I went for my regular check-up with my midwife today. It seems that there is a reason that I have a sort of quarter-sized bruise looking thing above my belly button. And that it's connected to my painful contractions-that-weren't-exactly-labor-type-contractions on Monday night. And that, when I looked at my profile in the mirror on Tuesday night was surprised that 1) the baby no longer seemed to be "dropped" as we had excitedly noticed last Saturday, and that 2) I thought I even looked bigger. David confirmed that I did seem bigger in my mid-section. And finally, that I was profoundly more tired. Not only is there a reason for all of this, it's all due to one thing:
Baby went breech on me!
I told the midwife about Monday night's events. She felt around my tummy and remarked, "yep - that's what I wondered. Her head is up here under your ribs." So, she gave me several exercises to do each day (including placing a bag of frozen peas on her head - supposedly it's quite effective because the baby doesn't like the cold on her head like that and will move away from it). I'm totally NOT looking forward to experiencing the feeling of her turning, again, but at the same time, I'll be glad when it happens. So long as she doesn't flip back into a breech position afterwards, anyway.
So - prayers are welcomed. I'm not worried about it at all, but since Heavenly Father has answered stranger requests, I'm certain He'll help with this one, too. It's not the end of the world if she is breech - it's just a lot easier if she was in the proper position... Thanks!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Winding Down…
Last night was a little adventurous. Folks who live in the area almost got called in for a sleepover. Four contractions in about 40 minutes. I was “one more” contraction away from getting David up and going to the hospital, but after the deep breathing exercises and constant prayer, that “one more” never came. However, since these were completely different than the usual “false labor” contractions I have been experiencing over the last two weeks or so (totally normal for this stage on a second timer, I’m told…) you might want to get your bids in on the due date pool. As I’m a little more fatigued today, too, I’m hoping this doesn't become a pattern until d-day.
Silly, silly, silly.
One of Adam’s favorite words lately is “silly.” Almost everything is designated “silly” though, after Sunday, I’m thinking that it’s more of a term of endearment to him than what it usually means to us. On Sunday, his lesson in Nursery was apparently about the Holy Ghost. He proudly told me that the Holy Ghost helps him to remember to pray and be good. He said that the Holy Ghost was a “big guy” (which we’ve come to understand as either powerful or good). His very next sentence was “silly Holy Ghost!” I’m really not sure how to address this, since it was really said with as much reverence as a two-and-a-half-year old can muster. I’m just concerned that if I set the record straight, he’ll figure out what I really mean when I tell him he’s being silly (during a crying fit when I don’t give him ice cream for breakfast, etc). It might be just as good to leave this one alone…
Such tender feelings…
Last week was a week. Oi was it a week. In retrospect (and even somewhat at the time), I knew that it was largely because of the adversarial bombardment David was receiving. However, it affected all of us, and in spite of my best personal efforts to keep things from coming apart at the seams, it really did take the guiding hand of God to keep it all together. It seems that Adam was affected right along with David and I because for about 3 days straight, my darling angel was replaced by something I hate to even think about my little boy becoming – a brat. And, of course, my deepest concern was that he might be developing traits that would make him a certifiable one and I spent a lot of time in prayer (and him in time out) trying to keep that from happening.
In the meantime, during his episodes of ultra-assertiveness, I needed to make a phone call to a friend. Typically, I can distract him with his puppy dog toy or just reason with him that he needs to let mommy talk and I have no problems. However, on this particular day, nothing was working and rather than having the talk I needed to with this friend, he was using his most loud voice and was in constant need of my attention (though when I would ask him what he needed, he would say “nothing” – ARGH!).
Finally, out of desperation, I locked myself in the bathroom and turned on the fan so I could focus 5 minutes on the phone call. He knows how to open the door and when determined enough, will do so. Having locked it, though, he was even more upset when it wouldn’t open. I finished my call and when I emerged from the bathroom, he tearfully (and forcefully) let me know that what I had done had “really hurt [his] feelings…”
Thankfully, my little angel was back on Friday. He’s really becoming aware of the world around him. He’s getting more excited about his baby sister. Mostly that is. Last Thursday, I visited my old office because I had agreed to go to lunch with a friend of mine. There are several therapists who work out of that office and one of them is a part-time savvy grandmother type. She asked Adam if he was excited about his baby sister. In one of the clearest voices I’ve heard him use he told her that he was “really worried.” She offered her card to him and told him to call her anytime he needed to talk.
We’re also struggling with getting him to be potty trained. He’s just plain terrified of the toilet. Most mornings I get him up with a dry diaper and he knows when he needs to go – he just won’t sit on the toilet. As much as it grosses me out, we’re going to try a separate potty chair rather than the special smaller seat that goes on the regular toilet to see if that helps. I’d REALLY like to have him trained before we’re buying diapers for his little sister, but we’ll see how that goes. I did get him to sit on the toilet for all of three seconds one day before his terror kicked in and he literally jumped off and into my arms. And, no – no amount of promises of ice cream and candy did anything. He only sat there for three seconds when I promised a bubble bath if he did.
I’m in really big trouble…
I’m always impressed with Adam’s memory. He can sing a song literally once or twice and he’s got at least several lines of it memorized, if not the whole song completely. I don’t hardly work with him at all on reading or the alphabet or printed numbers at all, but he knows them on sight. When we had a “Winter Weather Warning” flashing across the bottom of the TV screen a couple of weeks ago, he excitedly told me every time he saw a ‘W’ – and he was right! He’s pretty solid on ‘B’s and ‘S’s, too. He also remembers events that happened weeks or even a month ago. I’ve always known he was too smart for my own good, but now I know I’m in big trouble with a memory this solid!
Silly, silly, silly.
One of Adam’s favorite words lately is “silly.” Almost everything is designated “silly” though, after Sunday, I’m thinking that it’s more of a term of endearment to him than what it usually means to us. On Sunday, his lesson in Nursery was apparently about the Holy Ghost. He proudly told me that the Holy Ghost helps him to remember to pray and be good. He said that the Holy Ghost was a “big guy” (which we’ve come to understand as either powerful or good). His very next sentence was “silly Holy Ghost!” I’m really not sure how to address this, since it was really said with as much reverence as a two-and-a-half-year old can muster. I’m just concerned that if I set the record straight, he’ll figure out what I really mean when I tell him he’s being silly (during a crying fit when I don’t give him ice cream for breakfast, etc). It might be just as good to leave this one alone…
Such tender feelings…
Last week was a week. Oi was it a week. In retrospect (and even somewhat at the time), I knew that it was largely because of the adversarial bombardment David was receiving. However, it affected all of us, and in spite of my best personal efforts to keep things from coming apart at the seams, it really did take the guiding hand of God to keep it all together. It seems that Adam was affected right along with David and I because for about 3 days straight, my darling angel was replaced by something I hate to even think about my little boy becoming – a brat. And, of course, my deepest concern was that he might be developing traits that would make him a certifiable one and I spent a lot of time in prayer (and him in time out) trying to keep that from happening.
In the meantime, during his episodes of ultra-assertiveness, I needed to make a phone call to a friend. Typically, I can distract him with his puppy dog toy or just reason with him that he needs to let mommy talk and I have no problems. However, on this particular day, nothing was working and rather than having the talk I needed to with this friend, he was using his most loud voice and was in constant need of my attention (though when I would ask him what he needed, he would say “nothing” – ARGH!).
Finally, out of desperation, I locked myself in the bathroom and turned on the fan so I could focus 5 minutes on the phone call. He knows how to open the door and when determined enough, will do so. Having locked it, though, he was even more upset when it wouldn’t open. I finished my call and when I emerged from the bathroom, he tearfully (and forcefully) let me know that what I had done had “really hurt [his] feelings…”
Thankfully, my little angel was back on Friday. He’s really becoming aware of the world around him. He’s getting more excited about his baby sister. Mostly that is. Last Thursday, I visited my old office because I had agreed to go to lunch with a friend of mine. There are several therapists who work out of that office and one of them is a part-time savvy grandmother type. She asked Adam if he was excited about his baby sister. In one of the clearest voices I’ve heard him use he told her that he was “really worried.” She offered her card to him and told him to call her anytime he needed to talk.
We’re also struggling with getting him to be potty trained. He’s just plain terrified of the toilet. Most mornings I get him up with a dry diaper and he knows when he needs to go – he just won’t sit on the toilet. As much as it grosses me out, we’re going to try a separate potty chair rather than the special smaller seat that goes on the regular toilet to see if that helps. I’d REALLY like to have him trained before we’re buying diapers for his little sister, but we’ll see how that goes. I did get him to sit on the toilet for all of three seconds one day before his terror kicked in and he literally jumped off and into my arms. And, no – no amount of promises of ice cream and candy did anything. He only sat there for three seconds when I promised a bubble bath if he did.
I’m in really big trouble…
I’m always impressed with Adam’s memory. He can sing a song literally once or twice and he’s got at least several lines of it memorized, if not the whole song completely. I don’t hardly work with him at all on reading or the alphabet or printed numbers at all, but he knows them on sight. When we had a “Winter Weather Warning” flashing across the bottom of the TV screen a couple of weeks ago, he excitedly told me every time he saw a ‘W’ – and he was right! He’s pretty solid on ‘B’s and ‘S’s, too. He also remembers events that happened weeks or even a month ago. I’ve always known he was too smart for my own good, but now I know I’m in big trouble with a memory this solid!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Not such a ‘Beautiful Disaster’
In an effort to maximize the opportunities to use my food storage, I decided to embark on an experiment using the dried beans we have on hand. We have a LOT of them (a year’s worth for three adults), and rather than just eat a bazillion soups involving this musical legume, I thought I would do as was suggested by my favorite food storage website – foodstoragemadeeasy.net – and make flour out of some of the beans.
To their credit, they have never suggested doing anything with the bean flour except using it as a thickener in place of flour in various SAVORY dishes. However, being the enthusiast I am, and looking for a delicious substitute that will take it a little easier on my blood sugar and small intestine issues, I thought to try it as a 100% substitute in chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. After all, with the oats and chocolate to distract from any potential flavor given off by the beans, it would be the “safest” dessert experiment, right?
WRONG! What a disgusting outcome. Even as I type this, I have yet to get the aftertaste to leave my mouth. Please – whatever you do, do NOT use bean flour as a way to make a more nutritious/gluten free dessert! Even my tummy is not so sure what kind of prank I was trying to pull by ingesting that. And, what is worse, I tried a first cookie, and, discovering that the taste was not really to my liking, thought it might be because the cookie was not fully cooked, so grabbed one that was a little toastier. It was worse.
The flavor of the cookie is indescribable, but the aftertaste is sort of that of rotting peas. And, yes, I do know the flavor of rotting peas. It’s the flavor of the peas I tested in the garden before deciding whether to harvest or plow under (yes, they were plowed under). Ugh!
So – be forewarned – the use of bean flour may be okay in savory dishes where a small amount is called for in thickening, or even when combined with other flours, but steer clear of large amounts of bean flour used as 100% wheat flour substitute – particularly in sweet dishes. BLECH!
To their credit, they have never suggested doing anything with the bean flour except using it as a thickener in place of flour in various SAVORY dishes. However, being the enthusiast I am, and looking for a delicious substitute that will take it a little easier on my blood sugar and small intestine issues, I thought to try it as a 100% substitute in chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. After all, with the oats and chocolate to distract from any potential flavor given off by the beans, it would be the “safest” dessert experiment, right?
WRONG! What a disgusting outcome. Even as I type this, I have yet to get the aftertaste to leave my mouth. Please – whatever you do, do NOT use bean flour as a way to make a more nutritious/gluten free dessert! Even my tummy is not so sure what kind of prank I was trying to pull by ingesting that. And, what is worse, I tried a first cookie, and, discovering that the taste was not really to my liking, thought it might be because the cookie was not fully cooked, so grabbed one that was a little toastier. It was worse.
The flavor of the cookie is indescribable, but the aftertaste is sort of that of rotting peas. And, yes, I do know the flavor of rotting peas. It’s the flavor of the peas I tested in the garden before deciding whether to harvest or plow under (yes, they were plowed under). Ugh!
So – be forewarned – the use of bean flour may be okay in savory dishes where a small amount is called for in thickening, or even when combined with other flours, but steer clear of large amounts of bean flour used as 100% wheat flour substitute – particularly in sweet dishes. BLECH!
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