Healthy Breakfast - Berry Smoothie

As you all know veggies and all food healthy is really not appealing to me right now so I'm trying to pack in some nutrients where I can't really taste them, just like all our Mom's did to us when we were kids.

One of my favorite things for breakfast in the summer are smoothies of all kinds. I have a magic bullet so they aren't very big but it's fast, easy and very healthy!

Today I made a berry smoothie because that's all I had in the house to use. I made two and each one contains:
Handful of blueberries
Handful of raspberries (shocking, I know)
Half an avocado
As much spinach as I could fit in the top
A scoop of whey isolate vanilla protein powder
A good chug of vanilla almond milk (usually I would use plain but we only had vanilla - I probably bought it mistakenly thinking it was original)
A splash of V8 pomegranate and blueberry juice

It was pretty tasty. It's the first time I've used avocado in a smoothie and it was awesome - you don't taste it at all but it makes it so creamy, especially considering that I didn't have any bananas or yogurt today! I will definitely be doing that again.

Meet the midwife

After our awesome appointment with the doctor I wasn't too concerned about the midwife, I figured it would be what it would be and I was totally satisfied going with the doctor. We met with our midwife on July 23. Our appointment was at 9:30, we arrived around 9:20 and were with the midwife, beginning our discussion, right on time at 9:30. The place was filled with women working away but they were all super friendly and helpful. The waiting room was filled with comfy couches, felt more like waiting in someone's living room as opposed to a clinical doctor's waiting room. It also made me feel good that I wasn't sitting in a room with sick people.

The appointment itself ended up being more of an info session - really more about them than about us. Their objective is to educate on the role of the midwife so that we can make a decision whether or not to go ahead with them. The room was comfortable too, the 3 of us could chat comfortably and there was a twin bed at one end. She explained that I would actually be assigned to two midwives and would have appointments with both throughout my pregnancy so I could get to know them both, although one would be primary and the other would be secondary. As they're a teaching clinic, we may also be assigned a midwife student. The midwifes are on call 24/7, she gave me everyone's pager #s and all of the details to contact them in case of an emergency and/or in case of questions. They take every other weekend off call, for 3 days, but either my primary or secondary midwife would always be available. When I go into labour, my primary would be with us the entire time, she will come to our house before the hospital so I can labour at home for as long as I'm comfortable doing that before we move to the hospital. If we have a student, she would also be around during labour and would help with paperwork at the hospital and anything else we need. When it comes time to deliver, my secondary midwife would be called in to actually deliver the baby while my primary midwife would be doing whatever she can to help me through the process. After the baby is born, the midwife will come to our house on days 1, 3 and 5 to check me and the baby and they would continue our care until the baby is 6 weeks old, although after the first few visits I will probably take the baby to their office.

We talked a lot about informed decisions. My BFF had a baby boy last week (Yay!! I can't wait to visit him tomorrow!!) and said the epidural was necessary because the pain is unbearable. So I was worried the midwife would be strongly pro-natural/no intervention birth, but she was totally open... she said she would of course encourage me to go as long as I can before giving in to the epidural because it can sometimes slow down progress and it has its own set of side effects, but also that some women can do it without and it's worth trying BUT that if I said I wanted an epidural she would make sure I got one. She said that we will talk about coping mechanisms and all the risks/rewards of certain interventions during the pregnancy so that she can educate us enough that we can make well-informed decisions, since at the end of the day, I'm the mother and it's my body and my experience.

She was trying to calculate my estimated due date based on my LMP date. I told her I knew my ovulation date so of course she asked if we had problems conceiving to which I responded no, I'm just A-type personality and I was lucky, got pregnant the first month I charted! She said, "we can talk more about that later, you're not going to be able to plan your birth experience, and people who go with the flow tend to fare much better than the hardcore A-types". LOL, she knows me so well already.

To calm DH's concerns about the lack of doctor presence, she gave us a handout from the college of midwifes that governs the profession that clearly specifies each situation where a midwife is required to consult with another health professional. Our midwife said that she has a great relationship with the OBs at our hospital and can call them up at anytime, and since it's a category 2 hospital, there is an OB in the hospital at all times (not just on call at home sleeping!).

At the end, she offered to try to find the heartbeat with her doppler, but said because I'm so tall with such a long torso, and still so early (barely 10 weeks) that she may not be able to hear anything and would only do it if I wouldn't freak out. DH's eyes got to be about the size of plates and had such a huge grin on his face so we went for it.... and heard nothing. Kind of disappointing but I'm not freaking out. I have read that you won't always hear it with the doppler that early particularly if you have a long torso because the baby is hidden deep in your pelvis. So now I have to wait 'til August 13!!

After the appointment, I was shocked to hear that DH's gut told him that we should go with the midwife. I'm really worried about him passing out (he's a VERY empathetic person, and passed out once when he saw his sister after she had her wisdom teeth taken out, no joke!) and not being at all helpful to me. He says he's going to "man up" but I don't want to have to be worried about him during labour/delivery and I also don't want to be left hanging all alone during that time. He agreed that the extra support we would receive from a midwife would be huge for us... the secondary midwife made us feel good that there would be at least one person we knew at the delivery of our baby... the extra care after delivery is also a bonus... not to mention the comfy waiting room that we didn't even have to wait in for long! Finally, I feel like it's a little community there. They offer all kinds of parenting classes at their clinic and even help you with breastfeeding after the baby comes which seems invaluable. So, shock of all shocks, we decided to go with the midwife!!

Now I feel guilty about breaking up with my doctor who I did really like! But definitely feel great about going the midwife route!

Meet the doctor

I mentioned a while back that I got twice lucky and scored a spot with both a family doctor who delivers babies and with a midwife. We met with the doctor on July 18. I had googled her in advance and read great things, overall people loved her, the only complaint I could find was that she wasn't always on time and you could spend up to an hour waiting for your appointment.

This rang true for us. We had an appointment at 10:15 and I don't think we met with the doctor until after 11. DH was freaking out because he had a lunch meeting downtown but also didn't want to miss meeting the doctor. Needless to say, when we finally did get in to see her, she was great. She did a pretty intensive history on us, our ethnic backgrounds, difficulties in family pregnancies on my side, our lifestyle and habits, etc. She also educated us on the types of testing we can do for chromosomal disorders. Overall she said we have no risk factors for chromosomal issues but that it doesn't mean that it can't happen, you just never know. We also talked about when I could do the testing given we are going out of the country during weeks 11-13 (fortunately I can do it right when I get back!). Then DH left to get to his meeting and she did a pretty complete physical on me. Weight - 122lbs, BMI 18.6 (in the normal range!) and blood pressure 90/50. She also did a breast exam (I don't really get why, but whatever), checked my breathing, listened to my heart, took a urine sample and did a pap. I talked to her a bit about her feelings about vaginal birth vs. cesarian and about pain meds and her answers were pretty much exactly what I would have hoped for. During the exam she also helped me feel my uterus, which, at the time she said was about the size of a tennis ball, right on track for 9 weeks. I was so, so, so hoping that we would be able to hear the heartbeat or get an ultra sound that day but no such luck!! Just knowing that everything seemed to be moving along well did give me some peave of mind.

Another bonus is that her office is in the same building as my family doctor and there is a lab and an ultra sound clinic in the building as well, so after the appointment I was able to run downstairs and book my ultra sound appointment (August 13!) and drop off my samples (from the pap and for urine test).

She delivers on average 4 babies per month, so the likelihood that she would be there for our birth is very good. She had a great bedside table manner, I didn't feel rushed at all and she seemed like an interesting person. We were also able to relate on another level because her husband is a CA.

All in all, a great appointment! I left feeling extremely relieved that I was fortunate to get a great doctor. Honestly I considered cancelling the midwife appointment because DH was nervous about the whole midwife thing (aka not a doctor) and because I was so happy with the doctor.

10w 2d

I have not felt like posting at all lately, thus why I haven't. My blog ladies who all got their BFP's within a few weeks of mine have slowed down considerably on the posts as well, so I don't feel so bad about it! That said, I hope that all is well with you ladies and your little peanuts!

I am surviving over here. I still get waves of nausea occasionally when I least expect them and I am so, so tired. On the weekends I take full advantage of mid-afternoon naps. Once I lay down I am totally out for at least an hour, even with my family milling around and making dinner with me on the couch. I haven't been able to nap like this since I was a teenager playing a ton of sports and partying at nights haha.

Veggies still turn me right off. My beloved spinach makes me want to gag. The best way I can come up with to hide them in food is in home made veggie pizza smothered in cheese and in smoothies. I'm enjoying fruit though, so am eating berries, bananas, gala apples and cherries. The most veggies I think I've gotten is through virgin caesars! We also have some tomato plants that are producing a lot of fruit right now so I can eat those too. I haven't had any "weird" cravings but when I do crave something I cannot get it out of my head and must have it. For example, I had mashed potatoes for dinner one night. Just mashed potatoes. They were the best mashed potatoes I've ever made! (I jazzed them up by boiling the potatoes with onions, and mixing in butter, sour cream, cream cheese and a squeeze of mustard!). Yesterday, I had to have a poutine and a milkshake, knowing full well that I would feel like crap after because I ate dinner trying to satisfy my hunger and eliminate the craving but it didn't work, so then I also ate the poutine and the milkshake. Last week I survived mostly on soda crackers and sweettarts! I ate sweettarts until my mouth was swollen, my tongue was raw and it hurt. I could not stop. Rest assured that I am still taking my prenatal vitamin daily, and I think as long as you keep something down and take your vitamin, baby should have everything he/she needs to keep growing! here's hoping, because I haven't been pushing myself to eat anything that seems even remotely revolting.

Oh and pancakes with maple syrup. Wow. DH had to go get me pancake mix last weekend because I had to have them. I have eaten them another 3 times since and am now thinking I may make some for breakfast right after I finish this post!

Needless to say, I'm anxious to get back to regular eating habits because it sucks not enjoying food and worrying that I'm going to gain too much weight because all I can eat is candy and takeout.

No belly although I do feel more thick down there. I also don't hold the same posture I used to, I always used to flex my abs, now I don't because it feels gross (because of the nausea, bloating and I guess my expanding uterus) so I have a bit of a gut but I'm pretty sure it's just because I'm letting it all hang out. Okay, gut sounds gross, I don't really have a gut, I'm very fortunate and have skinny genes so it's not really a gut but, there's more hanging out front than I had previously.

Breasts have grown a little but I haven't had any really serious pain there, just some tenderness.

Must get pancakes. I'll post more updates this week so stay tuned for posts in my two appointments as well as our decision on a caregiver!

Still here, 7 weeks 1 day

I have been pretty quiet the last week, mostly because I feel like ‘blah’ and didn’t think anyone would want to read about that and a little because by the time I get home at night I can’t bear the thought of opening up my computer again. It was a long weekend in Canada this past weekend and I had to work 2 out of the 3 days which didn’t help matters. I’m probably a big baby, because I think I could be far worse off than I am, but I just feel like dirt. I am exhausted, getting pimples, bloated and usually nauseous. Sunday night we went out for Canada day and of course I wasn’t drinking but everyone else was, and yet I was the one with a “hangover” on Monday. So not fair! The nausea is really aggravating. I can feel great one minute and then the next I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to avoid throwing up all over the audit room table. Or I see/smell something (ie. chicken bones in the garbage) and suddenly I’m heaving in the lunchroom thanking my lucky stars that nobody else is around! I’ve been fairly lucky in the mornings, if I get up and eat some greek yogurt, kashi and berries before work, I feel pretty good until about 11:15am even though I bring fruit/berries to munch on all morning. Then I have lunch and once I convince myself to swallow it, I usually feel better until around 2:30 then the cycle starts again. I think part of my problem might be that I’m not eating the right things but I haven’t felt like doing groceries. DH has been assigned to that mission for tonight. I’ve also asked him to pick up some of those lifesavers mints which I love. When we were traveling in south America, whenever we felt nauseous we would suck on a few of those and they made a world of difference (they really were lifesavers!). I’m hoping they will work for this too. Needless to say that this is tough… I just feel all around ‘blah’ – that’s the best word I can find the describe it. If I could tell my managers at work it might be easier because they would cut me some slack (well… maybe, hopefully?) or I would TAKE some slack but that’s not an option yet.

On the other hand – I wouldn’t trade the nausea for the alternative. We announced the baby to my Mom this weekend and she is just beside herself with excitement – she said the minute she saw me she knew and wondered whether I would tell her right away or not (I’m not really sure how she could “tell” but my Mom knows me really well – she said she felt like I have a bit of a belly, but I think it may just have been the dress I had on and/or the bloating!) I made her promise not to tell anyone so when we went out for dinner and the topic of babies came up (repeatedly!!) she sat quietly, and then when we got home she did a happy dance in my hall saying she had been good all night and she had to let it out! It made both DH and I feel very excited and made us realize what a gift we’re being blessed with.

Besides the above, the only other symptom I have are larger breasts. Not much larger, but when I get up in the morning and step out of bed they feel heavy. I am really small chested so it’s such an unusual feeling for me. DH is calling me “jugs” which is hilarious because I am so far from it, but he can see/feel the difference too – finally bigger than a handful, lol.

I’m still very much looking forward to my appointment on July 18. I can hardly wait, my patience dwindles with each passing day. I’m hoping by then the nausea will start to subside so that I feel good for our trip at the end of the month… fingers crossed!! If not I may ask them to prescribe me some anti-nausea stuff to get me through because it would be such a waste to feel sick in London and Paris!