30 Before 30 Update: July 2013 Edition

In keeping with my 30 Before 30 goals, here's the lowdown on the books I read this month:

The Nursing Mother's Companion by Kathleen Huggins.  This book was given to me as part of the deal when I bought my stash of cloth diapers. I'm glad it was!  I thought, "How hard can breastfeeding be?"  Pretty darn frustrating, as it turned out.  Granted, without the NICU experience, my issues probably would have been greatly reduced, but since the little man was bottle fed at the hospital, he decided he didn't want to nurse since it required effort.  Thanks to this book (and a great lactation consultant), we're doing well now.  This is a great resource - if you have any questions about breastfeeding, they're covered with this book. It talks about the how and why and when, and is a fabulous troubleshooting resource.  Invaluable!

The Gentle Art of Mothering: A Christian Guide to Infant Care by Ronda Yoder and Miriam Chickering.  I love this book.  I can't recommend it enough for first time moms.  Finally! A resource for current, scientific information presented from a Christian viewpoint.  I appreciated their viewpoint - it's  a balanced approach somewhere between Babywise and Attachment Parenting and right up my alley. I also appreciated their knowledge and personal experience... yes, they're both registered nurses, but they're also moms (with 9 kids between the two of them).  I read this book at the exact time I needed it.  Somewhere in the midst of the drama surrounding Ry Guy's birth, my lack of sleep, the hormonal upheaval, etc., etc., etc., I was feeling pretty overwhelmed.  Ronda and Miriam talk about praying for wisdom, doing the best you can and accepting God's grace for the rest... it was precisely the encouragement I needed - a real Godsend.  I think this would be a fabulous baby shower gift, too!  

The Ry Guy Report: 1 Month

My guys taking a snooze

Mommy's little man

Weight 7lbs 4oz

Length  20 inches

Milestones Alert, follows objects with his eyes if it's high contrast colors and no more than 12 inches away.

Likes  To cuddle. 

Dislikes  Sleeping.

The Quotable Ry Guy  (Scream.....) Colic has a way of making life challenging for everyone.

Flying with Daddy

As American As...

You thought I was going to say apple pie, didn't you.

DIDN'T YOU!?

Well, I'm not.

Hope you all had a fabulous Independence Day last week.  As you can tell, I'm a little behind on blogging. But, that's to be expected with adjusting to life with Ry Guy.  He's not a fan of sleeping.  Or eating.

I, however, am a huge fan (read GROUPIE) of both eating and sleeping.

Sad to say, not doing much of either.

Our 4th of July was spent lazing around the house tag teaming who was handling baby stuff and cat napping.  Around 3 in the afternoon, I got around to making our celebratory dinner:  Hot Dogs, Potato Salad, and Carob Peanut cookies a la mode (working on perfecting that recipe and will share it at some point - stay tuned!). Oh yes, and Lemonade.  Can't forget that.

Which brings me to the purpose of this post:  as American as... Potato Salad.

What's a cookout or BBQ without this quintessential side dish?  Not much, I assure you. Everyone has their own version of this standby and I'm no exception.  This is different than the potato salad I posted about earlier this spring, in that it's more of a classic recipe that you'd expect to find at a supermarket deli, except better for you and more flavorful.

Of course, you could adapt this to suit your own personal tastes...

Don't like mayo? Sub in light sour cream.  Don't do eggs? Skip them.  Easy as that.

But, if you can, I would encourage you to stick to the recipe below. It's just that good.  (If you need nutrition facts, pop over to my recipage, here.)

In the mean time, enjoy your summer.  And excuse my sleep deprived, lacking in creativity food photography and blog posts for the time being. I keep telling myself that life will return to a somewhat normal pattern, eventually. Until then, I'm going back to bed and hoping for the best...

American Potato Salad

by Raye

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: stove top salad side potato egg July 4th cookout American summer

Ingredients (10 servings)

• 3 lbs russet or Idaho potatoes
• 2 large hard boiled eggs
• 3 celery stalks
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1/4 c. olive oil mayo
• 1/4 c. plain Greek-style yogurt
• 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Peel, dice and boil the potatoes until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain and cool.
• Toss drained potatoes with apple cider vinegar. Chop hard boiled egg, onion and celery; add to potatoes.
• In a separate bowl, stir together mayo, yogurt, mustard, salt and pepper. Gently stir dressing mixture into potato mixture.
• Chill until ready to serve. Refrigerate leftovers.

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Introducing...

Here he is.... after much ado, my little man entered the world on Saturday, June 15 at 4:21 a.m.

He was due June 24, but because of my ridiculously high blood pressure, we had to induce at 38 weeks, 5 days (which is why I didn't do a prenatal journal post for week 38... we never actually made it to the end of the week!).

The decision to induce was difficult for me.  I so wanted a natural childbirth with a labor that started on it's own, because I believe that in most cases, labor will begin when the baby is ready to come.  On the other hand though, with my blood pressure sky high and pre-eclampsia looming, the risks of organ damage and seizures for me and the placenta breaking down for him was just too great a risk.

So, after doing some research on induction methods, my midwife and I worked out a plan, and I breathed a sigh of relief that they would allow me to try for a vaginal delivery first and keep C-section a last resort. I requested to be induced using a natural induction method, a Foley bulb catheter.  This method is rarely used, although it has about a 60% success rate.  Compared with a Pitocin induction, which has a slightly lower success rate, it boggles my mind why the Foley isn't used more often since it's less expensive for the hospital and less invasive for the mother while giving comparable results. While this wasn't my midwife's first choice of a method, she has experience using a Foley and respected my wishes.

30 Before 30 Update: June 2013 Edition

June was a crazy month, but I did meet my monthly 30 Before 30 book goal while on bed rest and finished cutting out all the pieces for the baby's quilt. 

And of course, I met my natural childbirth goal!!! Read Ry Guy's Birth Story here.

Here's what I read this month:

Swinging on a Star by Janice Thompson (#2 in the Weddings by Bella series).  This was a fun novel about a wedding planner and her crazy family and even crazier clients. The story was cute.  I expected an easy read, liberally sprinkled with humor and slightly cliche romance.  It was definitely funny, but not terribly cliche, as I'd expected.  I found it heart warming and a great way to spend a few hours.  If you like predictable, light-hearted Christian fiction, pick this book up; you'll enjoy it!

Your Best Birth by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein.  I highly recommend this book if you're expecting a baby, especially if you're a control freak (like me). Ricki and Abby found a way to capture their passion for midwifery and childbirth with this work.  I appreciated their emphasis on being informed and flexible.  Although neither of the authors were able to have the birth they wanted the first time around, they were so positive about making their experience the best it could be under the circumstances.  That really touched me, since I found myself in a similar situation. The birth stories they included from other moms were great - I enjoyed reading about their experiences...It was because of Kellie Martin's story that I started researching the Foley induction method that I ended up using. 

Ricki and Abby also did a video (The Business of Being

Born) and a miniseries (More Business of Being Born) about birth and related issues.  They're on instant play on Netflix, or you can purchase the dvd's on Amazon; I highly recommend taking the time to see those as well as reading their book.

Baby Update

Some of you are aware already that we welcomed our baby boy last Saturday, June 15th.  It's been a crazy week since then... he's spent some time in the NICU being monitored for bradycardia (slow heartbeat) and apnea (breathing issue...sort of like forgetting to breathe).  He's been doing well the last few days and we're told we can take him home today, as soon as the dr. gets around to seeing him and writing the discharge order.

I plan to write up his birth story and upload some pics this coming week, so all of you can see him, but until then, just wanted to say thank you for praying for us through this challenging and scary time.  God has been so good to us.

Week 37

Not the most flattering view...

How far along? 37 weeks.

Baby is the size of: A quarter of a watermelon.

Maternity clothes?  Will I ever wear normal sized clothes again???? I'm starting to wonder.

Rings on or off?  Off, but I got them cleaned, so when I'm ready to wear them again, they'll be all nice and sparkly.

Sleep:  It's ok, at least I'm in a pattern of sleeping, waking, bathroom, sleeping... etc.

Belly Button:  Way out there.  Kind of like my dreams lately.