As I move into my third trimester of this pregnancy, I leave the second with a little bit of excitement and a little timidness. You always hear that the second trimester is the easiest. With Amelia, I felt pretty crappy the whole time. But with this pregnancy I have come to feel pretty amazing considering I am incubating a human. I have said previously that sometimes I even forget I am pregnant! I guess the easiest way to describe the pro's and con's is to make a list....
Pro's: Piper has reached viability, We are getting closer and closer to meeting our baby girl, I definitely look pregnant and not so FAT, I am starting to get a little more help now that I am not so mobile
Con's: I feel like a whale :) Piper is getting stronger and stronger (which means that her kicks hurt worse) Hormones are kicking back up again
Now speaking of hormones... I wasn't aware that they return in full force in the third trimester :( So hello crazy Mommy!!
Mommy! What's that sound?.... That's what I have woke up to at 5am every day for the last week. I like to think that I am pretty good at tackling new problems and situations that arise, but this one just has me stumped!
Somewhere, somehow Amelia has suddenly became aware of all of the noises around and in our home. She wakes up like clock work at 5am and screams like someone is attacking her, that she is scared and monsters are coming to get her. In reality we live fairly close to train tracks, and a train comes through at about that time each morning. I am assuming that the train is what is waking her up and startling her. The odd part to me is that, we have lived here for almost a year. Until I can come up with something to remedy the situation... I will just have to remain stumped!
On a good note, we have been able to put Amelia to bed without a juice cup for a week and counting! I think that going to a "big girl cup" has helped a lot. I put her to bed, tell her goodnight, and give her a sip of milk out of a regular cup. Then she goes to bed and knows she isn't allowed any more until the morning when she gets up. I am trying to get her as close to the big girl bed as I can before Piper makes her arrival. For Christmas she is getting bed rails, a new comforter set (thanks to Nanny and Granddaddy), and a twin sized bed (once again thanks for Nanny and Granddaddy. Now if we can just get a routine together for bath, book, bedtime... I believe we will be there!
So I called and scheduled my breast feeding class today at the hospital. The lady asked me if I wanted to do the birthing class as well, my response was "I have already had one kid, I think I got that part down" LoL
All jokes aside, I am determined that I am going to be successful this time. When I had Amelia, I thought that I was ready to go. I headed to the hospital completely unprepared. After her first 15 minutes at my breast, she had pulled up fluid filled blisters on both nipples, I had no lanolin, no nipple shields, and not even a nursing bra. I continued to feed her for 2 weeks while in agonizing pain each time (now I know that if latched correctly there will be no pain). I have always just heard about how much Bf'ing hurts and I assumed that it was supposed to feel that way.
So a word to the wise, if your expecting and planning on breast feeding... schedule a breast feeding class. It doesn't matter how much you THINK you know, a little extra knowledge is way better then getting off to a bad start and ultimately failing. The fun part... it's a couples class and I am making Matt go with me, I want him to know just as much so maybe I can get a little extra help and understanding :)
Easy peasy lemon squeezy! I came up with this recipe tonight while looking through some of the stragglers in the freezer. I was trying to figure out what to do to get rid of the frozen sausage patties that no one had touched and the last few potatoes.
Ingredients:
4 frozen sausage patties heated in the microwave according to directions (or regular sausage browned)
3 potatoes diced into small squares
1 med. onion
4 or 5 eggs
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup cheese grated
Salt and Pepper to taste
I just threw the butter in a pan with the diced potatoes and onion and let them cook on med. heat until the potatoes were cooked through. Then added the sausage to allow it to infuse the potatoes. Then I drained off some of the grease. Thew the mixture into a big bowl and topped with cheese. Then fried our eggs over med. and put them on top. Viola! I serve with toast or biscuits to help absorb some of the sausage grease :) Yummy!!
I know I know... Some of you out there hear the word "Spam" and think ewww!!! Well my Daddy didn't allow that word at the table... and neither will I ;) If you cook it right and mix it with other foods, it tastes just like bacon, and who doesn't like bacon?
To make this recipe a LITTLE healthier, I use Turkey Spam. I also add in veggies and a couple eggs to bring it all together. So here we go...
Ingredients:
1 can Turkey Spam diced into small cubes or thin sticks
1 bag frozen broccoli and cauliflower
1 can corn
1 small onion or 2 green onions sliced
1/2 cup julienned carrots
2 eggs
2 cups rice
2 cups water
soy sauce to taste
-Cook rice according to directions on package (I cook about 2 cups of rice with 2 cups water)
-Brown Spam in deep saute' pan with onion
-Add broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots
-Add cooked rice and soy sauce to taste
-Scramble 2 eggs in separate bowl and then mix into rice mixture
-Allow all ingredients to cook through and I allow rice to crisp up a bit on bottom
-Enjoy!!
**Although I have never tried it, I would also imagine that Spam, Pineapple, and green onion would also be a great combination!
Four dreaded words during pregnancy! I know it sounds awful of me for being so annoyed at the fact that friends and family are showing their thoughtfulness. But when someone asks me how I feel, I FEEL like I have just been diagnosed with some kind of terminal disease! I am sure that the people who ask are just trying to be nice, but geeze! I am pregnant.... my belly itches, I have heartburn, I am constantly having to count to ten to keep myself in check, and I have to carry tissues around with me all the time because I never know when I will burst into tears... other than that, I feel great!
One one of my many many pregnancy web sites there is a cartoon of a woman standing on the train. Her t-shirt reads "I am due in March, It's a girl, No you can't touch my belly, Have a nice day". I want one!
Now don't get me wrong... I love being pregnant and am trying to enjoy every little bit of it until it's over. I guess the "dreaded question" is one that all pregnant women hear repeatedly, and loath!
Have you ever flipped out on someone, and the entire time you are telling yourself that "it's just hormones"... but you can't help yourself? I feel like an alien has taken over my brain sometimes. I know that before I knew I was pregnant Matt and I got into a colossal fight, and I should have known then that something was off. We never fight, accept when I'm pregnant and can't control my freakin emotions! I think a couple of weeks later I finally caved in and took a pregnancy test, squatted down in the middle of the woods thinking "yea right, there's no way!" When I looked down and the stick and saw it was positive I felt my heart fall into my stomach and a sense of DUH! all at the same time. Then the roller coaster really started.. Most days I am a very pleasant person to be around, but every now and then the hormones take over and I can feel myself spiraling out of control. I guess that is one of the things that makes my husband so wonderful... he knows it's just my hormones so he just lets me get it out and waits for me to feel bad and apologize :)
