I can see!!!

**I originally wrote this post quite some time ago but never finished it, so here ya go**
Oh dear lord - I've had LASIK surgery since the last time I blogged. That's right I am currently typing this blog sans eye apparatus! And it was FREE! Let me start off by saying: Focal Point Vision is the BOMB!

For those of you who don't know me, don't know that I am not the bearer of false praise. I have a disease in which words do not come out of my mouth all edited and nice. I speak bluntly and honestly. I have a hard time hiding facial expressions when I have to say things edited and nice. I would be a bad poker player. So understand my praise of them is founded and not ONLY based on the fact that they just gave me LASIK for free.

With that some background: Focal Point Vision has ophthalmologists that are corneal specialists (this is the part of the eye effected when LASIK is performed people), so when another doctor screws up your cornea you are referred to Focal Point. They are top notch.
This means they are selective as well, if you are not a candidate for the procedure you think you are or are borderline they will discuss options tailored to you - if I had not been a good candidate, especially as a contest winner, they would not have performed LASIK on me. But luckily, I have 'wonderfully thick corneas' (per Dr. Maverick) so I was able to actually have the procedure.
I have the unique perspective to see Focal Point's operations as an outsider prior to the contest too so I am not totally biased.They performed my friend's much more serious/difficult procedure lens implants - when she did her research they were at the top for lens implant procedure. She LOVES the results. Do your own research and see what you find if you're in the market.

Focal Point Vision performs the following:
 LASIK, Laser PRK, INTACS, No Stitch Cataract Surgery - Crystalens, nanoFLEX, reSTOR, Toric, Corneal Implants, Glaucoma, Astigmatic Keratotomy (AK), and Anterior Eye Surgery.

This means they know an array of options and do not cookie-cutter you into a procedure not appropriate for you.

 

Alright, now lets move onto the good stuff:

 

The details.

 

If you're like me you understand the concept of LASIK but don't really know what it is or all the stuff surrounding LASIK. I received IntraLase method for creating the corneal flap and then the second step of LASIK was reshaping the cornea with an excimer laser.

 

Chew on the definition of 'excimer' for a bit - it's kinda Star Trek-y.

 

So, this process started by not wearing contacts for at least two weeks. We were in full blown allergy season and I couldn't wear my contacts all day starting about three weeks before the surgery day (over-achiever).

Then two days before the surgery we did a pre-op. They checked my prescription again, looked at my eyes to verify I hadn't been wearing contacts - just like a normal annual eye exam minus the air blow-y machine (thank god).

The day of: my appointment was scheduled super early (which was fine with me - get it knocked out). My dear sister agreed to wake up at the ass crack with me. She also made me breakfast because I was instructed to eat before I came since they provide drugs. It's kind of 'Captain Obvious' but you must have a driver since they are giving you medication and performing surgery on your peepers.
We arrived at the facility - Alamo Laser Center - which was super clean, had friendly staff, and were happy to see me even at that very early hour. I signed some paperwork, they handed me a valium and a cup of water, the staff checked my eyes again, Dr. Maverick came into an exam room to give me the run down of what was going to happen, and then we went into the operating room. From arrival to operating room was like 10-15 minutes. No phones from the time we walked into the facility - I even got my sister in trouble for taking a photo for me to share with Focal Point on my phone!

Now they go through all this multiple times before hand and you understand what they're saying, but you can't help but be shocked as it's all going on.
 

So in this operating room, there are two large machines - I come from a water lab background so they look like a really big GC - with a chair, like a dentist chair that reclines all the way, in the middle of the two machines. One of the machines does the cutting and the other does the fixing. You sit/lay down and your doctor is directly above your head. There were two assistants in the room (I believe). I was handed an 'operation friend' - who happened to be a teddy bear. Drops were put in my eyes as soon as I laid down and left to work while they finished setting up for a few minutes.

A suction cup was placed on my eye. Now this is a part I was kind of nervous about, I mean, who goes around attaching suction cups to their eyeballs, but it really was exactly how it sounds... they put a suction cup on your eyeball. There's a bit of pressure but it isn't as uncomfortable as you imagine. You get used to it.
Then you're immediately lined up with the 'cutting' machine (the IntraLase). You look into a light as the flap is cut. This is another portion of the procedure where the theory sounds really, really scary because in reality they are cutting your eye. But once again, it wasn't that bad. You hear the machine making noise but it doesn't register in your brain as being hurt.
I felt more on the first eye during the cutting stage than the second eye for whatever reason and the sensation wasn't so bad that I had to pull away - it was more of a burning sensation than any pain. At some point during the cutting, you lose what little 'vision' is there. Keep in mind this is happening in seconds. Once it's finished you're instructed to keep that eye closed, the suction cup is place on the other eye. Same song and dance.

You're looking at 2 -3 minutes at this point.

Next it's time to prep for the excimer laser - a lid speculum is used to keep your eye lids open and two little 'shields' are placed over your eyelashes. The 'shields' are kind of like band-aids because they are sticky on the backs and keep your eyelashes out of the way. They are placed over upper and lower. The flap that was just cut is pulled back with some tweezer like apparatus.
 

NOTE: I am slightly allergic to adhesives (as in I get red itchy bumps where band aids/athletic tape/medical tape are placed on my skin) so I had slight swelling the following day but it was almost completely un-swelled by my follow-up at 11am. I was the first person they had ever seen have that reaction so more than likely you are completely safe. I am simply a super weirdo. Also - I am sensitive/allergic to hypo allergenic makeups, sun screen, certain shampoos, and some laundry detergents - so seriously - believe me when I say I was unique here and that it was a very uncommon thing. BUT if you are allergic to band-aids and considering this procedure, speak up.
 

Then the excimer laser goes to work. This laser just made my eye tired - like after a long day of looking at a computer screen. The machine was tapping away while you once again focus on a light. This light sort of moves a bit and it's hard to know if you're supposed to follow it or maintain your focus where the light started out - your doctor coaches you through this part. I was assured during the pre-op that if I had an issue keeping my eyeball where it needed to be the machine was designed to cut off. I had a hard time following the first time - probably just because you don't really know what to expect and it is different than the first machine. Dr. Maverick talked me through it. After the first eye was complete he put the flap back down and there was a waiting time for the flap to 'lock in'. They remove the lid speculum and shields, put some drops in, and you close that eye. Repeat.
Once you've experienced the first eye, the second eye is easier because you understand what's about to happen. My anxiety was significantly lower on the second eye than the first. Plus I was able to ask Dr. Maverick about how I was doing between eyes. I am a firm believer in asking if you want to know - talk to your doctor.
The most amazing part was after the second eye was done, I stood up, was led into an exam room, opened my eyes in front of an eye chart, and I COULD SEE!!!!

The most amazing thing ever. My vision was instantly better.  



Craftiness returns!

Today Mary is twelve weeks old today!

We've started trying to get back into some of our old activities since Mary's settled into more of a routine. There are a couple of projects I really wanted to get done for Mary's nursery - one being a homemade pouf and the other is a hanger for the baby monitor to get it off the crib mattress.

Better Homes & Gardens had a DIY Pouf project that was all over Pinterest that I figured I would try. You can find instructions here.
It came out rather well, I think. Not an item you'd want to use during a pillow fight since it has a few pairs of Jamie's old jeans, lots of t-shirts, stuffing, scrap fabric, a full size lamp, the kitchen sink, and whatever else I could find to shove in there. They are not kidding when it says you'll need LOTS of stuffing.
It weighs a ton.

I had quite a bit of fabric left over and I've been wanting to make something to hang the monitor on to keep it off the crib mattress and get the cord out of baby reach. I had an idea in my head of how I wanted it to hang and just wasn't sure how it was going to work out. And you know how ideas in your head work out in practice....sometimes they don't always match.
So I went for it.


 I added a little flower stitch to give it something fun. Not that you can see it when the monitor is hanging on it, but I know it's there!

This is one example where what was in my head matched what happened in outside of my head. It hangs perfectly! I think it might be a new baby shower gift! I'm going to add another little 'pocket' to run the power cord through before plugging it into the monitor - this way once the baby gets older there isn't a chance for little fingers to grab the cord and pull on it.

Next I'm working on a car seat cover to keep Mary protected from the sun and wind. I pulled the pattern off Pinterest as well (found here). The 'instructions' are more like guidelines which I like because it leaves room for creativity.

 

I'm hoping to get back to knitting pretty soon!

 

Here's a photo from today to mark the twelfth week since Mary arrived!

 

 

A Stork Story

I originally started this post as a full disclosure of what happened the night Mary was born - play-by-play. It doesn't really seem like the way to go about telling the story though. At least not in this form....all out in the open. Telling the story of how Mary arrived touches very closely to the death of my mother (who she happens to be named after) and having those experiences looking back at me from the black and white text on a computer screen is slightly too exposed at the moment. I'll have to work up to that post. I'll keep working on it and hopefully be able to click 'Publish' once I get it all straightened out.

For now, I'll give a shortened version without so much of the first-hand narrative.

I went into labor naturally - starting around 12:30 am, building up to regular consistent contractions about four minutes apart around 2:30am, went to the hospital around 10:30am, decided at about noon that I was going to need an epidural, didn't get the epidural until about 2pm, didn't start pushing until about 8pm, we took a 20 minute break around 10pm or so, and three sets of pushes later Mary was born. It was a very LONG labor. Typically these 'breaks' don't work this way (with the baby arriving afterward), but given the fact I hadn't eaten since the evening before and was going on about four hours of sleep it worked for us. The issue was the hospital staff and my doctor were planning for a C-section, not a delivery ten minutes after our little break. So, once Mary was finally crowning, the doctor was about 10 minutes away and the nurses instructed me to stop pushing in order to wait for her arrival. The issue was that Mary's heartrate began to drop drastically during those very long mintues. There was some discussion over delivering or not that ended with my doctor arriving at the nick of time and immediately delivering. Mary was born with meconium present, the cord wrapped around her neck, and she was not breathing.
She was 'bagged' (I'm no doctor so you're going to have to just follow along) and within minutes was breathing. By the time they moved her to the nursery she was fighting the tubes so they removed them and she was breathing pressurized room air within minutes of being born. Shortly after, she was stablized and everything appeared fine. Jamie ran to grab me food. My doctor came into my room to tell me there might be an issue with Mary - it appeared she was having a seizure and she would need to be air lifted to San Antonio. I got to make the phone call to Jamie to inform him to come back to the hospital as soon as he could.
The neonatal specialist came in to explain the details of her condition. Jamie got back just in time for this update. The short version of what was explained to us was her posturing and movements could be a seizure - the equipment to verify this was not available at the hospital we were at - if she was having a seizure it could be a sign of something more seriously wrong (brain damage). The procedure for minimizing organ damage called 'cooling' must be performed within six hours after birth for the best results. Mary's test results for pH and other indicators were borderline to indicate potential damage. The neonatal specialist decided it would be best to transfer her to San Antonio in order to perform the cooling procedure and where an EEG could be performed. Mary was brought into my room for about five minutes by the airflight crew before being flown to San Antonio - this was the first time I was able to see her. Typically you're able to spend a bit more time, but the weather was deteriorating and they had a very small window to get her back to San Antonio. An ambulance came to transfer me to San Antonio - we arrived around 4 am.
The NICU was still getting Mary hooked up and performing tests and asked that I wait to come to see her. Jamie had driven home given the fact that he had also been up for over 24 hours and could not be driven (by helicopter or otherwise) to San Antonio - it was safer for him to get some sleep and head up to SA in the morning. My sister, Heather, who had been at the New Braunfels hospital with me until midnight or one in the morning drove up to SA to meet me there and stay with me. We met up with her, checked into my room, and we slept for a couple of hours.
The order of things gets fuzzy from here (probably due to the lack of sleep), but I went home Sunday night and the next seven days were spent driving back and forth to downtown San Antonio (a 45 minute drive one way). It was very hard but we kept receiving positive news from each test. Her EEGs all came back normal, her clavical that was broken was healing very quickly, she was gaining weight back, she was responsive. We could see her improvements each day.

I cannot express the relief we felt when we finally got to bring her home. I sat in the back seat of the truck with her and couldn't help but cry from the overwhelming happiness I was feeling just by being able to bring her home. We were a family.

Now, we're adjusting to the craziness that having a little person brings into a household. We are extremely lucky however in that she is sleeping 8-10 hours a night already and eats like a horse.

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Nesting my ass

Nesting....

This word offends me. It offends me so much that I almost feel it's wrong to be offended by it.

What exactly does this mean??

According to dictionary.com it has nothing to do with being pregnant:
verb (used with object)

8. to settle or place (something) in or as if in a nest: to nest dishes in straw. 

9. to fit or place one within another: to nest boxes for more compact storage.

According to articles about pregnancy nesting is: "Reorganizing the closets, alphabetizing the spice rack, and thwarting dust-bunny breeding efforts under the bed? Welcome to a pre-labor ritual that helps get your home ready for the baby, and helps you pass the time."

Here's my problem: that definition above is me....all the time. I always alaphabetize spice racks and cds and dvds and worry about dust bunnies under the bed. And lets not even get me started on closets....closets are my favorite rooms in a house and they deserve LOTS of attention.

So why, just because I'm pregnant do these household chores become a label?

I read another article (that I cannot find right now) that said nesting "was preparing a place for your baby to sleep". Who doesn't prepare a place for their baby to sleep? Better yet, who wouldn't? If I wasn't thinking about providing a place for the little thing to sleep, wouldn't I be unfit? So, how is a logical thought process for preparing for something as life changing as adding another human being into your household labelled as 'nesting'??

Have you ever watched a bird build a nest? I have. They carry it out with devotion and it happens rather quickly.

Perhaps I'm offended by this term because I am constantly trying to improve our house in everyway - organization, cleanliness, asthetically - and think it is completely outrageous that all that hard work to improve our household should not be watered down to one measly word: 'nesting'.

I'm not nesting. I'm preparing for a child. When you buy a dog, do you make sure it has a water bowl, food bowl, a place to sleep, and somewhere to be safe (like a kennel)? Yes, so why isn't that called nesting?

More irritating to me is when people apply the 'nesting' term to my knitting. No, I am not knitting because I am 'nesting'. I'm knitting because I like to knit gosh darn it. I've been knitting for almost three years and let me tell you, I have NOT been nesting for that long!

Anyway, I think this is why I haven't knitted the poor new little girl anything yet.

I hope she knows I love her anyway.

I still have a month.

Non-Knitting Things

This weekend was filled with non-knitting things.

I won my facebook contest for free LASIK surgery from Focal Point Vision Correction! I'm in disbelief that it's true, but I went Friday for the consultation and it's true. It's going to happen next year. If you're thinking about LASIK and you're in the San Antonio area, you should definitely go check them out. I'm not just saying that because I won either - a very dear friend of mine, Kat, had her lens implants done through them (much more serious than plain old LASIK). The professionalism and friendliness of the staff at the office and at the surgery center was the best I'd ever experienced (I was her driver). After she had her surgery, I looked up the doctors online because it struck me as odd that they were MDs. Difference between an optometrist and ophthalmologist - OD and MD. Look it up - very interesting stuff. Anyway - Focal Point Vision Correction - top notch ophthalmologist and staff. I'll keep you posted on all the goings on when we get down to the surgery time. It'll be good stuff - promise!

I am working on Christmas knitting but haven't finished anything yet, so gimme time on the knitting stuff. I'll get back to it!

We nailed up baseboards in the master bedroom, cut the cove trim, and painted it as well. We still need two pieces of corner trim. Then we'll have to cut, paint, and hang those plus fill the nail holes, caulk the seams, and finish up with a quick touch-up paint job. The main bedroom part of the room will have the trim completed!

Before we move in there we'll just need to replace outlet plugs and light switches and put on face plates! That is rather exciting!

Of course the bathroom will still be mostly unfinished, but we are sort of coming into a time crunch here. You see, we are pregnant. Six months, one week, to be exact. So this master bedroom push is in an effort to be out of our room so the baby can live there. Plus, what good is a master bedroom if the 'parental units' don't live in it?! Some things are supposed to be a certain way. Being a parental unit and occupying the master bedroom of a house is how it's supposed to be.

Whew! Now that that's out in the open - let's discuss this parental unit thing. I was never someone who envisioned myself being a 'parental unit' - meaning I wasn't one of those girls who wanted to grow up and start a family. I wanted to grow up and get a job. Strange - I know - I was a weird kid. I never really remember processing 'having kids' as part of the growing up scenario in my head. Here's the deal though, it's extremely strange to find yourself meeting the expectations of 'growing up'. It creeps up on you and you wake up one day thinking 'Holy crap, I just became a grown up.'
And you just sort of chew on it for a bit.
Because it didn't happen overnight... you don't just become a grown up. You grew up.
I still feel the same inside as I did as a little girl dreaming of what I'd become one day. Deal is - today is one day. And today, I'm on my way to becoming a mom. Weirds me out that I haven't reached my job goal but I'm going to be a part of a parental unit which is definitely a 'grown up' status marker.

#1 question from random people about being pregnant - 'how is it?' Well, it's happening... And I don't mean that to be a snot. But.... it's just happening. I don't really have anything to do with it. There's a living growth inside of me that going to become a human being - it's weird.
I'm not a fan of being limited by what I can do - and not in the 'I'm pregnant and can't clean' - I mean I can't clean every room in the house non-stop top-to-bottom from Friday night to Sunday evening (while cooking, baking, bathing the dogs, and doing some yard work that involves a chainsaw) and not pay for it somehow the next day. I can't go run three miles (as someone who doesn't workout regularly at ALL) and not hurt myself or feel like I'm going to pass out.
I never really thought of myself as 'extreme' but the biggest answer to 'how is it?' would be it's showing me I operate on extremes. I want to finish what I start without stopping and being pregnant has limited the ability to finish things without stopping. I'm not sure I'm explaining this properly, but hopefully you get the gist.

So, you may think - wow this chick is not digging this being pregnant thing - well, I'm not. I'm also not excited about how the pregnancy thing ends - childbirth. The logistics get me all hung up.
But I am digging the fact that there is about to be a small person in the world that is going to be a mix of the person I love the most in this world and myself. I am digging the potential of this little person to become whatever they wish and hoping they become a good person. I am digging that my husband is going to be a really great dad and that I'll be able to watch firsthand.

I know I've said this before - every life event is bitter sweet for me. I always get excited and the reality that my mom and dad are not here to share in it knocks me back down. This life event has been EXTREMELY hard on the knocking back down side. Questions about family medical history, complications your mom had during her pregnancy, people asking if your parents are excited, not having anyone to ask some questions about being pregnant who has the same gene pool as you - it's been heavy on the knocking down side.
Don't get me wrong - our extended family is excited and happy for us. My 'adopted' family have been AMAZING! Tears come to my eyes just thinking about the kindness, helpfulness, and happiness that has poured out of this family toward us. I cannot thank them enough.
But I still miss my mom. :P

Christmas is fast approaching!

Howdy!

The Christmas stockings were delivered to a very happy customer! They came out a little different than her original stocking, but they are similar enough she seemed happy with them!

I'm in complete disbelief that is it December already. I think mostly because it was 85 degrees F here in Texas...makes it hard to get into the Christmas mood/listen to Christmas music/even think about putting up a Christmas tree when it's practically summer outside still.
Good thing I am realistic enough to recognize that regardless of the heat, December is here and that means Christmas is right around the corner!

I've been working on Christmas project for that very reason. I've almost got four items completed.
This Holiday Lights Tam and scarf (the title has something to do with rain drops) both from different Interweave Knits magazines.

I'm trying to work on my lace knitting skills. The scarf was the main attempt and came out rather well. The tam was chosen because I've never worked with beaded knitting plus I've never knitted a hat. I really enjoyed the beaded knitting and the pattern was fairly simple.

 

In my typical style - I had to look up 'tam'. Apparently, tam is short for tam o'shanter and is a nickname for the traditional Scottish bonnet worn my men. This tam is obvious a very femine styled hat. How interesting is that word!

This beret and mitts are both from Crochet Today! magazines. The beret is in the 2010 holiday gifts issue - which seems to be a really good issue because I've used several patterns out of it for holiday gifts!

 



 The mitts are my first time doing crochet cables. A very intriguing concept and easy enough to work.The fact that these mitt work up quickly helps. I was super surprised how fast they worked up!

My goal for this weekend was originally to get the baseboard trim hung in the master bedroom, but Jamie worked this weekend so we didn't get around to it. So, I changed my goals and decided the goal would be to reupholster my mother's rocking chair.
I forgot to take a 'before' picture until after I had already removed the cushion, but you get the idea.

Before:

After:

 A close up of the fabric.

 Heather went with me to try to find fabric. This fabric was the original stuff we both liked, but I didn't buy it that day because we thought it wouldn't be big enough (didn't bring the cushion dementions with me). I ended up coming home with a reddish/orangish retro styled fabric that is super fun. Even though I like the first fabric we picked out - I couldn't stop thinking about this fabric. So I went back to the store and picked it up. I really do like it. The lightness of it really makes the darkness of the chair pop. It's really gorgeous! This was our first go at upholstering somthing. There are mistakes, but it came out okay. I'm sure this fabric won't last the 30 years the original fabric lasted, but I'm okay with that.

In non-crafty news, we took our annual trip out to Mitre in November. We had lots of fun hiking and hanging out at Artwalk. We didn't purchase any artwork this year, but I always enjoy looking at all the shops!
Erica and Loren joined us this year as well. I was so happy they had a good time and seemed to appreciate the less populated area of Alpine and the great outdoor opportunities camp provides.

Well, that's all for now. I'll keep you all posted on my crafty Christmas projects as they are completed!

Happy knitting!
-Em

Gettin' shit done!!

It is October and these puppies are completed!!! I doubted myself in July. I couldn't imagine ever getting them finished. But I stuck it out and completed they are!  I cannot even tell you all how excited I am these are finished! They came out pretty cute too!

I was so excited they were done. I did this:

IN THREE DAYS!
These are the Christmas socks that I sort of gave my sister - she only got one at Christmas, remember? Yep, finished those up too!

I think I've got my knitting bug back! I'm so freaking excited!

The only problem now is that I've run out of incomplete projects to finish so I need to start a new project.... So digging through patterns it is!

While I was downloading these pictures I found this (that I had forgotten I'd done this summer):

It's a door. A nice door. Our house currently has plain Jane doors and our goal is to eventually upgrade them to this style to add a little character. I hung this one on the master bedroom closet. First solo door hang (my dad walked me through the last one I hung). It went rather well. I did it on a Sataurday while the other half was working....he was impressed when he got home.

Ok, it's totally past my bedtime, but I wanted to share my excitement with the world.

Good night and happy knitting!

-E