30 weeks pregnant today!

This has been going by so fast, I cant believe we will have our little one in less than 3 months, I will be considered "full term" in less than 2 months!! Its so exciting :D We should be starting our birth classes super soon....I actually have a late start on that. Here is what the classes will provide (from her website) 

Each prenatal class includes:

• Bringing our best selves to each moment of pregnancy, birth and postpartum
• Effective pain-coping practices
• Creating a nurturing birth space at home and in the hospital
• Helping partners feel prepared & confident
• Optimal positions and comfort measures for labor and birth
• Embracing our open, positive, confident mindset
• Preparation for crossing the threshold into parenthood
• Creative exploration using a variety of art media
• Postpartum gathering with babies

We are waiting until birth to find out the gender, it will be such a great surprise. I will be 100% happy with a boy or a girl, I just am hoping and praying for a healthy baby. Matt and I "feel" like it will be a boy, we keep calling it a "him" and have a name picked out for a boy. We like the name Dana Clive Powell for a boy and so far the girl name we have picked out is Paisley Olivia Powell.

We made a baby registry on Amazon, if you would like to take a look here is the link: Baby wish list
This week we got a baby bouncer that is so soft and adorable and a backseat organizer for baby things for the car, my second cousin Tammy bought it for the baby :) My Aunt Rachel also got us an adorable space saving high chair for the baby, it is green and has leaves on it with cute little bugs :) my Mother in-law sent us lots and lots of baby clothes from her 7 children and she made some of it, it is such a special gift! I feel so blessed to have people buying us stuff and giving us stuff, I am not used to it...

Red Raspberry Leaf Tea

This tea that I made is actually a blend of herbs that are safe for pregnancy, I may post the recipe later :) It is mostly Red Raspberry Leaf though!

Letting my tea seep then going to add some honey!

Here is an awesome video about Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, you can make ice cubes out of the tea to add to your smoothies!

I have been taking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea since the beginning of my pregnancy, it is some amazing stuff! Red Raspberry Leaf Tea helps to strengthen and tone your uterus for childbirth, you can take it for menstrual cramps after pregnancy too, which will be nice later too. The bulk herb store has a lot of great information on this tea, you can read it here Bulk Herb Store

Here is some information on Red Raspberry Leaf Tea for pregnancy, I got this from Bellybelly

What is Red Raspberry Leaf?

Red raspberry leaf (RRL) or rubus idaeus is a pale green leaf produced by the raspberry plant. The
ancient Greeks and Romans are said to have used red raspberry leaves for treating a wide variety of ailments. Although records of its use date back to the 1500’s in Europe, North America, South America and China. In Australia, the red raspberry leaf is a traditional herb that has been used by indigenous cultures for centuries. It was only in the 1940's that western medicine practitioners recognized its use as a tonic for the uterus during pregnancy and childbirth.

What Vitamins and Minerals Can Be Found In Red Raspberry Leaf?

Vitamin A
Vitamin B complex
Vitamin C
Calcium
Iron
Manganese
Magnesium
Phosphorus
Potassium
Fragarine (or Framamine)
Flavonoids

How Can Raspberry Leaf Help With Pregnancy and Childbirth?

1. Eases morning sickness. It relieves nausea and stomach distress throughout pregnancy.
2. Soothes and prevents bleeding gums
3. Vitamin A aids the mother’s immune system and helps in the development of healthy skin and bones for the baby.
4. Vitamin E promotes better circulation in the mother.
5. Calcium is needed to control nerve response to pain during childbirth. It also aids in healthy bone development in the baby.
6. Fragarine allows the uterus to contract more effectively during labour. It also aids in toning the uterus after childbirth, when it returns back to its normal size.
7. Ease cramping of the uterus.
8. Magnesium is very helpful in strengthening uterine muscles.
9. Studies have shown that women who take red raspberry leaf have a reduced incidence of artificial rupture of membranes, forceps delivery or caesarean section
10. Assists in production of plentiful breast milk

You can buy teabags here: Amazon
You can buy loose leaf tea here: Bulk Herb Store

Before deciding to take red raspberry leaf, it is best to consult your doctor or midwife.

Home birth & Water birth

At first we decided we were going to do a home birth with a midwife because we didn't have insurance and the cost difference is amazing, but after researching births and seeing how safe and beneficial home birth is we decided it is best overall for us! I am a low risk, healthy, 22 year old women and my midwife is very well educated and I trust her 100%. What I had to think about is the fact that birth is  completely normal and natural, beautiful, and God knew what he is doing when he designed it this way. I love the motto "Healthy mom, healthy baby", I have been monitoring my diet (How much protein, fat, iron, calcium and etc I am eating) and have been taking all of the supplements I need to keep myself and my little bear healthy. I started reading "Ina Mays Guide To Childbirth" and because of that and talking to my midwife I have no real fears about whats coming in the next 11ish weeks, I feel ready for it and very blessed to have the midwife that I have, I wouldn't want anyone else to assist in bringing my baby to the outside world! So after reading a lot about childbirth I decided I really want to do a water birth, I talked to my midwife about it and I am going to make it official my next appointment. The benefits are so amazing, you are more relaxed in warm water, you are almost weightless in water, water relaxes your muscles improving blood flow, its a less stressful situation for you and your baby, your baby goes from a warm place to another warm and calm place and its a better way to be born in my opinion (less shocking), the water may reduce vaginal tearing and it is said that water births help reduce the amount of time you are in labor. I am getting so very excited about meeting our little baby and also the birthing experience! I am almost done with my home birth supply list, I will make another blog post about that when I get everything ready. Thanks for reading!

You can read more information on water births here: Water birth info

Garden Update 7/1/2013

I haven't written in a while, I haven't really been doing much I hurt my back about 2 weeks ago and the it got a little better for a few days then I hurt it again but not as bad as the first time. You have to be strong to be pregnant, I wish I had been working out prior to being pregnant haha! Anyways, our garden is growing more and more everyday, we have like 5 basil plants starting, tons of cilantro, the sunflowers are doing great, the oregano is doing ok I think (still not sure if its growing or if its weeds haha), the lettuce is really big, the kale is growing nicely, we have one bean plant growing and several types of onions. Last night Matt and I pulled all of the weeds in about 45 minutes, we gave it a good soak before we started so it was super easy to do. NO MORE GHETTO GARDEN!

Before pulling weeds 

After we pulled the weeds, I am so happy with it now! 

Some of the basil, I think I will need to transplant them farther apart when they get a little bigger

The lonely green bean plant

The second garden

Lots of cilantro, we always have cilantro in our fridge so this will be awesome to have from the garden!

How to cook a whole frozen chicken in your crockpot

Uncooked

Cooked and shredded

Ummm so this method has basically just changed my entire life! You cant get any easier than plopping a whole frozen chicken into your crock pot and leaving for 5 hours! I found this method on a youtube video and was impressed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX4DjU43Bj4 , I heard people can get 5 meals out of a whole (small) chicken so I had to try it out. I used a different "recipe" than the lady in the video, here is what I used.....

*** I had a 5 pound chicken and left it in all night and it was amazing!


Ingredients: 
1 whole frozen chicken (3ish pounds)
1 cup water
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 carrots sliced
1/2 onion diced
2 stalks celery cut
2 bay leaves


Directions:
Pour 1 cup water in your crockpot, lay chicken breast down in your crock pot, sprinkle salt and pepper on and around your chicken, stuff the cut carrots, onion, celery and bay leaves around chicken. Cover, set on high and go do something fun for 5 hours. To check if done you can stick a knife in a thick spot of the chicken and see if the meat is still pink, if it is still pink cook longer. When done, remove from crockpot and separate chicken as desired. If you want you can broil your chicken 5 minutes on each side for a more crispy chicken.

If you want to make chicken stock: 
Source: http://www.momskitchenhandbook.com/uncategorized/who-knew-crock-pot-chicken/

Remove the skin from the chicken and pull the meat off the bones.  Store the meat in the fridge until ready to use. Put the bones back into the crock pot.  Add two more whole carrots, 2 whole stalks celery, half an onion, and another bay leaf.  Add 5 more cups of water, turn the pot to low and cook an additional 4 hours. Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

Update with the garden

Well, I dont know what I am doing haha. There are a million plants growing and I think 90% of them are weeds so I am waiting for them to get a little bigger so I can know for a fact its a weed before ripping out some cilantro or something. I havent skipped a day watering yet! YES! The bigger garden doesnt look like anything is growing from a distance, when you get up close you can see there are plants all over, some are getting to the point where I can tell what it is. Here are some pictures...

Cilantro for sure...

Looks like nothing, right? 

Then you look closer and you're like, HEY KALE!

The sunflowers are growing like CRAZY! 

How to take your prenatal vitamins when you cant swallow pills....

So, I am a giant wimp. For whatever reason I am terrified of swallowing pills, I have like mini panic attacks whenever I "try" and trying ends up with me holding it in my mouth while people yell at me "You have to swish water around in your mouth" or "Put it on the back of your tongue and let it fall down" and then I cry like a giant baby and get shaky. With that being said, I NEED to take my prenatal vitamins, I was buying those gummy ones they sell at Walmart and then realized (after talking to my midwife about it) they are not nearly good enough. I wish I could just pop pills like a drug addict, I have a friend who can take all of her horse pill vitamins at once (its like a handful of pills). So, I bought prenatal vitamins in those dissolvable  capsules and tried out the ole put it in applesauce trick, I wanted to get it over with so I poured two pills worth of powder into a tablespoon of applesauce....FAIL....that ended up with gagging and throwing up! So then I bought protein powder and tried it in a shake with a banana and it didn't taste bad and you cant taste it at all when you add strawberries too! Woohoo, grow baby grow!

See? Dont blend the whole pill, just the powder. 

Ta Dah!

Ingredients: 
Your daily dose of Prenatal vitamins in capsules
 1 Banana
5 frozen strawberries
Protein powder (read on the back how many scoops you need for the serving, I need 1/3 cup)
About 1 - 1 1/2 cups of milk

Directions: 
Put chopped banana, frozen strawberries, protein powder, THE POWDER from your prenatal vitamins (Please dont blend the clear dissolvable part!) and milk into blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy and grow that beautiful baby!

In case you are wondering what supplements I am taking, here it is. Its all recommended by my midwife, so ask your doctor or midwife before taking anything. Everything I take is chewable, liquid, or powder.