My Rest-imony

I'm tired.  I need more naps, more sleep at night and just general rest.  There's something in me that cries out, "that's not a good use of time - inefficient! Think of all you could accomplish in those hours."  I war with myself about rest. I have too much to do to rest. But I'm so tired and so slow because I'm tired so not efficient anyway.

So since I have pregnancy and childbirth on the brain, I thought I would share with you my experience and my plans for this birth regarding rest.

When my second baby was born, we had her in a birthing tub in our house.  It was awesome.  I said afterward that if God gave us more children and allowed - I would have all my babies in water!  Since I had a traditional birth with Gracie (my first) I was expecting to rest a day or two, then get back into the swing of things.  When she was three days old, I was at Old Navy looking for a pair of stretchy pants that would fit.  I knew lots of moms and everybody was back at church or out and about within a few days.  So I was just like my friends.   ......tired.

I felt tired for months with Gracie - she was my first baby.  She was a good sleeper and nurser but I was so tired and the weight just hung on.  When she was a year old, I was still three sizes bigger than I was before I had gotten pregnant.

Since I had never had a homebirth before, there were a number of surprises that came along with Faith's birth.  One of the biggest was my assignment from my midwife after Faith was born.  I was instructed to spend 10 days in the bed, 10 days on the bed and 10 days near the bed. what???  That's a month of rest - how could that possibly work?

But I am a rule-keeper so I had to do it.  Gratefully my mom, dad, sister, mother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-laws all were on board.  For the next month basically my mom and Pete's mom took turns staying a few days at a time - cooking, cleaning and taking care of me, Pete, Gracie and newborn Faith.

It was hard.  I was bored (no TV in the room, no books set up, no computer).  But Pete set up the laptop so I could watch videos online and books were brought up to me (as well as all my meals). Faith had some trouble getting the latch down for nursing but I pulled up websites that helped tremendously.  After 30 days of rest, I was finally able to get back to "life."

I felt great.  I was truly rested.  My body dropped the weight so fast.  I could hardly believe it - you would have thought my muscles would have atrophied, but I was able to go right back to the gym and my stamina was amazingly high.  I cannot speak highly enough of a good solid rest after childbirth.  I didn't need to go find new pants - I was in my nightgown a good bit of the time. I was blessed to have the help I needed to take the rest I was assigned.  I am so grateful.

So what's on schedule for this birth?  Debbie requires 7-7-7 so about three weeks (instead of four) I'll be in, on or near the bed.  This time I know what's coming so I have books already prepared, we're birthing in a room with a TV (hello more HGTV and Food Network overload) and a futon that folds into a bed.  My mom and Pete's mom are already making plans for tag-teaming the function of the house.

Since I'm already so tired - I'm actually looking forward to my after birth rest.  Seriously - I'm yawning right now.

Love,

Dwelling on the past...Fried Okra

As I have said before, I have discovered (through pain) that gall bladders should be taken better care of especially during pregnancy.  Gratefully, diet has been a primary relief.  At least once in our marriage, Pete requested that we have a vegetable that is *not* fried.  With the new gallbladder friendly diet, this is no longer an issue between us.


I grew up in South Carolina.  The best tasting things are those with a little breading and fried up crisp.  In honor of my roots and fondly remembering when I could enjoy fried foods with abandon, I submit to you what I call "REAL" Fried Okra.

Aside: If you are a true southerner, you pronounce the last word as /oak - ree/.  I have somewhat lessened my intensity of the pronunciation after nearly ten years of teasing by my more grammatically-correct Canadian husband.

If you have only had okra from Cracker Barrel (or equivalent), you have not truly experienced okra in all it's deliciousness. Notice that you can actually see the vegetable. This is a food that is not "battered and deep fried,"  it rather has a light flour coating and is pan fried (or baked in the oven). 


Real Fried Okra

1. Gather a mess of fresh okra (picked small, fresh as possible)
2. Wash well (your fingers may itch just a little if you grab one too tight near the top)
3. With a nice sharp knife, cut into disks (maybe 1/3 inch or so) into a clean bowl (that has a tight-fitting lid)
4. After you have a nice bowl full of (yes, somewhat slimy-feeling) sliced okra, you add the "breading"
5. Scoop a small amount (1/2 cup or so) of flour (whole wheat of course)
6. Shake some salt and pepper (to your taste, but more salt than pepper and use sea salt of course)
7. Cover the bowl and shake it well so that all the sticky okra gets a light coating of the flour.
8. Dump the bowl of okra into a hot frying pan (cast iron is a great choice) with some coconut oil in the bottom (not a ton, but enough to cover the bottom well).You can also "bake/fry" this in the oven.  Use a jellyroll pan and lightly coat the bottom with coconut oil.  You'd cook it about 375 for half an hour but stir it a couple of times for even cooking.
9. Stir or continue to scrap with a spatula.  If it begins to stick, add a little more coconut oil.  You may do this several times while it cooks.
10. Cook the okra until it is tender, crispy on the outside and literally melts in your mouth.

Love,

Pregnancy update and belly picture

Last Sunday after church I was preparing lunch.  Of course I had definitely thrown off the shoes.  So there I was...all dressed up but barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.  Pete thought that was an opportunity not to be missed.  I posed and he snapped the photo. This is the belly at the end of the second trimester.

I saw my midwife this week. Everything is looking great with the pregnancy - even my iron levels!  The main thing I have to do is to walk.  I'm trying to walk for 30 minutes everyday.  I have been really slack on walking. It feels like I've has so many things going haywire that consistency has been tough.  I'd appreciate prayers for me to focus on getting this walk in.  Two different midwives have told me that apart from any other exercise- the absolute best indicator of an easy labor and delivery is walking.  Two miles / 30 minutes a day minimum.

Three weeks ago I developed some gall bladder pain.  I certainly recommend being kind to your gall bladder - that pain was tough!  I had to employ my "labor mindset" once again to help get through them. Gratefully with more diet changes I had been able to more or less live pain-free (except for two bad days in the middle where I was a little too bold in my food choices).  Once the baby is born and life re-balances, I plan to try a natural cleanse.  Since that's several months out - I haven't decided which one to go for.  Anyone tried a cleanse for gall bladder issues?

Love,