Sunday 30 December 2012

New Year's Resolutions

Last year, I set for myself two goals: acquire more sock construction techniques and knit two (adult) sweaters. Then, as is often the case, life got in the way. I did fairly well on the socks, trying out several different heel and toe techniques, of which the most recent was short-row heel and toe for a pair of baby socks that will sadly be frogged as I ran out of yarn. Oops. My favourite techniques are most likely the Dutch or square heel and Kitchener stitching a wedge toe. That said, I like toe-up socks best.
I did less well on the sweater front, at least as far as adult sweaters go. My husband's sweater is maybe 70% finished - I've knit the body up to the arms and am working on the sleeves. I bought my husband a pullover for Christmas. My own jumper got exactly nowhere for obvious reasons. I'll take measurements again some point in the future, at least three months post-partum. As far as baby sweaters go I knit 4.5 sweaters, one of which was a pattern I'd done before (teal). Most were knit top down in one piece, one was knit flat in one piece and then seamed up the sides and under the arms (green). As baby sweaters, especially for a theoretical baby, aren't expected to fit the same way adult sweaters need to, I don't count them for my NYR.

I have 22 finished projects for 2012, 4 still in progress, 1 frogged, and 2 hibernating. Oddly, both of the hibernating ones use the same yarn. Most types of projects goes to cowls of which I knit 9 (three using the same pattern) thanks almost entirely to the Great Cowl KAL last February and March. Second most projects was socks, with 5 finished in 2012 (two started in 2011) and another two on the needles. One pair is maybe an hour's work from being finished so I may make it to 6 finished pairs of socks yet.

I am not setting any resolutions for next year although I suppose "finish the things I currently have on needles plus the nursing cardigan" count as goals. That would be 5 projects: husband sweater (70% finished), socks for my mother (almost done with first one), baby blanket/shawl for Little Djinn and the Wishbone socks for me that I mentioned were close to finished, and the just mentioned cardigan for nursing. They're all also things I'd like to have before Little Djinn arrives in 3 maybe three weeks which no doubt explains why I started a new cross-stitch project today.

Saturday 29 December 2012

Christmas & Boxing Day

Christmas got off to a slightly rocky start after a night of not sleeping particularly well. Chris was sad that he'd not gotten me a stocking* or filled it up and then he was frustrated that he'd have to spend half of the day cooking for his father just like he'd done for the last however many years and would continue to do so for the foreseeable future. We have tentative plans to be elsewhere next Christmas, just the three of us, as soon as we figure out where we want to go (hint, somewhere quiet and easy to get to).

Pressies started with exchanging Christmas cards**, in our case the traditional matching Boofle*** cards with messages of preprinted and hand-written affection. In addition to the socks, I gave Chris a new pair of fuzzy lounge trousers and a cable-knit jumper from the kittens. Chris gave me a book of Fair Isle patterns and a mug with a knit Fair Isle design, the soundtrack from a French musical, a potato ricer, a set of rectangular teaspoons that fit into spice jars(!!!), and from the kittens, a satsuma and tickets to see the panto. Chris was sad about not buying things for my stocking, but it clearly wasn't because he didn't think to get me presents. And, while the cooking utensils were "for me", thus far I've been on the receiving end of riced (mashed) potatoes, which are really good - extra fluffy and light, but have yet to use the ricer. So it all works out about even.

Aged Parent came over around 2, shortly before dinner was ready and we had a turkey breast wrapped in bacon and stuffed with sausage stuffing, roasted potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, Brussels sprouts, and rolls followed later by the Christmas pudding I made earlier this month, served en flambé and with brandy whipped cream. After dinner we gave Aged Parent his presents, a warm woolly cardigan and the mitts I knit for him (he also got a folding cane which we wrapped and delivered when it arrived so he could start using it sooner rather than later).

We spent most of the rest of the evening discussing the possibility of his moving into a local community for retired persons, an idea that Chris and I like a lot as we'd been looking for properties with a ground floor in-law unit but had been unable to find anything that wouldn't require selling both our properties. Unfortunately when we went over on Boxing Day, Aged Parent announced that he has absolutely no interest in moving out of his 5 bedroom house and was sorry he'd ever brought it up.

Chris again spent most of the day cooking, making pastry puffs with cheese in, (riced) mashed potatoes, and a sausage and cranberry roast which he cooked at our house and then reheated at his father's. Thus the need to go away next Christmas and avoid cooking altogether****.

Oh, and we gave Oliver and Libby a water fountain to drink out of. It's hand-thrown and burbles up, and they've both drunk from and played in it but Oliver still thinks water should come out of the tap in the bathtub. We're weaning him off of that.

And lastly, I am now 37 weeks along which means Little Djinn is full term. The midwife thinks 41 weeks is the perfect length for gestating so I've still got 4 weeks before it's a diet of nothing but pineapple and days spent jumping up and down. Meanwhile my feet have swollen beyond recognition, sausage toes are the order of the day, and my blood pressure is starting to climb. And getting showered and dressed seems like sufficient accomplishments before going back to bed.

~ * ~

* We don't have official stockings yet. For the last four Christmases I've given Chris a pair of socks, one stuffed inside the other with the rest full of candy. This year he got two pairs of slipper/socks and a Green & Blacks 75% dark chocolate bar and I gave myself a pair of slipper/socks and a multipack of Nerds (American sugar-based candy). I was even able to hang the socks up using my sock blockers.

** Not a tradition we observed in my family. Fortunately(?) the first Christmas I was here Aged Parent was convinced he'd never see us again and gave us our Christmas cards the first week in December, saving me a fair bit of awkwardness Christmas day when everyone (Chris and his father) had cards for everyone (Chris, his father, and me) and I'd be sat there saying in a small voice, "I didn't know we were supposed to get cards..."
Don't worry, there was plenty of other awkwardness.

*** I just discovered that there's a Boofle app. I think Chris is going to die of squee. I see lots of Boofle-addended baby photos in Little Djinn's future.

**** Yes, I could do some of the cooking (and did for Christmas dinner!). I could even do all of the cooking or most of the cooking, or some of the cooking. You know this and I know this and the reasonable part of Chris knows this but somehow when it comes to the day and everything needing to get done, he always puts on his Project Manager torque without remembering his Delegator Apron and locks himself in the kitchen.

Weekend in Edinburgh*

Last night as we lay in bed, before I moved to the nursery so Chris could sleep in peace and quiet, we reconstructed how our overnight to Edinburgh was supposed to have gone:

Our direct train to Edinburgh went directly to Edinburgh. It took the expected less than four hours, not seven, and we didn't have to change over-crowded trains twice all the while being told things about the rest of our journey that, frankly, were lies. We dropped our bags at the hotel and had a quiet afternoon tea before I went for my bra fitting (they were able to see me right away, I didn't have to make an appointment for the next morning) and Chris went to meet with a prospective client (who emailed him first thing the next morning to say "when can you start?"). We wandered around the German Christmas market which wasn't loud with shrieking people and conflicting music blaring from past-their-prime speakers. The weather was lovely, really, not bitingly cold with high winds and an edge of rain, so we rode the Ferris wheel again like we did on our first trip to Edinburgh four years ago and were quiet disgustingly schmoopy.

By then it was time for dinner, Mexican of course, being in a city with a Mexican restaurant, and Chris liked his entrée as much as his starter and I got to have horchata and Mexican hot chocolate, neither of which they stopped serving some years past. We stumbled back to our hotel and spent an snuggling in the bar, ordering fruity drinks with or without rum in. Back in our room, well you don't need to know about that, but it was followed by a deep and restful night's sleep in which I didn't snore at all, not even a little, and certainly not enough to wake myself up and be heard through Chris' earplugs.

Our breakfast place in the morning was as charming as one could hope. We both had the pancakes and Chris' cappuccino was as nice as my Darjeeling and we had pleasantly full tummies on which to face a day of wandering around Edinburgh, visiting yarn shops stocked with the specific size needles I wanted, nibbling and purchasing at the Cheese Monger's, and trying on silly hats at the hat place. We collected our bags, bought a picnic lunch for the also uneventful train ride home, and I was able to read my Kindle and listen to my ipod as I'd not left them in the drawer of the night stand at the hotel.

Home was toasty and warm, the heat having come on shortly before we arrived, the kittens were delighted to see us, and we ate on the sofa in front of the fire having not put half of our planned leftovers in the outside freezer and forgotten about them until everything else was ready. The whole weekend was a rousing success.

To be fair, some of those things did happen if not in the ideal time or manner (Chris had his interview; I was fitted for and bought a bra; we had Mexican for dinner; I got pancakes for breakfast) but a lot did not. We really did not want to be outside in the push and shove or the wind and wet. There's nothing you can do about the weather and the crowds of people were inevitable. Our reasoning for going the week between Christmas and Hogmanay were sound; I'm off work but not likely to go inconveniently into labour, and at my breast-size being properly fitted for a bra necessitates a trip to Bravissimo which isn't going to happen any time soon post-baby. Thus Edinburgh in the busy shopping season.

And, importantly, I can now put Operation: Don't Leave the House into proper effect. I am currently trying to decide if going to the detached garage counts as leaving the house or not. I did go outside to pick up the bird feeder, knocked over in last night's high winds.

~ * ~

* not actually a weekend, but it felt like it and that's what counts. Also, I am so far removed from the notion of weekdays and weekends as to make no difference.

Wednesday 26 December 2012

Christmas Letter 2012

This year started with our slightly belated honeymoon to Madeira, a Portuguese island off the coast of Casablanca, in January. We spent two weeks in the balmy 20C/68F sunshine, hiking around gardens and along cliffs (Madeira doesn’t exactly have beaches), reading by the pool and generally being schmoopy. Chris talks about retiring there, sooner rather than later, or at the very least returning time after time and drinking fortified wine amongst the flowers. We returned to the news that my father, John, had fallen ill while on holiday in Mexico and had to be airlifted to a hospital in San Diego where he slipped into a coma and died on February 9th. I flew out to Sacramento and spent three weeks with my mother, Dee, helping her sort through his belongings and get everything organized. Chris came out for the funeral in early March and we flew back together. In May we learned that I am pregnant and I spent most of the next two months in bed, nauseous and feeling sorry for myself. We observed our first anniversary, June 26th, back at Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry, where they’d upgraded our room and provided a complimentary bottle of champagne and exclaimed how they couldn’t believe it had been a year. Some friends had rented a lodge for the week so we got to hang out with them for a bit and finally had a chance to explore the local botanical garden. Mired in a particularly uninspiring summer weather-wise, Chris booked us a week’s holiday on the Greek island of Zakynthos for September/October. It turned out to be a less than ideal holiday for us: it unseasonably hot, the hotel was noisy, everyone smoked, and there wasn’t a lot to do except sit in the sea and befriend stray kittens, delightful though those two activities were. We did eventually figure out a routine that made us happy, but left the following day. We learned a lot about what we need in a holiday destination, ate well, and got to bob around in the Mediterranean, so it wasn’t a complete loss. Three friends came up from London to spend Thanksgiving with us and Chris’ father, Ted and we spent the weekend playing board games and eating leftovers. It turns out the same amount of food we normally make for ourselves will feed twice as many people, if only for two days. We are now in full-on baby-prep mode. We’re attending prenatal classes, have turned my rather underutilized office into a nursery, painting the walls, adding decals, and having blackout curtains installed. We have a bassinet for our room and a crib for when the baby outgrows it, and we’re starting to collect all of the little things one needs to keep a baby safe, clean, and warm. I’m due 18 January and my mother will be flying out for a month to meet her first grandchild. Wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, Chris & Jennifer

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Almost Ready for Christmas

I'm watching The Nutcracker with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland (which I started when writing my last post but only got to the battle with the Mouse King so that's where I resumed today). It's very 70's, the film quality isn't great, and I know he was an ass and she was not mentally healthy, but lord can they dance. He powers through leaps and turns like it's as easy as breathing and she floats across the stage with such grace. They are both amazingly talented, as are all the dancers in the production, and of course I love Tchaikovsky's music.

I am making cinnamon rolls using the ever-popular Pioneer Woman's recipe. We're at the "dough is rising" stage and the house smells yeasty and lovely. I made a Christmas Pudding a few weeks ago (though apparently it should've been done in November, possibly early November. Ooops) and it's "ripening" in the garage. My first Christmas pudding was a gift from Andy and Charlotte and came with the directions "cook in the usual manner" which meant absolutely nothing to me. When making a Christmas pudding you combine all of the ingredients, steam for 3 hours, and then set aside for days, weeks, or even months until Christmas when it gets steamed for another 3 hours and served en flambé with a variety of cream sauce options. I don't see any other particular Christmas "baking" in our future, though I suppose there's always time to have an overwhelming urge for sugar cookies. We'll do the "Christmas Triffle" from last year's Delicious magazine as a New Year's treat. We've tentatively decided on "Thanksgiving light" for Christmas dinner - turkey breast, cranberry sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes, and hopefully Brussels sprouts if we get them in our veggie box. Brussels Sprouts are the difference between Christmas and Thanksgiving.

We went out to dinner with Chris' Highland Web Developer's group. They meet once a month on a Tuesday night at the same place as my knitting group (though we're in the café and they're off in a meeting room) so it's easy for us to both go that week. Chris hadn't mentioned that we're expecting and they seemed rather chuffed for us. We went to a pub, then dinner at a restaurant, and then to another pub. Chris and I called it a night after that (I'd gone straight from work) but the last stragglers went on to a night club. It was nice to meet Chris' friends.

I am making progress on Chris' pullover. Casting on the sleeves did scratch the start-itis itch and having transferred the body to two sets of cabled needles (freeing up my only 3.0mm for knitting the sleeves, two-at-a-time, magic loop) I was able to have Chris try it on and, luckily, it does fit. I also realized that the pullover was designed by the same woman, Carol Feller, who wrote one of my new knitting books, Contemporary Irish Knits so I guess I've been a fan of hers longer than I realized. I also cast on a little something for my Secret Santa at work which I hope to have finished tonight, though I have until the 24th to drop it off, not that I want to go into town on Christmas eve.

We're all done with our prenatal classes except the partners physiotherapy class on Thursday. Friday I will be 36 weeks with 4 weeks to go, though today also marks exactly a month to my due-date. Count-downs are funny like that. I have an ultrasound scheduled for Friday and need to book an appointment to see my midwife for another (last?) round of bloods. I have two more (half) days of work, tomorrow and Friday; we're having dinner with friends tomorrow and I'm having lunch with another friend Thursday. I am hoping to make it to knit night tonight and that's everything planned between now and Christmas.

Thursday 13 December 2012

It's Snowing! Also, I'm Knitting!

Just before 1pm today, my husband came downstairs with very important, it can't wait, news for me: it was snowing. Only just barely, the kind of snow where one could count each and every snowflake as it drifted slowly from the heavens but finally, finally, at long last, it was snowing! It took about 15 minutes to build up to a snowfall worthy of the verb and has been snowing at a steady if not heavy clip ever since. I have spent the afternoon doing figurative cartwheels. Over breakfast this morning (after my final prenatal physiotherapy class, though there is a class for both partners next week) I'd asked if it was okay to complain about several days of bellow-freezing weather without snow. I think the frost is lovely, but if it's going to be -8C/17F there bloody well should be snow on the ground. The universe seems to agree with my argument as we finally have snow! I honestly didn't think we'd get any before Christmas. The sun set (at 3:30) without my having taken a picture, so I'll show you this one from last April:
There actually is knitting news this week as I have finally finished the only knitting I really need to have done before Christmas: a pair of mitts for Aged Parent. As you may recall, he was the perfect knitting gift recipient last year , thrilled and touched and bragging to everyone he met about the hat I knit him. The man deserves more hand-knit things. I bought another skein of yarn, really soft wool to last year's camel hair, from the same Scottish yarn company, Shilasdair. I picked Dashing Mitts from Knitty, a pattern I had previously used for my husband and knew would work well. They're quite snug on me, but my FiL lost a fair bit of weight last year with tummy problems that have recently been diagnosed and, he says, cleared up, so hopefully they'll fit him nicely with a bit of room as he regains weight.
That leaves my purple orkney tam which I'm thinking I may give to my mother for Christmas, the self-striping socks I'm definitely knitting for her (I'm past the heel turn and working my way up the leg on the first sock), neither of which need to be finished until she arrives mid-January; the Shetland baby blanket/shawl for Little Djinn with pretty much the same due date; a few small projects for Secret Santa type gifts; an inch or two of a pair of socks that were tight before I got pregnant and my feet expanded; and the pullover I started for my husband. I don't think I've mentioned his sweater since I selected the pattern back in December as part of my New Year's Resolution, beyond a mention that the yarn had arrived. My 2012 has been very different from what it looked to be like from 2011 - which is fine, that's what living is all about - and while his sweater has mostly languished, I did make a fair bit of progress on the (less than interesting) stockinette body before I got pregnant and just tonight split for the armholes, to be followed shortly after finishing this post by casting on sleeves. The most awkward thing has been knitting a 37" sweater on 40" needles, the only ones I have in this size. I don't even have a pair of DPNs in 3.0mm, these are my only needles. This has periodically proven irritating as I've wanted to knit something else on 3.0mm and chosen to table it or go with a slightly different needle size instead. I'm not entirely sure why I haven't purchased another pair of needles except that there aren't any options locally and for whatever reason I haven't gotten around to ordering a pair. So I've been doing an awkward version of Magic Loop with a couple of inches of cord. Fortunately I'll not be dealing with as many stitches from here on out so the going should be less awkward and thus faster.

Those are the things I currently have permission to work on and I gotta say, I'm ready to cast on about 20 new things. I finally used the gift card Tonnvane gave me for my birthday (back in May) to buy two knitting books: Contemporary Irish Knits by Carol Feller from which I am itching to knit the matching cowl and mitts with some Old Maiden Aunt Alpaca/Merino I have in stash - I figure the sweaters will have to wait till post-Djinn and the completion of the current Husband Sweater; and Essential Knits for Babies by Debbie Bliss who makes one of the best commercially available yarn for babies out there. I figured the book had been on my wish list long before I knew I was pregnant and, while I'd knit things for Little Djinn, knitting is something I do for me so it counts as a present for me rather than a present for baby.

Which brings us to Little Djinn and my progressing pregnancy. I will be 35 weeks tomorrow with 5 weeks left to go. I've started occasionally suggesting to Little Djinn that the outside world is a beautiful place (now with snow!) and wouldn't you like to see it, which Chris objects to but I don't want to shock Little Djinn by saying "stay inside where it's safe and warm!" for 9 months and then suddenly saying, "it's eviction day! Get out!". Also, I'm ready to be done even if Little Djinn isn't. This week is fine, the week between Christmas and New Year's is problematic, but then any time is good for me, though the sooner the better. I think it's useful to communicate this, along with encouragement to be a 7lbs baby.

I have an ultra-sound and an as-yet unscheduled appointment with my midwife next week and that Friday is my last day at work. I am so ready to be done with work, though if I accept my limitations and spend most of my shift sitting on a stool behind the till it's okay. I had to buy larger boots (up a size and in wide) to accommodate my growing and sometimes swelling feet, especially in winter-thick socks. As it is, I'm just about to the point where Chris will have to do my shoes and socks for me as attempts to reach my feet are awkward and trigger heartburn. Not fun. Other not fun things include bending over last week to get something off the bottom shelf at the grocery store and feeling my epigastrum split apart. I asked the physiotherapist about it today as it's still sore and she said it's a soft-tissue injury common to pregnancy (which I knew) and all I can do is rest it, which I also knew but I made the mistake of googling it to reassure my husband and came up with the possibility of epigastric hernia. But even if it is herniated, there's nothing to do until after Little Djinn arrives, and it's nice to hear a medical professional be unconcerned.

The nursery still needs the decals stuck to the walls, though the bed is in place and fully made-up for my mother. I even put a blanket over the duvet to keep Oliver and Libby from shedding it, though it's the fake-fur one that they like to knead and purr on, so I'm probably just teaching them to love the bed. But on nights when my pregnancy-blamed snoring keeps Chris awake he'll be able to relocate to the nursery and actually get some sleep.

All of the Christmas decorations that are going up are up. I finally bought lights for the tree and put the one-off decorations up and a small handful of my plastic icicles. The baubles, fake candy canes, and rest of the icicles can stay off as one less thing to deal with come January. I got our North American Christmas cards posted, though the UK ones need to be signed and assembled.

Yesterday would have been my father's 72nd birthday. I don't think I have an emotional response to that, though I was a fair bit crabby. I think the crabbiness was more to do with having a new Assistant Manager at work and, subconsciously, resenting the fact that I have to take direction from someone I don't trust. Once I came home I was fine, even being up to hoovering and (electric) mopping upstairs and spending an hour making dinner. Though after that I was completely exhausted physically and even took another awkward bath. Did I mention that, as much as I love feeling Little Djinn growing inside me, I'm ready to be the sole occupier of my body again?

Tuesday 4 December 2012

December is Upon Us

First and most importantly: it snowed! overnight so I didn't get to see it, but we woke up yesterday to a light dusting of white over almost everything. Chris poo-poo'd it, saying it wasn't even the first snow of the year (which I missed as I was at work the whole time, and it didn't stick) but I make my own happy and this time of year snow is at the top of that list. Truth be told, the deep frost over everything on Sunday was prettier and lasted longer, making everything sparkle but don't tell snow that.

My Christmas decorations are going up slowly, the icicle lights in the lounge went up the day after Thanksgiving because they're beautiful and the sun sets well before 4pm this time of year and the extra light makes a big difference. We finally got the outside porch light fixed and even though it's not necessary - we did just fine without it for the three previous winters I've been here and who knows how many Chris spent without it as there's a street light just outside our house - it makes a psychological difference to come home and see it waiting for us. Also, yesterday, it let our neighbour know we were home and she could drop off the amazon boxes that had been left with her. Not that we'd got a "while you were out card" or that we'd, in fact, been out. Or at least Chris hadn't. I ran a few errands in the afternoon but he was home all day.

I also switched to snow flake napkin rings, which we can actually use again as Chris finally (it was supposed to be my job but he gave up on me taking care of it) called a local charity and arranged for the boxes and bags stacked on the kitchen table to Go Away and hopefully be useful, freeing up the table for crazy things like eating off of. I know, right? I hung our advent calendar, a clothes line with alternating red stockings and green mittens, on the wall going up the stairs and filled it with little Green & Black chocolate bars and every morning we split one over tea and coffee. And, by special request (sometime in mid-November) I switched out usual small thistle rhombus quilt for the Christmas wall hanging with the cute little nativity vignettes. Chris wants one for year-round with happy little figures and barnyard animals. I was joking we could get one that shows the story of our relationship but camels, cows, and Bethlehem aside, it kinda does.

Yesterday I suggested that we order a Christmas tree. I want, at some point, to get a fake tree but we haven't found the right one yet (which is fair as we've not put much effort in looking) so for the fourth year in a row we ordered one from a local tree farm that delivers. The first year we left it too late and got a tiny little 4-foot tree and had to put it on an end table to keep it from looking excessively tiny with out lofted ceiling. This had the added advantage of making it really easy to fit presents under it and, if you have a household where nothing will bump or jostle the tree, I highly recommend it. By the next Christmas we'd acquired kittens and they spent that first year chewing the lights (Libby), climbing the tree (both of them) and knocking it over (suspected team effort). Fortunately last year they limited themselves to drinking out of the water bowl and trying to catch the ornaments. I figure this is our one good year where the tree will be safe before we have to buy a baby gate to protect it from Little Djinn. Which is a round-about way of explaining why we ordered a Christmas tree on the third of December and, as they have a new shopping cart this year that doesn't allow one to specify delivery date, we left a "message for seller" requesting it be delivered on or after the 14th. It was waiting for us (under the porch light) when we got home from our penultimate ante-natal class. I don't think this one will last until Epiphany. But the poinsettia I picked up yesterday looks very happy with the company.

Still to do is decorating the tree, putting tinsel around the bannisters, putting up the Christmas Card organizer (our first Christmas card arrived this morning!), and sending out or own Christmas Cards. Oh, and acquiring a 2012 ornament and stockings. We have a fireplace for the second Christmas - we really should have stockings and not my normal trick of buying Chris a pair of socks, stuffing one in the other, and filling the rest with candy. My mother implied that Little Djinn already has a stocking.

Speaking of Little Djinn, I started preliminary placement for the "woodland" scene decals (two trees and a bunch of cute little animals) in the nursery. They're just masking taped to the wall for now until Chris has time to verify that everything is straight and balanced visually. This is slightly more challenging than it might sound as we're currently imagining the furniture as well. I also had my 32 week midwife check-up(yes, I'm 33 weeks along) and all health markers for Momma and Baby were "perfect", including her review of my previous appointment with her substitute. It's nice having confirmation that Little Djinn has Assumed the Position, head down in my pelvis, even if there's still lots of time to turn breech.

Sunday night I had my first real moment of "Get out! Get Out! I want my body back!" as I tried to take a bath and easy my tired muscles (all of them) and mostly just got heartburn and an inability to move. I'm pretty sure I could live with the increasing physical awkwardness if the impediment to my movements wasn't reinforced by waves of acid reflux. Blech. I bought another bottle of Tums so I can have one upstairs, downstairs, and in my bag.

Speaking of bags, I started packing my labour bag and realizing how few things they recommend that I actually have. For some reason I thought I had more, I'd just not assembled it in one place. But I picked up some extra bits and bobs while I was in town and that's more the thing. Now I need to pack one for Little Djinn, but I'm waiting for the dresser to arrive before washing all the little outfits so I can put them Away From Cats. Chris had a mild panic attack the other night that, because we put together a baby registry instead of just buying everything we might need, that Little Djinn would show up and we'd have nothing. I pulled out "Ready, Steady, Baby", the NHS's guide to pregnancy and the first year and went through a checklist of what we have (most of it) and what we need (a few things) for a newborn and he's feeling a lot better. It helps that with amazon prime if we decide there's something we need but don't have it can usually be here the next day.