31 Week Bumpdate

~ Girlmom ~ 4 Comments

After my triage stint I had a few people tell me to “keep that bun cooking.” Clearly the only people who say this is are the ones who had an easy pregnancy or no pregnancy at all. Trust me, no one wants preterm labor, preterm meds or a baby in the NICU. So, I am doing my best to keep my bun cooking….sigh.

With that I have been on the Nifedipine for a week now and it doesn’t seem to be working as well anymore, can a medicine stop working? I imagine it can… I am starting to get contractions again when I am up and around. I have  no idea what happens if these meds stop working. Hopefully I can stay out of the triage until my next appointment on Tuesday.

I hate whining about pregnancy woes since there are so many women out there who would DIE to be in my flip flops. But lately  I get so frickin’ uncomfortable and it comes out of nowhere. Sometimes I feel great, forgetting that I am even pregnant to feeling like my ribs are going to spread and split out of my chest. Other times I feel like there is absolutely no more room in my belly for baby, zero. I don’t remember feeling like this with K and if I did it wasn’t this early.

I also didn’t feel  the side effects to Nifedipine like I do this time. Every.Single.Side.Effect hits me 15 minutes after I take a pill. Tiredness, dizziness,  hot feet, headaches. Blah blah blah. Ok i’m done.

Baby A has been moving around a ton so I haven’t had any problem getting my kick counts in, that helps relieve some stress especially when taking a new medicine. If you can believe it, because I can’t…I haven’t bought one single thing for this kid yet. She has most everything she needs, I think. Her nursery isn’t done, ahem, that will come later.

6 weeks to go.

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Culinary Bucket List { Asparagus Risotto }

~ Girlmom ~ 2 Comments

I almost fell off the culinary bucket list wagon. Luckily I got my shit together 3 days before June, phew.

I have not been in any mood or have had the energy or the desire for that matter to do any cooking. It’s been all Lean Cuisine and take out dreams baby.

After a sleepless night I got the hankering, scratch that, that is a horrible word. I got a craving yearning a want for a roast chicken, the roast chicken made me think of risotto and I have no idea why.  I have only made risotto a handful of times and it’s been the easy way, you know throw ingredients into a dutch oven, stir and slide it into the oven.

The classical way wants you to stir, stir and wait and stir like you are an executive chef in a fancy restaurant, risotto rubbing it’s fanciness all in your face. But since this is a bucket list I thought I would suck it up and try the fancy risotto.

I remembered a recipe my mom sent me years ago, it’s just been sitting on my computer waiting to be used. I followed it exactly plus 2 more cups of chicken broth, and it turned out goooood. Gordon Ramsey would SO not yell at me for this risotto. It kept me on my feet longer than I should have been, contraction, stir, contraction, sit down, stir. But it was well worth it!

So if you feel up to making risotto the fancy way give this recipe a try, if you don’t have the patience, try Ina’s.

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1 pound fresh asparagus
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons whipping cream
½ cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional garnish: chopped tomato

1. Remove tough ends of asparagus. Reserve tips for later use in recipe. Finely chop the stalks and leave the tips in one inch pieces.

2. Bring broth to boil in a medium saucepan, then reduce to a simmer.

3. In a larger saucepan, melt butter; add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is transparent. But not brown. Add rice and stir rapidly to coat with butter, Add asparagus stalks and wine, allow wine to evaporate.

4. Add ½ to 1 cup broth, so that the rice is barely covered with liquid. Stir frequently to allow broth to be absorbed. Don’t let rice go completely dry. Repeat, adding broth in ½ cup measurements, until 1 cup remains to be added.

5. Add asparagus tips and finish adding broth ½ cup at a time. When all is absorbed, remove pan form heat. Immediately stir in cream and Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. If desired, garnish with chopped tomato.

Serves 4 to 5

The Weekend

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Memorial day weekend is usually spent sipping cold drinks and playing in the sand at Mission bay with our friends, but this year Kaili had other plans. Early Saturday morning she woke up shaking with a screaming fever and it scared the shit out of me. I don’t know why but fevers intimidate me.

I should have known something was wrong when she was begging and I’m not exaggerating, begging to go to bed at 5:30 pm. The fever hung around for  2 days and then the runny nose and cough kicked in.

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Although she wasn’t feeling well she kept asking to go to the beach so by Monday we headed down. She started out whiny and we weren’t sure if she would even last.

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But it’s like I have always said, sunshine makes everything better and soon enough she was enjoying herself.

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Someone who is afraid of the ocean sure didn’t mind the bay.

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Dinner time was approaching so we decided to wrangle up all the kids and head into Old Town for some Mexican food. Mmm, enchiladas.

We avoided the popular tourist spots and tucked into a corner restaurant that was perfect for three little ones to dance around and act a fool.

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I held up pretty well but at the end of the evening I was d-o-n-e and Kaili was wiped,we were all ready for bed.

Tommy Tart Remake

~ Girlmom ~ 2 Comments

A few months ago I made this Tommy Tart and although it was good, it needed something more. I decided to remake it adding more flavor.  Instead of Boursin cheese I used an herb goat cheese and parmesan. I also added sautéed onions…because why not? The best part is I used a tad of wine to cook the onions in. It basically forces you to have wine with your tart because now you have an open bottle. You’re welcome.

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Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry- defrosted

good olive oil

1 sweet onion, sliced

1 garlic clove sliced

1 tsp. fresh thyme

2 tbs white wine

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

4 oz garlic herb goat cheese

2 tomatoes, sliced

fresh basil

salt and pepper

 

Pre-heat oven to 425.

Place pastry sheet on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Saute onion and garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil. Saute for 15-20 minutes until onions are limp. Stir in wine, thyme and salt and continue to cook another 10 minutes until onion start to turn brown and liquid evaporates, remove from heat and set aside.

Sprinkle parmesan on puff pastry. Then top with onions and crumbled goat cheese. Layer tomatoes  on top of cheese then drizzle with some olive oil, sprinkle with salt and basil.

Pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm and with the extra wine you now have.

 

 

And Then…

~ Girlmom ~ 4 Comments

When I got to Triage I explained to the front desk while I was there. They gave me a fashionable bracelet and told me to wait for someone to bring me back to a bed.

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The dreadful Triage. The nurse led me back to the bathroom to get a urine specimen and then took me to a room. Can I just say that I will never forget the smell of the soap at that hospital. All the hand washing you do before entering the NICU, the smell is haunting.

After explaining to the nurse what was going on and answering some questions I was strapped to a baby heart rate monitor and a contraction monitor and then she left. I was all alone starting at a curtain and listening to the screams and F bombs flying from the lady in labor next to me. Get me out of here.

The contractions were mild at first but then after an hour they started to become kind of painful. She came back and said that the on call Dr. wanted to give me a dose of contraction meds while I waited for my FFN test results.

As the hours passed and my phone battery started to die I started to stress out a little. I was so unprepared for this visit. I told myself that if and when I needed to go to Triage I would have a bag packed. Phone charger, slippers, a snack…you catch my drift. All I wanted was for the nurse to come back and tell me the test results were negative and that I could go home.

When she came back in she told me that the Dr. wanted to give me a steroid shot to help mature the babies lungs…just in case. And since the contractions were still coming they were giving me an RX for more contraction meds. This is the same exact scenario I went through with K bear, exact. But the good news was my FFN test results were negative, so even though I was contracting they were onfident that I wasn’t going to be having a baby in the next two weeks.

5 hours later I was discharged and told to come back if the contractions keep up or get more painful. I was SO thankful to be going home intstead of into hospital room. I got home just in time to hug and kiss my baby and read her some bedtime stories.

The night was rough, I was really uncomfortable feeling like a I had one long contraction all night, I slept only a wink. Luckily I started to feel them go away with each hour that passed. With a plus there seems to always be a negative, the sides effects of the meds started to bother me and I wasn’t feeling so good.  I had to go back to Triage in the evening for another dose of steroids and another hour on the monitors. The contraction medicine they gave me is working, I only had one in an hour but it is lowering my blood pressure. It didn’t jive well with me when I was pregnant with Kaili either. But the doc said it’s much  more important that I stop contracting so I am to continue on these meds. It will be a day at a time type of situation carefully watching to make sure my blood pressure doesn’t get too low.

Today is 30 weeks, only 7 weeks until baby day.

 

 

Well that Escalated Quickly

~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Yesterday was my Dr. appointment. I was looking forward to scheduling our due date and telling her about these BH contractions I have been having. I left the house thinking I would be back in an hour, well that is what I told K and my mom, but I never came back. Ok, ok I came back but not until 6 hours later.

I was having  consistent contractions at the office and when I told my doc, she wanted to take all precautions to make sure these contractions weren’t “doing anything” i.e. changing my cervix. Thing is I can’t have a normal cervical check with placenta previa, so she had a few other options and she wanted to do them all.

First she gave me a FFN test. FFN is a“glue-like” protein that bonds your developing baby to your uterus.” Your body will secrete some of this FFN when your body is getting ready to deliver baby. It’s done almost in the same fashion as a pap-smear and they use a cotton swab to test your lady bits. Let me just say that having a speculum in during pregnancy is NOT fun.

Secondly she wanted to do a trans-vaginal ultrasound to check the length of my cervix. It looked good and long, so that was reassuring. Then she moved up to an abdominal ultrasound to take a look at baby and she noticed I was contracting, I actually didn’t feel that one..

Last she wanted me to take my FFN test to Triage and have them run the test while I got put on the monitors to see how these contractions are looking.
But before all that fun could start, first things first. The due date. She surprised me when she said she wanted to deliver baby A at 37 weeks. I knew it would be early, I didn’t think that early. She said with my previa and the uterine scarring, this is when she thinks is best. She did say there is a small chance baby may need some help with breathing in the NICU after delivery but it’s a small enough chance that she is confident in this date.

We will be meeting baby A on July 10th.

After all things were set in motion, I went down the road to the hospital. Once I walked inside ALL THE MEMORIES came flooding back.

To be continued…

Chandelier

~ Girlmom ~ 2 Comments

Kaili asked me if I was going to work. I like to tell her that she’s my work, she responded with, ” ya, I call you, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, you come to me!” True story. I asked her where she is going to work when she grows up. “Daddy’s office, I will draw houses.” Sounds like a solid plan.

She has been saying some pretty funny things the past few days. Also she’s quite a bossy little thing. If I hear her talking quietly but missed most of it, I’ll say “what did you say?” She will respond with, ” I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to myself.” Well, then…sorrrry.

She is fixed on Sia’s latest video Chandelier. If you haven’t seen it, it is a pretty awesome video. Kaili likes to listen to it and try to recreate the dance moves in our living room. She definatley didn’t get the vocal genes so maybe she got her dads killer dance moves. Only time will tell.

A few weeks back we had a photo shoot at USD. I thought they would make a great Mother’s day gift for the grandma’s. They turned out beautiful! All photo credit goes to her Uncle Brian. I have zero photography skills, however I can Instagram with the best of them.

Here are a few shots.

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Interview with a 3 year old

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Interviewing kids is the best. Their answers are so honest and random.  I decided to ask K some questions about herself, she had the answers.

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What is your name? “Kaili”

How old are you? “Three”

When is your birthday? “April 29th”

What is your favorite color? “Purple”

What is your favorite thing to watch on TV? “Franklin”

What is your favorite toy?  “iPad”

What is your favorite thing to eat? “Cookies”

What is your favorite thing to do? “Eat”

What is your favorite toy? “Boy” (Um….)

What is your favorite book? “Franklin”

Where do you live? “My island”

Who is your favorite friend? “Penny” (her teacher)

How are you feeling? “I feel sick, cough cough”

29 Week Bumpdate

~ Girlmom ~ 2 Comments

For some reason I thought with getting pregnant in November I would only have to endure a month of summer weather. This past week it has been in the high 90’s even reaching the triple digits. We also have a ridiculous amount of fires burning through San Diego, according to the San Diego fire chief, “mother nature is pissed off.”

Today the heat really got to me and I felt like I had taken a sleeping pill, just drag me along because I can’t move.

29 weeks. I am having a LOT of braxton hicks  (BH) contractions. Pretty much every time I get up, bend over or do some walking I get them. They do go away when I sit down, that is all that matters for now. This was the exact same day I started getting consistent BH with Kaili and ended up at the hospital. I am optimistic that this pregnancy, I will forgo that part.

Kaili has become quite emotional the past few days. I’m not sure if it’s the changes happening in and around our lives or if it’s an age thing…probably both.  When she’s emotional, I’m emotional and lord knows I don’t need to be any more emotional.

Looking forward to staying on my feet the last bit of this pregnancy, bring on 30 weeks.

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A Week in Photos

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One of my New Years resolutions was to stop giving the big chain coffee retailers my business. Shop local, eat local, drink local. Eating and drinking isn’t hard, shopping is a tad more difficult. I do love coscto!
We sent to Kaili to school on a Friday giving me and Shane a chance to get coffee without the kid. When you give the gift of children, the next best gift is time away from children.

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Some home improvements are in progress.

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My Mother’s Day was nice and low key. We went to lunch at one of my favorite spots in La Jolla. I dined on ceviche and eyed all the martini’s coming out from the bar.

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Dinner was from a bag.

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Monday morning I had some time to myself and made an iced coffee for some outside reading.

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My parents are getting a dog. They’ve been pet less for awhile now. We took Kaili to the animal shelter to meet the pup and make sure they liked each other. He is a sweet guy and they bring him home tomorrow.

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Little California girl.

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I thought this cartoon was spot on. I follow a lot of Paleo blogs and have made my share of recipes but lately i find myself getting irritated at them. You can’t call your Paleo dessert “easy cheesecake bars” when there isn’t any cheese in them. Pretty sure the cavemen weren’t whipping up soft and chewy double chocolate cookies or almond flour pancakes. Just sayin’…says the pregnant hormonal chick.

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