I Broke My Ass

It was almost perfect.

I was thisclose to having an absolutely perfect labor, delivery, and postpartum experience.

*sigh*

It turns out that, on her way into this world, Miss Nora broke my ass. In other words, her little head--when it was coming down through my pelvis at lightning speed--fractured my tailbone.

I just have one word for it, really: Ouchie.

So now I am the weirdo carrying around a special ass pillow wherever I go. I just bought it today, and now I can't imagine trying to sit without it.

Without going into tremendous detail, my postpartum recovery has been pretty easy. Except for this tailbone business.

Following Nora's birth, my first complaint was about pain in my tailbone area. When the nurses made me lift my hips up off the bed to change the padding underneath me, or when I got up out of bed, I was struck by a lot of pain in my tailbone. I told them as much, and they said that a lot of pressure is put on the tailbone when you push a baby out, and because Nora came out so quickly, they said that I probably bruised it.

Throughout my time in the hospital, every time they asked me about my pain, I always mentioned the tailbone. I really didn't experience much discomfort where you'd think you'd have discomfort after a baby, despite suffering from a tear. (And no, I don't know the 'degree' of my tear. I don't know anything about it, except that I had stitches, and that it took a while for the doctors to do them. When I gently inquired about it, asking "Is it bad?" the doctor looked at me and simply said, "Um... she tore you." He didn't elaborate, and I took that to mean I DON'T WANT TO KNOW.)

The funny thing is that the entire time I was in the hospital, when the nurses would come in to do my vitals, they would always ask, "How would you rate your pain?" (on a scale of 1 to 10). The first few times they asked, I laughed so hard, because childbirth had just handed me the WORST pain I had ever felt in my life. To ask a woman to rate some simple soreness after THAT is just crazy.

Anyway, I never had an ice pack. I never needed Tucks pads. I barely used my peri bottle. I didn't have any trouble or pain from going to the bathroom. I was all good, except for the stinkin' tailbone pain.

Even so, things seemed to get better as I recovered in the hospital, and in the first few days we were home. But then the discomfort in my tailbone came back with a vengeance, so I called my doctor's office as Nora was about to turn 1 week old. I said that my tailbone pain was still pretty significant, and didn't seem to be getting better. The nurse said that a bruised coccyx can take some time to improve, told me to keep taking ibuprofen, and said that I should avoid sitting on it. Because yeah. THAT's easy to do. Especially when you have a newborn baby that needs to nurse every few hours. Ugh.

Then, last week, I started to feel a "clicking" when I'd sit down or shift my weight while sitting. Like I can feel the bone moving in there. Ewwww. It was then that I became convinced that my tailbone is officially fractured. The clicking is accompanied by some pretty intense pain shooting through the area. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

The continued pain (with no improvement) + clicking = broken tailbone. I was sort of hoping that my doctor would insist on an x-ray just so I could have photographic proof of my broken ass (I mean, come on... that's one for the baby book!), but alas, there is nothing that can really be done for a broken coccyx, so it's pretty pointless to x-ray.

I talked to my doctor's office again today and they recommended getting a coccyx pillow to help ease the pressure on the bone while I'm sitting. I had to make a special trip to a medical supply store to get one, but $15.50 later, I AM SO GLAD I DID.

My doctor said that I should expect my tailbone to be healed by the time of my postpartum appointment (six weeks after the birth, so a little less than four weeks from now). Thank goodness.

If, for some reason, it's not healed after six weeks, I will be referred to an orthopedic specialist.

FOR MY ASS.

Dude. Let's hope that's not necessary.

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Heather Drive Baby Pool - WINNER!

In all, 167 people entered the Heather Drive Baby Pool. Thank you to everyone who participated; it was really fun to see the guesses pour in and added to the excitement while we anticipated the arrival of our baby.

The results were mathematically calculated by ExpectNet. The most important aspect of the guessing was the baby's sex--if you were wrong about that, you had no chance of winning! Then the other elements were taken into consideration as well, and everyone was given points for their guesses based on how close or far off they were. The object of the game was to actually get the LEAST amount of points.

Without further ado, the winner of the Heather Drive Baby Pool is...

CHRISTIE FROM TENNESSEE!! :)

To refresh your memories, Nora was born at 3:29 a.m. on 9/11/10, weighed 6 lbs., 10 oz., and was 20 inches long.

Christie correctly guessed that we were having a girl, and also guessed the correct birth date. She was also pretty darn close on the baby's weight and length. Way to go, Christie!

If you'd like to see how you ranked, you can check out the Heather Drive Baby Pool page to see all results.

Christie is the winner of a vintage apron of her choice from Etsy seller Terrace Hill, and the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book.

Congrats to Christie, and thanks again to all of you for playing!

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Due Date

Today is my due date. I would be 40 weeks pregnant today, but instead, I woke up snuggling my 1-week-old baby girl this morning.

Because I gave birth to Nora right at my 39-week mark, I never took a "39 week" pregnancy photo. My last pregnancy photo was at 38 weeks. Still, I thought it would be fun to document the due date by taking a photo, just as I have every week since January.

"40 Weeks" = 1 Week Postpartum

It is so amazing to look at Nora and know that just a week ago, she was curled up inside of me. She still spends a lot of her time with her feet and legs folded up in a way that looks totally uncomfortable, and it's funny to think that those little legs, knees, and feet were poking me in the sides for so long. I look at the way she clasps her hands together and wonder if she did that when she was in the womb. I listen to her hiccups and remember what it was like to feel them from the inside.

And now she is here, and she is beautiful, and I cannot imagine life without her. I am happier than I have ever been. I love her so much it makes me cry. I can't believe a week has already passed, and it actually breaks my heart to think about how fast she will grow. I know that every stage of babyhood/childhood has something to love about it, and I look forward to that--but it is so hard to know that she will never again be this small. It makes me ache. (I'm thinking this is an effect of my out-of-whack hormones, yes?)

OK, with tears in my eyes, I have to talk about something else before I start bawling!

One week after my lightning labor and delivery experience, I am feeling pretty good in terms of recovery. I am still suffering from some pretty annoying tailbone pain, but I'm hopeful that will be improving soon. Everything else seems to be going exceptionally well. I've never had much pain where my stitches are, in fact I never even needed an ice pack in the hospital. As with everything else regarding this pregnancy, I just can't complain!

At my last doctor's appointment on Thursday 9/9, I had gained a total of 26 lbs. Once we were home from the hospital, I weighed myself when I woke up on Tuesday morning, and I was down 14 lbs. When I weighed myself again on Thursday, I was down 19 lbs. I'm pretty happy with my 1-week-postpartum body, but things definitely have a way to go. I tried on my pre-pregnancy jeans the other day, and they actually buttoned--but were a bit too tight to wear comfortably. I'm in a really awkward stage right now, because I am too small for maternity clothes, but my pre-pregnancy pants just don't fit yet. This first week, I've been able to get away with wearing all "comfy clothes," but I do have the itch to wear REAL clothes again. So perhaps I will have to bust out the Bella Band again so I can wear my pre-pregnancy pants.

In other news, I can wear my wedding rings again! After I showered on Tuesday morning, I decided to fish them out of my drawer and see if they fit. Sure enough, they slid right back on my finger. Yay! It took me a few days to actually get used to wearing them again. I'd been without them since 33 weeks.

Not to get all emotional again, but Michael has to go back to work on Monday and I'm already dreading it. It has been so great to be home together as a family. And again, it's another stage of this experience that is coming to an end already. And here I go, about to cry again... HORMONES ARE THE DEVIL.

Nora is doing beautifully--eating well, still sleeping a lot. I love when she spends a good bit of time with her eyes open. I just stare into those blue (I think?) eyes and talk to her. We are all getting about as much sleep as can be expected at this point. I would definitely welcome some longer stretches of sleep at night, but I also don't really mind having the time with her in the middle of the night. You'd think that when you spend a good portion of the night awake, the days would seem so long--but as we progress through the day and night, living from feeding to feeding, the time just flies. Instead of being grateful to be able to fall into bed at the end of every day, I'm actually always a little sad for it to come to a close. Hormones. AGAIN.

With that, I'll leave you with some photos from the last few days. LOVE.

Aunt Melissa and Uncle Andy came to meet Nora today. Aunt Melissa was pretty smitten! :)

All cleaned up to go to a wedding

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IT'S A GIRL

Nora Grace
September 11, 2010
3:29 a.m.
6 lbs., 10 oz.
20 inches

More to come.
For now, all there is to know is that we are all healthy, happy, and in love.

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38.75 Weeks: Fake Out

Well, since we're getting so close to the end now, I figured I'd do a mid-week update instead of waiting for Monday to roll around to do my regular pregnancy post. I'm actually 39 weeks on Saturday/Sunday, so we're a bit more than 38.75, but... humor me.

Last night, my body decided to play tricks on me!

First, some TMI-type stuff, so SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU HATE IT. You've been warned! I had a doctor's appointment yesterday morning, and the latest is that I'm 2 cm, and she went ahead and "swept the membranes" for me to try to get things moving along. I spent the whole day not feeling much different--no real cramps or anything, so I figured it hadn't really worked.

After work last night, we went on a walk. When we got back, I started to feel these crazy tightening sensations across my belly, and a lot of pressure in my lower abdomen. After a little while of it, I said to Michael, "I'm pretty sure these are contractions!" My belly was rock hard, and they seemed to come and go. And even though a few of them were uncomfortable enough to take my breath away, they weren't painful enough for me to feel like I could time them in any way. This lasted through making, eating, and cleaning up dinner, but then they seemed to subside. I still had some tightening in my belly throughout the evening, and was still feeling some additional pressure in my pelvis, but... nothing ever came of it.

FALSE ALARM, damn it. I guess they were just strong Braxton Hicks?

And so we continue to wait.

Other results from the appointment--My doctor is still a bit concerned about my blood pressure. It wasn't terribly high, she had it marked down on the chart as 128/92, I believe. But I guess the second number is higher than they like to see it, and for her, she's looking more at the "trend" in my blood pressure than the actual numbers themselves. Each week, the blood pressure just creeps higher and higher, so she's concerned about "late-gestation hypertension." I don't have any signs that would indicate pre-eclampsia, so it's just the blood pressure for now.

In addition, I am continuing to measure small. This first became a concern when I was 30 weeks pregnant and started to fall behind in my belly measurements. At the time, I was only measuring 1 cm behind, but because my belly hadn't grown since my previous appointment, my doctor decided to send us in for a growth ultrasound to check everything and the fluid levels. Everything turned out to be fine, with the baby measuring in the 58th percentile on the growth charts.

Fast forward to almost-39-weeks pregnant, though, and it's an issue again. At this point, I should be measuring in at 39 cm (1 cm for every week you are pregnant), but I am only measuring 35 cm. She said that 4 cm is a pretty big deal, so she is sending us for yet another growth ultrasound. We scheduled it for Tuesday, hoping that I'll go into labor before then and we won't actually have to go through with it. We'll do whatever we have to do, obviously, but ultrasounds cost us $50/pop so we'd rather not have to! Plus, it sounds like my doctor is just being overly cautious (which I really do appreciate), because she said that more than likely, the baby has just descended down into the pelvis a bit, causing him/her to measure smaller than he/she really is. She also seems to think that I have a longer-than-average torso, so I'm just "hiding" the baby well.

Now, to the most interesting part... she said that when we have my appointment next week (on Wednesday), we will discuss possible induction for Thursday, September 16. AHHHHH! I was not expecting that at all, so I was a bit taken back by it. But, she said that if my blood pressure continues to creep up, and depending on the results of the growth ultrasound on Tuesday... we will have to evaluate the risks of evicting the baby (which will be very, very small since I'll be only a few days shy of 40 weeks) versus the risks of leaving him/her in. Soooo... it sounds like, if I don't go into labor on my own before then, we could very well be having a baby next Thursday.

Makes things a bit more real, doesn't it? To have an end in sight?

Either way, it doesn't sound like she's likely to let me go too far past my due date, so we are definitely getting close. I'm still hoping to avoid induction, so I'm continuing to send my baby lots of "come on out" vibes.

We'll see what happens, but I wanted to post this on the off chance that I don't make it until Monday! *fingers crossed*

I'M GOING TO BE A MOMMY SOON! :)

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BOY? Or GIRL?

I am shamelessly stealing this post directly from Shauna, but substituting in my own answers (obviously). We're in the final countdown, and we might as well fill the time with a little bit of last-minute fun with the guessing the sex of the baby, right?

There are many old wives' tales and "methods" of supposedly figuring out whether the baby is a boy or a girl.

CHINESE GENDER CHARTS:
(These use the mother's age at conception and month of conception to determine the sex)

Chart #1 = BOY

Chart #2 = BOY

Chart #3 = BOY

Chart #4 = GIRL

Chart #5 = BOY

Looks like the charts are pretty consistent! The verdict here is definitely BOY.

The one that is different specifically says to use the mother's "lunar age," which differs from calendar age. So, that one yielded a different result.

I've heard varying things about the accuracy of Chinese gender charts, so I guess we'll see if it works for us or not...

OLD WIVES' TALES:

Mayans
The Mayans determined the sex of the baby by taking the mother’s age at conception, and the year of conception. If both are even or both are odd… it’s a girl. If one is even and one is odd… it’s a boy. I was 27 and it was 2009.
=GIRL

Nausea
The old wives tale is that a girl will make you more nauseous. I didn't have a whole lot of morning sickness. Lucky me!
=BOY

Heart Rate
The old wives tales is if the heart rate is above 140, it’s a girl. If it’s below 140, it’s a boy. The heart rate has consistently been up over 140.
=GIRL

Cravings
The old wives tale is that if you crave sweets, it’s a girl. If you crave sour, it’s a boy. I really haven't experienced very many "cravings" throughout the pregnancy. The only one I ever felt was a true craving was when I couldn't get enough yellow mustard (first trimester). I guess I consider that more "sour," so...
=BOY

Husband’s Weight Gain
The old wives tale is that if your husband puts on weight during the pregnancy, it will be a girl. Michael has most certainly not put on any weight.
=BOY

Acne
The old wives tale is that a girl will cause acne because she is doubling your hormones. I don't have any acne to speak of.
=BOY

Clumsiness
The old wives tales is that if you are clumsier than before, it’s a boy. If you are as graceful as ever, it’s a girl. Definitely not clumsy.
=GIRL

Boobs
The old wives tale is that if your boobs grow a lot, it’s a girl. The boobs are out of control. By the time I was four months pregnant, I had to go out and buy bras in a size that was two band sizes and two cup sizes bigger than normal. And I've since had to buy bra extenders because even those bigger bras grew to be too tight. Annnd when I got measured for a nursing bra a couple of weeks ago? Let's just say I never thought I would see THOSE letters in my bra size.
=GIRL

Sleep
The old wives tale is that if you prefer to sleep on your right side, it’s a boy. If you prefer to sleep on your left side, it’s a girl. God, I would just prefer to SLEEP at this point. Neither position is particularly comfortable; I have to rotate pretty regularly throughout the night. But if I'm sleeping on my side, I generally prefer the right, so...
=BOY

Hands
The old wives tale is that if you have softer hands, it’s a girl. Rougher hands, it’s a boy. My hands are pretty soft!
=GIRL

High or Low
The old wives tale is that if you feel heaviness down low, it’s a boy. If you feel pressure up higher, it’s a girl. I've definitely been carrying this baby high.
=GIRL

The verdict here? Pretty split.
GIRL = 6
BOY = 5

Almost 50/50! Hmmm...

It's only a matter of time before we'll know for sure. Send "labor" thoughts my way, people... I want this baby out! :)

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38 Weeks: Ready, Freddy

Well, here we are... 38 weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't be doing a 39-week post, but I know it's very likely that I will.

I'm just READY.

Plus, living in anticipation is killing me. I'm a planner; this not-knowing stuff is hard for me. Will my life be the same tomorrow, or totally and completely different? Will I be at work next week? On Friday? Tomorrow?

38 Weeks Pregnant

More than anything, I have this feeling like the baby will come when he/she should. Like things will work out how they are supposed to. The biggest thing is that my mom travels every week for work. Most of the time, she's gone Monday through Friday. She's afraid she's going to miss the birth, and frankly, I'd like her to be here, too! So, well, that leaves the weekends. OR... this week. You see, because of the Labor Day holiday, my mom is scheduled to work in town all this week. So, you know... that would be convenient, right?

Still, I know the baby will come when it's time. I just wish I knew when that was going to be!

I'm starting to get all the phone calls/texts/e-mails/Facebook messages asking the same things--how am I feeling, is anything different, what was the latest at the doctor, when is my next appointment. I honestly don't mind the questions, but it does help fuel the anticipation a bit.

At my doctor's appointment on Thursday, I was 1.5 cm dilated, 60% effaced. This was just a little bit of progress from the 1 cm, 50% effaced I was the week before. What was really weird is that the doctor told us she can feel the top of the baby's head. Um, WHOA. That right there is a reality check.

In other news, my belly was still measuring small, but my weight gain has been good--I'm up a total of like 25-26 lbs. so far. Of a little bit of concern is the fact that my blood pressure has apparently been "creeping up" over the last 3-4 appointments. My doctor showed me a graph that showed the rise in blood pressure. Weird, since no one had mentioned it to me prior to last appointment. I typically have a really low, healthy blood pressure--in fact, at 32 weeks, I posted about how great it was that it was still hanging out at 100/68. My doctor didn't tell me what it's up to (I'm stupid, I should have asked), but she said that it's not quite at an "abnormal" level yet. I guess since I started off low, it had room to "grow" and remain within normal range. Still, she told me to closely monitor my level of swelling, and to call if there are any big changes or if I experience any headaches. I think they're mildly concerned about the possible development of pre-eclampsia, but my urine is still clear of protein so for now we're OK. I'm curious to see if there will be any change at my next appointment on Thursday of this week.

I've also been experiencing some minor contractions, but they're nothing of significance yet, unfortunately. Hopefully they're making progress for me, though, because I'm anxiously awaiting the "real thing"!

I'm having trouble sleeping. Sometimes, when I wake up in the middle of the night to pee (still consistently getting up 4-5 times per night), I have trouble going back to sleep. Or I'll be completely exhausted but still can't drift off. I guess it's a bit of insomnia. I slept like total crap on both Friday and Saturday nights this weekend, but finally got what felt to be a good night's sleep last night. But somehow, I still feel exhausted today. *sigh* Such is life.

Last week, we dealt with 90-degree temperatures every day, and then, starting Saturday, the temperature plummeted like 30 degrees and it's been feeling rather fall-like out. It's perfectly fine by me, as I think it's quite comfortable now. However, I HAVE NO CLOTHES. I seriously have like two long-sleeve shirts that fit over my belly. Everything else is short-sleeve since I've been pregnant all SUMMER. I have no idea what I'm going to wear to work tomorrow; I'm not prepared for this "fall" shit!

We've started all of the "tricks" to try to induce labor. I'm not doing anything crazy, but all of the little things--walking, spicy food, etc. Last night, I got hot sauce on my burger even though I would normally never do so, and tonight my mother-in-law made eggplant parmesan for dinner. (She actually had no idea that eggplant parmesan was supposedly a labor-inducer; it was just a funny coincidence!) So far, nothing has done the trick.

We also finally packed the hospital bags. I'm still going to need to do some last-minute throwing of things in the bag, but we pre-packed everything that we could, and made a good list for everything else so we wouldn't forget anything.

We are ready. It's time. I keep telling the baby to come on out of there! The outside world is a lot of fun! :)

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Frozen

As part of the preparation for the birth of our baby, we've been stocking up on some of the essentials we keep in the house. This includes FOOD!

Last weekend, the "nesting" bug really kicked in and I was determined to fill our freezer with easy meals that will help us out on those nights when we just really don't want to cook. I made a list of recipes that I wanted to make and freeze, made a long grocery list, and we hit the ground running. I spent six hours in the kitchen on Sunday night, and another three hours in the kitchen on Monday night. The result is a totally stocked freezer!

Check it out:

Not bad, right?

I've been planning to write this post since before I even started this "project," but even so, I received messages from some of you asking me to post it because so many people are curious about the best meals to freeze and how to go about doing it all.

So, let's go through everything that's in the freezer (with links to recipes, as appropriate):

• 18 (1 lb.) packs of chicken breasts - We buy the club packs (cheaper per pound!) and I trim the fat off of everything and split them into 1 lb. portions to make it easier. We do this on a regular basis, but don't usually have quite so many bags saved up. But we figured the more we had saved, the easier things would be down the road.
  
• Ground beef (1 lb. packs) - We do the same thing as with chicken--buy the club packs and split them up. We only have three packs of beef on hand right now, but we don't eat it very often, so those will probably last a while.
• Three packs of turkey bacon - This is just something good to have on hand. We buy the three-pack at BJ's (great price on them), and freeze them. BLTs make super easy dinners, plus it's good to have on hand to add to certain soups, salads, etc.
• Blueberries - As I mentioned in my blueberry muffin post, we stocked up on these when they were in season and on sale for several weeks in a row. (We also picked some wild blueberries of our own!) Good to have on hand for pancakes, muffins, etc.
• Muffins - I baked up a batch of low-fat blueberry muffins, let them cool completely, then froze them in a gallon zip-loc freezer bag. When we want to eat them, we can remove individual muffins. If we're in a hurry, they can be defrosted in the microwave, but my favorite way to defrost baked goods is always at room temperature. It just requires a little planning ahead!
• Banana bread - My favorite low-fat banana bread! I baked the loaf as normal, let it cool overnight, wrapped it tightly in foil, then stuck it in a gallon-size freezer bag and popped it into the freezer. Quick breads usually freeze really well. After defrosting at room temperature, they're generally just as good as they are when they are freshly baked. Yum!
• Enchiladas - We made two trays of enchiladas (seven enchiladas in each one) by preparing one recipe of saucy chicken enchiladas. We cooked and shredded the chicken, then assembled the enchiladas as if we would be baking them right away. We used 8" tortillas so they would fit nicely into the disposable baking pans. Then, instead of throwing them into the oven, we threw them into the freezer instead. We'll get two separate meals out of this. These can be baked straight from the freezer (no defrosting required); we'll just need to increase the normal cooking time by 10-15 minutes our so.
• Chicken Salsa Verde Bake - We prepared the recipe as normal, and then--same thing as the enchiladas--just froze it instead of baking it. Again, we'll likely bake this directly from the freezer, simply increasing the baking time to account for its frozen state.
• Soup - This is one of our favorites, asian chicken noodle soup. The only thing we did differently here was to cook the noodles for less time than normal. Once all of the ingredients were incorporated, I scooped all of the soup into a gallon zip bag, then put the bag into an ice bath to quickly cool it down. Once cool enough, I froze the bag flat in the freezer for easy storage. To eat, we'll defrost in the refrigerator in advance, then dump the contents into a sauce pan and cook until hot.
  
• Meatballs & Sauce - Spaghetti and meatballs! Well, we didn't freeze the spaghetti part. On Sunday, I actually made a double batch of the sauce/meatballs. We ate one batch for dinner that night (with leftovers throughout this week), and the second batch went into the freezer for after baby. Again, just scooped the meatballs and sauce into a gallon zip bag, gave it an ice bath, then froze it flat in the freezer. This will also be defrosted in the refrigerator, then reheated on the stovetop.
• Two bags of pizza dough - We've frozen this dough before, and it's great to have on hand for making pizza without much effort. The dough is made in the bread machine, and I always split it into two batches since it's just the two of us. To feed more than two, you should use the whole batch. This is best defrosted in the fridge, then needs to sit and rise at room temperature for a while. Roll out and bake as normal!
• Potstickers - Alton Brown's Perfect Potstickers. We actually made this batch a while back, but still have them in our freezer, and they'll be perfect for an easy meal after baby arrives. These can be cooked in the pan, directly from frozen. Just add an extra minute or two.
• Ice cream - Ummm, just for fun. :) Actually, we needed to remove our ice cream maker from the freezer to make room for all of these meals, so we figured that we may as well put it to good use while it was still frozen. This is a "No Dough Cookie Ice Cream" and a recipe post and review will be coming soon.

OK, so there you have it--a summary of everything that we made to freeze. I still have plans to make up a batch of pizza rolls to freeze as well (I'll freeze them before baking, then bake directly from the freezer), but we'll see if I get to it.

In general, soups, stews, casseroles, and sauces freeze really well. Enchiladas, lasagnas, etc. are good, too. The USDA website has a helpful section about the different types of food and how long it can stay frozen for. For the enchiladas and the chicken salsa verde bake, we bought disposable/recyclable baking pans so we weren't sacrificing all of our baking pans to the freezer. Everything else freezes well in zip freezer bags.

I think that sums up my knowledge on the subject, so I hope this post was helpful to all of you who were wondering. I must say, though... a stocked freezer did not come easy! I'll leave you with several photos of the gigantic mess I made in the kitchen during the two-day process--and we didn't even take pictures of everything! :) Thankfully Michael was around to help out, because the dishes were OUT.OF.CONTROL.

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37 Weeks: FULL TERM

Maybe it was the photo shoot I did on Saturday morning, chasing a 2-year-old boy around, squatting, standing, kneeling, running. Maybe it was the Bills game on Saturday night, plus the drive to and from the stadium. Maybe it was the apple picking in 90-degree heat on Sunday, or the six hours I spent in the kitchen preparing meals to freeze.

Regardless of what it was (and hey, maybe it was a combination of everything!), I think I have turned a corner in this pregnancy. And it's not a corner you want to turn, really.

I am tired.
I am sore.
I am uncomfortable.
I have puffy, fat, Fred Flintstone feet.
I am WADDLING, people. Waddling like a freaking penguin.

But praise Heaven, I am FULL TERM! So I've been talking to this baby and telling him/her that he/she is more than welcome to come on out at any time now.

37 Weeks Pregnant

(For a progression week to week, check out the compilation of my belly photos I put together this morning. It's hilarious, actually, to see how bright-eyed and energized I look in the second trimester, and how that has gradually disappeared until I now look exhausted in every photo.)

Have I mentioned that the forecast features 90 degree temperatures every day this week? Because apparently I need to be elevated to a whole 'nother level of miserable.

I cycle back and forth between practically begging this baby to come out, like, NOW, and being scared shitless that ohmygod, the baby might come, like, NOW. I am simultaneously so grateful to be at the end of this part of the journey, while I am also trying to hold onto every last minute of it. It is quite confusing.

But mostly, I am just READY. Really ready. Ready to evict this little person from my body and welcome him/her to the world with open arms.

I have debated whether or not I want to share the state of my cervix with the internet, and if you don't want to hear this... TURN AWAY NOW. But this blog is a journal and who knows, maybe I'll want to remember this part some day. At my 36-week appointment last Wednesday, I had my first "check" and I was 1 cm and 50% effaced. And even though I know it means jack, I was still kind of surprised and definitely happy to hear about any kind of progress. Now I'm looking forward to my next appointment on Thursday to see if things have moved along any further.

I have some kind of weird "feeling" about next week. I don't know, week 38 just seems like "the week" to me. But it's very possible that is just wishful thinking. I guess we will know soon enough.

In the end, we are nervous, but we are SO excited. We want to meet this baby so badly. I "know" my baby right now. I know his/her hiccups, and the way he/she wiggles back and forth after I eat. I know he/she prefers to hang out on the right side of my belly. I know his/her heartbeat, and that it usually measures in between 135-150 beats per minute. I know baby likes to stick its butt out at the top of my belly, loves to cause mommy heartburn, and is taking up so much room in there that I almost always feel out of breath. We have watched him/her grow as we have watched my belly grow.

I know all these things, but I am ready to really know my baby. I am ready to know my son or daughter.

Come on out, Baby. Meet your parents. Let us give you your name. And say hello to the world.

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The Belly: A Progression

16 Weeks

17 Weeks

18 Weeks

19 Weeks

20 Weeks

21 Weeks

22 Weeks

23 Weeks

24 Weeks

25 Weeks

26 Weeks

27 Weeks

28 Weeks

29 Weeks

30 Weeks

31 Weeks

32 Weeks

33 Weeks

34 Weeks

35 Weeks

36 Weeks

37 Weeks

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Belly at the Bills Game

If you had told me a few months ago that I would end up at a Buffalo Bills preseason game at 37 weeks pregnant, I would've laughed at you. First, because there is no way I would've ever paid for tickets. Secondly, because I never would've expected that such an outing would be worth my time, especially when I'm about to pop out a baby.

What's that people always say, though? Expect the unexpected?

A week or so ago, I was suddenly offered the opportunity to sit in the company suite. And well, for as many Bills games as I've been to--in the sweltering heat, the freezing cold, the blinding sun and the blinding rain--I've never been in a suite.

We jumped at the chance for a new experience, and spent a lovely evening with good (free!) food, (free!) drinks (beer for Michael, soda/water for me), and a handful of my coworkers. The funny thing is that the weather was gorgeous, absolutely perfect for a football game, so we sat in the suite with the window wide open. Still, it felt good to be treated as "VIPs." :)

For shits and giggles, I stuffed myself into my jersey (it barely covered my belly, it was hilarious) for the occasion. We think it'll be funny to show the baby some day. This was one of the only times I've ever gone to a game and NOT tailgated. It was a completely different experience! Walking up to the gates without chugging one.last.beer? Interesting, as I had no idea what that felt like.

I was up early this morning for a photo shoot with an almost-2-year-old and his parents, so I couldn't make it through the entire game. We ended up leaving shortly into the 4th quarter, but the Bills looked halfway decent and ended up winning the game.

Two more weeks until the season opener!
(Crossing my fingers that we have a baby by then, ha!)

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36 Weeks: I Miss My Waist

I'm a day late posting my update this week, but oh well... I'm technically always a day or two late, since my weeks really turn over on Saturday/Sunday. But since I've been consistently taking my pics on Mondays, it doesn't matter, right? Right.

And this week is no different; I did take my photo last night. I just didn't have a chance to post about it.

36 Weeks Pregnant

At 36 weeks into this adventure, I've started to long for my pre-pregnancy body. Or, really, anything resembling my pre-pregnancy body. Hell, at this point, I'll settle for a belly that doesn't contain another human being. ;)

I also find myself trying to remember exactly what it feels like to button and zip up a pair of pants. To easily reach my toes when I need to trim and paint my toe nails. To be able to sit with my knees pulled up to my chest (normally a really comfortable position for me). To hold a baby on my hip.

How weird it'll be when I suddenly have these things back.

My belly is feeling stretched this week. Baby's movements are actually really uncomfortable for me now. When he/she sticks its butt out, I usually have to "rub it back in" because it hurts! Little bugger. The movements are moving my entire belly now. Last night, I was rehearsing a presentation I had to do for work today, and I had my laptop resting on my belly in bed. The baby was literally moving the entire laptop up and down with his/her stretching. I'm starting to really realize that I have a full-size baby in there now. Even though he/she is still on the small side, it's the size of a newborn now. Um, whoa.

This weekend, we installed the car seat bases in our cars. We really just needed to get them out of the house since we don't have a lot of extra room in here these days. So now I'm riding around with a car seat in the back (Michael just has the extra base in his). It's very strange to get into the car and see that in the back, knowing that in just a few short weeks, there will be a baby in there.

Our baby book came in the mail on Friday, so I also started filling that out this weekend. There are several pages designated to information on the parents and the pregnancy, so we completed all of those pages now.

Perhaps the most exciting baby event of the week is that our stroller arrived! We ended up getting the Bumbleride Indie in the ruby color and it is gorgeous. We love it, and can't wait to take it out for a spin! We're actually planning to try to train Tessa to walk with it before the baby gets here, so we'll be the weird couple walking around our neighborhood with an empty stroller. :)

Aside from feeling really ready to meet the baby, and some general discomfort, I'm still doing pretty well overall. Still suffering from some occasional heartburn and swelling, but hanging in there.

I have my first weekly appointment tomorrow, and I'll be getting "checked" for progress at each appointment now. I've been experiencing some random menstrual-like cramps, which I can only assume are mild contractions? I don't really know. But baby still seems to be sitting up nice and high, so I'm not expecting too much at this point.

25 (I think?) days to go! :)

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