For the Non-Readers and people who think food is pretty...

In my last post I wrote a little bit about eating habits based on the Whole30 plan.  Its harder than throwing in a frozen pizza. More planning, More Dishes. More $$.  But oh so worth it. I've had fun experimenting with Almond Butter, Beet Chips, Rutabaga and Parsnips, Turnips and Cabbage. Hash with Over Easy Eggs for Breakfast, Sweet Potatoes for Desserts and Coconut Milk and cinnamon in my coffee. Our consumption of onions, garlic, eggs and peppers rivals that of a summer camp, but its great! My Love for food has grown (and it was pretty high before) and my appreciation for herbs and God given flavor is higher.  I was reminded what hungry feels like, how much I eat out of boredom and emotional comfort and gluttony and am further away from all of those habits.   Im still overwhelmed by the prep and planning, and I must admit that part of me is happy to have stopped whole30 early(due to pregnancy concerns) and enjoy toast with my egg in the morning...but Im so happy I did the last 2 weeks, and so happy for blogs like 100 days of real food and whole30 and tons of others for some education on why I would care about healthy eating, and how to make it happen.  Heres a snap shot of our last two weeks:

*for my sister in law Lora and super motivating friend Jessica. Happy eating to you both!

Happy Eating to all!

Meet you in the Bathroom

Greetings.  

So, I'm 29.5 weeks.  Thats crazy.  Crazy that this peanut is coming whether I'm ready or not.  Crazy that I'm not confined to my couch any longer.  Crazy that Baby Bear will come at me like a punching bag for an hour or more straight.  Crazy that I still have 70+ days for my stomach to continue stretching. Its all just Crazy.  

Medically speaking: no bleeding for 10 weeks and no pain in my "wound area" for about 4 weeks. My sciatic nerve was my biggest complaint last month, but has calmed down the last couple days (and truly it was fantastic to have a normal pregnant person problem.)  I will hesitantly (in fear of my mother freaking out on me!) record a disturbing amount of contractions.  They aren't painful labor producing contractions, but they will come and distract me from whatever I'm doing, and without a ton of water or laying down, they are not interested in leaving. My OB said, as long as they will go away, all is well.  I never had Braxton Hicks that were memorable in my first two pregnancies so this is a new phenomenon combined with knowledge of a skittish uterus who threatens to freak out on me and decide to have a baby.  Needless to say my focus/memory/patience and quality of life aren't exactly at an all time high right now.  Joel has a busy schedule, but thankfully very flexible at times, and it is a gift that he can help when I just have to stop moving for a while.  I am sadly very aware of friends who have recently experienced such great loss, and others who are in the trenches of taking care of their premie babies in the NICU right now, and am able to see my challenges in such different lights.  Responsibility for helping this baby continue to stay put, and Gratitude for the gift of each of his days!

...Back to quality of life and Joel, we started clean eating this January (I know, no one really cares about other peoples diets and fads), but it was slightly unrelated to any sort of new years resolution, and more of just a reality check on having better quality of life!  Sleep Patterns. Nerve Pain. Heart concerns. Skin frustrations. Moods. Fatigue.  Etc. Etc. Etc.  Well, we cut out all processed food along side dairy, grains, legumes and sugar.  (that leaves meat without additives, vegetables and fruit.)  Well it has been extraordinarily effective and in addition to improvements in things we were aware of, we have seen our bodies start functioning in ways we weren't even purposefully correcting...Skin softness, Eye Sight, Nasal clarity and more. I've technically disbanded from the cool rule following hard core clean eating club, and had to finding ways to up my calorie intake for Baby Bear.  I knew he was getting such rich vitamins from the nutrient dense foods I was eating, and anything he was missing he would just suck from his Momma, but with my progressively increasing state of contracting and risk of preterm labor already being higher than wanted, we decided there would be another time for me to radically change my diet, but now is not that time.  I'll write more in a couple weeks and let you know how Joel's 30 day trial has gone, and our plan for continuing to eat healthy after our 30 day goal :)  #Whole30

Well thats about all our news for now.  I'm happy that my biggest annoyance right now is the cycle of: stay hydrated/have to pee/bladders full again 10 minutes after I went last and making me contract so I pee again/ maybe if I drink more the contractions will stop/now I have to pee desperately bad/ now I don't want to drink for the rest of the day/ shoot I've only had three glasses of water and its only 1:00...I really need to drink more...maybe i'll drink slowly while I do laundry/wow I bent over too much and now i'm really contracting/quick drink and get them to stop/and now i will run to the bathroom every time baby bear nudges my bladder and pee out all the water I just drank...  

Its annoying.  Its driving me crazy. And I'm so thankful for the gift of being bothered by such trivial things. I wouldn't trade it for anything.  

Baby Bear

Well, hello again!

I'm back in the social media/blog world meaning Joel's back in classes. Don't feel too badly for me!  This time its more sweet than bitter.  For starters, its the beginning of the end...4 more months and we are DONE! (insert minor freak out!) And if thats not enough, my husband brilliantly set himself up for success by making this the most manageable semester yet!  The only damper really is a new class he just added today, which will take him every Monday night from 6:15-9:30. However the rest seems quite nice, and perhaps a slight break before baby/bar/job.

Speaking of "Baby Bear" (I don't know how he got that name but Violet prays for him using his Bear name, and its adorable!)...he is doing quite well.  ACTIVE is a ridiculous understatement, and the best part is how much he kick Violet and Benjamin when they lay beside me or put their legs across my tummy.  Violet can hardly take naps with me because Bear is such a distraction!  I feel GREAT, as far as decent energy, feeling Braxton hits but no real contractions and decent sleep!  My biggest complaint is my sciatica acting up (lower right back/buttox) and it hurts so bad it makes me want to cry sometimes!  But having said that, its such a normal problem for the pregnant type that I'm happy to have a symptom with no real complications! We have an apt on Friday (I will be 29 weeks) and then will begin to go every 2 weeks.  I rest a little more than the average person, sometimes because I REALLY need to, and others because I'm aware that my uterus is pretty skittish, and stressing "her" out just means risk of preterm labor...and I DONT want to have this baby before 36 weeks.  Actually I'm just beginning to realize that this babe is probably not coming early (Realism: yay he's not coming before 36 weeks, boo that he probably won't come till 40!) and there are quite a few things I should probably think through (What my hospitals normal protocol is with things like infant care, birthing options, vaccine options, post birth bonding/nursing encouragement, etc)  I should probably take a tour of the hospital, write out some preferences, and such activities.  11 more weeks will be here before we know it!

Thats about all in Baby News.  I still need to maybe get some bottles, receiving blankets, and keep shopping craigs list for a video monitor.  He probably doesn't have enough clothes, but I seriously just keep thinking, can't I just wrap him like a burrito in a receiving blanket and call it good?   (Thats actually my plan, by the way!) Another "great" idea I have is to never lose the paci the hospital gives us, so we don't need to get any :)  I'm brilliant, I know.

Well I can't think of anything else noteworthy!  Unless you want to talk about food, in which I would love to talk for hours...We started eating purposefully clean with Whole30, and its rocking my socks off...In fact, I think I'll write another post about it soon, but so long until then!