32 Weeks

It's been a while since I did one of these. Since my doctor told me on Monday that she thinks this baby is coming early and our goal is to make it to December 20th, I decided I wanted to document at least a little bit more. So here's one for 32 weeks, with some pics between now and the last update at 21 weeks...

 How far along? 32 weeks

How big is baby? Squash

Total weight gain/loss: Somewhere between 16 and 20 lbs. This morning I weighed 155, which would put me at 16 over. But tomorrow I'll probably weigh 159. It's so weird.

Maternity clothes? Pretty much exclusively.

Stretch marks? No, but it looks like I might get a little one right over my belly button.

Sleep? I got up to pee 7 times last night. So it's ok, just very interrupted.

Pregnancy dreams? A few.

Best moment this week? Ummm... only taking 3 Percocet yesterday (down from my normal 6)?

Miss anything? I miss functioning like a normal person, even a normal pregnant person.

Movement? All of the time.

Food cravings? Nothing really.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing in particular.

Team Blue!

Labor signs: Lots of contractions every single day and occasional menstrual like cramps over my entire belly, but no dilation or effacement yet. So far so good.

Symptoms: Peeing all night and leg cramps in the middle of the night. I'm waddling and all of that, but I think that's partly due to the pain from the surgery.

Belly button in or out? The bottom part has popped out a little bit, but the top part is still in.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time? Just plugging through.

Any milestones this week? I don't think so. Just trying to get in two more weeks so that I can deliver at Highland rather than Strong. Oh wait, I didn't go to the hospital this week. That's a milestone for me!

Looking forward to: Finishing the nursery.

Here are some pics since the last time I posted a ticker change... 

22 weeks 4 days:

24 weeks 4 days:

25 weeks 4 days:

26 weeks:

28 weeks:

30 weeks:

 

Update & More Crafts

I haven't posted in the past week or so because it has taken me this long to feel well enough to do anything productive, really. After I had surgery last Tuesday (11/19) to place a stent in my ureter, I was in a lot of pain and very sick. I ended up back in the OB triage on Friday (11/22) and found out that I have an infection. Now, 8 days after surgery, I am FINALLY starting to feel like myself again.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to go back to teaching at the dance studio until after the baby is born. I am just having too many contractions to make it safe. My doctor says our goal is to make it to December 20th. Fingers crossed!

So anyway, I've finished 2 more neck warmers:

Cozy Cream

(this one will probably be a Christmas gift)

 

Mountain River

(this one will either be a gift or go into my etsy store) 

Looking at these pictures compared to some of my earlier ones, you can really see how tired I am. And I even put on makeup to try to hide it!

I also worked on some nursery projects. I'll probably be in a good place to put up pictures of the whole nursery next week (as long as my mom gets her projects done), but here's the tree my sister and I put up yesterday. My husband hung the shelves for me. When I was telling him where to put them, I could tell that he was kind of skeptical. But after he was done, he said "wow, that actually looks really nice."

  

Burp cloths & more neck warmers

Well, I finished up a few more projects. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do after tonight because I have an OB appt and surgery tomorrow. (Hooray, the end to my pain is in sight! 24 hours to go...)

I have a lot of leftover fabric from the quilt, crib skirt, and valances that are being made, so I decided to make use of it. I have finished a set of 10 burp cloths for my sister-in-law. I am going to make 3 sets of 3 to either give as gifts or to sell on Etsy. I'll only sell them if they turn out better than the ones I made for my sister-in-law. I am going to have to tweak my method a little bit. 

I can't really estimate the cost since the fabric was purchased for a different project. But I guess since I would have purchased that fabric anyway, I can disclude it from the cost of the burp cloths.I did buy 2 yards of minky fabric, which was $18.71. By the time I'm done, I'll have made 28 burp cloths, so that makes the cost of each one $.67. Not too made, but they are a little bit more time consuming that I thought they would be. Using the two different fabrics is a bit trickier than I imagined it would be.

Here is the set I made for my sister-in-law:

  


And, of course, 2 more neck warmers. The first one is one that I'm giving to my sister (instead of the Cobalt one from a few days ago). I think she'll like this one better. I'm calling it Electric Avenue Blue:

  
The second one is for my mother, and I'm calling it October Sky, because it reminds me of looking up through the trees on a crisp October evening. There are blues, oranges, browns deep reds, and purples, mixed in with an occasional pop of a buttery cream. I love the colors and buttons of this one:

I will be posting a few neck warmers on my Etsy shop tonight (BeeMusedArts). Depending on the quality of the pictures, I will also be posting some original artwork done by my sister-in-law. 

The three neckwarmers that I will be selling as of right now are Oatmeal, Cobalt, and Strawberry.

Etsy Shop Link 

Dining Room Pics and Today's Craft

Dining Room
Finally! I have the dining room pictures ready. First, here's a picture of the room from the center of the opening between the living room and the dining room. All of the "before" pictures show how it was when the previous owners lived here. The "mid" pictures show how we had it before we started the renovations.

This second set of pics shows the view from what used to be the kitchen doorway versus what is now the view from the breakfast bar:

 
What we did:
- Knocked down a wall between the kitchen and the dining room. Both rooms were small, so this creates a feeling of more space.
- Installed a breakfast bar with seating on the dining room side and cabinet storage on the kitchen side. (More detailed pics will come when I post kitchen before/after pics)
- Painted the walls. Twice. The first was a light green, the second was a light blue.
- Painted the dining room table and chairs (green to brown)
- Re-covered throw pillows in the window seats
- Refinished the original 115 year old hardwoods
- Installed new base moulding
- Painted the trim, base moulding, ceiling & window seat the same color - "Cloud Nine"
- Took down the old brass chandelier from the 1980s and put up a new, modern brushed nickel one

I am not done decorating yet, but it's getting there. We don't love the dining room and chairs, but we plan to buy a bigger set when we move eventually. It's not something we want to invest in right now, plus the room is small and doesn't have space for a bigger set. (We'll probably be here for another 4-5 years.)

Here is a comparison of the window seat side of the room:

  
Here is a comparison of the breakfast bar side of the room:

And, of course, the window seat transition:

 



Taggie Minky Lovey Project

I am in the process of making 4 taggie minky lovey blankets, one for myself, one for my sister-in-law, and two for friends of mine and my husband's. They are approximately 20" x 27" each. I just love the minky fabric so much. I didn't love how this one turned out, so this is probably the one I will keep for myself. I need to iron the flannel after I'm done sewing so that it was a crisp look to it.

Here are some pics. (Two will have the brown minky fabric, two will have light green minky fabric.) The first pic is of the entire front of the blanket. The second one shows the back.

  

1 1/2 yard flannel fabric =3.37
1 1/3 yard minky fabric = 9.00
Ribbon = 17.16
Green thread = 1.87
Brown thread = 1.87

Total for materials = 33.27 + 4% tax = $34.60

Total for each of 4 blankies = $8.65 per blankie

Plus leftover thread and ribbon (and a little bit of minky fabric too)! 

Updated 11/15/13 with a few more pics:

 

More crafts! (Neckwarmers and car seat blanket)

My projects have been therapeutic for me. I can pay attention to the details of these projects and put the pain out of my head, at least a little bit. The good news is that we have a plan. Meds for pain management for the next week, and then surgery to place a stent either next Monday or Tuesday. 

More Neckwarmers!
Here are the neckwarmers I finished today and a car seat blanket I finished about a week ago -- I've just been waiting for the car seat, which I received as a gift from my sister at my shower yesterday. :)

1) Strawberry (Not sure who will get this one?)

 (Sorry it's sideways. I'm too lazy to fix it.)

2) Cobalt (gift for my middle sister)

3) Granola (this one is my favorite so far, and I might keep it for myself!)

  

Each one cost under $10 for the supplies and took 2-3 hours to complete. I need to make one for my mother. I plan to give them to my sisters and my mother and my best friend as thank you gifts for the shower they put together for me, along with a few other things. I haven't been able to drive much, due to the pain meds and *ahem* pain, so hopefully they will be understanding and forgiving for my tardiness on their gifts.

Waterproof Car Seat Blanket

It is very wet and rainy here in Rochester, NY during the fall and spring months. I wanted a car seat blanket/cover that was warm and waterproof, but was having a hard time finding one. So I decided to make one. I used this tutorial: link.

I definitely think that the felt lining is necessary. The nylon is very see through, so unless you pick black nylon and a relatively plain fleece material, it's going to show through. I purchased a blue flannel so that the grey would have a blue-ish tint to it. I think that If I was going to do it again, I would use rope for the ties on the side rather than ribbon. I don't love the ribbon. But I do love the cats! (Do you have any idea how hard it is to find fabric with a cat print that isn't girly?!)

Here are pics of my car seat cover:

 

Cost:
2/3 yd Felt = $3.33
2/3 yd Nylon = $5.33
2/3 yd Fleece = $5.60
Ribbon = Part of my stash! (AKA, no additional cost)
Total = $14.26 + 4% tax = $14.83

Cost to purchase one =  $36 plus tax and shipping

Savings = Over $21 (probably closer to $25 or more, depending on shipping costs)

Plus, because of the width of the felt, I will have enough to use to make another one of these. I have nylon and fleece leftover too. I might make a little hat and mitts out of the fleece.  

One more thing...
I am going back to add a picture of my dining room centerpiece that looks a bit nicer than the pics I used the other day, so feel free to go back and check that one out if you wish!

Next up, I'm going to put together the before and after pictures of the dining room. I will probably post those tomorrow.