Book review on becoming a big sister!

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We received this adorable book as a gift from my hubby’s Aunt. It arrived at the perfect time! I was entering my 7 month of pregnancy 🤰 and my almost 3 year old who’s now officially 3(!!) was still patting my belly saying, “baby puppy”. Which is totally adorable but I didn’t want her to freak out when she meets her sibling and it’s not a puppy 🐶.

This book, “Hello in There”, illustrates very clearly a baby in mommy’s belly and baby gets big on each page while big sister is on the outside waiting for baby to be born and thinking about all the fun they’ll have when they can finally play together.

My daughter really seems to understand there’s a baby in my belly 😊 and she seems pretty excited about it and says baby wahhh. She thinks all babies do is cry 😂

Page with baby in mommy’s belly and baby gets bigger on each subsequent page.

Big sister waiting for baby and subsequent pages show big sister doing activities like playing dress up and saying she can’t wait to play with baby.

This is a great book for a big sister to be. I haven’t checked to see if there’s a big brother version of the book. I highly recommend this book 📖 it explains very clearly what’s going on, my daughter really grasped what’s going on!

Pregnancy Glucose Test

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A standard test in during pregnancy is the blood glucose test which is done around 26 weeks gestation. This is an initial screening for gestational diabetes, a 3-hour test will follow if your blood sugar levels are too high in the initial test. It’s important to be tested for gestational diabetes because this affects the health of both mommy and baby. You do, however, have the option to opt out of this test.

You consume 50 grams of glucose and your blood is drawn 1 hour later to measure your blood sugar levels. I had this test today. The standard drink supplied is glucola but it’s an option to drink 10 oz of (equivalent to 50 grams glucose) organic grape juice instead which is what I chose to do.

I opted out of drinking the glucola drink because I don’t want to consume the unhealthy ingredients, which includes dextrose from corn which may be GMO and food dyes Yellow #6 and Red #40. I know it’s a small amount of all these but I prefer not to drink it.

So the other option is to drink 10 oz of organic grape juice, available at the grocery store. This amount of grape juice supplies 50 grams of glucose required for the test.

My midwife appointment was scheduled for 8:30am so I was instructed to drink the juice 45 minutes before my appointment and take no more than 10minutes to drink the juice and note the time when I finished the drink.

I was up at 5:45am with my toddler who’s just getting used to her big girl bed and she got up super early, her normal wake time is 7am but not today! I drank about 16 oz of water then ate a meal at 6:30am which was overnight steel cut oats with vanilla Shakeology, unsweet vanilla ripple milk, cinnamon and pumpkin seeds. I drank water in between that time and 7:52am I poured the 10 oz of grape juice and also ate 2 Tablespoons of unsweet sunflower seed butter and sipped the grape juice until it was finished at 7:56am. So I went to my appointment and had my blood drawn at 8:56am. I should find out the results tomorrow.

I’m happy to be able to have an alternative to the glucola drink. I don’t understand why they use an unhealthy drink when simple grape juice works. In pregnancy, there are many things to consider when it comes to tests and it’s ok to ask questions and find a way that works better for you and your baby. You are their advocate from day one in your belly.

Pregnancy with baby 2 vs baby 1

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Today I took Honor to the park for a picnic and although I thought it would be relaxing I ended up being on my feet the whole time and watching her play. It was fun but wow exhausting!

Being pregnant with baby 2, I often think how different this pregnancy is compared to round 1! Being pregnant when I didn’t already have a child to care for was challenging on its own. I was super exhausted, especially in the first trimester and still pretty tired most of my pregnancy. I had morning sickness which lasted all day and was intense the first trimester and when it did let up around week 16 or 17 I would still have nausea sometimes, although far more mild than morning sickness. I could take naps after work which was nice, I worked more days at the office so that part was harder.

Pregnancy with baby2, having an active toddler this time around, I have spent a lot of time on the couch watching her play and feeling super guilty that I wasn’t able to have fun with her too. I took her out for short play dates at the library or shopping, the park was too exhausting which we tried a few times but with the FL heat and being pregnant it would take me the rest of the day to recover. I have called my husband most work afternoons to see when he’s getting home from work because especially in the first trimester I was so exhausted by that hour I needed him to be home to take care of our daughter and help with dinner and getting her in bed. I dreaded the nights he had to work later than usual or had plans to play soccer or go to a networking event.

So yes it’s been challenging and my pregnancy is having an effect on my whole family, they are seeing mommy more tired and in need of help. It’s a short season in life. I feel like I never hear people talk about this type of thing only what life is like when baby 2 arrives. I am super grateful to have this baby in my belly, there is no doubt about that! I’m excited to have her complete our family! We can’t wait to meet her in March 2019!

 

No-Bake Chocolate Protein Snacks: Toddler Approved/Lactation Cookies

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So these protein balls I started making as my go-to no-bake lactation cookie! Add a little brewers yeast and boom-lactation support!! My daughter is now expanding her palette so I cut these into tiny bites and she devours them! I make them for her without the brewers yeast now.

Check out our video making this tasty treat :)!

Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup unsweet shredded coconut

2 .T cacao (cocoa) powder

2. chocolate chips (I use dairy free Pashca 85% or enjoy life brand)

2 T. dried fruit (we love cherries or cranberries)

1/4 cup maple syrup (agave or honey work well too)

1 T. brewers yeast (for lactation support if needed)

1 T. coconut oil

1 T. water (if needed)

Method:

1. Pulse pumpkin seeds and coconut flakes then add in remaining ingredients.

2. Process until there are no detectable big pieces – especially if you will be sharing with your kiddos!

3. Scoop out by the Tablespoon, the mini ice cream scoopers work great.

4. Roll into balls or pop into mini paper muffin cups.

5. Store in fridge 4 days or freeze.

 

Yield: 12 balls

Note: If serving to your toddler, cut into small dime size pieces and flatten (to make sure no big chunks. Brush their teeth after snack since this has sticky sweetness!

 

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