I give up on pictures

Ok I have sat here and tried to upload pictures. I have tried to upload them from picasa links. It just doesn't work. So you are stuck with a link to an album again. Sorry.

Anyway that album has some pictures of the decorations at the shower this weekend plus the nursery with the crib bedding in it. Enjoy.

Quick Update

Sorry. I have been really horrible about updating the blog. If you are on facebook, then you have probably seen some of these pictures but here are some nursery and u/s pictures. We are off to our first baby shower this weekend so I'll hopefully have more stuff to update the blog with. I also have some finished knitting to post but I haven't gotten an pictures yet. Ok so the nursery and the most recent u/s.

Enjoy!





Hmm I can't figure out why the u/s pictures aren't working. I'll have to work on those later. For now here is a link to the picasa album:

3d u/s

Babies babies everywhere

So my best friend just had her second girl yesterday. Another friend is due at the end of the month. In fact, there are babies due to arrive from now until November. So many babies this year.

We ordered the crib and glider from babies are us. The room is painted and we have the curtains hung. Next on the list is to find a ped.

I've been knitting a blanket for a friend and the baby sweater has been on break. I'll have to get back to it eventually.

Oh well not much really to report other then things seem well here. We had out first child care class last night. I think we aced swaddling and diaper changing. Although Kevin did point out he did it faster then me. :-) That's all for now.

More pictures

We had another u/s yesterday to check on the baby's growth. The baby is in the 30th percentile so on the small side. The doctor isn't worried but is going to keep an eye on the growth with likely at least one more u/s. The heartbeat was 157 bpm. The kiddo was sleepy. He/She was all curled up in a ball and didn't want to move. The tech said even if we wanted to know the sex she couldn't have told us. Pictures aren't as good as earlier but here you go:

It is a face!

Side/spine shot

Almost 24 weeks

Pretty basic boring appointment today. Everything looked good. Heartbeat was in the 150s. I got the paper work for the glucose test and for another u/s in 3 weeks. I am getting a little tired of the "Oh you don't look very big" comments. Sorry. I have no idea how big I should look. It definitely depends on the shirt I'm wearing I think. Doctor said I was within normal measurements. So I'm not real worried. I haven't gained all that much weight still which I'm happy about but the kiddo should start gaining a lot more over the next few weeks so I expect to see the pounds start to pack on a little bit more.

I don't think I ever posted this on any of the other updates but we are over half way there. YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Actually according to my niffy iphone app, we have 16 weeks and 3 days or 115 days left to go. Maybe I'll go get one of those ticker count downs for the blog.

We had a party over the weekend for Kevin's graduation. Thanks to everyone who came and braved the massive downpours. Our vision of a sunny BBQ went out the window. We ended up with pizza and wings in the garage but at least we were dry. Plus the new Wii got a work out. Now if we could only stop fighting over who plays Zelda first. :-)

Back from vacation

Well I just enjoyed a beautiful week in Fort Lauderdale. It was awesome. :-) We did the beach, pool, air boat, water taxi, and lots and lots of food. It was pretty warm but I survived. Unfortunately, I am back at work now. I have put pictures up on picasa.

In other news, I started to feel the baby move on vacation. Kevin even felt a kick from the outside. So yes there is actually a baby in there and I'm not just getting fat. That or it is some wicked gas. ;-) Just kidding.

Appointment update

So we saw the doctor today. Everyone looks good. The baby's heartbeat was 160. She went over the results of the u/s last week. So as of last Wednesday, May 27th the baby was:

Measuring at 20 w 2 days
12 oz
In the 40th percentile for size (so not a huge baby but mostly average)
Had all the major parts necessary for life (heart, brain, etc)
The heartbeat at the time was 147


Plus we found out that placenta is anterior which explains why I haven't felt much moment. The placenta is acting like a little pillow and the kicks and punches aren't strong enough to go through it yet. So hopefully as this little one gets bigger, I'll starting feeling some activity. But all in all a very good appointment. We have our interview with a doula tomorrow. I'm hoping it goes well. And today is our 3 year anniversary. Can you believe it? 3 years. Go us. Love you hubby. :-)

U/S pictures

We had the big u/s today. We were very strong and did not find out the sex. So here are the pictures:

Baby update

We had another appointment last week. The baby's heartbeat was 160 bpm and I was measuring at 19 cm. I have no idea what that means. But things look good. The big u/s is on the 27th so I hope to have new pictures then. We are not planning to find out the sex (sorry to all of you who will have to deal with green and yellow baby clothes and knitting.) :-)

I did start a sweater for the baby. It is the Trellis found on knitty.com. I'll have to get pictures up. It is slow going with all the details.

Kevin seems to think I've started showing and I've heard it from a few people at church too so it might be true. I think I'm just looking fat. No confirmed baby movements yet but I felt a bubble pop like sensation on Saturday. It could have been the baby, it could have been gas, who knows. Doctor says I should feel more movement by 20 weeks or so.

I'm getting excited for our 'baby moon'. We are going to Florida in June. I want to just lay on the beach and maybe get a massage. Nice relaxing, sunny, vacation before the baby shows up. Thats all for now. Look for u/s pictures in the next few weeks.

Look what I had in Brussels

Yummy yummy. Yes that is a waffle with ice cream and strawberries. Two days earlier I had a waffle with ice cream, chocolate (hot fudge), and whipped cream. By far one of the best parts of the trip.

I'm in Brussels

Whoa!!! On a business trip in Belgium. I am looking forward to chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. I mean I am missing out on all the beer so I should enjoy what I can right?

A long journey but a hopeful outcome

So finally after 21 months of ups and downs (well mostly downs), I can announce with some confidence that I am pregnant. :-) I even have a picture to prove it. Here is the little one taken at 10 weeks. You can see the head and legs. The baby was dancing for us.


I am almost 16 weeks now and waiting to feel the baby move for myself. The due date is October 17. I got to thinking about this journey I've been on. 21 months from start to finish trying to conceive. One miscarriage at 7 weeks. Multiple fertility tests. A referral to a fertility specialist and then bam this pregnancy. We had filled out the paper work for the specialist and were just waiting on my period to do the rest of the tests before we looked at IVF. I feel very blessed by this pregnancy. I'm concluded that we (the hubby and I) must be seasonal as both pregnancies were conceived in January. I want to enjoy this pregnancy and not focus on the past negatives but I also want others to know that people do struggle and if you ever find yourself struggling to get or stay pregnant, that you are not alone.

I suspect that this blog will probably turn into a bit of a baby blog for the next few months. I'll try to throw some knitting and dogs in from time to time. :-)

A friend set up a guessing game for me. You are all welcome to take a stab at guessing. I'm not sure if the link will work but the game is at http://expectnet.com/game.php and is referenced by adams_baby. Happy guessing. Me? I don't have a feeling yet. I'm just praying for a healthy full term baby.

Wow long time no post

Yes I know I have been slacking. I have some pictures to put up but they are on the other computer so they will have to wait. I can't believe it is March already. Lots has been going on. Kevin had a birthday and I managed to buy him stuff that he actually liked. I survived the one year anniversary of the miscarriage. It was rough but not near as bad as I would have expected it to be. A year brings a lot of healing. Oh well I'm looking forward to a much better 2009. I read a horrible book for book club, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. (Not sure how to underline in this blog editor) It is the 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction but it is so not my type of book. Too much blood and death and sadness. But it is a decent history of the Dominican Republic. So read it as at your own risk. Ok hoping to have pictures up soon.

Twitter

Ok I joined Twitter. Why? Well mainly because the Yarn Harlot is on Twitter. Yes I am a shameless Yarn Harlot stalker. I'm TracyA99 on there so find me. Right now I don't have very many things to follow.

Another Review

Empty Womb, Aching Heart: Hope and Help for Those Struggling With Infertility by Marlo Schalesky

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I related a lot to what was said in this book. I cried through some of the stories as the questions raised hit home for me. I do think that some people could be turned off by the last story in this book. I know it was trying to convey another story about how God can make you a mother but I think the lesbian piece of it could cause controversy depending on your specific beliefs. Otherwise, I have no complaints.


View all my reviews.

A book review

I just read The Shack by William P. Young. There is a website set up for it here. I found the book very moving. I will admit I knew a little bit about the book before reading it as I heard a sermon on the book at a local church. So I went into the book with high expectations. I knew it was fiction and I knew that it wouldn't solve all my problems. But I felt like I could relate to the main character a little bit. Mack is a father who loses his 6 year old daughter in an extremely brutal way. He has a lot of anger. I have a lot of anger. I am still anger about the miscarriage and I am angry about dealing with infertility on top of all of that. So I was hoping to get something out of this book to help me let go of some of my anger.

All in all the book was good. There were moments I cried when the characters said things that I totally felt. Like when Mack said he felt so lost. I just started crying because I have said that same thing myself. But there were other times when the story was too predictable and I remembered it was just fiction. It did give me another perspective and helped me with my anger. I am still angry but I feel like I can talk to God more directly about it. I just started reading Empty Womb, Aching Heart by Marlo Schalesy. It is a series of short true stories of women and families dealing with fertility issues and their own faith journey with God. I think reading The Shack made me more open to reading this book. Before I think I would have been to angry to read their stories.

So should you read The Shack? I think so. I think even if you haven't had a horrible tragedy this it is a new look on God. I was taken back at first by the way God was written in the book. I found Jesus a much easier character to accept but I think the characters were written that way to get the story across. Even if you aren't a Christian or do not believe in God, this book is a good story and an interesting work of fiction.

My first pattern

I recently made a sweater for my friend's daughter and had a bit of yarn left over. I decided to make a head band to go with sweater. The lace pattern is a chevron lace pattern adapted to be used in the round. Here is my attempt at writing up the pattern:

Lace Head Band

Child size

Lace Pattern (worked on 11 sts)

Round 1: Knit all stitches

Round 2: K3, K2tog, yo, K1, yo, SSK, K3

Round 3: Knit all stitches

Round 4: K2, K2tog, yo, K3, yo, SSK, K2

Round 5: Knit all stitches

Round 6: K1, K2tog, yo, K5, yo SSK, K1

Round 7: Knit all stitches

Round 8: K2tog, yo, K7, yo, SSK

Gauge: 5 stitches per inch in stockenitte on US 5

This pattern is easy to adjust in size by adding or decreasing a lace repeat.

Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Wildflower DK (took less then a ¼ skein)

Needle: Size US 5 circular for magic loop

Cast on in multiples of 11. For a child size to fit a 6 -12 month old, I cast on 77 sts (so 7 pattern repeats.) Hint: Place marker after every 11 sts.

Cast on and join in round being careful not to twist.

Round 1: (worked on 77 sts) [K2, P2] repeat until last st, K1

Round 2: repeat round 1

Lace pattern (worked over 77 sts)

Round 11: repeat round 1

Round 12: repeat round 2

Cast off loosely

Weave in ends

Copyright 2009 by Tracy Adams (tracy99)

Here is a picture of the finished product (I'll have to get a shot on a child soon):

Rose Bowl Parade

Some pictures from the parade:

Fly over by a bomber (B2 I think)

The blue band:

I have a lot more pictures. I put them out in a web album with picasa. I am going to try to figure out how to link to the web album from the blog. Stay tuned.


Ok got the web album page. Fingers crossed that works. Tons of pictures in there. A lot that aren't all that great but I figured I'd share them all instead of trying to pic and choose.

Happy New Year!

Yes I know. I haven't posted in weeks. Sorry about that. My holidays were pretty good. I got some cool stuff for Christmas including a new camera which is awesome. I will work on putting some pictures up this weekend. The hubby and I went to the Rose Bowl where Penn State preceded to dominate USC for 3 out of the 4 quarters. Too bad we had to count that 2nd quarter or else we would have won. Totally worth the trip anyway.

I have only made one new year's resolution and that is to put myself first. Hopefully this will help me to focus on what is important to me and declutter my life and help my sanity. :-)