 2007, which puts me at about 9 weeks and 2 days. We're very excited and nervous about everything, but the doctor is very optimistic that everything will go perfectly for us this time around.

Finished Objects!!!!

The excitement at my house is running high right now. It's a little sad that I don't have anybody to share it with, but H-bomb will be home soon.

I finished Icarus! I'm so glad to get it done. I think it took forever and 5 days. I haven't decided where I'll block it yet, but I'm thinking my dining room table. We don't use it for much anyway. I'll get some photos posted as soon as I have the cable to connect to the computer. Somebody took it with him to work...

I also finished H-bomb's Halloween costume this morning. She chose the fabric for a princess dress, and I sewed it. It was my first ever dress, with a zipper and a lining. She's pretty excited to wear it out for candy tonight. And I'm excited for her to bring home the candy!

As far as school goes, I should be checked off for the three different types of needles on Friday. And then, this knit-blogger will be able to draw blood from veins. (We don't get to learn how to do arteries in this class.) I'll have another clinical rotation at the beginning of December, just in time for my birthday and final exams. Hooray!
I just finished 3 courses, with 2 A's and 1 A/B. I was hoping for straight A's, but as SweaterGirl says, "C's get degrees", so I won't worry too much about them.

I'm off to prepare for the ghosts and goblins tonight. They should be starting their neighborhood rounds any time now. ...mmm....candy....

Neat-O Cell Video

With extra-hot DNA replication!

Video

Yes, I am a dork. I am comfortable with my geekiness. It's something that comes with maturity. Now, to get some of that fine wine that goes along with it....

Update!

Baby Madelynn has been found safe and sound in our family room closet. I guess we just need a search team of children, even though they were searching for different toys.
It was a happy reunioun for H-bomb, as Madelynn is her favorite baby. (She doesn't know that you're not supposed to show favoritism to kids. Maybe baby dolls are an exception?)

On to Icarus....
I have 14 rows left of chart one. I think I should be able to finish them either today or tomorrow at school. I'd rather finish them at home, but I have an exam to study for, so I might finish them during my breaks at school.
I cast on last weekend for the Father and Son socks in the fall IK. They're moving along pretty quickly. I like having smaller projects to work on in addition to a large one. I'll feel like I've accomplished something when they're done, even if I still have most of another project to finish.

About Right

My Personality

Neuroticism	8
Extraversion	99
Openness To Experience	71
Agreeableness	62
Conscientiousness	26

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Icarus Progress.... With Photos!

Ok. So blogger doesn't want to put my photos where I want them. Anyway....
I started classes on Monday. Bright and early at 7:30 in the morning. I'm not really what people call a "morning person". I like to sleep. I like my bed. I like my eyes to be closed during the dark morning. I'm sure that I'll adjust in a few weeks, but until then, I'll be dragging.
Right now, I'm taking a break from my urinalysis studying (oh, yeah) to get these photos up.




I've been spending my breaks before and after class working on Icarus. It's taking roughly 30 minutes to do 2 rows, so I'm not getting a lot done at one time, but it is adding up. I have four more rows left to do on the third repeat. I'm using Mondial La Lana Merino Fine and size 2 Turbos.
Icarus is still small enough to take with me in a small fabric gift bag and fits nicely in my backpack. I've really been enjoying talking with the random people who stop to ask about the project. Finding new people to talk to is something I enjoy doing. As SweaterGirl and IKTI know, I'll talk to just about anybody about anything.

Other than school, I haven't been doing anything new. I'm finally getting some ripe tomatoes in my garden, although my plants were really damaged during the storms last week. I'm hoping that the huge holes in the leaves won't hurt the tomatoes, pumpkins and cucumbers too much. The weeds seem to have weathered the storms (ha, ha) just fine, but my super-tall sunflowers were broken by the wind before I had a chance to get photos taken. But, thankfully, there's always next year.