Some charity work pictures.

Here are 6 oddball baby blankets that we have completed. The first one is Strawberry Sundae, Southwest, Smurf, Ocean Waves, Candy Corn and last is Tyler's Blanket. The first 5 will be going to Project Linus. The last blanket was donated to a young man that one of knitters knows, Tyler. He was happy to pose for a picture with his new blanket. He is doing well, but has a long recovery ahead of him.

~danielle~

I'm beginning to wonder about our local hopsital...

Yesterday I was having some lower pelvic pain. I thought maybe I had a bladder infection. It's hard to tell if I'm going more frequently since I drink more water than a camel!!! I called Mikie and had him meet me up at the Emergency room, I left Lane with his mamaw and papaw!

I was taken right in and since I wasn't 20 weeks yet, I wasn't allowed to just be taken to the OB floor (why the heck not?). So I was put into a room, which was very hot! The doctor came in to see me and asked me a bunch of questions. I explained to him it wasn't cramping just an ache/pain in my lower belly.

Mikie came in not long after that and the doctor returned. He did a quick ultrasound, found the baby with a heartbeat and moving. He wasn't good enough to tell the sex of the baby though. He did a pelvic exam and took some cultures and checked my cervix. They didn't have my "stickers" for my cultures so they just left them. Finally after an hour, a nurse comes in with my stickers and takes my cultures. By now it's after 6pm (I got there at 4:15pm). So we wait, in a hot room. Finally at 7:30 they come in to tell me I have a bacterial infection. He looks me in the eyes and says we think you have a STD. I'm like uhhh wth? Don't you have to be DOING that to get one of those? He said well yes, but we wont know for sure so we're going to give you a shot of antibiotics b/c your white blood cells are high down there. You can call us in Tuesday to find out the results for sure.

So I'm left boggled. We haven't done much of anything since the bleeding for my cervix. I'm too concerned to do much of anything and being so tired all the time, it doesn't occur to me.

Yeah. So. The last time I went to the ER I was told I lost a baby. The next day I go and find out, no in fact, the bleeding wasn't even coming from my uterus. It was my from my cervix. I'm not sure they know their head from a hole in the ground.

Monday I plan to call my doctor and tell him what's going on. He can pull my ER charts and look it over himself. If I'm still hurting, I'm going to ask him to check things out. *Boggle* Sometimes I just don't know!!!

~danielle~

The effects of Benadryl!

I don't usually take Benadryl b/c of the weird side effects it has on me. But being pregnant, I don't have a lot of options and during allergy season, I have to take what I can get! So I've been taking my Zyrtec at night and usually in the mornings I wake up and I'm sneezy, runny nose, itchy/watery eyes and I just can't stand that. So I eat breakfast and then take a benadryl.

Well today I got those weird side effects. I was almost dazed and confused! It's such a horrible feeling. Mikie worked today (praise the lord!) so I had to suck it up until rest time. By 2, I could barely keep my eyes open! Lane went into his room for rest time and I went and laid on the bed. The next thing I know the phone is ringing and it's 4!!! Poor Lane. I didn't mean for him to spend 2 full hours in there. He played, read his new library books and didn't make a big mess. What a good boy!

So yeah, benadryl is a blessing and a curse! I see the allergy doctor tomorrow and hope that maybe there is something else I can do as well. I can't keep taking the benadryl when Mikie's not home b/c I don't always have the luxury of laying down for a good nap. I need to be alert and aware with a 4 year old running around. Ugh.. Allergies!

~danielle~

Progress on the knitting front!

I spent quite a while taking inventory of what I had in UFO's as far as my knitting was concerned. I wanted to see what I could get accomplished and put together and then take note of what still needed to be done so I could work to finish those as well.

Today I managed to finish knitting my section on an oddball baby blanket. I have 2 that will go in the mail Friday!! I weaved in ends on 3 other blankets, took pictures and boxed up 5 blankets that I will take to Longview to donate to Project Linus. I boxed up the two pet snuggles and the parrot sweater which will be headed to Best Friends in Utah!

I managed to get Lane's last clog almost done. I just need to knit a second sole and then knit them together and seam it up! Then I will be able to felt Mikie and Lane's clogs!

The other UFO's I currently have are : Pinwheel sweater needs it's sleeves, Overlapping leaves socks need to be finished up, although, the more I look at the one I've started, I'm concerned it wont be large enough, it may be frogged; Mix and Mingle Afghan I bought from knitpicks over a year ago.

I have a couple of small projects I'd like to work on. I have a pair of clogs I'd like to knit for myself. I want to start another prayer shawl (knit this time). So! That in a nutshell is what I need to do. I want to try and get more of these finished up b/c I hope to know the sex of the bay in another couple of weeks and want to knit some things.

~danielle~

Sonogram and side shot!

Here is a picture of the sonogram they did at 12w4d. The baby is laying on its side. The head is to the right and the legs are crossed towards the left. Here is also a side shot of me at 12 weeks. I was still able to fit into my regular jeans. That has LONG since gone. I am always wearing a top that I knitted. Ahhhh. One day :)

New Vinyl flooring

Here are a few pictures of the new vinyl floor. It's much lighter than what used to be down. This was before all the furniture was put back. Lane was even helping to clean it! Hopefully he'll always want to help his mommy :) We are so happy to have this new floor down. Even Sampson is happy b/c he can walk on it without slipping and sliding all over the place. He's such a big baby!

Out of touch!

I have been out of touch with my blog! It seems that my body isn't doing as well this pregnancy (but definitely better than last) than with Lane. My iron levels are low and iron pills make me so sick! So I seem like I'm tired a lot more. I seem to spend more time curled up in bed reading a book or curled up on the couch watching a movie. My energy level is just zapped. I try to nap whenever I can.

The weather has been horrible here. I know there are people just praying for rain, but we are ready to ship it away. This is the first time in a long time I've been really concerned about paychecks and finances. It isn't feasible for me to go to work b/c the cost of child care is crazy here. I am currently employed by the Jefferson ISD as a substitute teacher, but after some figuring and thinking, it just isn't working well. I only get paid once a month. I have to pay the daycare weekly. By the time taxes are taken out and the daycare is paid, I'm lucky to come home with 45-50 bucks a day (if it's a teaching job, less if I'm just an aid). So I've only worked one day, when Mikie was home and was able to keep Lane. The rain has been so bad here the last 3 weeks. Mikie has worked 4 days in 12 possible work days. I try not to stress over it b/c I know it isn't good for me, or the baby and it's not as though Mikie can help the weather. I just hope, and pray that the weather gets better and he's able to start working again.

On to a happier note, we were finally able to put the new flooring in a couple of weeks ago. We had started our addition a year ago this past january. We first started by removing the deck. Two weeks ago we had vinyl floor put down in the new addition, the kitchen, bathroom, hallway and laundry area. I'm so excited to have real floors again. The house is almost presentable again! We still need to put down new carpet. That'll be next on the list! I also want to paint the panneling that is in the living room and hallway. My hope is that it will help to "lighten up" the rooms. That wood panneling just makes it feel so dark!

I have been doing a lot of reading again lately. I read "wizard's first rule" by terry goodkind. This is not normally a book I would pick up on my own, but was recommended to me by my hubby. There is also a mini-series "Legend of the seeker" currently airing on Fox and WGN and it caught my interest. The book was amazing. There are 12 (I believe) books in the series. I plan to pick up the next one in a few weeks. I'm currently reading the Flynn Brothers Trilogy by Heather Graham. The first book, "deadly night" was great! Heather Graham always manages to grab my attention and keep it!

My knitting has been a bit slower. It's harder to lay down and knit I guess, even more so when you're supposed to lay on your sides. I'm working on a few sections for oddball charity blankets. They will be donated to Linus Project in Longview, Texas. They will be used for CPS, Casa and local hopsitals, wherever the demand for them is.

I started feeling the baby move about a week ago. It was around week 17. I will be 19 weeks on Thursday. Almost half way! I don't remember Lane being so low! I feel like this skittle is kicking me in the bladder and the hip! Ahh. It's not hard enough for Mikie or Lane to feel yet, but it wont be long.

We hope to do a sonogram at the end of April/beginning of May. We have to pay for it so we are waiting until 22-24 weeks so we can have the best chance of finding out what we're having! I'm hoping for a girl, but my mother tells me I deserve all boys. Gee thanks mom!

With that, I'm going to go lay on the couch and watch the new nora roberts movie I DVR'd from Saturday, Midnight Bayou! I will try to update my blog a bit more often :)

~danielle~