Post Christmas Rambling

I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a wonderful day. I was on call Christmas, no Christmas babies though, so I was home all day. David worked in the morning and we had a quiet afternoon and evening. We had gone to friends for a Christmas eve dinner. We have traditionally gone out to dinner Christmas eve, just the two of us, but it has been harder and harder to find a restaurant open.

I have time off until Jan 2nd (unused vacation time that has to be used before the end of the year ) and I am in a clean-this, organize-that mood. I am not sure this is a good thing or not. I have been going through my stash !!!!!! I think the one thing that is the most embarrassing is the five unfinished projects I found and the three finished-except-weave-in-ends projects. I guess I need focus. I have some yarns that I would like to sell and have started listing them on Ravelry to see if anyone is interested in any of it. I may donate some to a local school or knitting group. I donated a bag of yarn to the hospital volunteers a few years back and you would have though I gave them a bag of gold. They knit hats, booties and blankets for the babies.

As far as what I am knitting. I am working on the Monkey Socks as a carry around project which means they are slow. I am one repeat away from the heel on the first sock. My big, stay-at-home project is The Woodlands Tunic from Cabin Fever. I started this last winter and put it away when it got warm. I was up to the neckline. I have finished the neck and collar and now working on the first sleeve. I have not worked on the Fiber Trends Landscape Shawl (oh no, another unfinished project). I will post pics on Ravelry.

I want to put an update about the baby that died. It was probably a virus the mother had called Cytomegalovirus (CMV). This is a virus that is harmless to most people, it infects 50% – 85% of adults in the United States. Unfortunately unborn children of women who get CMV for the first time can die or be born with major or minor effects, usually central nervous system (microcephaly, motor disabilities, mental retardation, deafness for example).  It is not a virus we routinely test for or have a treatment for. Infection is usually asymptomatic in healthy adults.

So what is in store for me in 2008? I do not usually make New Years Resolutions but I do have a few things I want to accomplish. I am not going to list things like “finish unfinished projects” which I do want to do, but things that are important to me. I will look back at this list periodically and see where I am at.

1. David and I will probably buy a couple of Alpacas this year. We own a 1/3 share of a male but want to get 1 or 2 females. Our ultimate goal is to have a farm of our own, but that probably will not happen this year with the housing market what it is (we could buy something but then not sell out current house). So we will board (agist) on my friends farm.
2. Learn to knit a moebius.
3. Try my hand at dying.
4. Spin more.
5. I would love to get two Angora Rabbits.
6. Knit a cabled project bigger than a hat.
7. Open an Etsy shop to sell alpaca roving and yarn.
8. Submit one design to a publishing source.
9. Have a more successful vegetable garden this summer
10. Accept and live with the major changes in my current job (I will post about this in the near future).

(I am not sure how I will measure 4, 9 and 10. I guess it will be my judgement.)

Happy New Year Everyone.

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you will discover will be wonderful. What you will discover will be yourself. Alan Alda

Cynthia

Lots of snow and babies

Five births in 28 hours. Each birth I attended was unique and caused different emotions in me. From a powerful and simple birth, to a “let’s just have a baby” to a heart wrenching and sad birth.  

The powerful and simple birth was a young woman who all along wanted to give birth naturally and quietly. She came in early Saturday morning and spent the day in the tub, walking in the room or visiting with family. She never once asked for medication, never said she could not do it. Watching her walk in the room, I saw a strong and beautiful body ready to welcome her baby into the world. And at 4:16 she did.

The heart wrenching and sad birth was a beautiful baby girl who died just 4 weeks before she was due to be born. I cannot describe the anquish the parents went through when they got the news, as we induced labor and as the baby was born. This woman also listened to her body, followed the signals and gave birth in a powerful, yet vunerable, position on the bed. The precious little baby was perfect. The cause of death is a mystery.

The other three births were fairly “routine”, although as I look back, none of the five women had an epidural! In the hospital where I attend births, the epidural rate is about 35%. In some hospitals it approaches 95%! I don’t think epidurals should not be available but I think they have become the norm in some ways. The media and the change in women’s views of birth and her own ability to give birth has pushed the medicalization of birth. I had a conversation with a nurse this weekend. We both remember the push toward unmedicated birth in the 80s and the changes over the last 5 or so years. We wonder if the pendulum will swing back again. I think the number of out of hospital births will rise because the woman who wants choice in how she births will be forced to forgo a hospital birth.

And lots of snow. I don’t have to recite the weather report. Because of the snow, I was stranded at the hospital on Sunday with no one in labor. I had my knitting, of course. I am working on Fiber Trends Landscape Shawl in Shepard Sock for Lorna’s Laces. It is a mindless project that I pick up in between projects. I also had some sock yarn with me and the idea I would learn toe-up socks two at a time on magic loop. I tried and tried. I finally decided conventional dpns were in order and cast on Monkey Socks by Cookie A (Knitty Winter 2006). I am using Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Winterberry colorway.

(Wow, I did it. Now I want to do more!)

Here is the snow:

 And this came in the mail today. That’s Cashmere, Baby!!!!!!

 

I leave you with this, in memory of a tiny little girl:

We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perserverance: perserverance, character; character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us.  Romans, 5:3-5

Cynthia

Hello world!

I guess it is Hello World. I am an embryo when it comes to blogging and managing this site. For those of you who choose to read my posts, you will see me pass through the stages of growth and, hopefully, see improvement as I mature. I will be posting about my life as a midwife and a fiber addict. I hope to add pictures of my alpaca friends, my garden, knitting and fiber.

I have been a nurse midwife for 15 years, the average time a midwife practices full scope (which means up at night attending births) is 10 years. I admit I am tired and winding down my career. I still love what I do and feel honored everytime I witness a birth. It has not always been easy or exhilarating, but overall it has been a good gig.

I spend a lot of time knitting, reading about knitting, surfing the web to knitting related sites and talking about knitting. I learned to knit at about the age of 7-8. My mother taught me. I did not knit consistently but about 10 years ago I got the bug and it has become an important part of my life. I am now dipping my toes into the world of designing. Nothing big or marketable …… yet. I learned to spin a year ago, so I am still making “designer yarns”.

I live with my partner of 24 years. David is a pharmacist and a budding farmer.  We have no children, unless you count the two cats that also live in the house: Bonnie and Clyde. Gangsters at heart. (I will learn to add pictures to my posts)

I plan to post weekly, more if I think I have something to say.

Until next time: “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you’ll help them become what they are capable of becoming.” Goethe

 Cynthia