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.

Molasses Doughnuts (Baked!)

This fluffy, non-greasy, baked doughnut was the result of yet another pregnancy craving.

When I was a kid, there always seemed to be a bakery in town that made these fabulous (fried) molasses doughnuts.  I liked the doughnut holes the best. They were always packed with molasses flavor and rolled in crunchy granulated sugar.

Apparently, Florida hasn't heard of molasses cake doughnuts.

Bummer.

Of course, even if they had, I probably still couldn't justify a greasy, fried doughnut.

Sigh.

The pains of trying to be healthy.

Anyway, I have this awesome baked doughnut pan that I got on Amazon a while back and decided to do some research.  (aka, google "molasses baked doughnut recipe").  Lo and behold, the molasses doughnut recipes I came across were either fried (shocker) or chock full of all the sugar, vegetable oils, white flour, etc. that I try my best to avoid.

I did find a baked doughnut recipe that looked like it came close to the texture and type of ingredients I was looking for, so I decided to give it a try.  No molasses, but I figured the original recipe used a liquid sweetener, so molasses should be an easy substitute.

Sigh of relief when they came out perfectly. Fluffy. Sweet, but not too sweet. In a word, delectable.

The doughnuts aren't very sweet, by design, because I knew I would be dipping them in granulated sugar.  If you decide not to dip them in sugar after baking, feel free to up the molasses or add at least 2 Tbsp brown sugar to the batter. 

Here's the step by step of making pretty baked doughnuts...

1. Put a decorator bag (the kind used for piping frosting onto cakes) inside a large, heavy bottomed glass.  Fold over the top.   Use a spoon or spatula to shove the batter into the bag.
2. Remove the bag from the glass.  Twist the top shut, and hold the bag at the top at the twist.  Cut off the bottom 1/2 to 3/4 inch of the bag (the pointy end). 
3. Squeeze the bag firmly to pip out the batter into the baked doughnut pan (lightly greased pan is preferred). 
4. Bake. Flop out immediately onto a cooling rack.  If the doughnuts don't pop right out, encourage them to pop out by sticking a fork in between the side of each doughnut cavity in the pan and the doughnut and pry gently in a few spots  around each doughnut to loosen them up.

For the granulated sugar topping, I brushed a little melted coconut oil on top of the doughnuts and either dipped the doughnuts into the sugar or just lightly sprinkled them with sugar.  Dipping into the sugar give you more of a wet sugar finish.  Sprinkling with sugar is a lighter coating, and more crunchy.

Your call.

Check out the full recipe below, or pop over to recipage to see the nutrition facts. Enjoy!

Baked Molasses Cake Doughnuts

by Raye

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Keywords: bake breakfast bread fall winter

Ingredients (6 doughnuts)

• 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp Rapadura or brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 6 oz plain yogurt
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 c. molasses
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• granulated sugar, for topping
• additional melted coconut oil, for topping

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400* F.
• In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flours, Rapadura or brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
• In a small dish, stir together baking powder, baking soda, and apple cider vinegar and let sit for a minute or so. In a separate, large mixing bowl, whisk together egg, molasses and yogurt.
• Add dry ingredients to molasses mixture. Stir in coconut oil and vinegar mixture. Mix well.
• Scoop batter into a pastry bag (like the kind used for piping frosting onto cakes). Cut off the bottom 1/2 inch of the bag and pipe the batter into a baked doughnut pan. (If you don't have a baked doughnut pan, feel free to use a standard muffin tin. May have to bake a few minutes extra).
• Bake for 10 minutes or until doughnuts spring back when lightly touched; immediately remove from pan. Toss in granulated sugar, or cool slightly before dipping the tops in melted coconut oil, then dipping into granulated sugar. Best if eaten the day they're made.
• Recipe makes 6 doughnuts. Nutrition facts are shown per doughnut, without added sugar or oil for topping.

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Week 36

Just got back from the pool!

How far along?  36 weeks.

Baby is the size of:  A honeydew melon.

Maternity clothes?  Yep... sleeveless = happiness right now.

Rings on or off?  Off...

Sleep:  As M would say, "meh".  I never realized how hard it would be to turn over in bed with a bowling ball attached to your abdomen. Sort of.  You get the idea. And why is it that I'm always turned the wrong way when the alarm goes off?  It sort of annoys me that it takes so long for me to turn over and turn the alarm clock off. Beat it into submission is more like it some mornings.

Belly Button:  Really outie.

Exercise: Does intent to exercise count?  I'm still sad I missed my swim on Monday!  At least I got to swim today.

Food cravings: Cinnamon coffee cake. Popcorn.  Basically, carbs... the things I'm not supposed to be eating right now.  Sigh.  Where's my peanut butter?  Oh, and grapes!

Movement: I think he's part kangaroo.

Best moment of the week:  Had a relaxing day off on Memorial Day!!

Fun fact:  In ancient Rome, there was a tradition that babies with dark eyes were caused by the moms eating mice.  The one time it's totally ok to not do as the Romans do, regardless of where you are.  Unless of course, you're a momma cat.

Symptoms:  Stretch marks... I think they're breeding... like mice... I find a new little one every day.  Feet are still puffy-ish and my blood pressure was the same this week as it was last week.  Not getting worse, but not getting better either.

Mood?  I'm tired of people.  Some days, I just want to close the office early and hang a sign on the door that says, "Happy employees, welcome.  Disgruntled employees, try back in a few months."

Blessings of the week: I didn't gain any weight this week!  Total weight gain so far = 32 pounds.  Also, I was able to find a great deal on brand new cloth diapers and other baby stuff on Craigs List - got about $600 or so worth of gear for $250!

I learned ...  So much practical information during my childbirth classes!  I'm sad they're over!

Looking forward to:  Being able to sleep on my tummy again.

30 Before 30 Update: May 2013 Edition

This month has just flown by!! (If you’re just joining me recently, I put together a 30 Before 30 list back at Christmas time. You can view my list here.) I met my goal of reading 1 fun book and 1 educational/devotional book this month – see my book reviews at the end of this post!

I also started practicing the piano again. It’s been a few years, but it’s something I would like to get back into. Eventually, I’ll be able to meet my “Play the piano in church” goal. Wow, my fingers are rusty, though! #1 seems to like listening to me play and I figure it’s never too soon to expose him to good music. Although, with my clunkers, it’s not always “good”.

Side note, did I tell you M has decided to nickname the baby “Number 1”? True, he is our first child, so that fits, but I think it has more to do with M being slightly disappointed that I didn’t care for his name suggestion of “Riker” (Star Trek Next Generation reference, just in case you’re not into Sci Fi).

Anyway, the books I read this month were:

The Baby Chronicles by Judy Baer (the sequel to The Whitney Chronicles from last month). Just like the Whitney Chronicles, the Baby Chronicles is an easy read, and very enjoyable! I flew through the book in a couple of days and particularly enjoyed the character development in this story. Many of the characters from the Whitney Chronicles made an appearance… I have to say, Whitney’s co-workers remind me of mine sometimes.

They synopsis of the story is that Whitney (now married for about 2 years) has decided it’s time to start a family. To make things more interesting, her co-worker, Mitzi, has also decided she wants to have a baby (and ends up with triplets!)… not to mention Whitney’s best friend, Kim, has decided to adopt. Babies, babies everywhere! There’s so much pregnancy humor that I could relate to… I just had to laugh. And laugh… and laugh…

And cry, too, apparently. What would a good book be without an unexpected dramatic situation? Maybe it’s my baby hormones on overdrive, but I cried with the characters as they muddled through the tough stuff… and rejoiced with them when everything worked out.

Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon.  I confess, I wasn't too keen on Ms. McCutcheon's writing style and I found her opinions and how she expressed them slightly annoying. She came across as very "my way or the highway".  That said, I'm glad I took time to read the book, as it was very informative.  M and I used her practice exercises every night to prepare for labor and will continue to do so until the baby's born.  Disclaimer:  there is pictures of naked ladies in the book. I sort of thought, "Is that necessary? I mean, does anyone deliver a baby naturally while wearing clothes?" Just so you're aware. Some people find that offensive.  I'm not crazy about the photos, but the information was solid and helpful.  If you don't care about having pics to illustrate the exercises or find the pics offensive, you can find the same info in Husband Coached Childbirth by Robert Bradley, which I also read and recommend (I prefer his writing style as well).