She is here!

our little girl was born last night after a long but beautiful labour. i started to have contractions around 11:00 the night before but didn't really go into active labour till she was almost born!
after a day of regular contractions my sister and i went for a beautiful forest walk..it seemed like things were actually slowing down, but once we got back home again everything happened fairly quickly. we filled the birth pool and after about 10 contractions that were 1-2 minutes apart i got in. it was heaven! i was in the pool for about 45 minutes i think.. she did all of the work. it was amazing. i felt her little body move down..down..with each surge and finally she was right there! i felt this bulging bag of waters and broke it with my finger and out she came in a few quick pushes. i caught her in my hands and held her for a long time before getting out of the water. she was pink and breathing and just perfect from the moment she was born. *sigh*

my midwife suzie said that in 600+ births it was probably the most peaceful,perfect birth she has witnessed. it made me cry.

she weighed 8lbs 3 oz
born around 6:30pm..( i'm not even sure on the time, but my midwives have it written down)
no height yet because i just didn't want to put her down.

im having a baby!

and no Castor oil and verbena after all!! ive been having contractions since about 11:00 tonight. its 4:57am and i can't sleep.. they are about 4-5 minutes apart right now.. not terribly painful, but there for sure and lasting about a minute long.

im so happy!

Today or Tomorrow..

i'm having this baby today or tomorrow. thank the earth for Castor oil and lemon verbena..

another beautiful day

still pregnant. yep. im going to be pregnant forever..

we took the kiddos and the dog and the remote control spider man monster truck and ngaio's beloved "strawberry shortcake dolls" to the park today to soak up the beautiful January sun...then we decided to walk..and walk..and walk..to the fabulous coffee shop that timothy knows of. turns out that wasn't open. so we walked and walked some more back to the park and our car. we are home now and im very glad. walking that far whilst being even more than very pregnant (plus my only pants will not for the life on me stay up so i have to walk while hiking them up, which doesn't really work when you are
a) pushing a buggy b)holding the dig leash c)carrying a child)

anyways, i can't have the baby now for another few days. everything is on hold. no baby. no way. the carpets in my mothers house (where we are birthing) are all being replaced tomorrow. talk about a nightmare. so i'm going to be pregnant for at least until that is done and over with. there is NO way im having a baby while a crew of carpet installers are on the job. wouldn't that be just soooo my luck?

i love being pregnant.

longies..but not.

i cast on these cute tiny longies but realised soon after starting on the earthy colorway that there wasn't a hope that i would have enough yarn for longies .. so i improvised and made a boy short kind of soaker thing.. im not 100% sure that its going to work, but we shall see soon enough!

Today was a better day..

infact, after i posted that short and sad update yesterday i decided to cast on a pair of small longies and knitting did make me feel better.. it was just the current project that wasn't working for me.
im on leg one now and happy, but rubing out of yarn, so i think they will be summer shorts, not longies.. im a bit sad, but i kind of knew there wouldn't be enough of it..

i saw my wonderful midwife suzie today and though im not in labor yet, im much closer than on monday. im sitting at 4cm having lots of painless contractions but they are obviously doing something since i was 1/2cm on friday... its giving me hope that my body does in fact know what its doing and that once i do go into labour it will be quick and i will be holding my healthy baby very soon after! the thought brings tears to my eyes and makes my heart flutter.

im feeling pretty worn out. we took the kiddos to a community hall playgroup this morning which we walked to and the local forest ecology center later i nthe afternoon. i got to see my friend sheila and her beautiful new baby boy cassius again, which made me feel so happy! just holding a new baby is so lovely, even if its not my own! and her older daughter cora and ngaio just love each other and it was really nice to see them together being so 2 and cute.

its late and i need sleep.. maybe tomorrow will be our day!

im going to be pregnant forever and a day..

even knitting isn't helping today... *sigh*

no baby!

i'm sorry! false alarm....i did have lots of contractions last night and i couldn't sleep but baby is still womb side...

but, i did finish the 2nd kimono sweater last night and with about 14 inches of yarn to spare! i was sure that i would run out and have one sleeve with just a few rows left and no yarn but it worked out perfectly. i think im going to use buttons instead of ties for the closures, just to change things up a bit... i washed it last night in the washer on gentle because some great MDC mamas said it really helps peace fleece soften up and "bloom" and it really feels lush now...i didnt really love peace fleece when it came in the mail, but im really starting to see the beautiy in it!
im going to knit a matching peace fleece soaker today in pink and turquise stripes i think.. and here is a picture of the whole "new baby" outfit that i've made..





if this baby doesn't come soon its going to drown in my basket of hand knits.

i'm not totally certain, but i think this baby may be born sometime in the next day or so.. i'm feeling some really big changes in my body and i'm feeling very sensitive to sounds and goings ons around me.. not something i usually feel.

we spent a beautiful day on the beach collecting shells and treasure to put on the birth altar. it was sunny and crisp. being at the ocean felt so good! living up where we are is lovely, but once in a while the Pisces in my craves the ocean...

so if i don't post here for a while, it probably means baby has come!

baby name revisited..40 weeks +3 days!

yes, again! until this baby is born i'm going to quietly agonize over names..

The other night my sister and timothy and a few other random people were again talking about baby names for my baby (believe it or not i don't bring it up!).. then the name Matilda popped up and i instantly loved it. i'm still pretty set on Olive, so i Thought Matilda Olive Suzanna (my sister's middle name and my midwife's name...) Sabine sounded very nice..
it spells "Moss" i love it. timothy.... isn't so sure..

Matilda is an old German name meaning "mighty in battle" and in some translations "mighty battle maiden" very heavy metal, huh.. but i figure, in life you have to be mighty in battle, at least some of the time. It is a good name. i'm usually more inclined towards the serene and beautiful, but somehow i feel like this name fits. Olive is symbolic of peace so it balances out the battle part and Suzanna means Lily..i love plant names!

pictures finally..

here is the sweet baby cap. i so wish i had a head to try it on!!

and the kimono..still working on the last tie, but its pretty close to being wearable.

Its my due date!

It's been a beautiful sunny day here which is a big change from the almost torrential rains of the last few weeks.. last night it rained so hard that all i could hear was the constant patter of huge drops on the roof.. i love rain when i'm inside and cozy snuggled up with a nice cup of tea and a book, or a knitting project!

we just got home from a nice walk in the forest with all 3 dogs (our pup finn, my moms dog willow and my sister's dog katie) & the kids..they always have such a nice time in the woods collecting sticks and ferns and rocks...jumping in mud puddles and climbing up and down tree stumps. at the end of the path sitting on a log in the creek was a huge old Blue Heron. he was just beautiful and so serene and still. ngaio was screetching and he didn't move a muscle. i wish so much that i had my camera. it was such a stunning sight.

Ive been working on a hat the last 2 days that is a bit unusual for me.. its knit with super fine yarn and small needles (baby weight bamboo/wool and 2.5mm &3mm needles) im almost done now...the pattern is here. My knitter friend anna just knit the same hat and said that it turned out tiny, but mine seems huge.. its most likely NOT going to fit a newborn baby. i wonder why they turned out so differently....she must have used lace weight yarn or something!

The kimono is done but for one tie..i'm not a huge fan of doing i-cord, so i took a break. it looks like it wont fit till babe is 6 months old or so anyways, so no rush.. i tried it on our 1 year old foster babe who is pretty tiny and it is kind of short on him but its Very sweet.

happy due date to me!

pizza party!

my sister and ngaio made pizza tonight for supper... it has goat cheese, olives, pumpkin seeda & gouda with home made sauce and pumpkin dough. very gourmet!


and this is the half eaten pumpkin and spice bundt cake they made.. YUM!

a sweater that took forever.

i can't actually believe that this is off the needles.. it was such a nightmare to knit.. not because it was hard, but because i ran out of the yarn then couldn't get more.. so it sat..and sat..and sat.. for months..maybe even a year. then i was digging around in my knitting bag (one of many) and found it and said "i have to finish this" so i knit up the rest in another random colourway of the same parentage and dyed it black..then i knit the ribbing with the same HPY but in this beautiful olive green. it turned out really well. except that it was supposed to be for ngaio and it barely fits elwynn.. but oh well.. i hate doing guage swatches, so i have to suck it up..

here it is.. and my sweet elwynn as the model!

For the Love of Yarn!

i'm working on this super cute kimono pattern from "for the love of yarn"
(picture from website, not my work!)


knitting it in this beautiful soft dark olivey green yarn from "hand painted yarn" its going to be so sweet when its complete...


sadly ive got baby brain drain and i did the edging all wrong and even though it looks okay i'm too much of a perfectionist to let it be..so ...ill probably frog most of it before doing it again properly...at least its keeping my mind off the fact that im now over 39 weeks, we have been here since the 19th of december and still im pregnant. i can't believe that i was worried about the baby coming early...i felt so rushed to get here..like any moment baby was goin gto just fall out.. now im not so sure. one thing i am sure of is that this wee one wont be 10lbs 5oz like her huge sister. im still measuring 37 weeks at 39, totally normal for this stage, but i was something like 42 at 40 weeks and so on.. she was 16 days "late" if a baby can ever be truly late.

despite being so impatient, i still haven't washed out the pool. it is blown up though...
i have mostly everything else that i need except some unbleached Indian prefolds that i plan to buy from a local mama "new and green" here in north vancouver.

i got a package of sweet organic baby things from a"Happy Green Bee" co-op today , so that was fun. it was a splurge and i'm a bit sad since their infant stuff is huge and probably wont fit for 6 months.. but oh well.. im sure the time will fly.

still not sure on names.
everyone in my family has a different idea and see's no problem in telling me how i should name the baby...of course im going to name her whatever i want (well..timothy has some say) but its hard being bombarded day after day with "so what ARE you going to name the baby anyways?"
like, maybe i need to meet her first! sheesh...

ok..going to watch some movie my sister downloaded..

happy knitting!

Thrift Strore Finds!

i love thrift store shopping.. i'm kind of out of practice since in our teeny tiny town, there isn't so much as a free box... but we do go to the big city of kamloops once in a while and i try to get some "retail therapy" time for myself...

yesterday i got to go have some fun in vancouver and this is what i found...

a too cute sage velour Newborn dress (it has matching undies too)
a teeny tiny "natural charm" sleeper and house coat (which i saw at a baby boutique for like 45$) and the cutest "GAP" velour jumper suit with a hood.. im not really one for name brands, or at least i wouldnt ever buy them new..but its fun to find nice baby things for so little!

curly purly soaker..

Here is a curly purly soaker in Newborn size...

not very exciting, but its something, right? at least i'm slowly feeling knitty again!

knit much..?

i haven't knit much these past few weeks.. i went to a knit with some mdc mommas who get together in the city and actually worked on a sweater that has been on the needles for over a year. its shameful! usually once i start something i can't stop! right now i have a newborn soaker, a sweater and a panta OTN..*sigh* i need some knitting juju.. i really should finish these things while baby is on the inside.

henna..

i decided that before i left little fort to have our new babe, i wanted to do something nice for myself..so, i spent 2 hours in the bathroom with a bag on my head.. the outcome, quite lovely! there is nothing like bright red hair to make a pregnant mama feel hot!
my recipe.. body art quality henna, lemon juice, time for the mixture to sit (over night at least)
then i put it on generously, cover with a bag (you look so sexy at this point!) and blow dry for about 2 hours.. rinse out well and ta-da!

birth art..

i just stuck this in here because i thought it was beautiful, but i should have said where it came from. i was searching for "birth affirmations" and decided to look up images and there it was.
it is from the birthrites website... i would love a copy of this for my wall!