Good Nutrition for this New Mom!

Hey all,

So I have always stated that I rather live a more healthy lifestyle and am always trying learn new things that will benefit the quality of life we live. 

My mom visited us a couple weeks ago when I have birth to our angel. She shared a bunch of tips and tricks on how to live healthier and shared some things I did not know previously. She suffers from a bad thyroid problem that wasn't diagnosed immediately. She gained a lot of weight and lacked energy in general. Naturally she thought it was aging and just continued living and working. We are from the South so our food is very carb filled and lots of other yummy not so healthy things. About two years ago she found out about her thyroid problem and was put on medication for it and a suggested diet but still found herself tired all the time. When she moved to the states she went to a wellness center that has helped her with how she should be eating not only for her thyroid problem but for a better quality of life in general. Without getting into and intense diet plan, I am just going to share some of the things she showed me and include two yummy recipes. 

First off let's talk oil. My mother has now banned us from using cooking oils like corn, sunflower and even olive oil. What she said to use instead is either coconut oil or animal fat. What she does is save all of her bacon grease from her breakfast every morning. This is a natural and much healthier use of oils. Olive oil is good for you but not when it is heated. Please note, it does not become bad for you when cooked with it just simply looses all of its nutritional value. So if you do not have coconut oil or animal fat, olive oil is your best bet but stay away from the other oils. I have officially collected a jar of bacon grease that I now use. The great thing is you don't have to use near as much bacon grease as you do cooking oils. Same goes for coconut oil. 

My mom also showed us a great way to make quinoa. Quinoa is a grain crop grown mainly for it's edible seeds. It is considered a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal and is not a member of the true grass family. It is actually closer beetroots, spinach and tumbleweed. What you need to know for nutritional value is that it is high in protein and gluten free. Basically a wonderful substitute for things like rice dishes.  It is also cooked just like rice. One cup of quinoa to two cups of rice. Put it in a pot on high heat till it boils and then bring it down to a simmer for about 20 minutes or until it has boiled down. We used to make it just like that and substitute it for rice however done that way it is rather tasteless and boring. This is where my moms awesome recipe comes in handy. 

This is what quinoa looks like. There is also red and black quinoa. 

Quinoa Salad: (that is what I am calling it)

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

three pieces of bacon (take out if you want it vegetarian)

handful of pine nuts

handful of pealed sunflower seeds (optional)

1 medium carrot (pealed and shredded) 

1 medium cucumber (thinly sliced)

Goat feta cheese (to taste, I put about a handful)

chopped spring onions (handful)

a little bit of lemon juice 

Method:

1. Cook quinoa using the method I wrote above. Fry bacon until crispy and set aside to cool down.

2. Combine everything into a big bowl and mix well. Crush cooled down bacon into the bowl to make bacon bits and mix in. 

That's it! Literally takes about 20 minutes to make and will last about 3 to 4 days in the fridge. For Indiana and I, this will last about 2 days anyways. So I make it about twice a week and eat it for lunch, with dinner and pack some for Indiana's lunch as well. This recipe is just amazing. 

The next recipe requires a crock pot (slow cooker) for the way I make it. 

Homemade Chili

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon bacon grease (my new cooking oil of choice hehe)

2 pounds (1 prepacked) ground beef

2 medium onions, medium dice 

1 medium red bell pepper, medium dice

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped (I used one seeing as Indiana has a garlic intolerance)

1/4 cup chili powder (If you do not like spicy stuff I strongly recommend cutting this in half or even less)

1 tablespoon ground cumin 

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes 

1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce  

2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I used dry kidney beans because I didn't have canned. I also soaked them first)

1/4 cup coarsely chopped pickled jalapenos 

Sour cream to taste

Method:

1. Heat up bacon grease and saute bell peppers,  and onions. About 8 minutes.

 

2. Add garlic, chili powder and cumin powder for about a minute. 

3. Add minced beef and break into small pieces. Cook till mince is no longer pink. 

4. Add into slow cooker with canned tomatoes (with juices), tomato sauce, salt and kidney beans. 

5. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. 

6. Serve with sour cream and jalapenos.

This makes more than we can eat in one night. So I froze some for another night. 

Hope you enjoy these recipes if you try them but seriously cut out the bad oils you cook with. 

Bye bye for now

xoxo

It's Official! I am a MOMMY!!!!!!

Hey everyone!

Sorry to have disappeared but the last couple weeks of pregnancy were hectic and the last thing I wanted to do was sit for long periods of time in front of a computer. I am a small girl and my tummy was huge! Sitting was not my favorite thing.

I had our bundle of joy on March 5th at 5:03 in the morning. I had been in labor for about 29-30 hours from when I first started my contractions at home. I was in labor in the hospital for 26 hours. Let's just say that was the experience of a lifetime. Everything I read said to look to the women in your family and how their labors went and yours shouldn't be much different. Well in my case, that was a big fat lie! All the women in my family had short labors! Labors that progressed very quickly after they started feeling contractions. NOT ME! In fact my labor couldn't have been more opposite if I had tried!

We went to the doctor 3 days after I was due and I showed no signs of delivery. That was on the Tuesday. My doctor told me that I should come in on Friday and she would induce me in the morning and I would have my baby on Friday. Well, my baby had different plans. Plans for that same night in fact,
I started to feel contractions (which I didn't know were contractions) at around midnight after Indiana and I had gone to bed. It was a pain that I can only describe as a very horrible period pain. I was able to tolerate it though so I didn't assume I was in labor. So I went back to bed. I woke up again at 1 and then 2 with the same pain. I tried to go to the bathroom, nothing. The only thing that felt good was to stand and just rock back and forth. By that time Indiana said if it happens one more time we are going to the hospital. 3 am, it happened again. We were in the car with our hospital bag in 5 minutes and on our way to the hospital. The whole time I kept thinking no, I am not in labor. This isn't painful enough, I can still handle this. Don't get me wrong, I was in pain for sure but I think as a first time mom you kind of always expect it to hurt even more. We got to the hospital by 3:30. They put us in a room that had a stretcher and a metal stool. They said the doctor would be with us shortly and in the meantime they hooked me up to the machine that measures the contractions and the baby's stress levels. That damn machine became my most hated part of labor. I officially hate that machine. It is so uncomfortable especially when for 26 hours they strapped me up to it the majority of the damn time! that pressure on my tummy was unbearable by the end of the labor. Imagine your tightest pair of elastic pants around your stomach for 26 hours...and now add that to labor. It was the small things that got to me the most. Anyways, with my luck there were two emergency deliveries happening at the very moment we arrived. So we waited for a good 15 to 20 minutes before the doctor came in checked my chart and then checked me and said I was dilated 1 cm. I was officially in labor! She then said she wanted to keep me on the machine just a little longer and then she will come back and check on me. Meanwhile, Indiana and I are exhausted, in this brightly lit cold ass room on a stretcher and a metal stool. Then a nurse comes in and checks me and says that I will probably go to my room shortly. About another 20 minutes later a different nurse comes in and says oh you are only 1cm dilated. We will probably send you home until labor progresses more. At this point I didn't care I just wanted answers we were both tired and very uncomfortable. Finally, I told Indiana I couldn't lay on that damn stretcher connected to the machine anymore. He went and got a nurse who spoke to the doctor and then we were escorted in our room. We slept for about 3-4 hours before they came back in and put me on the machine again. Then the doctor came in and low and behold, I was still 1 cm dilated. My contractions were irregular as well. She said she would come back and check one more time and if I had not dilated by 4 pm she would give me the first pill to induce me. By 4, I was still 1 freakin cm dilated. They told me they would wait another 6 hours and if I still haven't progressed they would give another one. By around 10 pm the doctor came back in and I had only dilated to 2 cm. She then asked the question, do you want an epidural. I didn't but I was so damn tired and the contractions hurt so bad and I was getting so discouraged being only 2 cm dilated.

So after a good cry, I said I would take the epidural. They brought me into the delivery room. I was so damn scared of the idea of a needle going in my spine that I dug so deep within me I reached a place I of complete concentration I don't think I have ever been to before, My game face was on. They had me sit up and started preparing the needle. I picked a sport on the wall to stare at and didn't look away from that till it was over. Then a short while after....relief. Indiana was so tired I sent him to our room to sleep a bit and I tried to do the same. I was now officially hooked up to that horrible machine and they wouldn't take it off. My blood pressure sky rocketed as well, I think I slept on and off for another two hours or so but then I felt a horrible pain on the right side of my pelvis. The nurse told me I shouldn't be feeling that level of pain after the epidural. They called the anesthesiologist back in and he gave me more of the epidural. It lessened but that pain did not go away for the rest of the time. My contractions were still irregular in time but were getting stronger and stronger. Finally the doctor came in checked me and said I could start pushing. Panic ran through my brain because the only thing I could think was "Oh hell no! I am not pushing until my husband is by my side." Then like magic, he walked in that very second. He said he just woke up with a feeling. I love him.

I started pushing. It was not what I expected at all. I thought I would be screaming like warrior. No I remained pretty calm and quiet. I was so tired by then though that I kept falling asleep between pushing. Then they said they could see her head! Indiana went and looked and I will never forget the look of utter excitement in his face. He looked at me and said I can see her love, I can see her. I pushed again and again and then I just started crying and told him that I couldn't do it anymore. I was just too tired. He grabbed my arm and said yes you can, I know you can. Then I pushed one last time and she came out. They put her on my chest and I just burst into tears. Our 9 month journey was officially over. The little girl we had dreamed and fantasized about was finally in my arms. My little girl was really here. After a good cuddle they weighed he. She was 3.69 kgs/ 8 pounds!!! Form my 5'1 frame that is one big baby! They took her to the nursery to get cleaned up. Indiana checked on me and then followed our angel to the nursery to carefully keep watch on her till her bracelet was on.

That was so not over for me. This was the part of labor no one ever told me about. NO ONE!!! My BP was still way up in the clouds. They gave me Oxycontin so I could deliver the placenta, Then because of my BP they would not let me leave the delivery room till they got it down. They were pumping me with one IV after the nest. I was passing out left right and center and waking up when they kept doing things to me. Indiana came and checked on me and every time brought me a bottle of water which I would chug down. I was so dehydrated. I drank 6 bottles of water in two hours. That was how long I was still in the delivery room after I had given birth. I was also a bleeder. The doctor gave me an episiotomy (she cut me down there to make more space for my baby to go through) and apparently I bled a lot. So they gave me some injection that to help with the bleeding. What this injection also did was make me unable to control passing urine and bowel movements. OH MY GOD! I had no dignity left. They put some tube up me where I was peeing in a bag and I can not believe I am telling the public this but I was pooping myself and I couldn't control it. I am coming out with it because NO ONE ELSE DOES!!!!!!!! I was practically in an adult diaper! They also brought my baby to me for her first feeding. She took straight to it with no issue. It was an amazing experience. Finally I was stitched back up and on my way to my room.

The pain in my vagina was slowly becoming more noticeable as the epidural wore off. OUCH!!!! They brought our precious angel in the room and and we just fell under her spell. So in love with her. On the blog I shall call her B.

 I have written enough for today. Tune in for my experience so far post natal!!!!

I'm going to go feed B now! :)  I am a mommy!!!! :)

Later!!!

xoxo