and Bean makes 4

The Bean is home and my parents left us this morning. We're getting settled in and getting used to each other and new routines.

The Bean is a healthy 9lb 2.5oz who looks an awful lot like her sister did. I'll be posting a little bit more and catching up on everyone else too as days pass and we get more settled in. Next post will have pictures.

Two Days

In two days at this time I will be getting ready to bring the Bean out. I'm not sure how sleep on Tuesday night is going to be, the adrenaline is probably going to be pounding all night long. We have my niece coming over to watch over the Peanut while we head into the hospital for pre-op and my parents are on their way as we speak.

We'll be bringing the Bean out via a c-section. I made the decision to go that route because with the Peanut I had one, and because it was an emergency procedure that took place even before a single real contraction was felt. Having the second child is supposed to be a little less daunting and the whole unknown involved with labour wasn't making this time around seem so. I felt that trying to go naturally combined with having the Peanut at home and having my parents here for only a few short days it was better to go the already trodden path.

The Bean has started to slow down a little bit, she's not kicking nearly as much and her movements seem to be focused to mostly at night. My belly has dropped down a little bit and I've got that waddle walk going on that happens when the baby's head is engaged and it feels like she's going to drop out with each step. The Peanut is a super help, running to pick things up for me when I drop them, helping to pic up after herself and just being a sweet heart.

This will be my last post for a while. As I mentioned I've got my parents on the way and I want to focus on the Peanut for the next two days. I'll post again once we're home and settled.

I may be deluding myself

But I've got a big stack of books for reading over the next week or so. Of course I'm not taking into account the whole going to be taking care of a newborn in about 3 days or so.

The thing is, is that I can't not read. I read and re-read books just to have a story going at all times. The problem is that I get in author ruts and find it hard to pick up a new one without some sort of recommendation. To be honest my book reading practice has become very much like that of a finicky eater who is longing to break out of a rut. I read books that I've love and re-read them because the choices open to me when I step into the library are so vast that it's easier to pick the tried and true than it is to venture into uncharted territory. And then when I do taste something new and fresh and I enjoy it; it becomes an obsession and I collect the plots of a new author.

I'm fortunate in that I have this amazing friend who is as avid a reader as I am... OK if I'm going to be honest she's more avid a reader than I am, she devours books like chocolate, she always has something new in her bag to read. She's been tossing the odd suggestion my way over the last little for which I'm very grateful, after all, there's only so many times you can read the same book in one year...

So with the Bean on the verge of reality I'm piled high with some new reads and looking for more, What else should I be doing while I'm breastfeeding? Watching TV? What's on your night table? What book are you reading that you just can't put down, can't stop thinking about? Me? I've been reading China Miéville; courtesy of a suggestion by my above friend, I just finished Kraken, Looking for Jake and Iron Council and I'm looking forward reading Un Lun Dun.

On the positive side I'm too obstinate to give up

I won't bother to mention that we have 5 more days to wait for the Bean. Time is just flying. The closer the day gets the more nervous I find myself getting about returning to breastfeeding. Starting out with the Peanut was easy; it was like she new instinctively how to latch on properly in the first few minutes of being on the outside and then things just went down hill.

Just like how all that talk about how exhausted you're going to be after the baby comes falls on deaf ears when you're pregnant for the first time; the whole breastfeeding thing doesn't seem to register as a difficult task until you're exhausted from the lack of sleep and frustrated because that little life you've just brought into the world is screaming and crying pitifully because she's hungry and you can't get the hang of getting her to latch on. Don't even get me started on the whole nursing through mastitis scenario...

I recently read this blog post about how hard it is to breastfeed and it struck a nerve or two. Mostly because I saw myself in her experience but also because I wholeheartedly agree that when it comes to motherhood we tend to gloss over the hard parts too much; and breastfeeding is one of the hardest. I refuse to make it sound like a walk in the park to those who are headed toward parenthood (partly because scaring the crap out of first time parents to be can be great entertainment for those of us who are seasoned practitioners).

I once went out for dinner with two good friends from art school who I had lost touch around the time we found out we were having the Peanut. It had been a good three years since I'd last seen them and there was a lot to catch up on; one was working in an exciting new job that had her traveling all the time doing something that she loves, the other had just gotten married and was basking in the glow that is being a newly wed while stressing about the fact that she was in her final year of school with finals and looking for a job ahead of her. We traded stories and pictures and when they asked me how much I liked being a Mommy (because I had been known to be very vocal about wanting to be one) I shocked them both by honestly telling them that sometimes I hated it. That having a baby was hard, breastfeeding: hard, adjusting to being a Mom: hard. That even though I adored my Peanut that I sometimes longed for the days when I was not tied down to a schedule. The whole conversation became a little uncomfortable about then. They weren't expecting so much honesty and I wasn't about to sugarcoat my feelings or my experiences so I changed the subject and we moved on.

And now I'm on the cusp of doing it all over again. I know how to breastfeed in theory but the last time the Peanut latched on she was a month shy of two and trying to multitask while eating by watching what her Daddy was doing and getting a little yoga in with a downward dog pose all at the same time. Breastfeeding a two year old is not the same as breastfeeding a new born and I'm planning on having the nurses into my room as much as possible while we're getting the hang of it because the whole wrestling with a hungry newborn is not high on my list of things I'm looking forward to the second time around. It's going to be hard and I'll probably have my Mom telling me to just feed her formula while she's here and I'll have to juggle the Peanut at the same time and I'll probably get frustrated but I will do it and I won't be telling anyone how easy and natural it is to do because the look on their faces when they see that I'm serious will make it all worth while. Well that, and the fact that the Bean will be getting exactly what she needs from me and I won't be paying through the nose for formula.

A Thousand Words

One week left to be an only child

How To make a signature for a hand bound book

Last time I showed you how to find the direction your paper grain runs in your paper to optimize for the best fold for a hand bound book. now that you have a stack of precut pages all ready for folding, with the grain of the paper parallel to where you are going to fold I'll show you how to fold your sheets and get them ready for sewing.















What you'll need:

Precut sheets (cut to the height of your book and double the width)
Ruler
Pencil
Bone Folder
paper clips or alligator clips
Awl or a Long needle or pin
Rubber Mallet


Measure for your score
The best way to fold a sheet of paper is to score along where your fold is going to be using a bone folder. A bone folder is generally made of pig bone and has a pointed end and a rounded end, the bone is smooth for burnishing down your paper once it's scored.

To start take your ruler and measure out where your fold is going to be. My book is going to be 5.5" x 7" so my precut sheets are 11"x 7". Measuring in from the edge along the 11" length of the page I will make small pencil marks at the 5.5" length on my ruler. Remember to measure down the sheet in at least three places so that you are in effect measuring twice (or more) and scoring only once. Because the edges of my paper are deckle edges measuring in more than one place is even more important since the edge of my paper isn't even.

Scoring for your fold
just as you would if you were cutting along your measure, take your straight edge and line it up along your pencil marks. Run your bone folder along the edge remembering to keep your other hand pressing down on the ruler and moving it so that your bone folder hand and your ruler hand are at approximately the same place. It helps to have some extra scrap papers under where you are scoring to act as a cushion. This will give you a deeper score in your page making folding even easier.

Making the fold
Now that you have a scored line in each sheet you can create your fold. Using your scored line as guide, fold your sheet along the scored line and press down using the flat of your bone folder to finish the fold.

Make your signature
A signature is a collection of folded sheets that make a booklet. one or more signatures can be sewn together to create the pages of a hand bound book. A signature should ideally be made up of no less than three folded sheets of paper or leaves and no more than ten. The paper I have used is fairly heavy; 200lb so I am opting to create two signatures of four leaves.

Collect your leaves together and make sure that they all line up. At this point you can make sure your leaves stay aligned by clipping them together with paper clips or alligator clips.

Since this a small book I plan on measuring for two bindings (the straps that will hold the signatures together when the book is being bound). I'll measure out and make a pencil mark on each signature starting 3/4" from the bottom of the signature and 1/2" from the top of the signature.

The next step involves some math. I apologize but sometimes a little arithmetic is necessary. take your ruler and measure the space between the top measurement and the bottom. Divide this by the number of bindings for your book. In my case four. Measure down from your 1/2" mark with the number you have just calculated and with your pencil make another mark and repeat for each number of bindings.

A second mark should be made under each of these measurements to match the width of your binding tape or ribbon. My binding tape is 1/2" wide, under each of my measurements I will make a second mark that is a distance of 1/2". These marks are where I will punch a hole using my awl.

Getting the signatures ready to sew
making sure the leaves in your signature are aligned, take your awl and place the point on each of your markings where your bindings will be placed. Gently hammer the awl into your signature on each point. It is helpful to have something underneath where you are hammering so that you don't damage your awl tip. I've used an old magazine but an old phonebook would work too.

Next time Sewing your bindings onto your signature

A primer post

to get you ready for the one I hope to put up later today...


With luck and focus I'll be posting the second part of my book binding tutorial this morning.

Also on the agenda: laundry (of course) and perhaps a painting festival on the kitchen table.