More Smoothies

I love smoothies! Even before I was preggo smoothies were a quick and easy way to get a good punch of nutrition quickly and easily. The only change I have made is the removal of caffeine, either espresso or macha, but all the other ingredients have remained the same. So, here are two that I have made up in the past two days. As you will see they are very basic but quite yummy.

Chocolate Banana


1 or 2 frozen bananas
Small handful of oatmeal
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
1 tablespoon almond butter
Top up with almond milk

Blend away.

Cantaloupe  Smoothie

Half a frozen banana

Half to three quarters of chopped cantaloupe

Small handful of oatmeal

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 tablespoon chia seeds

Top up with almond milk

Blend and enjoy.

Burning My Feet

As mentioned earlier, Pip is in breech position and we have started to try some alternative methods of turning the baby.

I have been going for acupuncture treatments for over a year now for a variety of different reasons and was aware of the Moxa treatment that was given to help turn a breech baby. Last week I went in for a treatment and to be honest, it felt really nice. I was all warm and cozy while Pip was dancing away.

Essentially it's a cigar size stick of mugwort that is lit up and placed over your pinky toe. This stimulates the uterus by improving blood flow to the area thus stimulating the baby to move around. By doing this daily there is a better chance of the baby turning on it's own as opposed to an external version, which I am hoping to avoid at all costs as I have heard that it can be quite painful.

This is a very simple procedure and so was given a stick to take home so Rob can do it for me. Now I will admit that waving a burning stick over your feet to turn a baby sounds very odd but it doesn't hurt and after doing a quick bit of research it appears to be a fairly regular treatment for breech babies. Convincing Rob took a bit but he is a great sport and played along with my request.

I am also laying down every day (when I remember to) with pillows under my hips to elevate them for 15 min. This helps Pip raise out of the pelvic bone area and being top heavy, as in head is much larger that the rest if the body, will hopefully flip around.

We shall see what happens. The good news is that my midwife has sent me for an ultrasound late next week to confirm Pip's position, I'm not going to argue! We are pretty excited to be able to see Pip again as we were only expecting the two ultrasounds early on so this is a great bonus.

Stay tuned for any updates as they occur.

33 Week Bump Update

It has been a really fun week for us. Over the weekend Rob and I went to a surprise birthday party which was a blast. Even though I was wearing three inch heels we both ended up on the dance floor disco dancing and got home around midnight. Needless to say, I was a zombie all day Sunday. Pip sure loved the dancing and was hopping along with us. It also felt wonderful on my lower back to move and groove, will have to remember that during labour.

Last night after a day at the office Rob and I did a bit of car seat shopping as this is the only item (I think) that is left on our have to purchase list, they wont let us home from the hospital with out one. As there are four different kinds that fit into our stroller we checked them all out and both agreed on one. Will probably head back in the next week or so when we are not so hungry and pick it up.

While in the store we were very quickly overwhelmed with all the stuff that is out there, sensory overload. We did find a great high chair that will adapt and grow with the baby until they are about five years old, is mostly of wood construction and has a small footprint. Bonus on all accounts.

I have really noticed myself slowing down in the past week, my walks are getting slower and I am starting to look for benches to sit on while I'm out. I am still doing a 5km walk on the weekends along the lake, I consider this more exercise than just out enjoying the day as I try to push myself a bit more than during the week. If you look closely at the pic above you may see the suggestion of a tan line on my shoulder. It was stunning last week, above 20 degrees for several days, so I was out in a t shirt and my capri running pants catching some rays. What an ego boost to be able to fit into my running pants, I so did not want to take them off, ever.

Pip is still moving a dancing like crazy and is breech or head up still. There are a few more weeks before this becomes an issue but have started trying to turn the baby now. This involves another post so check back in a couple of days and I will have an update on the crazy things that we have been doing.

Nesting

Seems the warm sunny weather has kicked in my need to nest. We have not really done much to set up a nursery for Pip, not that we don't want to, it's just lack of space. The plan is to keep the baby in a bassinet for the first while in our room and then figure out what to do next, and trust me, I am very happy with this arrangement. It means no stress what so ever in doing up a nursery or feeling the need to sew everything myself.

For some strange reason today I have this burning desire to get everything ready for when Pip arrives, crazy hormones! So, to appease my needs I have cleaned the balcony and pulled out all the potted grasses from last year, hopefully some will come back after such a mild winter. Cleaned the patio windows and doors and washed the patio furniture. Washed the living room floor and have now started washing all the baby clothes and diapers that I have so far. 

Hoping this will tucker me out and bring me back to my senses! 

Hello Spring!

Mother Nature has treated us kindly this week and we are welcoming spring today with near 19 degree temp, clear blue skies and almost no wind. I have just come back from a 4.5 hour walk which included a break in the park on a sunny bench, and wish I was still out there. Actually, I really wish I was on the scooter all day!

So looking forward to taking Pip out for a spin in the stroller in a few short months.

If only I had a water gun

Bump Update

Again, I did not realize how time has flown by and it's been over a week since my last post, it feels like everything is on fast forward.

I also had no idea how pointy I have become, the belly does change shape frequently but it has definitely gotten bigger. I think I say that every time I post as well. Pip has taken to hanging out head up or horizontal when head down is the preferred position. There are a few more weeks to go before it becomes a concern but we have started to talk to the belly and make suggestions that head down would be much better for everyone.

Speaking of my belly, as of today it is now being referred to as the belly as it has become big enough to be it's own entity.

With eight (or so) weeks to go I still feel pretty good but am noticing that I'm slowing down again. Finding a comfortable position to sit is becoming more difficult as I have a fair amount of discomfort across my back in the mid rib region. Not sure if its from my ribs being pushed out or all the weight pulling in the front, as you can see from above. Trying to do yoga more frequently, not so successful but trying as well as keeping up with going for a long walk most days. With the weather changing and the sun shining it has been easy to go out, in fact, I took the belly for an hour long walk along the waterfront this afternoon while Rob went for a ride. So fantastic!

Lastly, I finally pulled the pregnancy card for the first time and didn't feel too bad about it. Yes, I parked there.

My sister and I went to Babies R Us and Toys R Us earlier in the week, she needed to do some research for a project and I had never been so it seemed like a good idea. What an eye opener! I had no idea how divided everything is into very girl or boy, clothing I can understand (sort of) but the toys, wow. Even the lego was made for either girls or boys, I just found it so foreign. Does it make me old and curmudgeonly to find this so strange?

Pip's First Toy

Pip is one lucky baby and has already been receiving gifts ever since the news broke, we are so touched by everyone's love and generosity. I think that it's safe to say that mere moments of hearing the news, Oma's knitting needles were on fire and Pip already has a gorgeous collection of clothing and blankets that she has shipped to us that I'm sure are just the tip of the iceberg!

Before this past fall I really did not know anything about babies or all the stuff that comes along with them, it has been a big learning curve that I'm sure we have only just begun. With such great family and friends we have a great source of experience and knowledge available to us.

Coming home one afternoon after a lovely fall walk I was greeted with a package form my Aunt Carol and Uncle Don. Of course I was unable to wait until Rob got home from work and opened up the box to find two fantastic fleece blankies and a very cute giraffe toy and teether. She had made up a girl and a boy blankie, just to be safe, as well as having a back up for when one will need a washing! Now in regards to the giraffe, I had never seen them before and my aunts note explained that her grand kids love them have been well used, especially during teething. Being an experienced Grandma I was very happy for this insight.

Well, fast forward a couple of months and I came across the above video explaining Sophie's origins and history and can now appreciate why Sophie has become such a popular toy and love the fact that Pip has one to call their own.

Bump Update

Did not realize that it has been three weeks since my last bump update, I guess that's what happens when you get knocked on your ass for a week with a cold! Finally starting to feel myself again even though the picture is a little rough looking.

Hitting another milestone, I am now 30 weeks along out of 40, so yes, 10 weeks to go! It's getting so close yet it still feels so far away.

Pip continues to grow and is weighing in around 3lbs and 17 inches long from head to toe and with the larger size comes larger kicks. It feels like it's almost continuous now with the jabs, kicks and rolling around, in fact it going to be really strange to not have them in a few short months. It's quite entertaining to see my belly moving around and changing shape while I sit here and type, very alien like.

Today was a stellar day, sun shining, blue sky and temperature around 15 so I went for a nice long walk along the water, my old running route to be exact, and it felt amazing. I was so happy to be out and really looking forward to taking Pip out in the stroller every day to check out the waterfront and get active again.

And in another sign that the wee one will be making an appearance soon, last night Rob and I attended our first prenatal class. It was fantastic! It is through our midwife clinic and the woman teaching it is great, she is very knowledgeable, experienced and informative. She is also quite good at keeping our attention for two hours and presenting the information in a way we can understand and relate to. Best part, no crappy and horrific videos to scare everyone. Her approach to birth seems very similar to the way I am approaching it which is encouraging and exciting for me. (More on that later, that's for another post). It was also exciting to hear that Rob felt the same as me in regards to our instructor and what we are going to get out of the next three classes.

What Was I Thinking

Here's me thinking that one day of sleep and I'll be over this cold/flu, HA! Fat chance of that. It has been almost a week of sleeping and nothing else and I finally feel a little bit like myself this morning, still not 100%. I took some Tylenol to help with the body aches and keep the fever down and drank copious amounts of ginger, lemon and honey that I kept boiling on the stove.

Somehow, and I don't really remember doing it, I managed to cook us up some feel better food this week so I thought I'd share as they turned out pretty good. We were pretty sick so I could be wrong!

HOT & SOUR CHICKEN SOUP

1 chicken breast
1 litre chicken stock or water
2 tsp hot chilli paste
3 or 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 or 2 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup brown rice (approx)
2 to 4 Tbs tamarind paste
lime juice
brown sugar (optional)

Fry up garlic, onion and celery in pot until browned, add stock, chilli paste and chicken breast, cover for 20 - 30 min until poached. Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Add back into pot along with rice and tamarind, start with 2 Tbs and you can add more later. Cover and cook for another 30 min. until rice is nearly done.
At this point taste the soup and adjust seasoning. I had added way too much chilli paste so levelled it out with more tamarind, a good splash of lime juice and surprisingly a Tbs of brown sugar.
This was a toss what ever you can in a pot kind of soup that turned out pretty good, we both crave a hot and sour soup when sick and it did the trick.

With what I think are my abs now pushed up on top of my ribs thanks to the ever expanding bump it makes it quite awkward to cough. Combine that with a throat that feels like it on fire and all I wanted was some ice cream to sooth it. Problem was I didn't want any dairy to add to all my phlem so I gave this banana ice cream a try.

Toss one frozen banana in a food processor or mini chopper with a small splash of vanilla and blend until creamy. That's it!

It really helped with the soar throat, I put it in a little glass jar and got two servings out of it and no guilt of eating ice cream. I think I'll be making this a lot.

Lastly I managed to make up a batch of my fave yam and bean burritos, I did cheat a bit a use pre made beans and shredded cheese (both of which were pretty good) but I think that was the only way I was able to make them up. If you want the recipe just ask and I will gladly pass it along, we have been making these for ever and freezing them for a quick dinner during the week.















I guess that's next on my list, figuring out meals to make and freeze for when Pip arrives so we can continue to eat well and I wont loose my mind with guilt over not cooking.