cravings and cupcakes

Today was baby's first snow day as Southern Ontario got its first blast of winter in the form of freezing rain, ice pellets and snow. There was no way I was venturing out, and fortunately Ian didn't have to work until the afternoon.

As a fitting winter dinner, I'm having turkey chili tonight. People always ask what foods I've been craving, and whether the baby seems to like anything in particular. Here's the lowdown (in no particular order):

1. Peanuts. I've always had trouble restraining myself from dry roasted peanuts once I get my hands on a jar, but I've hit new limits during pregnancy.
2. Cottage cheese. This is a good thing, high amounts of both protein and calcium.
3. Chocolate cake. I went through a phase at the beginning of needing chocolate cake, in particular a La Rocca chocolate truffle cake that you can buy by the slice at our grocery store. So decadent, so good.
4. Chocolate milk. I can drink this until the cows come home (har har), but I usually mix it with half 1% regular milk to cut down on the sugar.
5. Scalloped potatoes. This craving has mostly gone away, but for a month or so I wanted them all the time.
5. Cereal. We have six different kinds sitting on top of our fridge.
6. Cupcakes. This is the latest. I've been mildly obsessed with cupcakes for the past few years, and now I want to make all kinds! Last week I made Barefoot Contessa's classic Coconut Cupcakes, pictured above.

As for food aversions, there's just one and it has stuck so far. Lettuce. Yes, that's right, lettuce (and any other kind of leafy green, actually). All I can eat is one piece hidden in a sandwich, or Dr. Oetker's Ristorante Spinach pizza.

So, no stereotypical cravings like pickles and ice cream (does anyone really crave that?). And, like me, the baby seems to like food in general... but I get extra kicks after anything with dairy!

29 weeks and baby book mania

Week 29 kind of feels like my 29th birthday did so far. In that last window before turning “30”, I’m suddenly realizing that time is flying along and things are about to change dramatically! Soon my energy will likely start to dip again too, I’ll walk (aka waddle) even slower, and there will be more sore muscles to contend with. Not to mention all the things we still have to do … Set up the rest of the baby’s room, pick up the change table and mattress, get the baby gear together, and do one or two last projects around the house while there’s still time or motivation to do them. Of course I have two crafty projects on the go as well, to decorate her room!

High on the list is also learning more about being parents of a newborn. Tonight is our hospital tour and we start pre-natal class on Saturday, which I’m sure will make us feel MUCH better. I’m also hunting for good books, and am unsure about which ones are really worth reading. I’ve looked at The Mother of all Baby Books: An All-Canadian Guide to Baby's First Year , What To Expect in the First Year and The Baby Book as good possibilities. I’m also interested in Better Baby Food by The Hospital for Sick Children, I just wish it included little “menus” which I think would be really helpful in learning how to plan meals when babies start solid foods.

I’m going to wait a bit longer in case we receive any books as gifts, but in the meantime I’m a bit overwhelmed by the selection and all things to learn.

Any book recommendations are welcome!

baby's first blanket

This is the finished baby blanket I've been working on, taken in the baby's room in progress! It's knit with yarn that I bought last spring at The Naked Sheep in Toronto. It's 'Coco' by Lang, a cotton and acrylic mix that's washable and it comes in beautiful, fresh colours -- different than the traditional 'baby' yarn. It also comes in other variegated colours, like a lovely lavender.

I cast on 95 stitches and just knit in garter stitch since the yarn is already so textured -- it couldn't have been easier. I used 6 balls in total, one yellow for each border and 4 green balls for the middle. It's super-soft. I can't wait to cuddle her up in it!

Now I'm knitting a toy cat, from a Knitty pattern I used last year to make one for another special little girl. This one will have a different colour scheme and I picked up some flannel fabric to sew some coordinating accessories. Stay tuned for photos when it's done.

the hooter hider

Baby and mommy gear is a whole new world of shopping -- and while there are many trendy things that I find unnecessary and/or way too expensive, there's some pretty cool stuff out there. This is one thing I must have!

I've been wondering how to breastfeed discreetly while in public or with bigger groups of people I'm not particularly comfortable flashing the boob for. I've seen some nursing canopies, but they're typically bulky or not exactly stylish... enter the Hooter Hider. As the name implies, it hides umm... "the girls".

A friend of mine recently got one at her baby shower so I decided to look for it and found their web site. This thing is genius! It allows mom to see baby clearly, has a comfy terrycloth lining inside, and slips easily over your neck.

According to their web site, in Ontario only a few baby boutiques carry it -- including a store in Richmond Hill called Baby Bumps & Bellies. And look at the colourful mom chic fabrics it comes in!

28 weeks!

Yesterday was my 28 week check up, as well as my gestational diabetes screening. The check up was great --

Belly Measurement: 28 cm
Blood Pressure: 110/70
Baby's Heartbeat: 140
Baby's Position: Sideways - apparently this is fine, she will be turning and somersaulting for several more weeks before 'getting into position'.
And, like the last appointment, the second the stethoscope settled on my belly the baby promptly gave it a good head-on kick!

I also had my first post-holiday weigh-in, which I was a bit nervous about. Like most of us, I indulged over the break in favourites like turkey, gravy, baking, chocolate truffles, and cheese. But, I only put on 5 lbs!

The gestational diabetes test was far less pleasant. In theory it sounds fine -- drink an orange-flavoured drink, wait an hour, have some blood taken, wait a few days for the results. But... this drink is, hands down, one of the most vile things I've ever consumed. I arrived at the lab first thing in the morning and it was already really busy. The nurse gave me a benign looking bottle and a cup, and directed me to the one free chair where I had to down the bottle's contents in no more than 5 minutes.

The first sip wasn't that bad, but by the third I'd had enough. It tastes like McDonald's orange pop, but with the sugar and carbonation magnified about 10x. It didn't help that I had been awake since 3am with hip pain in bed, plus, a waiting room full of mostly seniors was watching at me chug it down as if we were playing some sort of drinking game. The label warns of side effects including 'nausea, vomiting, bloating and headaches'. Lovely. I can understand the sweetness, but whose sadistic notion was it to feed pregnant women, already prone to heartburn, gas, bloating and a host of other digestive issues, a crazily carbonated concoction -- and force them to gulp it down in 5 minutes? You can't even have so much as a drink of water for an hour afterwards. I felt awful, and aside from the obvious reasons, am praying that the bloodwork results are normal ... if not, I get to go back and drink MORE of it than the first time, then wait TWO hours to get blood taken.

Trust me ladies, if you need a reason to put away the ice cream and choose a less sugary way to satisfy your pregnancy appetite, this is it!