Pregnancy Update

I realized I haven't written an update on this pregnancy or my condition in a hot minute!

If you read this post, you know about my condition and the risks implicated. So far I haven't had any complications with my body, but when I went to my last checkup, my doctor told me about complications with this baby boy.

At the 20 week ultrasound, you know the one where they check all the organs, size of the head, bones, etc. The doctor found a concern in baby's kidneys. The openings from the kidney to the urinary tract, the funnel shaped part, if you will, was bigger than normal in both kidneys. He sent me to the specialist, which I hate going to, but I'll do anything for this baby.

I went to the specialist and after looking at the baby and measuring the openings, everything looks normal! Yay! I am so relieved.

Here I am at 28 weeks, ready to take the glucose test this week and so ready to meet this baby!

How far along: 28 weeks.

Gender: Boy.

Maternity clothes: Of course! Some of them don't fit me anymore ha!

Sleep: Awful! Nothing is helping anymore. I'm about to jump on the essential oil train!

Best moment this month: Just feeling baby boy karate chop me at all times of the day.

Worst moment this month: Heart burn! Ahhhh! And this awful heat!

Miss anything: I actually do miss a good alcoholic beverage. An ice cold beer sounds REALLY good right now. 

Movement: Tons like a ninja!

Cravings: Watermelon, anything with chili, coffee (yay!), salads, pretty much anything refreshing. Same as it has been.

Queasy or sick: Nope.

Looking forward to: Getting over this heat, getting some rain, and kicking my feet at the end of the day!

A couple of past bump update pics.

26 weeks.

27 weeks and jamming out. :)

Hoping this week goes by fast!

Vegetarian Lasagna

I'll start off by saying that I love carbs. Like really love carbs as much as the next person and I still eat them, but I try to stick to the good ones like whole grains. I have mentioned before that with this pregnancy, I have been trying so hard to eat much healthier than I did with my previous one. I gained so much weight that my doctor asked me to slow down! Plus baby weight isn't fun for anyone. I have also been trying to eat as little meat as possible so finding alternatives it is!

I am sure there are a million recipes out there (Pinterest!) on how to make vegetarian lasagna, but this is how I make it. No measuring and with ingredients and veggies we like.

So simple, although it does take a bit of time to put together, but the end result is so worth it!

You'll need-

Eggplant- 1 and a half
Zucchini- 3
Cottage cheese
Mozzarella- skim, 1 2cup bag
Oregano
Organic marinara sauce- 1 jar

The first step is to roast the veggies a bit with olive oil, salt and pepper. I sliced them really thinly, laid them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 5-7 minutes or until slightly cooked. I didn't want them browned, just pliable enough. If you've had eggplant before, you know that it takes a while to cook enough for it to be cut with a fork easily, and for it to absorb flavors. If you feel like this step is too much, or too time consuming, you can probably skip it and just bake your lasagna for a little longer! I totally wouldn't make this during the week, I save these types of recipes for the weekend, especially Sundays when I have to make bigger meals for lunch on Mondays. :)

Once you have all of the veggies lightly roasted, spread a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom of a glass baking pan and layer one of the veggies, add more sauce, cottage cheese, mozzarella and a bit of oregano then the other veggie. Continue layering until you're out of veggies!

Bake for about 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees. Cheese will melt, sauce will bubble and the veggies will be deliciously soft and flavorful. It tastes just like lasagna.

This makes about 8 servings. I always make this much because we have it for dinner and lunch the next day.

I hope you try this and enjoy it!

Camping Trip

This past weekend, I took Friday off to take advantage of the three day weekend we had for the 4th of July. I stayed home with Elliot and Jack had to work, but I really didn't want to stay home all weekend. I wanted to take advantage of the days with my family we had ahead.

As soon as Jack got home from work I told him we should do something like going camping, since we have everything needed from Jack's camping days with his friends.

Off we went Saturday morning! It was such a fun adventure. We had never been camping together, therefore, Elliot had never been camping and he had so much fun roughing it up in the wild! :)

On the way there he kept asking where were we going. I explained a million times but I don't think he could grasp the concept yet, pictures and all. I packed him snacks and a couple of surprise toys to keep him occupied but he did so good and never once complained.

We found the perfect little spot to set up our tent and chairs right by the mountain and we swear we heard a bear in the middle of the night, which was terrifying since we were in bear country! It was also really cold at night and Elliot woke up a couple of times saying he wanted to go home, we knew we made the right choice by only staying one night. Easing him into this camping thing slowly! The next day we packed everything up and headed back home. The entire way Elliot kept saying he wanted to go home. I guess he's an old soul most comfortable at home, just like us!

We took him by the lake on our way out so he could see the fish and ducks. I think that was his favorite place and part of the trip. He didn't want to leave and I can't blame him!

Three things to take away if you're planning on camping with your kids-

1. Take an air mattress for your tent. This was life saving! Most importantly, take an electric pump for your mattress and inflate it inside the tent. Getting it inside after was a B. 

2. Count the amount of nights you're staying and double or triple that in outfits for the kids. I took three pants and two shorts plus two jackets and four pairs of socks for Elliot for ONE night. Jack looked at me like I was crazy when I was packing but we ended up using pretty much all his clothes. Lot's of blankets too!

3. Let your kids explore and get dirty. At first I kept telling Elliot "don't go here, don't do that!" till Jack told me I needed to let him be. He was so right! Elliot just wanted to be a kid and he loved it. We let him do just that, hence the use of all his clothes. 

Being six months pregnant wasn't easy, but we made the most of it and had such a nice time. The place is beautiful and so calming and relaxing. We had the most perfect weather for a fire and Smore's. I had never had one before and I wanted to make it a point to try one. They weren't my favorite as they are too sweet for me but they were pretty good!

We then had a small celebration for Independence Day with yummy food on Monday. This couldn't have been a better weekend. 

We are already planning our next trip. I hope you are having a great week!