Emotional

My initial plan for this post was to talk about finishing knitting projects. But first I need to take a moment to say how lucky we are.

Soon after finding out we were going to have a baby, we heard of two other friends in the same circumstances with a due date in February as well. The first ended in miscarriage this summer. And the second has met with tragedy just this week. We are in no way better than these other two couples, or the couples we know who are still trying to conceive. There is no way to say why these things happen to some people and not to others. I just want to acknowledge how blessed we are to have made it as far in the process as we have and to give my prayers for those dealing with loss.

In stark contrast, I received an email with joyous news from another couple who have been given a date for going to Guatemala to finalize the adoption of their son and bring him home. This news brought more tears, but tears of joy that their 11-month process has an end date in sight. And delight that I will finally get to meet their son in person after months of pictures and stories from their trip.

I had bought yarn to make a hat for the baby that was lost this week. At that point, it seemed likely that he would be premature and I had planned to make him a hat after the christmas knitting was done. In his memory, I think I will use the yarn for caps to donate to the Caps the Capitol campaign. http://www.savethechildren.org/capstothecapital/index.asp

The brief knitting update is that the swallowtail shawl was mended, the ends woven in and it is now blocking (hopefully without any assistance from the cats). I wove in the ends of the shrug finally and will wash and block it tonight. I basted the maternity sweater together, and I think it is too long. I thought that basting the torso together would be enough, but I need to baste on the sleeves as well. It might just be that the armholes are too deep. Or the whole thing might be too long. It hugs my behind in a way that is totally unattractive. I'm just beginning to have enough belly to fill it, but I think I would have to be pregnant with triplets for my girth to accommodate the extra length.