Good and bad results

Because I am overweight, have PCOs diagnose, have genetic tendency and I am over 25 I had sugar stress test last week to check if I have developed gestational diabetes. (Actually I have had two of them, first in first trimester, because of my weight.)
I was certain that I would because my fast levels were barely in healthy level in the first test, but was proven wrong today: to my great surprise my sugar balance has basically improved since first trimester despite having sleep problems last two weeks! 

Though this means I won't get size evaluation at 36 weeks and that birth won't be induced unless we go two weeks over due date... but on the other hand: no blood sugar tests several times a day, less restricted diet, smaller probability for a big baby (well, I was 3,6 kgs back in 1979 ) and smaller risk to develop DM II at later age.

But I also got explanation to my sleep disorder and other issues: my thyroid levels are seriously out of whack, again.   And I missed my endo's call today which means he's out of touch for a while, or so I understood when I talked with the receptionist, and decided to be a BAD patient: I just adjust my dose with same done my endo has used lately and get new test done next month.
He'll kill me, but so what?

2012 WIPocalypse!

I simply can't remember from whose blog feed I found this from, but I thought it might be fun thing to try.

2012 WIPocalypse! by Measi

And the spiel goes like this:

"For many years, a rumor has been around that the world will end in 2012.  So really – do you want all of your poor WIP and UFO pieces to be left behind, unfinished?  The guilt!  The shame!  Oh, the horror of all of those innocent little stitchy projects never to be completed!

Here are the rules for the 2012 Wipocalypse:

1. To sign up, leave a comment on this post with your blog address. International bloggers are welcome.

2. Sometime shortly before the start of 2012, make a list of the projects you will be focusing on. Add to and adjust this list throughout the year as you desire.  There are no restrictions regarding new starts for this SAL.  If you feel the desire to start a piece in 2012, add it to your list!

3. On each full moon (or thereabouts), post your progress photos to your site – even if your progress was slower than you hoped.  Label that post with “WIPocalypse” to make it easy for me to find.

4. Once you’ve posted, come over to my blog and find my full moon post, and comment that you’ve updated.  I will create a check-in list of URLs each month for easy blog surfing so fellow participants and readers can cheer you on.

Why is it important to post each month even if you’ve made little progress?
You’ll earn one chance, per status post, for a giveaway drawing to be done on New Year’s Day, 2013!  I don’t want to discourage folks who may have issues that prevent them from posting for a month and force them to give up entirely on the SAL, but I also want to reward those who do check in every month.

What will be in the drawing?
Honestly, I’m not sure yet!  That will be determined throughout 2012 as I add to the box during my trips to my local LNS.  If you’d like to contribute to the box, email me (address below) and I’ll send you my address. Clean, unmarked charts (respect copyright – no photocopies!), finished items, new floss skeins, fabric, etc. are all welcome.  If you have other ideas for a contribution, drop me an email to discuss."

I may actually have some more time i my hands coming year so let's think...

1. Loy Krathong by PINN



2. Futurecast by Teresa Wentzler



3. Madonna of the Garden by Mirabilia



4. Rose Sampler by Ellen Maurer-Stroh



5. The Spanish Sampler by Periphaeria Designs (aka. myself)



6. Star Sampler by Periphaeria Designs



I'm not quite sure are these the latest updates of the projects, but those were the last ones I found from my album.

26th week

...started today. Of course this depends on which due date you look at, but I go according to the first DD I got from my antenatal nurse (3rd of March). Official DD is 4th (based on last ultrasound it would actually be 3rd if they'd change the dates in latter one) and actual DD would be 7th or 8th... complicated much?

Honestly it's unbelievable that we are this far along already. Two weeks from now BW would have over 90% chance to survive if born. 12 weeks and he is officially full-term in local standards. Twelve! (And only eight weeks of work left!)

Health wise I have been better, though suffered of insomnia/ sleeping problems two weeks... after seeing a doc and getting some melatonin I slept last night like a baby - without even touching those pills. Strong stuff, eh?
What was really interesting was that the doc suggested antidepressants even he knows that I am pregnant and as far as I know most antidepressants are forbidden during pregnancy (and in my case certain ones are forbidden because I have thyroid illness). Maybe he forgot? I think he still has eyes on him...

(For comparison: 13+4 weeks when I had some growth, but MUCH less understandably.)

Yes, I am over 30 kgs overweight, but still I have never had that kind of stomach and that doc has seen me few times too often not to remember how I used to look like. (My waist has grown over 20 cm since July and all to front side.)
Not to mention that it is in their file that I am pregnant...
He has had some smart moments lately, but I guess he is not really a winter person then.

What actually bugs me somewhat is that people don't seem to recognize that as a pregnancy belly... even it's growing straight ahead! If it was all fat it would look different... On the other hand no one is trying to touch the belly without my permission.

Writer's Block: Check, please!

Man, of course (assumption being that this is woman - man combo).
I am not a feminist, I am a humanist, and traditionalist in this sense.
Someone could probably say that I am degrading my own sex, but that's bollocks. Men pay because I only accept chivalry and I respect my womanhood. Bite that.

That probably was why I didn't have many dates when I was single (though I was bad being single for a long time when I was)... *grin*

Weather

Safe small talk topic, right?

Last year (and year before that) we had snow in October and around this time it was freezing. And we had snow. But this year... well, let's say that the weather has been annoyingly warm, so warm that... let me show you.

Yes, flowers. Summer flowers. And I took these pictures 4th of November. Unbelievable.

What makes warm weather REALLY annoying? All the viruses and bacteria flourish and I am sick all the time. I want my winter!

Writer's Block: Movember is Men’s Health Awareness Month

One word: Husband.

Odd good sides

I think that having a firm infertility background makes person to enjoy pregnancy even more.
Being a member in one family forum I have noticed that many pregnant women can't sleep even on these weeks (22+2) when the baby is kicking, whereas I find it remarkably soothing, and on the evenings when Baby Wonder has his (yes, we have a boy guesstimation (midwife wasn't sure, but she thought she saw something in "there") and I have felt like having a boy since those two lines) kickboxing practises I fall asleep in no time. Though it seems that we are more morning person in there already...

And to my surpise the only thing I dislike in being pregant is this killer hunger I'm having nowadays. I could eat a cow when I have those hunger attacks... Heartburn, ligament pains and such are just minor things and don't actually even bother me (yes, I am insane).

Let's say that by now I enjoy this so immensely that I could do this again in near future .

Maternal instincts

Yesterday I had a stubborn bronchospam and I had to head to ER and my only worry was that Baby Wonder gets enough oxygen, no matter do I get enough of it after BW has taken his share.
Luckily my oxygen saturation was good when I arrived the ER and while waiting (3 hours) I was deliriously happy about that aerobics lesson taking place in my womb. I guess people looked at me a bit long, but let them look.

To my surprise I have bronchitis, again, despite lack of "real" symptoms. And even more sick leave (it started on Wedneday and now I'm off this week too). Maybe I find time and energy to finish one hat I started for BW.

Gosh, time is going SO fast!

First, thank you all!

Yet another antenatal appointment later (which went well, thank you for asking. Only my thyroid values are still low, but have risen with higher dosage so we are going to good direction)... I am now officially far along enough to apply for this:

Government gives every expecting mother maternity grant. It's either a BIG box full of baby stuff or 140 € of money. The box contains about 270€s worth of clothes and necessities (more pictures at SII webpage: here) so any guesses which one I am taking?

This grant was initiated after WWII to support poor families, but nowadays everyone residing here gets it after 154 days of pregnancy (mine is officially 154 days on Sunday) if they have taken care of their antenatal appointments (and got tested for HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis). Many people dislike the clothes because they are so neutral... well, I like personal and colourful clothes, yes, but FREE high-quality stuff is something I won't say no to. And I can always dye those white and bland clothes anyway.

There's actually few things I have to apply for: maternity allowance (paid during maternity leave), parenting allowance (paid during parenting leave) and child allowance. So many allowances (and I still need to apply for caretaking allowance which will be paid after parenting one ends: this one is smaller, but still quite a good sum of money and I can basically stay at home three years, if our finances can stand it, that is).
First two basically mean that for the first ten(ish) months my income is only slightly lower than it is now, child allowance (appr. 100€/ mo. at the moment) is paid monthly until Baby Wonder is 17...

Sometimes I kind of like this Nordic welfare system thingy.

Less than three months from now and my maternity leave begins! Yay!

Things, they are a-changing... SECRETS!

The reason for my absence from online world is small, but still great.

The reason has made my thyroid values to drop, drop, drop, regardless that I take higher doses than ever before.

But it is all worth it. Thousand times worth it.

Only few people can see this post. You are the ones who I trust to keep your mouths shut everywhere else as this is still a secret in FB or in the forums I frequent(ed). And probably will remain one few months.

Signs Of Life and Writer's Block

No, I haven't vanished from the face of the Earth. I am still alive and kicking, last months just have been interesting.
And lately I have had all kinds nice side effects of autumn... and now my asthma has gotten worse. Maybe I even get back to work someday...

 

 

The original (Hong Kong/ Singapore) The Eye and The Eye II.
Even old horror flick lover like myself find these ones really scary... there aren't blood and guts like in Hollywood flicks, but to me gore has never been scary in horror. What is scary is what you don't see.

Goodbye Mr. Furry Diabetes

 

Neko
June, 1999 - 20th of August, 2011

Apparently cancer won and Neko had to be put to sleep this morning.

Good grief!

That's it! I have gotten old!

I have celebrated my birthday (32 years, yikes!) stitching "Rose Sampler" and noticed that I simply can NOT count. Or then little stitching gnomes restitch that thing when I am not watching...

There are extra rows between the alphabet (which is easy to fix, the sampler just will be longer) and it seems to me that they are also too close to the left border... AAARGH!

Regardless, progress!

(Previous pictures can be found here.)

Star Sampler WIP

I got stuck in a rut after I started "Star Sampler" (Stitch-A-Long by Periphaeria Designs) and haven't touched it since... before yesterday!

Nice progress I must say even it didn't feel much.

I have been under the weather for few days, mainly because my neck hurts and I am quite tired. GP thinks it's laryngitis, I think it's thyroiditis (in my opinion my thyroid wouldn't hurt if it was laryngitis), but we are none the wiser before Tuesday... which has meant that I haven't been stitching much.
I did stitch one sampler the other day, which I can't show as it's one of my designs, but didn't got much progress in it either. Wanted to stitch one corner tile, but made about half of it... but, hey, I can always share a material toss!

Cats, Hedgehogs and a Squirrel

I thought I was looking after these guys...

... but it seems that I am also personal slave for two hedgehogs and personal lifesaver for one squirrel who loves cat food...

Yes, that squirrel is in a cage of a kind: my mom has outing space for cats on the patio. They can get out and in by themselves as long as the living room window is open.

It just isn't squirrel proof.

Rose Sampler WIP: Swallows and Stupid Frogs

Despite being sick I have actually stitched! Monday I slept and rest and yesterday I stitched some (it's less painful for me to sit upright). Today I stitched some more (between six and eight, I woke up before five am - after whopping 3½ hours of sleep)!

I had a major stupidity related frog yesterday as I was certain that the brown part of the vine couldn't be GAST's Woodrose as "Woodrose is not that dark". Well, I spend over half an hour frogging those tiny stitches and then stitched that part again... and realised that it had been Woodrose after all! It just looks much darker in small areas (that branch under the birdies is stitched with Woodrose too, as odd as it may sound).
And when I was restitching that brown I realised that I had misplaced some of the leaves on the vine.

Rippit, rippit!

Once again starting point and point just before taking the picture.

At this point I have to admit that my alphabet is off by one thread, luckily it just doesn't show that well over one. And the other swallow is too big. There was some odd miscalculation, but I can't put my finger on it (its tail begins from correct place, but its tail is two rows too tall which also led me to make it a bit heavier than it should be - but if you look at the preview that bird does look bigger and heavier in any case).

Now I am changing project for some time. Maybe just for few hours, but I need some variety.

Stitchy content!

I stitched yesterday... Yes, I have a WIP picture to show you! No, it's not the end of the world yet, at least I hope so.

Beginning and an end (before next day off):

(Direct link to WIP pic in here. Ovi has started to suck big time....)

That vine looks much better colour wise now that I started the alphabet. It's possible that it may eventually become a balanced combination!
I am still undecided about which colour I will use for the dots on the scalloped edge. Maybe I use the one I use for the roses and leave the middle stitch unstitched... not sure, will see later when I have more colours in this to compare.

I did this after finishing one exchange item I had to replace and I forgot about the replacement for a while (*innocent whistling*), I guess I thought I had sent it as it was almost finished.
Though I need to finish finish it still. Was thinking of doing it today, but I am way too tired to focus. Something has been bugging my throat/ neck area last week and I think I am getting sick again... work wasn't busy enough to justify this level of exhaustion.

I think I have found my mojo!

I was stitching something over one the other day on my break and realised how much fun it is and how much I have missed it... and I think I found my mojo there and then!

I want to pick up Rose Sampler again! Never got far along with it, but that just means there's more fun left!

Why? Because I'm doing it over one! (And those yummy overdyeds help, I think. )

The only thing keeping me from stitching the night away is that I have been working like crazy (read: /me really tired) and there is one more early morning tomorrow... Work, gah!