My Most Recent Creation

Look what I made!

Finally!  I can introduce Jess!  We had to wait an extra two weeks, which meant that I went into the hospital on the night of my birthday to be induced.  We ended up waiting around till the next day because there were too many active labors for them to start me right away.  Once they got to me, though, things really got going!  It seems I just needed a little nudge to be able to proceed on my own.

We had a really good experience with the induction, the hospital, and the midwife team.  They got a big kick out of Josh (who brought his own scrubs) as he floated between doctor-mode and husband-mode.  I was really grateful that he knew what everything meant and could help me make important calls like, "is now too soon for the epidural?"

Since I was having contractions with no break in between, we settled that question with a resounding "no!" and I got my relief.  The nurse told me I got the award for most constant contractions.  Hurray for me!  We passed a few hours after that with a Storage Wars marathon on cable.  It seems that whenever we have access to cable tv, there is always a Storage Wars marathon.  Which is awesome, because it's kind of our guilty pleasure.

Later that evening, after 2 hours of pushing, Jess was born at a whopping 9 pounds 13 ounces and 22 inches long!  The little guy had 42 weeks to grow that big, though.  He was a solid 33% of my pregnancy weight gain!

I'm so pleased that everything went so smoothly - from pregnancy to delivery.  Now all we have to worry about is recovery and baby snuggles.  Both of which are progressing well!

The Waiting Game

As I mentioned in my new year post, though my due date was March 30, I didn't expect our baby to show up until April.  Here it is, April 3, and we're showing no real signs of his ever wanting to leave.  So, I've been using my off-work time to whip together a few necessities.

First, I made this diaper bag:

Josh picked out the fabric so it would be something he was willing to carry.  The plaid is canvas and the brown (which is also the interior) is plain cotton.

It has handles, a shoulder strap, and pockets on all sides.  It didn't occur to me until I was sewing the last side closed that the pattern didn't include any inside pockets.  Since you quilt the outer and liner fabrics together before cutting out the pieces, I don't know when you'd attach pockets to the inside without the seams showing on the outside or quilting over what you've added inside.  I would have to figure that one out.  Instead, I'll just make a little loose pouch that I can put smaller things in to find easily.  

Also, due to the piecing-the-interior-and-exterior-simultaneously construction method, you end up with open edges inside your bag.  I anticipated that, though, and serged the edges of each piece before I put the bag together.  So the edges look nice, won't fray inside the bag, and will stand up to washing.

Then I made a nursing cover.  Instead of just doing a rolled hem, I wanted to have a contrasting fabric around the edges, so I bound it quilt-style.  I've been wanting to use those cherries on something for a long time!

As with most nursing covers, the neck straps fasten together with D rings.  A friend recommended that I use a twist tie or something to fasten the two rings together before sewing them into the end of the strap.  This keeps them snug enough that your fabric won't slip out, extending your strap and revealing more than you intended while feeding.  It was a good tip - easy to execute and I can see the difference it made!

I also checked another quilt top off my list!  Assuming this baby keeps hanging in there, maybe I'll even get it quilted this week.