New Years Eve 2012

So just a reminder to moms who are breastfeeding and drinking tomorrow nurse before you drink and then don't nurse again for 2-3 hours maybe even 4 ... also pumping and dumping does not help get the alcohol out faster .... when your alcohol blood levels are down then your Milk levels are down as well .. makes sense :]]

Reference one

http://www.kellymom.com/health/lifestyle/alcohol.html

reference two

http://www.babycenter.com/0_alcohol-and-nursing-moms_3547.bc

reference three

http://community.babycenter.com/journal/biologybrain/559055/alcohol_content_of_breast_milk



So any ways .... where was i??


So my plans for new years eve are ...

My love and I and some of our friends are going to invest in a nice bottle of ta-kill-ya (tequila) and have a good time probably talk some politics and such ... but just to let everyone know ... i will be nursing Alisyn at or around 11pm and then she will be sleeping for 6 hours .... per her night time sleep schedule :]] i will however only be taking one shot and that will be when the clock strikes midnight! also if for some reason she wakes up and is still hungry ... i have plenty of frozen breast milk!! lol but even with only one shot id still be good to nurse but ... id rather wait it out to nurse :]]



HAVE A SAFE AND WONDERFUL NEW YEARS!!!!!

Alisyn's 1st Christmas

Well let just say that Christmas this year was tons of work LOL Alisyn always seemed to be hungry! and i had to make 30 enchiladas and 20 empanadas! it was a juggling act to say the least but we did it .. only an hour past the start time LOL but we got er done and the food turned out AMAZING! we got some very awesome pictures taken and Alisyn got tons of toys and a cute outfit from the Boyles. It was such a wonderful family function and Alisyn was a little ham ♥ but thats ok with me because shes just so cute i don't think she can help it! Then we went to my moms where Alisyn got some more outfits from Grandma and from one of my nurses i used to work with :]] . She was ready for bed thats for sure! i slept for a good 6hours that night .. so all in all i think her first Christmas was a smashing success!

Our lil Fam Bam♥


Alisyn in her Christmas dress♥

3weeks and a day♥

So Alisyn and I had an appt today .. and i had them weigh her because ive been very scared that shes not gaining weight due the the reflux .. and well she gained 1lbs!! in a week i might add :]] im super excited she is doing awesome ... her latch gets better by the day :]] thats it for now ... have a wonderful Christmas and a safe and wonderful New Year!

Growth Spurt + Sore nipples = No GOOD!

So on Friday Alisyn decided she was going to have a growth spurt .. If you don't know what the entails let me tell ya about it ... She was nursing constantly .. the only time she wasn't on the boob was when she took short cat naps .. i had to hold my pee all day!! or at least until daddy came home. On Saturday is wasn't quiet as bad but she was still nursing every two hours ... for 30 mins to an hour ... and then she would take a cat nap and be ready to chow down some more! and today well shes doing a lot better eating every 3 hours again and sleeping in between feedings.


Sore Nipples ...

Ya can you say OUCH! my left has a terrible case of soreness(it is raw!) i tried using lanolin cream and ive tried expressed breast milk and i have even been walking around for the past two days with my shirt pulled all the way up! well today its a little bit better i hardly nurse her on my left side only when it is full do i let her do a full feeding(like leaking) on it and i can grin a bear it, i have discovered the wonderful side laying position of nursing where i can lay in bed lay Alisyn tummy to tummy and nurse her while i doze off! and let me tell ya it if wasn't for this position i would have never made it! its very easy to nurse in this position and it doesn't seem to hurt my left side as bad when i nurse in this position. i have a meeting with an LC on the 22nd to have her watch a feeding so she can tell me if Alisyn is latching good or not... i cant say she has a bad latch because my right which she has been nursing on for the most part the last 3 days is fine where as my left for the past 3 days has been sore :/ so i think it might mean sometimes its a good latch and sometimes its a bad latch or it could be my positioning and hers.

Two weeks and a day old ♥

Well Alisyn had her 2 week check up today and she gained 8 1/2oz! and she grew 1 1/2 inches! so she is now 7lbs 3oz and is 20 1/2inches long! im so relieved that she gain that much weight and even excited that she grew taller!

With her reflux which her doc put her on meds(the gripe water was not working for her)i was worried that she wasn't gaining weight but she is at about an oz a day is what the doc said. She had her second PKU test today , i felt so bad for her when they had to take her blood i wanted to cry because she was screaming bloody murder! After they were done and i picked her up she gave me this look like 'how could you let them hurt me mom" and well it ripped at my heart to say the least!

Alisyn's doc also brought up me not vaccinating her and when i told her were not going to and that the only shot she will get will be the Tetanus shot when she is 2+ years old, she didn't fight or argue with me she just said " well we've seen quite a bit of whooping cough so far this winter so just be careful if you take her out this winter" and that was the end of that ... very glad i didn't have to get into an argument with her because i really like her. :]]

Also just to let everyone know how my nursing is going

its going AMAZING! The first night i had to use the shield at night but after the first night i didn't need it at all, so now all i have to do is whip out my boob LOL ... and let me tell ya its so much easier then dealing with the shield! Sometimes she fights me but i figured out its because im to "full" and so its harder for her to latch on right, not sure how to fix that but im sure we'll figure something out :]]


P.S. if your really adamant about breastfeeding don't give up on your child and yourself ... because YOU CAN do it! look at all the trouble we had ... but we kept at it and over came the obstacles and look at us now! just remember YOU CAN YOU CAN!!!!!

BYE BYE NIPPLE CONFUSION!

So as i said in my last post Alisyn HAD nipple confusion!

I tried everything to beat it and WE finally did .... TONIGHT! We tried the SNS and well she wouldn't even attempt to latch ... so i reverted back to the nipple shield and she latched! and she was using the shield for about 4 or 5 days until tonight when out of the blue I tried to get her to latch without the shield and well it worked! it was at the end of a feeding so i didn't expect her to go long and well she went for about a minute or so and then she fell asleep. So next time she was hungry i tried right out of the gate without the shield and she did an entire feeding without the shield! and she just finished another feeding without the shield ... im stoked to say the least! I am however a little scared to see how she will be during the night without it ... My daughter is a quick learner , she is also very strong for a almost 2 week old baby... it makes mama and daddy proud ♥ .


Reflux and the battle wages on ....


So we went to a doc appt today to get Alisyn tested for reflux because to me it seemed like she was spitting up more then the norm, and well the doc who did the test said she did have reflux but the she would prob grow out of it and the as long as it wasn't projectile not to worry to much .. but worry i shall until i find out if she is gaining weight. I think she has gained some weight, she is a little poop machine! not to mention when she pees well she pees tons LOL. She has her 2 week check up on Thursday and i will post again to let everyone know hows she is doing.

P.S. i am using Mother Bliss Gripe Water to help with her reflux, it is only day 2 and not sure how its doing yet so i will keep everyone updated on that as well :]]

Nipple confusion

WEll as i said my daughter has nipple confusion , with that being said her peds doc gave me and SNS and my friend is going to come help me with it tomorrow and she'll also be try to help with the latch. If she can help me well then im going to go to the hospital to get help from the LC, and hope that she can help because if my daughter wont/cant latch by the end of the week , then im moving on to plan B and that is eping(pumping) instead of having her at the boob, most people think this makes you dry up (there are many success stories of woman eping for a year or more!), well i cant speak yet but i have been getting about 3oz from each side per pumping session. so finner crossed she'll latch but if not i got this covered LOL.




SNS

6 days old ...

So alisyn is now six days old! she is wonderful! i am trying to correct nipple confusion ... as of now i am pumping away .. but let me tell ya its not the funnest thing to do! i hurts pretty bad when you have milk blisters and blocked duct :/ but i am making a SNS so i can finger feed her till she get the suck down then i will try the latch again ... wish me luck!Alisyn is such a good baby she is so strong! she rolled over when she was getting pictures taken on sat so she was only 4 days old then! it was crazy i couldnt believe she did it ... not to mention she also peed on everything (we were getting some naked pictures).... hmmmmm what else ... OH YEA she does this cute little face that makes me think of a turtle LOL its the cutest thing ever! she also sleeps very well during the night , im up every 2-3 hours to pump and she up when im done to eat and then we both go back to sleep :]] she loves to cuddle up with daddy! its one of the cutest things i have ever seen when i see the two loves of my life cuddling together♥ i will post again when i try out the SNS and let everyone know how its goes from there :]] as for now I LOVE MY LIFE AS A NEW MOMMY!



Alisyn 6 days old


My Fav Pic of her ... so far lol

A day at the spa turns into a stay at the hospital

A day at the spa ... 11/29/11

I went to a free spa day with my friend Chelsea, i got a 30 min chair massage and a 20 min dry hydrotherapy massage and then 15 mins in a "red light" bed ... and boy was i feeling relaxed! so when Chelsea and I finished with our spa day we went home and i started my caster oil regiment which was ... walking on a gazelle for 15 mins then taking a table spoon of caster oil then walking for 30 mins on the gazelle then taking a second tablespoon of caster oil then walking for another 30 mins .... i finished around 5ish and then i started feeling some contractions so i was super stoked to say the least that it might of taken , so i took a shower got dressed and headed over to Chelsea's place to help with dinner which was some yummy chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese (with real block cheese:]]) so we made dinner er should i say Chelsea did lol as she made dinner we heard the boys pull up(my love and Ryan) they had just gotten back from shooting all afternoon while us ladies had our spa day lol so they came in and we all ate then the boys went out side to hang Christmas lights while they climbed on the roof i go to the bathroom (im having some good contractions by then) and well i go back into the kitchen and sit at the bar and all i hear is this POP i don't know it if inside my head or not lol then i get this gush! and all i was thinking was why didn't this happen then i sitting on the toilet LOL ... so here i am yelling for Chelsea who had went outside and when she come back inside i tell her i need a towel and i need her to tell my love that my water broke ... so she goes and tells him and he thinks she is messing around so he takes his sweet time coming off the roof and when he comes inside he looks and me and i tell him and he still thinks im playing around! and i tell him it really broke and all he does is keeps asking me "are you sure it broke?" and i looked and him and said "yea im more then sure it broke!" so off i go my pants soaked and all to my house(i live next door pretty much so i walked there) and change clothes and im super stoked that it was really happening! so i get dressed and get my stuff together and off we go to the hospital ... my love asking me the whole way there are you sure it broke ... are you sure we need to go to the hospital?? and so on lol (i love him to death!) so we get to the hospital and get checked in and i changed into my own night gown and wait to be checked ....


The Hospital... 11/29/11

I got admitted to the hospital at 8ish and got checked and was told i was 3cm dilated and that i had some meconium which made me sad ... because its very common for that to happen if the baby is under stress :/ which made me feel bad ... but there was nothing i could do about it and i knew she would be out soon ... with that said we were waiting for our room to get cleaned and low and behold my mother in law and father in law show up bless their hearts! well so we then got transferred into my room and my sister was next to show up and one of the first things she asked me was if i was for the epidural... and i laughed and said no :]] i was just bouncing away on the birthing ball when my mom showed up..and then Sherri and Brianna showed up last ... then the contractions really started to kick in around 10ish and i was getting the tub ready for me and i was told i was 5 almost a 6 dilated so i then got in the tub and had my love play some jack johnson and i was relaxing and trying to as the nurse said make it through the peak which lasts about 30 seconds per contraction, the water was getting cold and i wanted to stretch out a little bit so i got out if the tub and got back on the birthing ball and got checked again around midnight and i was told i was a 7 almost an 8 dilated....

day 2 (after midnight now) 11/30/11

i was bouncing on the ball and my love was rubbing my back to try and help me ... by this time the pressure and contractions were overwhelming to say the least! i wasn't feeling the ball any more so i went for a stroll down the hallway (bad idea!) it seemed to make the contraction worse not better! so i had to stop quite a few time and im not going to lie i broke down and told my love i couldn't do it and that was when he told me i could and that i was doing amazing and that i was almost done.... so we turned a corner and he used the bathroom and i had a horrid contraction come on and as it was wearing off Brianna my niece came out of the waiting room and i looked at her and said dont you ever have kids bre! and then my love came out and we continued back to my room when we got there i wanted to get checked again around 1ish and was told i was 8 and thinned and i was going mad i tell you ... i wanted it to be over with so bad i kept telling my nurse i couldn't do it and she kept reassuring me that i could she told me that she did it with her kids and that i could do it because im that strong ... and so on it went .. the nurse had my raise the head of the bed and get on my knees and sway my hips which would help speed up labor and let me tell you it did but it hurt and i could not stand it! so i got on my side and held on to the rail and rocked my body back and fourth and then the nurse checked me again this was around 1:30is 1:45sih and said i was in transition and with that i saw the light but only for a second because before i could be optimistic i felt major pressure and a equally as bad contraction and i was screaming but not to much and i never once yelled at my love and i never once yelled at the nurses .. i wanted to really yell at myself for coming up with this idea that i could do this! at around 2 i had one the worse i have ever felt and i saw and heard my sis in law Sherri jump up from her chair and say she was going to get the nurse ... and i heard my love tell bre "go get your mom and tell her to calm down" well thank goodness she did go get the nurse because i was ready to push! and so the real fun began! they were telling me to keep my breathing calm and steady and i did i knew i didn't want to stress the baby out anymore and that i didn't want to pass out and by that time my doctor had came in and sat back in a chair and watched the proceeding ... he reminded me of like a king or something LOL well then it was time for him to get involved and i had to really start pushing so i could meet my baby girl .. so i was holding onto the rail and pushing with all my might!(dont ask if i pooped because i have no idea! and i don't care..) they told me then to turn on my side a push so there i was holding one leg up and pushing ... i can only image what i looked like LOL well i kept at it and i had some complications ... i was very small and the baby was having a hard time that's when my doc told me he was going to help me out and well he helped stretch me ... and it was not very gentle! but it help somewhat but not enough i still had to get a very small episiotomy but it was worth it because of the position i was in i was able to see my daughter come out of me and even my placenta! (big old meat bag! lol)they put my daughter on my belly and rubbed
her back to make her cry .. she took a min or so but she did it ... it was just very moist sounding :/ so they did weighed her and did all that stuff and told me to hold her before they took her to the nursery :/ i was very scared so i asked if my love could go with her and they let him .. she ended up having to be suctioned out and had to have oxygen blown on her face so she could breath right :/ i had to get two shots to clot my blood because i was loosing to much .. and then i had to lay there in bed a have them push on my stomach so my uterus would start to contract and to get all the blood clots out ... they then left me in my room for awhile and when they came back in to feel my stomach ..once they pushed on it it was like a dam breaking ... i just started gushing blood all over again :/ it soon slowed down and then stop besides the normal blood loss that occurs after pregnancy .. i didn't get to see my daughter till 5am that's almost 3 hours after i had her ... i went into the nursery and saw our daughter and i asked if i could hold her and they said no ... i started to cry because once again i felt like it did that to her :/ and i couldn't do anything to help her... so they took me back to my room and i laid in bed a cried and my love tried to comfort me but i was to upset to let what he was saying sink in ... so then around 7:30am i got told she could breath on her own and so i went to see her and i held her i then asked if i could nurse her and was told no once again because she had fluid in her lungs and they they think it could be TTN (where some of the meconium got into her lungs) or it could be a case of phenomena so she was NPO (nothing my mouth) until 12:30 pm when i saw her again and was told i could now nurse her ... she didn't latch on so i decided to pump everything i could because i knew she need what i had to offer more then ever if she was sick .. so i talked to the lactation lady adn had a pump sent to my room ... i was surprised to see how much i was pumping (at that time it was only a syringe full) so i would pump then i would take it to her to feed her with it and the rest i would have frozen until she was hungry again.... i asked if she could room in with me and they once again told me no ... so off i went feeling sad again! but i just kept pumping and thinking about her and praying for her ... around 4pm they came into my room and said she could now room in ... it was like my prayers were answered :]] she had an iv in her little arm it make me sad just thinking about it :/ but i was informed that her white blood cells were elevated and that only happens if she has an infection so they needed to start iv meds ... i was not happy about it but i figured they knew how to fix it better then i did this time ... so i said ok and she had to get iv meds for 48 hours ...


Day 2 12/01/11

she still wasn't latching on but i was pumping so much that i wasn't to worried about the latch i was just happy i could still feed her! i made a joke when my mom was visiting that i felt like a cow lol my love and my mom started cracking up :]] it was nice to hear laughter instead of my baby crying in pain from the poking and prodding from the nurses ... i had a nurse that night that would come in every time i would lay my Alisyn down and wake her up for her temp of b/p ... it was always something! so she would wake her up and have her screaming bloody murder! and it mad me so mad!!! and when i would finally get her calm and ready for bed here she would come again! ... around 4 o'clock she said she needed to fix alisyn's iv so i said OK and let her take her and i fell asleep and when i woke in a startle to find she still has not been returned at 5:30am i started pumping because i knew she would be hungry and then i went on the hunt! and i found her in the nursery the nurse said her o2 was to low and that she need oxygen ... but what i couldnt understand was how id all of a sudden dropped when i was with her night/day and it was fine ... so i picked her up and tried to feed her and she wouldn't wake up because she was so tired from them keeping her up all night! so i waited until the lab person showed up and took blood from her after she did that she was wake and crying i was happy that i could finally feed her but not happy how it went about ... then my daughters Peds Doc showed up and the nurse explain the o2 situation to her and the doc was just as confused as i was .. when the nurse left the doc reassured me that it was probably nothing ... i was with that answer :]]


The final day , day 3

Alisyn was cleared about the o2 and the xrays and she was fine no TTN or pneumonia :]] she was eating a ton and i was pumping more then enough for her needs :]] so we were golden! the peds doc came around noonish and said she was cleared to go after her iv antibiotics were finished ... and when they came in to do them i was super happy that we could go home soon and that she could have that damn iv removed! so it finished and she had to do her new born screening which she passed! and we were home free!




that is the gist of my 6 and a half hour L&D and our stay at the hospital :]]

** i had Alisyn Monroe Ritchie at 2:21am on 11/30/11 she weighed 6lbs 15 oz
i did it all natural no pain meds
and i firmly believe my L&D went so fast because i took EPO :]]

39 weeks

So i went to the docs today which im super glad i had an appt today .. i started leaking fluid in the wee hours of the morning ... so i researched what it was happening and i read that it was normal and i read that it meant my water was leaking , so i got excited thinking my water was going to break today and i would be bale to have my lil girl in my arms no such luck :/ i went in and had to get 3 test done and had to get hooked up to a continuous fetal monitor they thought i was leaking because my membranes were ruptured ... thank goodness the test came back neg and my membranes are just find :]] so i got sent home from the hospital and i was in good spirits until i asked if i was dilated and my doc said no .. but i forgot to ask if i was thinned .. darn me!! so i was kinda bummed , i am leaking fluid but i was told not to worry about it because i have enough fluid in my tum tum :]] so i went to the store got my red raspberry leaf tea and some caster oil tomorrow i will be walking on the gazelle for a very long time trying to coax her out .. if the caster oil dont take then i guess ill let her cook some more :]] but we shall see ..


Hooked up to the continuous fetal monitor

8 days left to go / Banana Nut Bread

Making some Banana Nut bread to help calm myself down ... not been a good day ... dont know what put me in this bad mood but let me tell ya i sure am on one! its bad because like my love keeps telling me the more i stress the more the baby is stressed! and i feel like crap because of it .. i just dont know how to snap out of it :/ ... i took a long bath earlier and that seemed to help but then i took a trip to walmart and well ... lets just say i came out with a worse attitude then i had when i went in!!! not good ... but oh well i only have 8 days till my EDD , i go into the docs tomorrow to be checked , then i have to talk to a few Peds Docs for my lil girl, i was told that if i have a natural birth with no pain meds and no complications and my lil girl is nice and healthy and my doc and her peds docs signs off then i DONT have to stay over night in the hosp! which would be super nice ... because im sure im going to want to go home and relax with my daughter and love instead of staying in a hosp without my love and not to mention the interruptions that im sure would happen more often then not there! i dont want to be woken up by anyone unless its my daughter or my love ... so finners crossed that i get a peds doc that will sign off on me, i cant wait to see how far along i am, i feel like she is super low i get contractions quite a bit now , they just don't hurt that bad i mean they are uncomfortable but they dont hurt ... and i have yet to lose my plug or at least im not sure if i have lol ... well i shall update tomorrow after my interview and my appt!

2 days from being 39 weeks


as for the bread this is the receipt i used :

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

Turkey Day!

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

Well i am currently baking two cream cheese pumpkin pies .. i tried the batter and it was yummy so i hope they taste as good ... im also making a sour cream topping for one of the pies .. im very worried that my pie crust will burn which would make me cry! but if it happens i can always go buy more pie crust i reckon, So tonight i am going to my moms for a late Thanksgiving dinner, i cat wait ... if there is one thing my mom can do is cook! it'll be nice because it will be a small gathering not a huge affair ... which is nice because i don't have to make/bring anything lol then tomorrow my love has to work a 12hr shift due to black Friday which makes me sad because he'll be 2hrs late to his family's thanksgiving dinner :/ but i on the other hand will be free until that dinner so i plan to do some black Friday shopping at some baby store with my friend/family Christine ... my love is so scared of me going but i refuse to stay home and miss the awesome sales! he is scared ill get trampled and like i told him were going at 9ish not midnight or 6am lol plus i think it will be good for me :]] i only have 12 days left and then my due date will be here ... with my daughter i hope lol! well i will check in tomorrow after my eventful day tomorrow and let you know how i did with the sales and how the pies turned out! i will also post the receipt for the cream cheese pumpkin pies as well as the sour cream topping.


HAVE A WONDERFUL AND SAFE TURKEY DAY!


Receipt for the cream cheese pumpkin pie is

8oz cream cheese (room temp)
2 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (slightly beaten)
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 cup melted butter
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Sour cream topping

2 cups sour cream
1/3 cu sugar(or to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla(or to taste)

BOTH PIES WERE DELISH!!!

Cream cheese pumpkin pie

Cream Cheese Pumpkin pie with a sour cream topping

Homemade Butterscotch Cookies

So my love loves cookies and when i mentioned making some butterscotch cookies i think he started to drool! lol so there i went to make some cookies


the receipt i used for the cookies
*i used butterscotch chips in place of chocolate chips
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/best-big-fat-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie/detail.aspx

They taste divine!

16 days and counting (first run in with BH contractions)

So yeasterday was a normal day for me, went to my nieces 3rd birthday party , got home cleaned a little bit and got dinner going the usual, well my love comes home and suprises me with the new kindle fire (my xmas present) and so after dinner i started to mess around with it and totally ignored the BSU game that was playing(not like me im a huge fan!) we had some friends come over and after the game we watched some political stuff, then not even 5mins after our last friend left i start having these painful contractions .... not going to lie the first one brought tears to my eyes because until then i have yet to have any powerful contractions! i knew what it was but that didnt help i tried walking around and that made it worse tried drinking water that didnt help so i went to bed and laid down on my back (it hurt to much to be moving around in bed) and they finally started to taper off , i did try to time them and they were 10-15 mins apart but they could of been further apart as i fell asleep shortly after they stopped. My love was so scared and he told me he hates seeing me in pain :/ i hate seeing him upset ... but like i told him all the pain i have to go through will ultimately make the joy after words that much more wonderful! i said i could get pain meds and be numb to having our daughter and then still feel some joy after all the meds ware off ... but i dont want that i want to feel every contraction and know when my bobdy is telling me to push not some nurse who dont know my body and cant feel my baby! So i laid down on my left side and i was out like a light! they must of taken alot out of me those contractions :]] when i woke this morning i had the same dull pain im my pelvis as i did last night but that was it, i could walk and not even a little bit of pain so im sure its just her moving lower and getting ready to meet us.


So that's my first run in with BH contractions

Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

so tonight for dinner i will be making Broccoli and Cheddar soup for the first time! Broccoli and Cheddar soup is my all time favorite soup! i hope i can do it justice! I also made some homemade bread sticks i sure hope they turn out fluffy in stead of hard!


the receipt im using is
**i used fresh broccoli instead of frozen and i did not have white pepper so i used black

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/broccoli-and-cheddar-soup

the receipt im using for the bread sticks is
http://jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com/2009/10/quick-and-easy-breadsticks.html

i will post pics after its made and of course ill also share how it tastes!



The soup is DELISH! as well as the bread sticks!!!

homemade french bread

People also suggested that i write about the food i make ... so here is goes...

I love to cook/bake it give me a feeling of accomplishment when i pull out the fragrant food that i know i prepared! Last night i made a wonderful Lemon bread .. it turned out delish to say the least! i have in the course of two weeks made pumpkin chocolate chip bread,banana nut bread, and now the lemon bread, i started baking more often due to the fact i wanted to start freezing the remainder of the food. I will be starting to make meals to freeze this week, those meals will be Lasagna, Broccoli and Cheese soup, and Chicken enchiladas. For Thanksgiving which due to my families over whelming support for BSU will be held on Nov 26th lol I will be making homemade pumpkin pie ... this will be a first for me .. i will not be making a homemade pie crust , i want to get the filling down before i try making the crust and filling :]].



So on the Menu for dinner tonight will be Spaghetti Squash... if you have yet to try Spaghetti Squash i highly recommend trying it, you will never want to eat spaghetti noodles again!



its very simple to make...
all you do it buy a spaghetti squash
cut it in half
take out the seeds and membranes like you would a pumpkin
place it in a baking sheet rind side up with some water in the bottom of the pan
then bake for 40-45mins at 350 degrees
then let cool so you dont burn your hands
then with a fork scrape out the inners
and top with your fav spaghetti sauce


there is a crunch to the noodles which reminds me of onions without the flavor:]]




along with the spaghetti squash i am attempting to make homemade french bread ...
its now set aside to rise ... i will post a pic when it is done and let everyone know how it taste :]]




About to go into the oven :]]






Baked and ready to eat ... (i tried it and its DELISH!)

Breaking Dawn Premier

So i went to the 12:01 showing of Breaking Dawn pt.1, we got there at 7:30pm so we could beat the rush. well we did beat the rush, we were with in the first 30 people :]] , so here i am 8 1/2 months pregnant lowering myself to the ground not thinking anything of it (i can still get up and down kinda well on my own) until i looked around and everyone is staring at me and asking me if i wanted a chair! which i later on ended up accepting that offer, it felt a lot better then sitting on the hard ground with no back support! I ended up not being stationary for very long (i kept going in and out of line) so i might of made people upset but OH WELL , then 9:00pm rolls around and we're about to get seated into the theaters and they tell everyone that they are taking free pictures and well i had to get one with Miranda and Bri ... but bri chickened out so it was just Miranda and myself lol, we then got seated in theater 2 and i must say we got some awesome seats! besides the couple that was behind us (dont get me started!) and so our wait began again just in comfy chairs this time lol ... when it finally hit 12:01 and the movie wasnt playing due to previews Bri was like hyperventilating! when the movie first came on everyone cheered ... but no one said a word until the end. the movie its self was amazing! i couldnt of been happier with the movie! i wont leak anything on here because i think everyone should see it! but all in all it was a wonderful night out with the girls! until we had to leave the parking lot ... i almost went up to a random car and yelled at the driver! we ended up finding the back way out and i must say i felt bad for the people who tried to to find a way out through the entrances lol then off to jack in the box to get some food and we all had to pee very bad (it didnt help that Alisyn kept hitting my bladder!) so when we ordered our food and got up to the window i told the lady that "this 8 1/2 month pregnant chick has to pee and that ive been holding it for 2 hours!" she right away let us go into the lobby and use the bathrooms! she was very nice about it and we thanked her profusely! then i got home and fell into bed ... even though what i really wanted to do was wake my love up and tell him all about the movie but i knew he would rather sleep then talk twilight lol (he hates the movies... can you believe that lol ).

well there you have it the gist of my night :]]



Miranda,Bri and I

20 days and counting!

So i now only have 20 days until my daughter is here!! I feel so much anxiety about her coming ... but not in a bad way .. i feel excited that shes almost here but i feel scared that i might mess things up , or that something bad will happen .... all these what ifs are killing me! i know what i want for my daughter and my family in general but have i covered all my bases ... i say that i wont need time off from work (i run an in-home daycare) but what happens if i get over whelmed that first day and i realize that i cant be a new mom and watch kids .... i know i should be able to do it i mean look at all the moms that have more then one kid! i mean at the very most ill be watching 6 kids it seems like a lot and it probably is but i know if i can put my mind to it i will be able to handle it , but the question is can my new born daughter handle it?? i want her to be around noise and other kids but will she get over whelmed?? shell have her own room upstairs that has her bassinet and i can always lay her down in there with the baby monitor ... does that make me a bad parent for laying her down so i can focus on the other kids?? i have so much running threw my mind and shes not even here yet! i guess ill have to do trial and error to find the common ground with watching the kids and spending time with my daughter ... oh and did i mention that im going to be nursing! that's another big hurdle because i dont want to nurse in front of the kids but i cant leave them unattended ... i will be getting a nursing blanket to cover myself but how do i explain to the other children what im doing and what happens if shes nursing and i need to tend to the other kids??? i know i would choose nursing my daughter versus changing a movie or getting lunch ready for the other kids just because i know they are older and can wait to be feed or can wait to have me change a movie or get the toys ...



I just need to get these thing out of my mind and into the open
on a good note here is a wonderful picture mt friend Vanessa took of me back in October

How i want my L&D to go ...

AS NATURAL AS POSSIBLE!


With that said let me be a little more in depth,

I WILL NOT BE GETTING THE FOLLOWING:

Any pain meds
Iv's
episiotomy


MY DAUGHTER WILL NOT BE GETTING THE FOLLOWING:

HEP B Shot
Vitamin K Shot
Erthomycin Eye cream




Ok so here we go, I will be having my daughter at the birthing center in our local hospital, i will not be bed bound! i dont want any IV's,pain meds etc.... i want to be able to drink water not have it pushed into my veins, i want to be able to walk around so ANY and ALL pain meds are a NO! i will have the lights dimmed and music playing to help me relax and forget that im in a hospital, i will be using the birthing tub to help with my pain management, when the time comes to push i want to be able to push in the position that feels comfortable to me not what is easiest for my doctor and his staff! When she is delivered her umbilical cord will not be cut right away im going to have them wait until its done pulsing (2-5mins) she will be handed to me right away and i will then nurse her, she will not be having any procedures done on her until i say! She will not be getting any vaccines or the Vitamin K shot nor will she receive the Erthomycin eye cream. she will be rooming with me so i will be able to nurse her when ever she wants to eat and so i can have skin on skin contact for as long as i please! they will not offer her any formula, sugar water, pacifier. My daughter needs nothing from them! she only needs what i her MOTHER can and will give her! if the hospital disregards any of my wishes i promise there will be hell to pay :]]...


there you have it a short overview of how i want my L&D to go :]]

37 Weeks

Today i am 37 weeks along in my pregnancy, i have a doc appt. this morning , i have been taking EPO(Evening Prim Rose Oil) since Halloween , So im hopping that when he checks my cervix tomorrow that it will show some sign of thinning :]] . So with that i guess i will update this after my doc appt.

OK, so just got home from my appt. sad because he didn't want to check me until my next appt. :/ but i did get another ultrasound .. which always makes me happy (its 3d) he did say she was in the right position and that everything is A-OK :]]... the only bad thing i guess you could say is my BP raised a little bit it was 139/82 he told me not to worry to much about it . She is getting big he said she is small/average in size and he said that's what i wanted for my first baby ... which i have to agree! i was scared she would be a huge baby considering how big her daddy was when he was a baby, me on the other hand was average so i guess this means she is taking after me :]]. She refused to let me get a good view for her face but we got some side shots none the less, everyone says she looks like me, i hope so! i do hope she has red hair like her daddy did! i can tell already she is going to be a looker (I'm not just saying that because shes my baby lol)! She is moving and a grooving as i type right now :]] , i think its the best feeling in the world when she moves(even when it hurts). I cant wait to finally meet her only 22 days until my due date! It seems like its coming fast ... but not fast enough for my liking! lol




Alisyn Monroe 37 weeks, trying to hide her beautiful face!