27 weeks

I can't believe I am 27 weeks already. I thought twice about writing this post because I am so close to surpassing that *mark* that always seems to plague my pregnancies.  I'm not going to specifically mention it, but I have in previous posts, so I'm sure you can gauge what I am talking about here. 

I have my next doc appt on Wed, June 1st. I also have my GD test that morning.  I have never passed the 1 hour test and I always had to take the 3 hour test.  Luckily, I have always passed that.  I am really hoping to pass the 1 hour test this go round. I have only gained 5 lbs so far this pregnancy, so I am hoping that has helped me. 

My sciatic nerves (on both sides) have really been bothering me. I am hoping that I can get a massage while I am down at my appt on Wednesday.  It seems like everytime I stand still for a moment and then try to move either leg forward, I get that sharp pain down my back.  And sitting on the floor is pretty much torture at this point.  I have also been feeling a lot of pain/pressure in my pelvic region.  If I squat down, it feels like my crotch is splitting in half.  When I lay down, it feels like my pelvis is stretching or moving. 

Sleeping has been decent. Although she is very active at night and she has woken me up a few times during the past week.  I hope she has decided to move head down now.  Although I feel her everywhere. There are times I will feel her on my very left side and not even 30 seconds later I feel her kick on my very right side.  So I really am not sure how she is laying in there, or she has 8 legs.

Overall, I am feeling pretty good. I have been trying to stretch and do some breathing exercises each night.  Which has really helped with the leg cramps.  I still have high hopes at this point that I will be able to make it to 36/37 weeks.  Maybe even beyond.


*Note: strawberry picking while pregnant is NOT a good idea. Trust me! It seems like a grand idea prior.  But you will regret it for the next 24 hours when you can hardly walk or do anything besides lay there and bark orders at your husband who rolls his eyes at you each time you open your mouth. Just get the pre-picked ones or send someone in your place!

Pregnancy Books

I have been an avid reader during this pregnancy, really immersing myself in natural childbirth and everything that comes along with it.  I have also watched numerous videos and talked in depth with my doula.  I thought I would share the books I have read in case they may help someone else, or spike an interest.




I started out reading Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method by Marie Mongan.  This is a great book to learn about relaxation techniques during both pregnancy and labor/birth. Please don't get the misconception of a string hanging in front of your face and being hypnotized. This teaches you to relax and therefore you can experience a less painful labor/birth through relaxing your body and allowing it to do what it naturally does.  It really is a great book!

The next book is Birthing From Within. I started to read this book and I just couldn't get in to it.  I thought the layout was weird and it seemed like there was a lot of filler info rather than good info. I never finished it.

I really liked this book, Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy. Since my babies like to come early for no apparent reason, I am always looking for ways that I can help keep them in.  Nutrition is one of those things that may help reduce preterm labor.  I have really focused on eating enough fruits/veggies, dark leafy greens, protein, and getting enough iron and Omega 3's.  I take a plant based vitamin, a DHA pill, an Omega pill, and an iron pill every day.  So far the things I am doing seem to be helping. I have also read that eating the right things during pregnancy can reduce or eliminate your risk for preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. 

I highly, highly recommend this book. Even if you are not exactly planning a "natural" labor/delivery.  The first half of this book is nothing but birth stories, followed by Ina May guiding you through different parts of pregnancy, labor, and delivery.  I am about 3/4 of the way through this book and I just cannot put it down. It really reveals how beautiful birth is and takes away the medical aspect of it.  Giving birth does not have to be a medical experience.  This really  gives me high hopes of what this labor/birth will hopefully be like for me.  I cannot wait to experience true labor and delivery in a natural way without just feeling like an onlooker from the hospital bed.

Orgasmic Birth is next on my list to read after I am finished with Ina May's book.  I have already watched the video on this, so I am curious if it is similar to the video or not.  Please don't be thrown off by the title of this.  Although the video talks about how some women experience pleasurable births, this is not at all X-rated.  The video explains how we perceive pain relates to how much pain we actually feel during labor.  If we can relax and open our bodies/minds to the natural process that is occurring, we can experience less pain.  It's really interesting.  I rented the video from the library.



I have also watched the videos "The Business of Being Born" by Ricki Lake and "Orgasmic Birth."  Both can be found at the library and are great documentaries regarding birth.  I also read a book on waterbirth. I plan to labor in the birthing pool as long as I can.  The hospital has finally gotten one and I am so glad they are trying to encourage more mother's to labor naturally.  I hope you check out some of these books or they are helpful to at least somebody.

New recipe

I went grocery shopping on Friday and I was trying to find some new meal ideas.  I saw that they had skirt steak so I thought I would give it a try.  It was just over $6 for about 1.7lbs of meat.  For those of you that aren't sure what skirt steak is, it's really just a long piece of meat.  It's best cooked for a very short time and can become tough if over cooked. 

I searched the internet for a good marinade or recipe.  You can use skirt steak for fajitas, but I wanted something a little different.  I came across a good marinade by Alton Brown from the Food Network.  When I got home from the store, I made the marinade and put the steak in to marinate while I went and picked up the boys from the babysitter.  By the time I was ready to start dinner (about 2 hours later), the meat was all ready to go. The marinade was super simple to make and it included ingredients that I usually have on hand anyways. You can find the recipe here. (the recipe calls for you to place all ingredients in the blender.  I did not do this and I don't think its necessary.) I put mine in a gallon size ziplock bag and placed the meat in the bag to marinate in the refrigerator. 

I made mine on our gas grill and cooked each side for about 5-7 minutes.  The steak was tender and very flavorful.  Peytonn had seconds and Bennett ate all of his.  I served mine with grilled mushrooms, asparagus, roasted potatoes, and watermelon.  It was a cheap meal of steak for a family of four and was very tasty.  I will definitely make it again!

Update on appointment

I saw the doc on Wednesday. She did an internal check of my cervix and said it was still firm and closed.  She also did a Ffn test and thankfully it came back negative.  I asked her if she could tell if the baby was breech or not.  She stated that its still early to tell but said that if she had to guess she would say the baby is side ways given she found the heart beat in the middle of my belly.  She asked me what I thought.  I said I wasn't sure given that I feel her everywhere, but I mostly feel her on my left side and down low.  It would make sense that her head might be on my right side and legs on the left.  But who knows.

She said the HR was good, around 156.  She said she wanted to see me back in two weeks, so I now start the two week appointments.  I also will do my glucose test on the 1st, when my next appointment is scheduled. 

I think all in all, I feel much better about things.  She said to ignore the little contractions and watch the big ones.  I have far more little ones than big ones so that is a relief to me.  I am really hoping to avoid a hospital stay before this little one decides to come.  I also hope to make it to 36/37 weeks. I feel good at this point and it seems possible. I hope it stays this way!

25 weeks

How Far Along? 25 weeks


Due Date: August 28th


Total weight gain/loss: 4.8lbs. I'm not willing to say 5lbs yet :)


Maternity Clothes? Absolutely! Although there are a few shirts/sweaters I can wear that are not maternity.


Stretch Marks? Just on my sides left over from Peytonn. (thanks kid!)

Sleep?  It's been pretty decent the past month. Hubby says I snore pretty loud so it must be good sleep! Ha!


Best Moment of this Week? Well, I'm going to guess it's going to be the massage I am going to get on Wednesday. :)

Movement? Yeah, she is still a ninja! I'm pretty sure there are times she is moving all 4 limbs at the same time.


Food cravings?  It's weird, I really haven't had any cravings with this pregnancy.  Although I do adore cherry dilly bars and I've had 2 this week already.


Food aversions? none really


Gender? Girl!


Labor Signs?  I've been having some contractions over the past 3 weeks. I am hoping its nothing and my cervix isn't changing at all.  I guess I will find out Wednesday.


Belly Button In or Out? In


What I miss? bending over comfortably. Although, this allows me the excuse to get a pedicure monthly. At least that is what I tell my husband..shhh! :)


What I am looking forward to: Having some girl time with my sis on Wednesday (our appointments are at the same time) and my massage! My husband told me today that I am way too pampered. I assured him that he can carry the baby next time just so he didn't feel so left out!

M.I.A.

Sorry I've been MIA for a bit.  It's been for a few reasons: 1.) Bennett ripped the "e" key off the computer and it made it impossible (or maybe just annoying) to do any sort of long typing. Thankfully, Hubby fixed it. 2.) I'm just tired! I've been laying down with Peytonn at 8:30pm and I am usually passed out by 9:15pm.  3.) I've been having some contractions, which is another reason I have been laying down early.

So, those are my excuses. Take 'em or leave 'em. :)

So, here is an update on things around here:

Pregnancy: I'll be 25 weeks on Sunday. I've only gained 4lbs so far. I'm finding I'm not really hungry around dinner time. Usually I end up eating a salad or a bowl of cereal because I know I'll wake up hungry otherwise in the middle of the night.  I've been having a lot of contractions.  They started a week ago Wednesday and have come and gone since then.  There have been a few times that I probably should have called the doc, but I knew she was out of the country on vacation and I was NOT going to take the chance of seeing Man Hands instead.  I have my regular appointment on Wednesday the 18th, so I am trying to hold out until then.  I am pretty sure she will do an internal check as well as a Ffn test.  The baby seems to be doing well.  She is moving about like a ninja still and my whole belly moves when she kicks.  I can also feel her move around and stretch now.  I am carrying a lot lower with her than I did the boys, so it's weird to see my tummy grow in a different way. 

We also don't have a name for her yet, which is really frustrating to me.  I can't even come up with a list of 5 names. And really the last thing I want to do is spend time picking out a name when my baby girl is born.  I just want to enjoy that time with her and worry about scouring name books.  I've already scoured a million it seems like. I can get from A to Z and not pick out ONE.SINGLE.NAME!  I know that I have a bit of time, but all I keep thinking is that I had Peytonn 8 weeks from this point.  Eight weeks is a lot shorter than the 15 until my due date (which we all know is highly unlikely that I will make it to that point!).  We don't do super popular or  common names, so that crosses out a lot of possibilities.  The good news is that I think we are pretty set on her middle name.  Unless we find a name that we love and it doesn't go at all with the middle name we have picked out, I am pretty sure we are going to keep it. 

We also got the hammock hung in the baby's room.  The boys love to be placed in it and chill for a bit.  I am going to have Hubby place a hook in our bedroom as well.  

Family: The boys are doing well.  Peytonn will finish up his first year of Pre-school at the end of this month.  He will go for another year in the Fall and Bennett will also start Pre-school 2 days a week in the Fall.  Bennett is talking so much and every day is learning a new word or phrase.  Currently his favorites are "No way!" and "Do it!"  He is also completely potty trained (except at nights), which is a big relief.  We have finally got the pooping under control. That was really a hang up for him, he would always go in his pants and then tell us he had to go.  Now he is telling us ahead of time and I can usually tell he has to go by all the down drafts that I get. :)

The boys have loved all this warm weather and have really enjoyed playing out in the pool.  Peytonn has really loved riding his Razor scooter and he is pretty darn good at that thing.  He is super fast and weaves around on the side walk and drive way.  Bennett is still on the 3 wheel scooter but getting better with it each day.

We have also enjoyed getting our first 2 baskets from our CSA.  I am loving the fresh asparagus and salad mixes.  I love having locally grown, fresh produce around our house again.  I also got some of my garden planted.  So far we have green onions, radish, tomatoes, jalapenos, and banana peppers.  Once the green onion and radish are done I will plant some more summer veggies in their place.

I think that is about it.  Today, the boys and I are heading down to my Mom's house in Indy.  My grandma is staying the weekend with them and we plan to take the boys to either the Zoo or the Children's Museum, depending on the weather.  Peytonn also loves to walk or ride his scooter on the Monon Trail to get ice cream.  Hopefully today should wear them out. :)

Good recipes

I love trying new recipes and I especially love when they are super yummy! The other night I was scouring the freezer for an idea for dinner.  I pulled out a pack of 3 frozen chicken breasts.  Chicken is pretty versatile, so I started searching my favorite recipe site for some ideas: Recipe Zaar.  I came across a recipe for Oven Fried Chimichangas.  I had all the ingredients and so that was the winner.

I boiled the 3 chicken breasts first and then shredded the meat.  I only used about 1/2 of the meat, which was nice. I could then use the rest of the meat for a second meal.  We topped ours with sour cream and fresh avocado. We loved them and the boys really enjoyed them as well.  Hubby used the leftover shredded chicken to make sandwiches for the boys the next day for lunch.  I love spending $3.96 on 3 natural chicken breasts and getting two entire meals out of them. 

This would also be a great meal to make ahead and freeze for later use or as individual chimichangas.