38 week bumpdate

How far along: 38 weeks 2 days

How big is baby: My guess if I were to have him right now is 7 pounds

Weight gained: 24 pounds

Maternity clothes: Mostly. It depends on the clothes for non maternity. Right now I'm in fold over shorts and non maternity tank top and they fit fine. Yesterday I wore a non-maternity shirt while walking in the neighborhood with my mom and she told me I looked like a person of walmart because an inch of my belly was poking out. Whoops!

Stretch marks: Same, just the linea negra. Unless they are hidden and I can't see!

Miss anything?: Sleep. Not that I expect to sleep for the next several months anyway, but it would be nice if I could before I've even had the baby. My issue is that I'll wake up to pee and not be able to go back to sleep. Last night I woke up twice and then again at 330 and stayed up until 730. Thank goodness I don't have a 9 am showtime for work and I could sleep from 730-930.

Movement: He still favors the right side and and it feels like a contraction only on that side because it will get hard. If I am having a contraction I have to feel my whole belly since I just don't know anymore if it's him poking or a contraction. Weird. Although the last day or day and half the contractions are getting a tiny bit cramp which is giving me hope, so I can kind of tell. 

Cravings: I made freezer meals on Sunday and have been craving the lasagna ever since. I haven't had it though. Jaren, if you feel like making me a lasagna I won't argue..... Also, fruit, smoothies, kiwi and pineapple. Surprised?

Aversions:  Does laying on my back count as an aversion? Or going up stairs? Nothing really in terms of food unless my heartburn is bad.

Other symptoms: Heartburn is controlled unless I forgot my prilosec/pepcid combo in the morning. Which I did twice this week. My own fault but I felt miserable. I've had some sciatic pain in the back of my hips randomly but stretching seems to help. I've had mild cramping that I thought would lead somewhere, and yesterday I was having a few more noticeable contractions. At my appointment today I was dilated a "fingertip" so it's progress but not even 1 cm. Booooo.

Best moment this week: I really enjoyed making freezer meals on Sunday with my friend Jen who I teach with at the synagogue. It was so much more fun than doing it by myself! I went to the mall and met Jaren there yesterday for a bridesmaids dress from Nordstrom (for Caroline's wedding, eeeeeeeh) and we were at a store and Elsie saw me and ran to me squealing with open arms. It is one of my happiest moments because it took her so long to love anybody but her momma! Also, my friend Leslie who I ALWAYS love seeing was on this side of town and came and kept me company today during my monitoring appointment! It's always fun having company while I sit strapped to a chair lol.

Most looking forward to: We have dinner plans tonight at China Poblano and I'm sad I won't have their famous salt air margarita, but I am so excited for the mushroom tacos! Also, if it's not obvious enough, I am most looking forward to meeting our baby!

Healthy banana pancakes

One of my pledge sisters, Sara, has a great food blog and she posts recipes to instagram every day. Good thing I was on it this morning (sorry Jaren, I will try to go on more often) because I found a recipe I needed to replicate right away. I adjusted a tiny bit and made a larger batch. They are so good. So so so good!

These are super healthy and packed with protein from the cottage cheese, egg whites, and greek yogurt. Plus the oatmeal instead of flour is great because it's a super food!

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana

3/4 cup egg whites

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup nonfat cottage

1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

2 Splenda 

Directions

1. Blend everything! Love me my vitamix. Of course I didn't think to take picture of the ingredients or of the batter until it was almost finished. But here is what it looked like:

2. I used a small skillet and did one pancake at a time. That recipe made about 6 pancakes. I used a little canola oil and then pam spray, poured batter into medium high skillet (I didn't measure, just so that it covered), and flipped when it bubbled.

I also added some cinnamon, because more cinnamon is almost always good. 

These were so good that Charlie was literally eating them off the plate I kept by the stove while I was still cooking the rest. No even stack - since some had these bites taken out of them!


I asked him to keep me some so he just took a full one off and ate the rest. Didn't feel like smiling, maybe next time he will when he sees I posted these pics of him on the blog :-)

He said they taste more like crepes than pancakes. I grew up eating blintzes (crepes) and not pancakes. In fact, I don't really love pancakes because I feel like you need so much syrup to make them taste good. These were super moist and needed no syrup at all.

Do you all like Charlie's hair? He shaved it the other day and I love it. Story on that coming in a few weeks.

And just because, here is a shirt that I should no longer be wearing but did anyway. Look how the white one does not even come close to covering my belly. I guess at 9 months pregnant I shouldn't attempt non maternity clothes, whoops!

Enjoy the pancakes/crepes, guilt free, and without even needing syrup on top :-)

37 week bumpdate

How far along: 37 weeks 2 days

How big is baby: according to sites he is anywhere from 6 1/4 pounds to 6-9 pounds. I feel like he's probably right around 6-6.5 right now.

Weight gained: I haven't weighed myself the last few days and have somehow managed to not get weighed at the doctor this week at both appointments!!! Hehehe. But I have been starving this week and able to eat larger quantities than when I threw up a protein bar, so I am assuming I'm up around 23-24 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Yes and no. Jeans obviously. Some shirts are totally fine and some shirts are totally not fine. Today I wore a pair of short that weren't maternity because I AM SO HOT I had to change out of my pants. They were a little tight but honestly more on my legs than my tummy haha!

Stretch marks: Same linea negra. And my belly button is getting flatter. Still an innie but much "shallower".

Miss anything?: Being able to recline even slightly and not get out of breath!

Movement: Still has his feet in my right side and under ribs. According to the last two ultrasounds his head is really low, but his feet are still high. I'm just hiding him in there well! It's also getting a little hard to distinguish braxton hicks contractions with him moving around, for example if his bottom is pressed against me it feels super hard/tight. I have to feel the rest of my stomach to tell if it's just him moving or if it's a contraction (if it is a contraction my whole stomach is that hard).

Cravings: Fruit and smoothies. Fruit smoothies. I want tropical smoothie now. Yes I have a vitamix upstairs. But still.

Aversions:  Not that I would drink wine but my mom offered me a sip of her wine at dinner and the thought revolted me with the heartburn. Oh, and in the ultrasound today they confirmed he still has hair! I seriously think he is gonna be born with a mullet because at a few ultrasounds all the hair they've pointed out has been on top of his neck. Oy! I'll birth a teeny tiny redneck Jewish baby - Billy Bob Shmulik.

Other symptoms: I'm feeling pretty good this week honestly! I am more impatient/anxious to meet him, than miserably uncomfortable. Yes I am uncomfortable, but it's very expected at 9 months pregnant. At my appointment today they offered to do a check and I wasn't dilated at all but was 25% effaced. My cousin Bridget said that it has to start somewhere! True that.

Best moment this week: I got to have an Aggie-Elsie day today! Jaren's mom had surgery and she decided to take Clara to go home to Montana and be with her, so I got to bond with Els-smels all day while Roger was at work. It was SO MUCH FUN.

 I also got to hang out with Aunt Nancy's granddaughter Maddie. Maddie was supposed to be flower girls with Clara but her naughty brother Charlie decided to put his mommy on bedrest while he was still an "inside baby" and she couldn't make it. Maddie loved Lee, as opposed to Elsie who feared him.

 Yes little tiny Lee who is the most mellow dog in the world scared Elsie, but Maya, the most cloying dog in the world, was her favorite. So funny. Oh Smels. 

I think I will write a separate blogpost on this.

Most looking forward to: Having a baby. 

Challah Recipe

Remember forever ago when I told you I'd share an amazing challah recipe? Well here it is!

I originally got this recipe for a brioche dough from my pastry chef friend Stacy. I adjusted it several times until it eventually came to this.

Ingredients:

4 cups bread flour
1 cup 2 tbs milk (I have used vanilla almond milk and it's worked, but regular milk is preferred)
6 tbs butter
1.5 tsp dry active yeast
3 tbs sugar
2 tbs honey
1 egg
3/4 tbs salt (or you can just do two teaspoons if you are lazy)
egg wash (1 egg with about a tbs milk)

Directions.
1. If you have a bread machine like I do, dump everything except the egg wash in a bread machine, and let it run through the "dough" cycle. If you do not have a bread machine, dump everything in a stand mixer (or a big bowl and a hand mixer, although that is really not preferred). Most people have all sorts of rules when it comes to yeast and the order you put things in, but honestly, I have made this so many times, and it works if you just dump it all in!

If using a mixer, let it run with the dough hook for 20 minutes, then let it rise for about 45 minutes, and knead it again with the dough hook for 20 minutes.

2. After your dough has been kneaded and risen etc, shape it into three equal parts, and roll out into "logs". 

If you want to be creative and add things (like raisins - gross, or white chocolate chips - yum!), you can roll it out with a rolling pin, sprinkle your fun secret ingredient, and roll back up into a log. Shape the logs into a braid, making sure to pinch the two ends so they don't separate.

3. Let the braided dough rise for about an hour (you can cover with a moist paper towel). While it's rising, preheat the oven to 375.

Not sure if you can tell how much it rose in the picture. But about an hour is good. 

4. Cover with egg wash using a pastry brush, making sure to get in between the braided parts.

5. Bake for 35 minutes. Let cool for as long as your patience will let you before digging into it. 

And it's a fact, ripping challah bread makes it taste a LOT better than slicing it.


Enjoy!

"Leftovers" Healthy Fried Rice

Having a few leftovers on hand and a broken microwave leads to creative cooking. We had a bunch of brown rice left over, some crock pot chicken thighs, and peas and corn. So I decided to make leftover fried rice out of it.

This is going to be a very rough "recipe" since I just tossed things together.

I labeled this healthy because I used brown rice, and much less oil than normal fried rice! I would normally use breast but we had the leftover thighs that I needed to use.

Ingredients:
leftovers!
We had:
-brown rice (could be white but then this would be less of a healthy fried rice). Probably had about 3 cups of cooked brown rice
-veggies - we had corn and peas, but you can add whatever! toss in onion, broccoli, carrot, etc.
-cooked chicken  - we had about 2.5 thighs left over, and I shredded it up with a fork
-1/4 cup of egg white
-olive oil, pam spray, and soy sauce or teriyaki sauce

1. Heat up some olive oil (about 2 tbs) in a sauce pan, and add in all the ingredients except the sauce and egg. Stir around until it is warmed through and a little crispy, about 3-5 minutes on medium high.
2. Push the rice etc to the sides of the pan, and spray some pam or non stick spray in the middle. Add in the egg white and let it cook for about 3 minutes. Break it up with a wooden spoon and stir it all in.
3. Add whatever sauce you want - you can even add some sriracha. I wanted to use up some soy sauce so I added some honey to sweeten and thicken it up (basically teriyaki is soy sauce and sugar).

Enjoy your very quick leftover lunch that didn't need a microwave!

36 weeks

Darn it - wrote this yesterday (one day late) and forgot to post. Two days late, but whose counting?

How far along?: 36 weeks 3 days. One day late! Today's picture brought to you by the letter g, for gala. 

How big is baby: big enough to wake me up because I'm uncomfortable. Probably almost 6 pounds, and he's gaining like, half a pound a week or so!

Weight gained: back up to 20-21 pounds. 

Maternity clothes: same

Stretch marks: Same.

Miss anything?: Comfort and mobility.

Movement: Yes, and he pokes limbs into my right side below my ribs. So not fun. 

Cravings: Fruit - pineapple, clementines, mango, all of it. Smoothies too! And even though I have a vitamix and make smoothies, I've been craving tropical smoothie smoothies! I think it's just the thought that it's made for me.

Aversions:  Nothing strong this week. 

Other symptoms: Have I mentioned on the blog that I'm always hot? I somehow don't think I've mentioned that. Poor Charlie is freezing, and I am still so hot. He said I am never allowed to be pregnant in the summer. I probably will come home from the hospital and be like, oh my gosh how have we had it so cold in the house? But right now I am just so hot.

Also, my belly button is getting a little flatter. I hope it stays an innie in the next few weeks! The baby is definitely in a position that it's getting hard to bend forward and move around. Maybe tmi (but I don't really care) but it's hard to wipe when I pee! Hahaha! I mean I am doing it just fine (don't be concerned) but it's uncomfortable. Heartburn is still in full force. 

Since yesterday I've been having dull cramps. Actually yesterday I just woke up flat uncomfortable. Not pain per se, but sooooo uncomfortable and by last night the cramps were just yucky. I wanted a heating pad when we came home from the gala, but we didn't know where it was (turns out in my mom's house). I'm hoping this is a sign labor is coming soon!

Best moment this week: This week was so busy! I was just go-go-go! I had a lot to do around the house that I didn't really get to until the end of the week/weekend because I just had all these errands to do, and I couldn't even tell you what they are at this point. I got my sunglasses fixed (they snapped in half when we were in Boston, while IN THE CASE), we got a new tenant at the LR house and I went and organized it etc, I had some sewing to do, and I don't even know what else, but it was busy! We did get a lazy boy chair for the nursery that I love, and we'll be able to use it forever, not just for the nursery. So just a busy week, no real best moment.

And because in proud, some sewing pics:

I also made a moose shirt for baby Edward and forgot to snap a pic. :-(

Most looking forward to: I'm getting a prenatal massage this week, so definitely that. But I'm most looking forward to having this baby! I guess I really should pack my hospital bag....like today. 

And for fun - some pics from last night:

I hate the angle of that pic and just feel like I look fat instead of pregnant. But we get so few pics together due to camera shy Charlie. Here's one hiding the belly with my purse:

Sausage corn dip

In honor of super bowl (which I didn't really watch and barely saw commercials for....total disappointment), I decided to make a super unhealthy corn dip. I got this recipe back when I lived in the south (because let's face it I would have never cooked something like this before).

It's one of my favorites, and goes great with corn chips, or just with a spoon like the glutton I am.

I decided to "healthy" it up a bit with 1/3 lower fat cream cheese (ummmm even though I added an entire stick of butter later)

Add two cans of rotel, undrained (or store brand like I used)

And a "lot" of cumin. I have no idea how much. Start with a teaspoon? Go up to a tablespoon or two? Just base it on your preference.

Ahhh, the stick of butter I mentioned. Toss it in there.

I bought two small bags of corn - one yellow and one white. I could have probably sipped the white because really, you can't taste the difference, and I prefer white corn when you appreciate the corn. I microwaved the frozen corn and tossed it in.

And then sautéed up three of these "lower fat" sausages. Because, ya know, I needed to counteract that stick of butter.

Crumble it up and toss it in . I had already put half the crumbled sausage in when I realized I forgot to snap. Not food blogging or months has gotten me out of the habit!

Yes it looks kinda meh, but I promise, it's amazing.

Leave it in your crock pot for about an hour on high and then on warm for the rest of the night.

Enjoy with corn chips!

Ingredients:
-2 8-ounce packages of low fat cream cheese, at room temp
-1 stick of room temp butter (I'm sure you could use less or more)
-2 cans of undrained rotel
-cumin (lets go with 2 teaspoons, but use at will)
-1 pound of frozen corn, microwaved, (or you'll have to increase your crockpot time to let things heat through)
-3 (or more) links of sausage - I bought the sweet kind but you can use the hot kind as well.

Directions:
1. Put everything except sausage in a crockpot on hot and stir it up.
2. Cook sausage per package directions (I like it to get really browned). Crumble it up. Toss in crockpot.
3. Mix it all up and let it heat all the way through. Enjoy with corn chips!