So much happens so fast these days. I don’t have time to write as much as I used to, so I have to be more selective about what gets on the ‘blog, I mush numerous topics into 1 post, and I write less about each topic. Oh well.

Remember this photo?

If that was Before, this is After:

I still wonder how I managed to carry such a big baby. I did have Matt take a bare belly pic toward the end, I think it was the week Meredith was due. (If you’re curious, you can click here to see it [it's safe for work]. ETA: Someone has suggested that showing my bare pregnant belly on teh Internets was in “bad taste.” Now that I’ve gotten over the initial sting of having my feelings hurt, I must say that I heartily disagree. With my history, I am proud of that lumbering belly.)

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My garden is growing. I planted vegetable seeds, bulbs for onions, and potato chunks this year (no seedlings, except for the tomato plants), so I’m quite pleased to see the tiny dots that I tossed in the soil transform themselves into real vegetables.

The first radish. It was tasty!

Baby bok choi, radishes, scallions

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Lastly, I include a VERY good banana cake recipe.

I used the recipe here but omitted the streusel.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
a splash of milk (1/8 c or slightly more)

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray a brownie pan (8×8 inch) with PAM baking spray. In a small bowl, thoroughly mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add banana and milk. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well. Bake for ~45 minute or until tester comes out clean. Cool and serve.

I have a knitting FO to show – actually, it was completed right before Meredith was born. In fact, I had blocked it on a towel in the nursery the afternoon before labor started.

Note – this was not blocked with pins or wires, I washed it, spun out the water, and patted it flat. I used a ruler to ensure that the width was consistent throughout. The final dimensions were 60″ x 14″.

To recap, the yarn is spindle-spun Merino/Tencel (50/50) – read all about it here. To finish the shawl, I wove in the 2 ends. Here are some photos:

Even though I had tried to plan the size of the scarf to accommodate the amount of yarn, I still ran out with only 3 or 4 rows left to go. I didn’t want to order another 2 oz, so I stash dove – luckily, I surfaced with pink fiber and grey fiber, both 50/50 Merino/silk. I blended it coarsely by hand and spun something similar enough to finish the border.

I didn’t feel like dressing up to model the shawl myself, but I found a willing prop lying around the house.

Maybe Meredith will want to wear it when she is a little older. :)

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I previously promised you a parade of handmade baby clothes – first up is a handdyed, crocheted vest. Yarn is dyed bye Anne, vest made by Cathy. Isn’t it sweet?

Thanks to all who took the time to leave a comment or send an e-mail after Meredith was born. We treasured every note and were delighted by the warm welcome that she received.

Matt’s parents visited for the first 10 days after Meredith was born, and it was so nice to have their help around the home. But even with the extra hands, we have been super busy. I frankly had no idea that babies spent so much time eating. I knew feedings would be relatively frequent, but I didn’t realize that a single feeding could take as long as an hour (factor in time spent coaxing baby to wake up and eat, actual eating, burping, diaper changing, diaper changing again [she'll poop, we'll wait a few minutes for the second blast, change the diaper, and then she'll poop again seconds later], settling her down, etc). Lather, rinse, and repeat 8 to 10 times a day, and whoa, that’s the whole day and night.

Thankfully, she is a good sleeper (the Bockol sleep gene is strong in this one), and she’ll often go down for 2 or 3 hours at a time. She’s rarely awake when she’s not feeding, but I’m guessing that will change sooner or later.

Matt and I have spent hours staring at her sleeping. I never in a million years would have thought I’d be entranced by a sleeping baby, but what can I say… It’s oddly compelling.

First Fathers’ Day

I am recovering well from the surgery. The incision is healing appropriately (at a follow-up examination, an obstetrician declared that the incision was “beautiful”), and I am getting stronger every day. Incidentally, we learned that oxycodone makes me cry. I was taking it for a few days immediately after the surgery, but I realized I was getting super-emo – anything and everything made me resentful and sob like the world was ending. (The baby is awake – WAAAH!!! It’s 2 PM and I haven’t showered – WAAAH!!! The sky is blue – WAAAH!!!) I stopped taking it and came back to myself in 24 h – I much preferred to be in some pain but in my right mind.

The other funny thing – I gained about 34 (or slightly fewer?) lbs with the pregnancy. During labor, I had multiple episodes of freakishly low blood pressure – the standard way to deal with that is to administer a shot of epinephrine ephedrine (thanks, Laurie!) and a bolus of fluid (intravenous). My blood pressure would not stabilize, and the docs kept pumping me full of fluid, so much that after they pulled essentially 10+ lbs of baby and placenta out of me, I was only 4 lbs lighter when I came home! However, in the past 2 weeks, I’ve lost more than 25 lbs. I’m only 5 or 6 lbs above my pre-pregnancy weight now, although my belly is still 4″ wider around. (*sigh*) I tried on a pair of “fat pants” from last year, and alas, they do not even zip up all the way. I have quite the “mama belly,” soft and squooshy. Something is getting skinnier, but I can’t tell what!

Oh, and we have fiber content!

Here are those stay-on baby booties that I made a while back (blogged here). They fit!

With so many fiber-crafty friends (Real Life Friends and Imaginary Friends Inside the Computer), Meredith has a lot of wonderful handmade clothing. Stay tuned for the parade of baby knits!

Matt and I are pleased to tell you that we are now parents of a baby girl.

Meredith Kin Bockol
Date: June 2, 2008, 3:03 AM
Length: 22 inches (55 cm)
Weight: 9 lb, 7.5 oz (4,300 g)

Who would have guessed that I could have such a large baby?

We had numerous, unexpected complications during labor. After 28 hours, every option had been exhausted, and Meredith was born by cesarean delivery.

I guess we are a little tired. :)

Everyone is fine now, and we came home from the hospital on Wednesday.

Things are going well, but I won’t be posting a lot for a while. There’s a newborn baby in the house!

Thanks to everyone!