27 Weeks: Helloooo, Third Trimester!

On June 23, 2010 · 4 Comments · In our baby, pregnancy

Holy moly. I’m officially in my third trimester of pregnancy! And while I’m shocked to be here already, I’m also feeling like I have an eternity until I get to meet my baby. Realistically, though, I know that’s not true. After all, I’ll be “full term” in just 10 more weeks! YIKES!

There is no mistaking my being pregnant now. (It’s about time, right?) I get these little smiles from people walking past me at the grocery store, and random coworkers comment all of the time now. It’s no wonder, as I’m certainly rounding out. See?

27 Weeks Pregnant
I’m blending into my background a bit this week, thanks to my clothing choice for the day, but you get the picture. Wheee, belly! I look back on my early “belly” photos from first trimester (when I really was not even showing) and it’s insane to me. It’s hard to remember ever looking like that. I wish I would have appreciated it more, because I know it’s likely I’ll never look like that again! (Or at least not exactly like that.)
We’ve had quite the busy week, with no end in sight yet. This past weekend, we spent Friday night getting things prepared for painting the nursery. Michael moved some more stuff out of the room, and I taped off all of the edges. Then, on Saturday, Michael’s sister and the boys came up to visit so we spent the afternoon with them. Once home, it was time to paint the first coat on the walls, and then Michael ripped up the old carpet, padding, and staples on our stairs.
Sunday, I went to my mom’s house to “help” finish the baby’s bedding–I use the term “help” loosely, as the process turned out to be too much for someone who hasn’t sewn anything since 8th grade home ec class. Thankfully, my mom is pretty freaking talented with a sewing machine. As for me, I was a wonderful measurer, ironer, and ribbon clipper. (THAT’S RIGHT!) I got home around 3:00 p.m. and it was time to tackle the rest of the painting in the nursery. A quick second coat and it was officially finished. Yay! We removed all of the painter’s tape a couple of hours later to find that some touch-ups were going to be necessary, but no big deal.
After work on Monday, we went out to dinner to celebrate our second anniversary. But we were all work, very little play, as we ended up moving a bunch more stuff out of the nursery when we got home, hauling it over to my mom’s for storage in her huge-ass basement (thanks, Mom!).
Today, I went grocery shopping on my lunch break to save myself some time after work. That should tell you how busy things have been, huh? When home from work, Michael headed off to karate class while I got busy with a small paintbrush and some white paint to touch-up the molding in the nursery, then the parts of the ceiling where I accidentally knicked it with the roller (oops). And call me crazy, but nesting instincts kicked in once again when I had that little paintbrush in my hand. I ended up scrubbing the baseboards in our hallways and performing “touch-ups” on them as well, since they’ve certainly seen some wear and tear throughout the past five years. Once Michael got home, he ripped the carpet, padding, and staples (the staples are the best part–just ask him!) out of the nursery.
Tomorrow, we get to disassemble our entire house as we clear the living room of all furniture. The carpet installation is happening on Thursday, so we need to get everything off of the floors, then rip out more carpet and staples. Our carpet guy is going to do the entire house Thursday, except our bedroom, where we’ll be storing a lot of the stuff we have to remove from the living room. Once he’s done, we’ll put the living room back together, then move the contents of our bedroom into the nursery for the night. On Friday, the carpet guy will be back to install the carpet in our bedroom, then we’ll spend Friday evening putting that back together.
Fun process, right?
It’ll feel so nice to have new carpet, though, especially with the baby coming. I’m excited for it to be so CLEAN. Now we just have to hope that Tessa doesn’t do anything stupid. She’s fully potty trained, so… fingers crossed it stays that way. Anyway, I’ll post photos of the carpet project later this week.
So, the whole point of this–Guess what new carpet means? It means we can FINALLY move the baby furniture into the nursery! I can’t wait to get everything put together and situated, as I’ve been dying to do so for weeks now. We’ll be spending the weekend putting things in place in there. I know some of you are probably anxious to see photos, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be keeping things under wraps until they are truly “finished.” We’ll see how it goes. :)
Also exciting is that my first baby shower is on Sunday! My lovely sisters-in-law, Kara and Marie, are hosting it for me at my mom’s house. I cannot wait to see everyone and, of course, pick up some cute loot for the baby. We really don’t have much of anything so far, and I feel like once we start collecting things, it’ll make it so much more real.
In pregnancy news… not much new to report. I am still feeling really good, although I do have the occasional night of horrible sleep. (Most recently, it was Friday.) My hips hurt so bad and it was extremely hard to get comfortable. I had to drag the body pillow into bed, which doesn’t leave much room for Michael and Tess! They were understanding. :) Thankfully, these bouts of discomfort are few and far between at this point.
I haven’t heard anything regarding my glucose test from Friday. I’m thinking that’s good news, as I’d hope I would’ve heard by now if I’d failed, but who knows? I want to wait out the remainder of the week with no word before I truly believe I’m in the clear.
On a final note, I’m pretty sure I felt baby hiccups for the first time the other night. They were so soft that I wouldn’t have felt them without my hand on my stomach. But there was this rhythmic feeling of short movements, and it was continually in the same spot. Had to be it, right? Unless my baby was practicing its tap-dancing moves…
 

Two Years

On June 21, 2010 · 11 Comments · In marriage, our wedding

On June 21, 2008, I married my best friend.

Now, we are just 13 (or so) weeks away from embarking on the greatest adventure of our lives–parenthood. I am so happy to have Michael as my partner in this journey.

(If you haven’t been a blog reader since the beginning, and want to see more wedding photos,
check out the slideshow I made for our anniversary last year,
or take a look at my wedding recap posts on Road to the Aisle.)
 

Asian Lettuce Wraps

On June 21, 2010 · 2 Comments · In recipes - chicken

If you’ve ever been to P.F. Chang’s, I’m guessing you’ve had lettuce wraps. It seems as if it’s a crime to go there without ordering them!

When I saw this homemade version on Annie’s blog, I was excited to try them! But, there was just one thing holding me back.

Confession: I have a weird aversion to ground chicken and ground turkey. I have no idea why, since I don’t have any problems with lean ground beef. It’s just one of those things, but because I don’t have a good reason, I knew it was time to get over it.

This was just the recipe to help me over the hurdle.

I’ll admit that I was still a little put off by the ground chicken as it was cooking, but I quickly got past it once I took my first bite into one of these babies. Delicious!

I adapted the recipe slightly to make a bit more sauce. When we drizzled the original amount over our filling, it didn’t seem like enough so I made a bit more. And as Annie says–don’t leave out the diced apple! It’s fantastic!

Asian Lettuce Wraps
(Source: Slightly adapted from Annie’s Eats)

Ingredients:

For the sauce:
– 2 1/4 tsp. hoisin sauce
– 1 1/2 tsp. soy sauce
– 3/4 tsp. sesame oil
– 1 1/2 tsp. rice wine vinegar
– Freshly ground black pepper
– 1 1/2 tsp. Sriracha hot sauce

For the filling:
– 2 tsp. canola oil
– 1 tsp. minced garlic
– 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
– 2 green onions, chopped
– 1 lb. ground turkey or chicken
– 2 cups mixed vegetables (I used frozen peas, diced red pepper and onion)
– 1/2 green apple, finely chopped

To assemble:
Butter lettuce leaves (if you can find them–otherwise, use iceberg), washed and separated
Shredded carrots for topping (optional)

Directions:
1. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and mix to blend.

2. To make the filling, heat a skillet on high heat with cooking oil. Once the pan is hot, add the garlic, ginger and green onions to the pan, and stir fry for a few seconds, just until fragrant.

3. Add the ground turkey or chicken, breaking into small pieces, and cook until almost cooked through. Add the vegetables to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes. Mix in the sauce and cook for about 1 minute until thickened slightly.

4. Add the apples to the pan and toss to coat. Immediately remove the pan from the heat.

5. Serve the filling in lettuce “cups” and top with shredded carrots, if desired.

 

Chicken Salsa Verde Bake

On June 19, 2010 · 2 Comments · In recipes - mexican

At the reception after the funeral last week, we were thankful that many people brought or sent food for the family. One of the dishes that came to us was this chicken salsa verde by Rachael Ray. I actually didn’t try any, as I was too full from other food, but when I was at my mom’s a few days later, we ate the leftovers. I knew immediately that we’d have to make this for ourselves soon!

This casserole has great Mexican flavors and the salsa verde gives the dish a perfect amount of heat. It’s also pretty darn easy to throw together (especially if you cook and shred the chicken in advance), which is always a plus.

I made some adaptations to the original recipe, following partially what was done by whoever made us this dish, and also taking the advice of some of the reviews on Rachael Ray’s site. My adapted version is below. Oh, and another great thing about this meal–it can feed quite the crowd! And if you don’t have a crowd, you’ll have plenty of leftovers (which we love in this house!).

This recipe is easily adaptable to suit your tastes–you can subsitute the chicken or some of the beans for more veggies, such as zucchini, mushrooms, or bell peppers. As long as you keep the ratio of chicken/beans/veggies to salsa/sour cream relatively the same, I don’t think you can really go wrong!

Chicken Salsa Verde Bake
(Source: Adapted from Rachael Ray)

Ingredients:
– 1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts
– 2 (16 oz.) jars salsa verde
– 1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
– 1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans, rinses and drained
– 1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
– 1 onion, finely chopped
– 1 cup sour cream
– 3 cups crushed tortilla chips (we used baked tortilla chips)
– 1 (8 oz.) bag shredded Mexican-style cheese

Directions:
1. Boil chicken breasts for 20 minutes. Drain. Shred chicken pieces. (You can do this in advance–we did it the night before to save time.)

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken, salsa, beans, corn, onion and sour cream.

3. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Scatter 1 cup tortilla chips on the bottom and top with half of the chicken mixture and half of the cheese. Repeat the layers and cover with the remaining 1 cup tortilla chips. Bake until the cheese is bubbly, about 30 minutes.

 

Sugar Mama

On June 18, 2010 · 10 Comments · In our baby, pregnancy

I’ve had a lot of pregnant women around me throughout my life. My cousins have several children among them. For seven years during high school/college, I worked in a pharmacy with mostly women, so I went through a lot of pregnancies with them, too. After college, friends started getting married and having babies. So, more pregnancies.

It probably goes without saying, then, that I’ve heard plenty of things about the glucose tolerance test. I thought I was pretty well educated about the process of the test, as well as the purpose of it.

I’ve heard that the glucose drink is gross. So when we had my last appointment with my doctor and she mentioned how I’d have to take the test before my next appointment, I asked her if she had any recommendations for which flavor to choose (I was offered fruit punch, orange, lemon, or lime). Her response was, “Blecchh, I don’t know. They’re all disgusting. I had fruit punch with one of my pregnancies and orange with the other, and I thought they were both nearly impossible to choke down.”

I thought to myself, Greeeeat. But at the same time, I couldn’t understand what the big deal was. Even if it’s disgusting, it would undoubtedly go down pretty quickly. I mean, it’s just a shot of sugar liquid, right?

And then I went to the front desk, where the woman handed me the actual drink. My mouth fell open.

TEN OUNCES, folks. It’s a BOTTLE of sugar liquid. All this time, I had been preparing myself for a nasty SHOT (like an ounce or two), and they hand me a BOTTLE.

Ick. Ick. Ick.

Since I had to wait until between 26-28 weeks of pregnancy to complete the test, I gladly went home and shoved the bottle into my refrigerator. Procrastination is awesome. But every time I opened the fridge, there it was, staring me in the face. Mocking me.

I’ll be 28 weeks next weekend, and we have a really busy week next week. I knew that I’d have to suck it up and get it over with this week, and quickly decided that today (a Friday) would be the day. Even though my doctor’s office doesn’t require fasting before the test (you just can’t have anything to eat/drink after you take the glucose drink), I figured I wouldn’t take any chances, choosing to drink the stuff on an empty stomach first thing in the morning.

And I’ll tell you, I’ve been dreading it. Dreading it. So much so that my husband said he’d stick around a few extra minutes before he left for work so he could “hold my hand” (figuratively, not literally) while I drank it. He got it all ready for me while I got dressed, pouring it into a glass for me. Hesitantly, I came out from the bedroom to get started. Once you take the first sip, you have to finish the entire drink within five minutes.

This is me, pretending to be happy about this whole situation. That’s a nervous smile, folks.

And then, I took my first sip.

OH MY GOD, people. It’s not even BAD.

Call me crazy. Maybe it’s because I’ve had a sweet tooth all my life. Or perhaps all those beer pong and flip cup games in college prepared me for chugging down stuff I didn’t necessarily want to drink. (I know my mom is extremely proud right now, HA.) But seriously… the sugary orange concoction? NOT A BIG DEAL. As is true with many things in life, I got myself all worked up because of the hype, and the hype turned out to be just that–hype.

While it’s certainly not something I would choose to drink, it went down pretty easily. It actually reminded me of those gallons of fruit drinks that we used to have during the summer as kids. Not KoolAid, but the pre-made, store-bought gallons that came in fruit punch, orange, and grape. I think they even served that stuff to us at Vacation Bible School.

About two minutes after I started drinking, I felt the baby start to practice somersaults in there. Pretty sure he/she enjoyed the sudden sugar rush.

After finishing the drink, I finished getting ready for work, packed up some cereal for myself to have at work after the blood draw, then headed to the lab. I waited around with the lab tech until it had been EXACTLY one hour since I had started the drink (Started: 7:57 a.m. Blood draw: 8:57 a.m.). A few vials of blood (which, if you’re pregnant, you’re completely used to by 27 weeks), and BOOM… done.

Now, let’s just hope my results come back OK. If I have to give up carbs, I’m going to be pissed.