Bed Rest

Over the weekend I was put on bed rest.  So, what is a girl to do while on bed rest?  This of course!

Birds of a Feather Saturday SAL
Did I catch up to you Maggee?

Why was I on bed rest?  Because on Friday I unexpectedly found out that I was pregnant.  You should have seen all of the people in my room.  No one could believe it!  Especially since I had just experienced the time of the month where I become "an unpleasant person to live with" (if you know what I mean).  Unfortunately my progesterone level was extremely low and even though they tried to boost it with meds, it was too little too late.  Yesterday the doctor's office confirmed that I ended up losing Baby #3 over the weekend.

I'm fine.....we are fine......our faith hasn't waiverd with this loss.  In fact I think it is stronger than it has been in a long time.

Thankfully this new doctor and his staff are the most wonderful, caring people.  They will be able to get me back on track and figure out what is going on so that they can help me carry a healthy little one to term.

In the meantime, I was thinking that maybe I would skip the alphabet on this one and save the space to make it either an inspirational sampler or save it for a baby sampler.  What do you think?

Stitching with angels,

Traveling Pattern Update

You forgot about it, didn't you?  I know that for awhile there I was afraid it was lost.  Turns out that it went very "slow boat" from Blu's house to Andie's house.

You can check out Andie's version here.

Saturday SAL

Thanks to my dear friends Sheryl (no blog) and Maggee, I have my mojo back in full swing......

I had just finished up "Faith" and I was searching for something else to work on while I stitched with my friends a couple of Saturdays ago.  (Miss you Darlene!)  I rummaged through my travel stitching bag and nothing really grabbed me.  Then I found "Abby Rhodes" by  Shakespeare's Peddler.  So, while I sat with my friends, I got to work.

As our discussion wore on that day, we started talking about different projects.  Last year's Mystery Sampler from With Thy Needle came up.  Here's a reminder picture:


Mystery Sampler

Maggee worked on hers last summer and had completed much of the border.  I don't know when Sheryl started hers, but she was much further than I was.  Me?  Would you believe that I never even started mine?!?  That little puppy was sitting in my bag just waiting patiently for me to start.  Scary, right?  How dare I call myself a "Serial Starter"! 

After talking it through, the three of us decided to have a Saturday SAL for the Birds of a Feather Mystery Sampler starting this past Saturday.  This was my Saturday start:

And here are all of our pieces at the end of our time together:

Top - Maggee's version on 32(?)count
Middle - Sheryl's version on 36 count
Bottom - My version on 40 count

I can't wait to see how the different versions are going to come out.  We are all stitching on different counts and different color fabrics.  Maggee is using the called for fibers while Sheryl and I are using a conversion from The Attic for Belle Soie.  (Mmmmm.....my favorite!)  Even though Sheryl is using the Belle Soie, she changed her border color because it didn't show up.  Don't you just love her change?

You should have seen me on Saturday.  I was having so much fun working on this piece.  I kept commenting on how the first little flower was "soooo c..u..t..e!" and I kept giggling.  I guess that means the mojo is back! 

Needless to say, I have continued to stitch on this project even though Saturday is long gone.  (I can't help it if I woke up at 5am and couldn't go back to sleep.  What else is a girl to do?)  Here is how my sampler stands as of this morning:

I can't wait for next Saturday!

Happy Mystery Stitches!

Faith

Lately, for me, faith has been a hard thing to have.  So many things have happened in the last couple of weeks that have really set me on an uneven keel. 

First my hysteroscopy was denied by the insurance company, so that never happened.  Next, we lost my (step) grandfather on Memorial Day.  (While he wasn't my biological grandfather, he is my "Grandaddy" just the same.  Thankfully he lived a full and relatively healthy 95 years.  For the last week of May we celebrated his life.  I was able to see my (step) sisters and spend some quality time with them.)  Then, when I got back to work the first week of June, I found out that there were not one, but two more coworkers are pregnant.  One is now 7 weeks and the other is 19 weeks along.  This made me the only one who isn't pregnant.

All this stress has really gotten to me and I ended up having a horrible breakdown with a full on hysterical crying session while at work. After I came out of it, I knew that I needed a reminder of who is in charge and that there is a reason for everything.  Determined, I set my needle to work and in a few days time I ended up with this reminder........

Faith by Lizzie*Kate
32 ct Silkweaver Solo

AC Moore is having a 60% + an additional 10% off sale right now, so I will be heading over on Saturday to try and find a frame for this.  I'm planning on hanging it in my office right next to my computer screen.  This way I have a constant reminder to keep the Faith.

Since I finished the piece, things have begun to look up.  I went to another doctor for a second opinion as to why I'm not holding a pregnancy.  Based on our initial conversation, he thinks that he can have me pregnant by my birthday (August)!  I'm now in the process of waiting for a huge battery of labs to be completed.  (They took 14 vials of blood!)  I will be heading back to his office on Monday for some further testing including a saline sonogram.  This time I will be going through with the testing even if the insurance company denies it.  Getting my faith back has shown me that I don't have to be worried about all the things that have been on my mind up until this point.  I'm just praying for his guidance through this tough journey.

I think he has given me the beginnings of an answer this week.....I can look at my pregnant coworkers and I don't break down into tears.  For this I am thankful.......

Wordless Wednesday (In The Backyard)