13 weeks

Wow- time is flying by! Here we are at 13 weeks already- just five more before we can find out the sex and two weeks after that we'll already be at the half way point!
The exciting things our baby is doing this week include producing insulin, and developing fingerprints and footprints. awww....
S/he's the size of a sweet juicy peach!

I'm doing great- a little more energy every day I think but still quite tired by the time 7:00 rolls around. I'm having all sorts of crazy cramps from the uterus growing and stretching, though! But that's the only thing I can feel for now. A couple more weeks until I start getting beat up from the inside. ;) (I can't wait!!)

Here's a picture of a 13 week old fetus. How in the heck did it get so human looking in only two and a half months? What a little miracle!

*gurgle*

yeah -
that's the sound my stomach has been making for the past week. *gurgle, gurgle* Matt made me call the advice nurse last night because I've been sick since last Friday and she proceeded to FREAK me out and made me see the OB today. Who said, after poking me and pushing me and asking a million embarrassing questions, that it looks like I have the stomach bug that's been going around, generally lasting 8-10 days. sweeeeet. So she put me on the BRATT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, tea, and toast) for the next two days (or until I'm better) and then absolutely no dairy for a week after that. This is going to be the worst diet ever!! *sigh* If I bite your head off for no reason between now and Saturday, at least you'll know why. I'm STARVING and in desperate need of CHOCOLATE. LoL.
To make sure everything was going well with the baby - the OB got out the Doppler to hear the heartbeat. It took her about five minutes of searching and she couldn't find it. (Enter into Panic Mode)
So thankfully she wheeled in the traveling ultrasound machine and we found our sweet little blob, taking a nap behind the placenta, with a little beating heart. Phew! I immediately started to cry tears of relief. I didn't go in there too nervous about him or her being okay but those were the longest five minutes of my life, searching and not finding the heartbeat.
The placenta is loud, though. Funny swishy noises. The doc said it's so loud, in fact, that babies have no idea what silence is until they enter this world- so there's no need to introduce them! (to silence, that is.) Which I thought was very interesting. Hear that, Baby? No quiet nap time for you!!

well, now you're officially updated. Aren't you glad? (yeah, yeah, I know. I'm lame. But you love me) :)

It's alive...

Well the pictures are here. We almost didn't get to see the baby because Brianne's bladder was so full. Her instructions were to drink 32oz of water an hour before the appointment so she did. By the time the appointment came around her bladder was so full that the technician couldn't see her uterus and told her to go pee. So she went pee and when the tech tried it again she said "no really you have to go pee all the way," so back to the bathroom she went. Third times the the charm and we have pictures of our 11 wk 3 day old baby.

Ultrasound!

Okay Okay, I know some of you know we had an ultrasound on Friday and have been awaiting pictures! Well, our old scanner doesn't work with our Mac- so until we get them scanned in at someone elses house you'll just have to wait! But everything looks good, due date September 30th, and heartbeat was 160bpm. He or she was wiggling all around and it was crazy to watch! Pictures coming soon, I promise :)

my darling husband, whom I love to the utmost ends of the earth, spent his entire Saturday working on the baseboard moldings for our house. It's not a very exciting picture, I know,- but trust me it looks GORGEOUS in the dining room and hallway that he got done!! There's so much more to do- poor guy. He was out in the garage painting them all as it was raining and hailing and windy outside- he's my hero. :)
And now that we've had dinner and are ready to settle down for the evening, he said he was going to take a shower. (hmm.... all covered in paint & a hard day's work... I wonder why?) and I went upstairs to tell him something and he was scrubbing the shower clean!! Twenty minutes later he called the dog upstairs to give him a bath!
Ooooohhhhh I love my husband. *sigh*


Edited 3/17 to say: And not only saturday, but sunday as well! We got home from church and poor Matt curled up on the couch for a power nap, feeling stuffy and achy with a head cold and then got right up and continued working! He finished the downstairs and stairway upstairs hall. I'll post a better picture when I get home!

The Stranger

A few years after I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on. As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger... he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries, and comedies. If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future!

He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind. Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave...) Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home... not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush … My dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked… And NEVER asked to leave...More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. If you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name?






We just call him "TV."

There's a hole in my belly...

Don't worry- the baby's not going to fall out.

I took my navel ring out the other night. It's funny- the hole looks so sad and lonely- like it could really use a piece of jewelry. And I forgot how huge and ugly my belly button is! It's been hiding for... I think seven years now? No wonder I got it pierced in the first place. My OB said they cause pretty nasty stretch marks so I decided to take it out- I was leaning that way anyway- I am getting old, after all. ;) But now I really miss it! Sad, sad, me.

Sorry for the randomness of this blog. Really.

Diapers!

It's probably too early to start thinking of all this- but it has become sort of an obsession recently. I decided a while back that I would use cloth diapers for several reasons. So now that I'm preggo I've started researching what's out there. What's the best. What's the most convenient, what's the most economical- and holy COW I didn't know what was out there! I knew cloth diapers had come a long way since even our parent's generation- but I had no idea.
Seriously my head has been spinning!

So to address those of you who are already thinking: "what on earth is she thinking? seriously? cloth diapering? Eww!" Here are my top five reasons:

1-Environmental Impact

I got started thinking about cloth in the first place from working in a day care and seeing how many trash cans of diapers we filled up every day. If you look up the stats, they're scary:
*The average baby will use 6,000-10,000 'sposies before they're potty trained - each diaper takes 2-500 years to decompose. That's one Ton of garbage per baby. Literally.
*It takes a cup full of crude oil to produce the plastic for one disposable diaper.
*One billion trees per year are destroyed to make disposable diapers---approximately 4.5 for each baby who uses them.
*disposable diapers consume 70 percent more energy than the average reusable diaper per diaper change. The extra water required to wash cloth diapers is actually less than the amount of water it takes to produce disposable diapers.

2- Expenses!

Holy cow, save your moooola!
* the average family spends $2800-3000 in disposable diapers over 3 years for one child. (crap!)
*the average cloth diapering family spends $615 on diapers over a 2.5 year period (they potty train faster) $225 for enough diapers, covers, and fasteners to wash only two to three times per week, plus $390 in washing and drying cloth diapers (270 loads of 24 diapers at $1.45 per load).
That's a savings of over $2000. And then you can use them again on child number two. And three. And then as cleaning rags around the house. Yipee!


3- A Healthy Baby Bum!

These facts may scare the crap out of you. (haha)
*Disposable diapers contain many chemicals, poisons (TBT tributyl tin), dioxins (which has been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, miscarriage, genetic damage, liver damage, and skin diseases) and even perfumes and dyes that are all harmful to your baby and lead to diaper rash. The gel that is used in disposables to absorb and hold in moisture is Sodium Polyacrylate. This substance has been found in the urinary tract of babies and may cause severe diaper rash, chemical burns, and bleeding in the perineum and scrotal tissue. Sodium Polyacrylate was removed from tampons because of its link to Toxic Shock Syndrome. There are also many studies that have been done to show a direct link between using disposable diapers and childhood asthma as well as an increase in infertility in boys.
*In 1955, 100 percent of American babies wore cloth diapers, and only seven percent experienced diaper rash. In 1991, 10 percent of American babies wore cloth diapers, 90 percent wore disposables, and 78 percent experienced diaper rash. Ouch.
*While the liner of disposable diapers is designed to keep moisture away from baby's skin, the bacteria and acids still hang around. The extended wear time allows the bacteria to multiply.
*Cloth diapers allow for the circulation of air, while disposables don't. This is important for baby's comfort and his or her developing reproductive organs-especially in boys, whose testicles are located outside their body for the precise reason of keeping them cool. A few studies have actually linked disposable diaper use with the recent worldwide decline in sperm count.
*Would you like to wear paper underwear all day? Why would you think your baby thinks any differently? Soft cotton next to a babies tender skin is much more comfortable than paper and plastic.

4- potty training!

*Babies who wear cloth feel the sensation of a wet diaper as soon as they pee, so they're more aware of their body functions. On average, a cloth-diapered baby potty trains one year sooner than her disposable-diapered counterpart, which is better for everyone!

5- look how cute they are!

Mushroom Risotto

This is definitely one of my top 10 favorite meals. (Not that I have a top 10- but you get the idea!) I was going to make Rice a Roni last night (ooh, special) but got a crazy whim and started stirring. mmmmm..... it was so good.
I don't have a recipe- but here's how it goes, for dinner for 2:

*a little less than a cup of Arborio rice. (no, you can't use another kind)
*around a tablespoon of butter
*about 4 cups of chicken stock- I prefer homemade but a couple-a cans'll do ya.
*about a cup or so of white wine
*around a tablespoon or two of fresh Parmesan cheese
*a quarter or half pound of mushrooms depending on how mushroomy you're feeling- I like crimini or just plain white button mushrooms, portabellas are also great. Last night I used almost a half pound. Mmm... mushrooms.

Get out two pots, a small and a medium. Heat the chicken broth in the small one and the butter in the big one.
When the butter stops foaming add the rice and stir until it turns white (well, it's already white, but MORE white) and starts to brown a tad around the edges
add about a cup of the chicken broth and 1/4 cup of wine and stir your heart out
keep adding more broth and wine, alternating, and stir, stir, stir. (oh, and use a wooden spoon.)
The trick is to add more liquid when the liquid is almost gone- you should be able to scrape a path on the bottom of the pot.
After a little bit the rice will start to get tender but a little crunch. (Timing? I don't know. 15, 30 minutes? taste test!) You wouldn't want to eat it yet, too crunchy. Yuck. Go ahead and dump in the mushrooms. Stirring, stirring, stirring.....
keep adding liquid as necessary
when it gets soooo tender and starts to kind of look gummy instead of soupy, add some Parmesan and stir some more, then anything else you feel like it needs. (salt? pepper? basil? chicken? I dunno. depends on the appetite. Last night I added nothing. It was perfect!)

My favorite thing about risotto is the versatility! You could throw anything from your fridge in there, within reason. ;) I can't seem to stray from mushroom, though. It's my all time fave.