How far along am I really??

Why is it so confusing to know how far along I am in my pregnancy? (sounds dumb) but I keep confusing myself..

Here's how.. I know that I am 18 weeks and 6 days exactly today.. I have this book called the pregnancy journal, according to my book you are 6 months pregnant at 21 weeks, so I would basically be 2 weeks away from 6 months. EXCEPT that this doesn't make since according to the actual calendar..

So then I begin looking and I notice my book is going by something called Lunar months. (HUH??) Technically your due date is 9 months and 7 days or 40 weeks away from the last normal menstrual period.  And it's split into 3 trimesters. Apparently (and this is the internet talking) it can also be split evenly in 10 lunar months, because it is 280 days long...

Why on earth make it so confusing to explain to people?? I have to laugh because I always wondered why when you asked a pregnant woman how far along she was the answer always came in weeks.. Well now I know!! Because they don't have a freaking clue what month they are in.. hahaha All I know is that in 2 weeks I'm going to be 21weeks along, which is either 5 months and a handful of days, or 6 months if we are talking Lunar.. You figure it out.

Just thought I'd share, since I posted onto my Facebook that I was almost 6 months and then it didn't make sense in my head how that could be true.. haha well in any case in 20 weeks and 1 day or less, theres going to be a new baby in this world :)

P.S. I GET TO FIND OUT WHAT BABY IS IN THE MORNING, AND I'LL BE BLOGGING ABOUT IT!!

Feeling like Steve Urkel and I don't give a damn!

If I knew wearing my pants hiked up like an old man was this comfy I would have started doing it ages ago!!

Just thinking about how ridiculous I probably look makes me smile...

The last couple of days I've noticed a significant difference in my stomach, and my clothes are becoming more and more uncomfortable to wear (even though the majority of them still fit).

I've been hanging out around the house in my most comfy YOGA pants, or a pair of sweats... While sitting in front of the computer the waist band was driving me nuts, so I yanked it up over my belly button, damn near to right under my bra line... OMG it feels soooo comfortable to wear my pants like this.. Needless to say I've pretty much been walking around with my pants hiked up ever since... (As long as I wear a longer shirt no one can tell)

Here's the kicker, I'm am thanking my lucky stars that I am short, (5'3) because all of pants pants are always way to long for me anyways (I swear they think every woman is 5'7 or something) with them hiked up suddenly all of my pants are normal length.. (Bonus)

I don't think I could handle walking around in flood pants..

Just thought I'd share since I've been laughing at myself for it today..

Other than that lets see.... I am now in week 17, The only thing I can really complain about is some major headaches.. The most current has been pounding in my head for the last three days straight.. Tylenol helps for like 20 mins and then it comes right back again.
 I've been getting restless twitchy legs when I'm trying to sleep, but a little adjusting of my position and kicking my legs around and it is manageable.
I've got 9 more days until my ultrasound reveling the sex, and man I cannot wait! originally I was supposed to find out tomorrow (which would have been great) but I had to reschedule. I want to start getting things ready, and shopping.. And for those of you that know me well, with all my "itineraries", and planning binders and OCD tendencies, it's a wonder I haven't gone crazy yet trying to plan every little detail out... LOL Like I said 9 more days!!
Although If I'm going to be honest my shower isn't until August, but I already have a planning binder, with a complete guest list, some sample games, a food list, a "mock" table setting sketch. I've got all my invites personalized and saved into my online shopping cart just waiting to be ordered, as well as all of my games for the shower ready to order at the click of a button. I've also got boxes of jars and other things that are going to be turning into DIY candle holders and things for the tables (just waiting on the sex for the color of deco). and a complete list of prize baskets and what the contents will be.. LMAO Like I said for those of you that know me, that hasn't even scratched the surface on my regular "over preparedness"



P.S. I learned a great piece of information today that I don't want to forget.. A woman should re-measure her breast size and buy a new size bra every 6 months, because breast sizes change so often. The true way to measure is to get a tape measure. Measure your bra line. (so where the band around the bottom goes) then measure the largest part of your breast. For example My bra line was 40 and the largest part of my breast is 45. Now take your bra line number (40) and subtract it from your other number (45). the number your left with is your cup size. 1=A 2=B 3=C 4=D 5=DD and so on...  Pregnancy is sure doing wonders, because I sure as heck was not a DD before...

Cocoa butter and Baby Einstein!!

      For as long as I can remember I thought it had been a well known fact that women put cocoa butter on their stomachs during pregnancy to help reduce the appearance of stretch marks.. I'm not crazy right? this is a real thing... Because now that I'm starting to show I don't want to get anymore stretchmarks on my belly so I would start using it... EXCEPT my doctor told me to avoid cocoa butter because it contains crazy amounts of caffeine and when soaked into the blood stream will be bad!! Has anyone else heard of this???
      According to the forum section on google, one woman reported being admitted into the hospital because her baby had a very erratic and sped up heartbeat, turns out the cause was slathering cocoa butter on her belly... But other people disputed and claimed this to be UN-true... My question is, if women have been doing this for Eons why now are we supposed to avoid it?? and if I can't use cocoa butter, what can I use to improve my skin elasticity? Who knew being pregnant came with so many rules...


     Next on my "What the hell" list is Baby Einstein DVD's..  My sister and I were shopping around in our local salvation army; when I ran across a collection of Baby Einstein DVD's. now my thinking was that these would be great mind stimulating things for baby to watch from his/ or her swing while mommy is busy, instead of the mind numbing junk that's on TV today... So we check some discs for scratches, and I left the store with 3 of the for 2.99, (which I thought was a great deal.) I got Baby Newton - discovering shapes, Baby Mozart- music festival, and World Animals..
        When I returned home I showed them to my mom who said "those are bad for babies" Apparently a teacher at my moms school said that something in the way the movies are played prohibits babies from learning.. She couldn't really remember what she said exactly. 

Now I defiantly don't want to do anything that is not the best for my baby, so again I did some research.. I came across an article called AFTER CONTROVERSY DISNEY ISSUES BABY EINSTEIN RECALL. intriguing right? Well the jest of the article is basically different organizations were pressuring Disney to stop marketing these products as educational as they aim to set children in front of the television set. certain people were even going as far as saying that these DVD stop children's ability to use their imagination and play. (It is kind of obvious that a child isn't necessarily "playing" if they are stuck in front of a TV) I couldn't find any evidence that these specific DVD's were harmful. If you'd like to check the article out it's http://www.businesspundit.com/after-controversy-dinsey-issues-baby-einstein-recall/ I personally would never set my child in front of a TV for hours anyways. So if they are going to watch a 1/2 hour program I would definitely rather have it be a Baby Einstein DVD than some of these horrible kids shows that are on now-a-days.

What happened to the good old days, when the only time kids watched hours of television was for Saturday morning cartoons (which are now non-existent) When if we wanted to play cops and robbers, we ran around the yard like maniacs with kids from the neighborhood instead of putting a video game in. When not playing outside on a nice day was "Punishment"... We could eat veggies straight from the garden without the fear of some chemical. Licking the spoon and bowl after making a cake was a must (that me and my sister fought over!) So many things are "hazardous" these days. I just want to raise my child to know the fun that I had... Build a fort out of sheets, pretend that the floor is made of lava, imagine that your bed is a boat and save your stuffed animals from the sharks in the water. make believe there's a "twister" on a windy day.. run around the yard barefoot after a summer rain.  Lets not fall asleep to a movie in their bedroom at night, but to a bedtime story read by me. This is the type of mother that I want to be.


P.S. I'm in week 16.... my nausea has been returning a little, and my belly is getting bigger...I've been burping alot, and getting what I think might be heartburn..  I read somewhere that my baby is the size of a light bulb.. My appointment to find out the sex has been rescheduled AGAIN.. now I'll be waiting until the 19th. I bought the baby a hat, and a shirt this week...

Fun in week 14......

Week fourteen has been pretty uneventful.. I think at this point I'm going to switch from weekly posts to every other week or so until I've got some major changes going on...

        I've been feeling pretty good, and I've been getting out of the house to do things a little more often (which has been nice)
Mike and I have went for dinner a couple of times, My mom and I went to see and movie, We all went garage saleing as a family, and I got to go out with some friends over the weekend..

       It's been really nice that some of our friends from Warren have been able to come up here and visit.. (and I love them for it) Also I ran into some good friends from around here as well, and it was great to get to see them!

       My stomach (as appears to me) is looking a little fuller, but I'm still in all of the same clothes.. (some of them are starting to get a little uncomfortable)  I've been getting this bloating (I guess you would call it) when I eat. To the point where my upper stomach gets hard as a rock, and sticks out really far, then my clothes feel tight, and its hard to breath a little.. This has been stopping me from finishing meals, and is something I will be asking my doctor about.. It was even so bad the other night while out with my mom, we had to go to the store and buy workout pants to put on instead of my jeans so I could sit through the movie.. It will last sometimes the rest of the day or night, and sometimes only a few hours and them my stomach will return to normal...
   
        Other than that there have really been no new developments... Dr's appt is being rescheduled to find out the sex of the baby... guess my doc is no longer going to be in the office that day, NICE!

Well I'm bored... Let's get crafty!!

            I've been going stir crazy lately... I really wish I had a car to go get a job... Just something part time, to keep my mind occupied... (Soon enough hopefully) Until then I've thought of a few projects I could do to keep me a little busier during the day.

            I, like many other people am addicted to pinterest.com (follow my pins) There are so many great ideas on there that I would love to make happen, the problem has always been, where am I going to find the materials?? (I hit sort of a mini jackpot here)  My area of MI is full of OLD falling down barns, rarely however do you get the opportunity to get into them and dig around.. but I found one!!

What started out to be just following the signs for a moving sale, turned into (and I wish I hadn't dressed so nice) digging through an old barn and some out buildings.. As soon as I saw the old broken things in the barn my head thought PINTEREST!! I know what I can make out of all this old stuff..

           There was A LOT of things that I wanted to take, but we were offered the opportunity to go back after the people moved out and take more (double score) so I just took a few things: - An old barn ladder, an old metal rake and bucket, some small metal parts and pieces from an old tractor (which are really heavy)...

Here's my loot !!

(PIC TO COME, it's cold today.)


Let's see what I cam make.. I have a few things in mind that I want to try, hopefully they will turn out, and I will post the results, when I'm finished!!

           Also with the turn in the weather we've had today from 80 degrees last week, to 47 degrees! (gotta love Michigan weather..) I've found a little indoor project as well... Which will allow me to get out the sketch pad again!! (I haven't drawn in forever)

 

30 days worth of "Something to do's"  

I think I'll get started on that today :) and again I will post the results!

Healthy happy life :)

 While watching Television today I came across someone discussing how they ate 35% of their diet off of foraging, (sparked my attention) after watching I realized how healthy it was, and not only that, but how I can remember doing this with my family, and that I still would enjoy doing it today.. Also, It got me thinking about gardening, and how my sister and I were constantly bare foot in the dirt with my mom or my grandma Finn, planting veggies, and picking beans and eating right out of the garden, and we loved it!! So I'm writing this Blog as a reminder; a reminder of how I am thankful that my mother shared these things with me, and of how I want to share them with my son or daughter. :)

 Now my family stuck mostly to gardening, But we always hunted for wild Asparagus, Ate some plant from the grass that my mom always called "sweeties" and always picked fruit off of trees, and gathered nuts and things from the ground to eat. I've compiled my own list, somethings which I've tried, and some that I haven't.

Forage for food (sounds medieval right?) but I used to, and still do, do this with my parents, and I think It is very important to teach my children about the benefits of eating fresh foods, also there is something way more rewarding about eating something that you found, and picked on your own. Or even something you grew and tended from a seed. (gardening will be a must in my family) And these are habits that will stick with them (hopefully for life).. Plus I could use some getting back to healthy habits, and mike couldn't hurt from starting some!! Children learn from example.


Here's a list of easy beginner things we can Forage and prepare. (easy to identify)


Stinging nettle has a flavor similar to Spinach when cooked and is rich in vitamins A, C, iron, potassium, manganese, and calcium..Soaking nettles in water or cooking will remove the stinging chemicals from the plant, which allows them to be handled and eaten without incidence of stinging..

Lamb's quarters, (which I see everywhere) Many people mistake this fast-growing annual plant for a worthless weed, but lamb’s quarters are actually edible and quite nutritious. The seeds are a healthy snack and the leaves and stems taste similar to spinach when cooked.

Clover is easy to find in the wilderness. Its seeds are edible, and its dried flower heads can be used to brew tea. You can eat its leaves raw, just immerse them in salt water first to help with digestion. I would add the raw clover leaves into a fresh garden salad..

Resembling onions in appearance and smell, wild leeks commonly emerge during springtime deep in the forests. Both their leaves and bulbs are edible and can be eaten raw, steamed, fried or baked. I have had these before, and grown them in my flower bed back before I moved to the city.. I always called them chives, they are yummy and you can just take a pair of scissors and cut off the amount that you want to use... YUMMO

Wild asparagus, (which my family goes gathering for every year already) is wonderful!! We drive along the back roads out here in Capac when its in season, and you can find it growing in ditches, just look for the past years tall stalks, search around the bottom of them, and you'll find the new asparagus sprouting up. ( my parents also have a small patch in their yard where it grows) Great boiled with butter and salt, wonderful grilled with some olive oil and salted as well!!

Wild mushrooms! Which are so tasty, and my family had also foraged for before. I need some more training to identify them however. (we were with someone who knew mushroom species).. I will def study up before feeding any to my family :) My dad knows someone who has some wooded property where they grow, So I'll have to get a "trainer" and hit the woods..

Also there are a lot of key foods that I'd like to keep handy around my house. Until recently I had no idea that any of these foods could "Cure what ales ya" but they can indeed!! and best of all, there is no fear attached, as natural solutions carry NO side affect, like any manufactures medicine would have..

Healthy health food, go to the FARMacy and not the pharmacy!!

Natural dark chocolate, can be more effective than codeine for coughs (sore throat? Here is some chocolate! I like the sound of that)

Honey!! is an antibacterial and can be applied to skin, helps with cuts and burns, instead of triple antibiotic ointment.. (who'd a thunk it?) apparently Bees make natural antibodies that can treat even more forms of bacteria than the stuff in the tube!!

Fruits of color (purple, reds, blues)--- cherries are great for pain relief  20 cherries = 1 aspirin

Mint muddled into some warm water soothes upset stomach, and reduces pain, no more chalky Pepto :)

Non salted, raw cashews - prevents tooth decay! Snack on these every so often, it's a no brain-er way to have a healthy smile..

**One last little reminder to self: I want to remember to frequent farmers markets in the community, It's something I've always dragged mike to anyway, but it's important to support local growers, and you cannot beat the farm fresh ingredients, and homemade jams, jellies, honey, and other great goods..

Is this normal??? YUM FOOD

So I have no idea when it's the "normal" time to get food cravings, but for some reason I cannot get enough salty foods... (and yes I know I need to watch my salt intake) I've been eating sooo many Spanish Olives, I bought a bag of salted peanuts, I've been LOVING me some pickles, salted sunflower seeds, salted popcorn, you name it (and put salt on it ) and I want it!!!


   Also an odd occurrence this week, I ate steak!! (so your saying, "yea and?") Well the yea and is that I hate steak!! Beef in general actually, and I'm being serious, I think maybe in 5 years of being with mike he's seen me try a bite of steak once and give the rest to him.. But for some reason, I seen them in the store and wanted them.. ( I played it off like it would be nice to cook for mike, but really I wanted it) I ended up eating 1 and a 1/2 and enjoying every second of it.. I wonder if this new development is going to stick after pregnancy??
       


Weird thing number three, (and then I'm done I swear) I'm normally a seafood freak, Shrimp, scallops, crab, sushi!! Of coarse I haven't eaten any during pregnancy, but my sister brought home some shrimp last night and cooked them for herself and my mom, let me tell you I was beyond GROSSED OUT.. (weird right) for some reason the smell of them had me thinking, why would I ever of eaten that?? All I have to say is...


Dear Child,
You are messing your mommy's taste buds up.
and I would really like to enjoy shrimp again one day.
give the smell a chance, love you <3