29 Weeks

How far along?          29 weeks

Total Weight Gain:    This past week +3 lb, Total +14 lbs.

Maternity Clothes:    Nothing to report…

Continuing Symptoms:         Lots of movement, I’m generally just feeling good, feel my muscles stretching, mild occasional back, sciatic, or hip pain, mild occasional restless legs, Braxton hicks, increased bathroom trips, some things are getting slightly more difficult to do.     

New Symptoms:        I had a couple of tmi symptoms this week, though I honestly can’t remember one of them.  The other was a leaking nipple…haha.  There was one day where I was concerned with the amount of BH (Braxton Hick’s) contractions I was having.  I drank a lot of water and lied down for a while and that helped.

Sleep:              Not too bad, a little broken, but generally pretty good!

Cravings:         Cereal, oatmeal… fried chicken…

Stretch Marks:           Not yet.

Special Moments:      I had a nice appointment with a midwife on Monday and passed my glucose screening!

Miss anything?           I’d like to be able to lie on my stomach for a nice back massage.

Belly Button in or out?         In.

Wedding rings on or off?      On.

Looking forward to:  Buying some new maternity clothes.  I’m also looking forward to compiling a list of questions for the midwives about labor and delivery.  I will then finalize my birth plan and make a list of stuff to pack in our hospital bags.  =)

Recipe of the Week

The following recipe is definitely one of our favorites!  It's one of our recurring meals.  Partly because it's not only delicious, but "souper" nutritious! ;)

Lentil and Vegetable Soup
Serves 4+, Total Time 30 min

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 medium carrots, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (14.5 oz) vegetable broth
1 cup lentils
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 bag (5 oz) spinach

Directions:

1. In a 4 quart saucepan, heat oil on medium until hot.  Add carrots and onion and, and cook 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned and tender. Stir in cumin; cook 1 minute.
2. Add tomatoes, broth, lentils, 2 cups water, salt, and pepper; cover and heat to boiling on high.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, 8 to 10 minutes or until lentils are tender.  Stir in spinach.

 This recipe is actually for red lentils and calls for a cup of red dried lentils.  I, however, didn't find any dried red lentils, so I just bought a bag of "regular" lentils.  When I made this recipe as written with the lentils I bought, it took forever for the lentils to become tender.  The last time I made it I let the lentils soak in the 2 cups of water for a couple of hours or so before making the soup; that really helped.  Obviously, it's a soup, so use your own preferences for size of pot/pan for cooking the onion and carrot, as well as the size that you'd like the carrot and onion pieces to be.  I've made this recipe with both fresh spinach and frozen chopped spinach; both ways are delicious, though my favorite was the fresh spinach.

I found this recipe on the Delish.com website.

28 Weeks

How far along?          28 weeks 1 Day

Total Weight Gain:    This past week +1 lb, Total +11 lbs.

Maternity Clothes:    Before I go to NM I’d like to buy another pair of jeans and another sweater or two!  I haven’t been going out much, so the amount of clothes I have now has been fine.

Continuing Symptoms:         Lots of movement, I’m generally just feeling good, feel my muscles stretching, mild occasional back, sciatic, or hip pain, mild occasional restless legs, Braxton hicks, increased bathroom trips, some things are getting slightly more difficult to do.     

New Symptoms:        Nothing really new, I have neglected to mention that during the night not only do my limbs fall asleep easily but I also get muscle cramps in my calves (Charlie’s Horses?), but I’m pretty good at stopping those dead in their tracks by stretching.  My back has been hurting a lot this past week.

Sleep:              I’ve slept so much better this past week.  The bathroom trips weren’t as frequent, although baby has still been throwing nightly parties ;)

Cravings/Aversions:  I can’t seem to have enough cereal…

Stretch Marks:           Not yet.

Special Moments:      Enjoying Thanksgiving and having the crib setup.

Miss anything?           I missed out a little on having the cocktails for Thanksgiving, but I had some sparkling cranberry apple juice to make myself feel less left out, haha.

Belly Button in or out?         In.

Wedding rings on or off?      On.

Looking forward to:  Spending the rest of this long weekend with Carlos.  I’m also looking forward to getting the baby shower invite and hearing about RSVP’s.

Recipe of the Week

I tried a few different whole wheat pumpkin pancake recipes, and this is the one that I liked the best.  Although, it really does just depend on what you like.  This recipe does not yield the fluffiest pancakes, but they aren't too "cakey" either.  It contains a lot of pumpkin! :)

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tsps baking powder
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg, beaten slightly
2 Tbsp butter, melted

Directions:

1. In a large batter bowl stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
2. Make a well in the center and add in milk, pumpkin puree, egg, and butter.  Stir until well combined.
3. Preheat a large greased skillet and pour desired amount of batter.  Flip pancakes when tiny pin sized bubbles appear and/or edges are solid.
4. Serve warm.

I did two things slightly different than as the recipe was written.  I used dark brown sugar instead of regular granulated sugar, and I mixed all of the wet ingredients prior to adding them to the well of dry ingredients.

This recipe comes from the Mother Thyme website.

27 Weeks

How far along?          27 weeks

Total Weight Gain:    This past week -1 lb, Total +10 lbs.

Maternity Clothes:    Nothing new.

Continuing Symptoms:         Lots of movement, I’m generally just feeling good, feel my muscles stretching, mild occasional back, sciatic, or hip pain, mild occasional restless legs, Braxton hicks, increased bathroom trips, some things are getting slightly more difficult to do.     

New Symptoms:        The nightly (yes, every night, but only once a night) bathroom trips have continued, and I’ve had to make trips to the restroom while shopping… 

Sleep:              Still continuing to be a bit broken, with a trip to the bathroom, some aches, and the baby’s nightly dance parties, haha.

Cravings/Aversions:  My craving for sweets hasn’t been as strong this past week.  I think I’ve been craving more grains this past week, and perhaps some meat too…

Stretch Marks:           Not yet.

Special Moments:      Reaching the 3^rd trimester!  Woo hoo!  Also we bought a crib, now we just need to set it up! 

Miss anything?           Hmm…  Both Carlos and I have been pretty low on energy lately, particularly in the early evening.  We often go to sleep at like 8:30 these days…  So I guess I miss us having more energy in the evening…  Not sure why Carlos has been so tired…

Belly Button in or out?         In.  I’m not sure it will ever be “out”, but it’s getting shallower.  My piercing was really itchy this past week; I guess since I took the ring/jewelry out.  It’s better now though.

Wedding rings on or off?      On; I haven’t had any swelling/puffiness yet.

Looking forward to:  Setting up the crib this weekend and Thanksgiving next week!

Recipe of the Week

Maybe I should switch to calling this "Recipe of the Month", haha.  Well, I'll give it another try to post a recipe weekly.

Savory Spaghetti Squash
Serves 4, Total time 45 minutes

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 Tbsp sliced black olives
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Place spaghetti squash cut side down on the baking sheet, and bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a sharp knife can be inserted with only a little resistance.  Remove squash from oven, and set aside to cool enough to be easily handled.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Saute onion in oil until tender.  Add garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are warm.
4. Use a large spoon to scoop the stringy pulp from the squash, and place in a medium bowl.  Toss with sauteed vegetables, olives, feta cheese, and basil.  Serve warm.

 After reading some of the reviews for this recipe, I took a user's suggestion and poured a bit of water at the bottom of the baking sheet that the squash was placed on.  The squash did take longer than 30 minutes to cook, so be prepared for that.  I also just used dried basil to taste, as opposed to fresh basil, and that worked out well!  I served this dish with meatballs!

I found this recipe on the Allrecipes website.

Day in the Life 11/7/12

A Day in the Life of Amber- Nov. 7, 2012

26 Weeks

How far along?          26 weeks

Total Weight Gain:    This past week +2 lb, Total +11 lbs.

Maternity Clothes:    I haven’t bought anything new.  This week I’ve thought a bit about some nursing tops and bras that I’d like to buy before baby gets here.

Continuing Symptoms:         Lots of movement, I’m generally just feeling good, feel my muscles stretching, mild occasional back, sciatic, or hip pain, mild occasional restless legs.   

New Symptoms:        I’ve had a lot of fatigue this week.  I’m not sure if it’s because of some broken sleep, or if it’s just because my body is working hard.  This week it’s started to get ever so slightly annoying to bend over and pick things up.  Carlos laughed at me this morning because I was trying to put my feet up on my chair with my knees up, and it just wasn’t working, haha.

Sleep:              Sleep has been slightly broken this week with discomforts and getting really hot.  Twice this week I’ve had to get up in the night to use the restroom.

Cravings/Aversions:  Still craving sweets.  Carlos hid some taffy around the house for me!  So that was fun!

Stretch Marks:           Not yet.

Special Moments:      Some people say their favorite part of pregnancy is feeling the baby move, but I think my favorite part is when Carlos feels the baby move!  There’s been a couple of times at night or in the morning where he just gets ever so slightly concerned if she’s not moving at her usual times and waits until he feels her move until he gets up or goes back to sleep.  She’ll usually get her groove on if he starts singing to her too.  :)

                                    Also, realizing that we have less than 100 days until the due date was special, woo hoo!  98 days until the due date today.  I had a nice prenatal appointment on Tue., all was well.  My next appointment is in 3 weeks, where I will have a glucose screening (routine gestational diabetes screening), and then my appointments will start being every 2 weeks instead of every 4!

Miss anything?           Not really missing much, perhaps still wishing I could lie on my stomach.

Belly Button in or out?         In.

Wedding rings on or off?      On.

Looking forward to:  I’m still looking forward to getting the nursery ready.  I think if I can get a few things done in there, then it’ll feel more real.  We need another clothing closet rod for our upstairs closet so I can clear out the nursery closet.  I wish the shower was sooner; I’m really eager to start getting ready for baby, but the date of the shower is ideal for us in all other ways.