12 Weeks, 2nd Trimester

Time for a baby update!

I am finally feeling less nauseous. That's good. Less tired too. When I really need to pee sometimes I can feel the baby squirm. That's uncomfortable but reassuring.

I inventoried what baby stuff we still have (re: didn't sell at garage sale in June or give away) and realized that we have all we need. We kept what we used, but for clothes. I might need to get another pack and play......maybe. I'd like a new sling and I have my eye on a website that does custom silk and Solarveil, a local mama at that. Those things will wait until May. My sister suggested that I just register for loads of diapers. That's funny because that's all Dearest Husband wanted to register for with Lil'Bug: diapers. It is funny how experience can dampen the effect of Pottery Barn ads, eh?

Lil'Bug is excited. She sometimes says she is worried about being a helper or a big sister/brother and now and then expresses anxiety about sharing. She also says she has a baby in her belly too. Cute. This does get varied reactions from people.....

I'm a bit nervous as to how our dynamic will change too. I know there is more of a difference between one and two children than any more after that. I am a little tired of hearing that Lil'Bug NEEDS a sibling. We are welcoming a baby, but she doesn't need one just as she doesn't not need one. I'm also tired of hearing people say snottily about moms of one, "Yes, BUT she only has one......" What does that mean? The best moms I know have one child, some of the other best moms have 2-3-4-+. I know the dynamic is different, but I fail to see how it makes one a better mom.

That's it. I had the monthly check up with my midwife today. All stats are fine, baby eluded the heartbeat Doppler for a bit, but we found the beat eventually: good and steady and fast! So far so good. :)

Confirmation that zero fibroids is such a wonderful thing. That means that so far, nothing stands in my way for having a healthy VBAC. We had quite a chat about the missing fibroids too, my research and theories- her research and theories. It really is quite an amazing thing that has happened.

I have decided to use doulas again. Since I won't have my choice of the doctor who attends the birth (of the 7 in the office I visit and that's my choice if I want to be under the care of this Midwife who I trust and feel comfortable with....) and my extended family are mostly far away- I am building our birth team. I plan on having Dearest Husband, 2 doulas, and maybe a mama friend. Lil'Bug if she wants to, but Nana and Grampa will be close by to help with her if she gets overwhelmed or scared. I have decided to have a note made in my chart to not offer me narcotics. I didn't do that last time and I tend to be a weenie in the hospital, if they'd offered to shave my head I would have nodded and said, "whatever you think is best..." Weenie. I have a selection of music for my Nano and I ma searching for a good book to read. Reading is the one and only thing that relaxes me.

What other things am I missing? I have plenty of time to think about it. If you don't mind sharing, what kinds of things did you do? Any other VBAC'ers read here?

Trimmin' the Synthetic Tree Substitution

We set up our fake tree last night. It was meant to be an all day event BUT we decided to put it in a corner that had no baseboard trim and so such had to be found in our architectural salvage pile, cut, and installed. Then cleaned. Then the tree and accoutrement's had to be located, cleaned, sorted, and THEN the lights didn't work and had to be spliced and repaired. Not the holly jolly time we had been looking forward to.

During the course of our search for our one little, tiny box of childhood ornaments the thought occurred: When did families, our families, go from decking the tree in kid made, collected, and personal ornaments to a Martha Stewart designer competition for the perfect home decor? When did our childhood art/fun ornaments get relegated to dump box in favor of plastic and glass perfection on a hook? So why am I inheriting that? I don't have to- it's a choice, not a tradition.

When did our lives get like that? How do we undo the damage of "look, don't touch/eat"?

Historically trees were trimmed with presents, food, and paper craft. Next year, when we have a new old house, we will have a real tree with real ornaments made by our very real family. This year we will enjoy what we have and add what we can. This year we added candy canes to offer guests and we will be adding more as the weeks go by. It will still be beautiful, but touchable.

Turkey Noodles

Turkey Tetrazzini

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 package uncooked spaghetti
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cups seasoned chicken broth
• 1/2 cup milk, 1 cup half & half
  
• 1 + 1/4 cups shredded Parmesan (Asiago and Romano blend, yum) cheese
• 2 cups chopped cooked turkey
• 2 coves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain, and place in the prepared baking dish.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion
   
4. Stir in flour. Mix in chicken broth and milk/cream. Cook and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Stir in about 1 cup Parmesan cheese, and remove from heat.
5. Mix chicken broth mixture and turkey with spaghetti. Top with remaining cheese. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until surface is lightly browned.

Even better and leftovers the next day, which is funny to me since I made it with leftovers......
I got the base recipe off of allrecipes but changed it a bit according to the reviews and what I had on hand. Enjoy!
* Note: Lil'Bug calls it Turkey Noodles.

Our Traditions for Turkey Day

Our traditions here are fairly new, as in about 11 years old. That's how long we've been together. We go to the in-law's, we don't cook, we try to help and end up getting in the way, we enjoy good food, my dearest picks a fight with his brother, everyone but brother has a good laugh. We pack up the leftovers and head home.

I think the food is the tradition. We always have turkey, sweet potato casserole laden with marshmallows, mashed potatoes, and a green Jell-o and nut "salad". This year grandma is in Texas for the holiday, we miss her.

This is Dearest Husband making the gravy. Gravy is very important to him.


This year we almost didn't have candied yams. Yikes. I am so glad we did. I love the marshmallow-y goodness. Nana is adding the marshmallows. Yummy.


Grampa carves the turkey breast. I don't have many pictures of Grampa. I got one today!


LIl'Bug waits hungrily at the table. This is her first year not in an elevated high chair. She was so excited!


Ah yes. This is Uncle J. Oh wait. Where is he? Dinner started 45 minutes late.....where could he be? No problem. He's still at home. We called to check. Don't worry, being late to holiday feasts is his tradition. :)


So, upon reflecting on this glorious day, (a day that started for me at 5AM with Lil'Bug's latest bout of "bad poopies".....) I asked my dearest if he realized that I, at age 30, have never cooked Thanksgiving dinner? That this year all my offers to help or cook something were refused? I then asked him if I am really that bad of a cook?

"Yup," he replied, barely looking up from his computer. Then, in response to my stunned silence, he offered, "You're just inexperienced and Nana doesn't need that stressing her out in the kitchen...." He blathered on for a bit but I decided to change the subject, as my heart, fueled by sleep deprivation and pregnancy hormones, was totally broken. Just know that despite the attempted change in subject I ended up in tears. He thought he was being funny, I was over sensitive about it.

You see, I burned myself last week re-heating cheese noodles. Not an, "Ouch, that hurt," burn....a full on, thumb blistered and bleeding burn that is still healing. Then yesterday I burned the same hand, re-scorched the thumb, added the next two fingers to the emergency. My tot now knows about 17 new swear words, hearing them spew from my mouth and I cried and screamed in pain. How did I do this, you might ask? Stupid. I am a walking accident in the kitchen. I always have been. I decided to wash the stove top, but first boiled water and made a cup of tea. The grate was hot, I forgot I had just boiled water using the front burner, and grabbed it to throw it in the sink to soak. Gah. It still hurts. Yay for ice packs.

So instead of being pissed off and really sad, I am grateful that my talents are acknowledged and that means, for one day, I don't have to cook food or clean my kitchen or maim myself in the process of either. This one day I got to take lots of pictures, take a nap, AND eat pumpkin pie. Cool.