39 Weeks and 2 Days…

Posted on March 6, 2013 by The Giddy Tigress

Nope, I have not popped yet..just in case anyone was wondering…it’s now a waiting game and it’s an understatement to say that everyone is anxious.

At exactly 39 weeks, I found the time to squeeze in a little exercising, in the form of yoga.  There is a small yoga room in the leasing office building, and they also provide the yoga dvd with mats and other apparatus if you so desire.  The session I did was a very light one, and although it helped me relaxed a little, I was bummed out because I could not do most of the poses properly, due to my bump!  Did some nice stretches though. 🙂

I’m still going to for the twice-weekly fetal non-stress tests, and seeing my OB once a week.  She did suggest inducing the labor on the 39th week, but I told her I’d much prefer to wait till Week 40 and birth naturally, so baby, we’ve got a few more days to go!  Uggh…plus the thought of inducing is terrifying me.

Well, it’s not like I have been leading a laid-back lifestyle now.  I still do the cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, driving around, taking the trash out and pretty much the same stuff as I have always done, but you know, when it comes to labor and delivery, it’s always the baby that calls the shots.  So we’ll see…

Hmmmm…maybe I should hit the treadmill and elliptical tomorrow morning…

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Two Weeks to EDD

Posted on February 25, 2013 by The Giddy Tigress

Today marks the completion of my 38th week of pregnancy.  We’ve all randomly put in our guesses on what day exactly baby will decide to say hello to the world, but who’s to say who’ll get it right, eh? 🙂

I’m not “nesting” as much as I’d expected, because at the back of my mind, I keep telling myself the most important thing now is to rest whenever I can because I have to be on call 24/7 when baby arrives.

As you can see, all the cloth diapers are laundered and folded nicely in the chest of drawers.  Passed from Ethan and then to Hannah and now to their soon-to-be-sibling, these cloth diapers are truly the ultimate and perfect hand-me-downs! 🙂

On the weather front, it’s certainly apparent that spring has decided to sleep in a little while longer.  We had another blizzard over the weekend, albeit not as big as Nemo, but it still left us with a snow-filled surrounding, just like a winter wonderland.

 

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An Afternoon in Cambridge, MA

Posted on February 24, 2013 by The Giddy Tigress

After several procrastinations, we finally paid a short visit to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.  It would definitely be trickier with a newborn baby in tow, had we waited, because baby could come any day now. 🙂 So this was more like a check off from my list of things to do…

Anyway, the weather was bordering on chilly but it was a wonderful walk around both campuses, and we are pleased that for most part of our walk, Ethan and Hannah were not putting up too much of a fuss.  Here are some sights and scenes from our fun-filled afternoon 🙂

Firstly, at MIT:

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Week 37 and Counting Down…

Posted on February 20, 2013 by The Giddy Tigress

I’m 37 weeks pregnant now, and considered full-term, which leaves hubby and I both anxious and excited about welcoming our newborn into our lives! 🙂

Just last week, I did something really cool that I had wanted to do in a long while.  I wrapped up my 37th week by being one with nature (more or less) when I took a leisurely walk all by myself from Ethan’s school back to our apartment.  You see, I had a parent-teacher conference scheduled that morning with his teacher, and because of that Pete dropped Hannah off at her school and rushed to work for a meeting.  Well, that left me with only my trusted legs to take me home. 🙂

It was a 15-minute walk really, but because I stopped every now and then to take some pictures and also because I now walk considerably slower than my usual brisk walking speed, I made it home in about 25 minutes.  It was an awesome walk, and because it was not as hot as back home in the tropics, it was relaxing too.  I did make the mistake of not bringing my cap along, which resulted in my ears feeling a tad chilly, but other than that, it was a great form of exercise!  And goodness knows how much I needed that! 🙂

Today I had my ultrasound done again, and we were thrilled that baby is now facing head-down and in the proper position of birth.  Yay!  In the last few weeks of pregnancy too, beginning with today, I had to go for the fetal non-stress test where the baby’s heartbeat is measured and observed over a 20-minute timeframe, just to make sure everything’s fine.

My Braxton-Hicks contractions have also become more pronounced and sometimes significantly uncomfortable.  I’m just dreading the “real” pain all over again.

Still, nothing can take away the joy of meeting our beautiful miracle after all these months…

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Homemade Pizza … Finally!!

Posted on February 15, 2013 by The Giddy Tigress

It’s mind-boggling trying to come up with a dinner menu every day, and yes, I am often stumped.  I have, however, always wanted to make my own pizza.  With the endless array of toppings possible, it’s a no-brainer dinner that goes down well with almost everyone.

It wasn’t till recently that I took the trouble to hunt for a suitable recipe for the pizza dough/crust.  I didn’t want to get store-bought ones because really, I wanted to be sure what’s in my homemade pizza.

So I used this mixed-herb pizza dough recipe I found, and used whatever toppings I could find in my pantry and refrigerator.  This recipe yields two pizzas of about 12 inches each, so I made one for lunch (I only ate part of it) and another for dinner.

On my first pizza, I put diced chicken, sliced white mushrooms, shrimp, olives and bell peppers, and of course, topped with mozzarella cheese.  Taste-wise was edible, but not perfect, because I overcooked the crust, and it turned out crispy, more like like a crunchy biscuit, you know?

For dinner, and especially for my kids, I made a sausage, chicken, mushroom and cheese pizza, and this time, I made sure the crust was not overcooked 🙂

Well, there’s still room for improvement but for a first-time effort, it’s definitely edible.  Maybe if I had a proper pizza pan and proper pizza cutter? *wink*

 

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