]]> http://www.perfectflavor.com/2010/12/13/for-anyone-who-has-been-pregnant-is-pregnant-or-knows-someone-who-has-been-or-is-pregnant-whew/feed/ 0 http://www.perfectflavor.com/2010/11/29/cookie-recipe-exchange/ http://www.perfectflavor.com/2010/11/29/cookie-recipe-exchange/#comments Mon, 29 Nov 2010 23:48:14 +0000 lynsie http://www.perfectflavor.com/?p=201 I don’t love chain emails.

For this particular time in my life (two teens, an infant), the act of cutting and pasting a recipe that I have to actually type, sending it to a person I may not know, and then sending a new chain email to twenty friends (who will receive my impersonal email with a similar sense of loathing) just doesn’t seem to represent my festive holiday mood. So, I’ve decided to post a quick, easy recipe for all to use. Here is your get-out-of-writing a recipe for free card. Use it wisely and often!

This one’s simple, straightforward, and quick. Maybe it will someday pop into your inbox, and you can have a little chuckle over it.

Anytime Lemon Poppy Seed Ice Box Shortbread

2 ¼ cups unbleached, all purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

½ cup granulated white sugar (I use organic cane sugar)

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

zest of one large lemon

juice of the same large lemon (or more, depending on your taste…)

1. With a whisk, combine salt and flour in a medium bowl.

2. In another bowl, beat sugars and butter together til fluffy and pale yellow. Add egg, vanilla, zest and lemon juice and mix in.

3. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until combined. Your mixture should not be dry and crumbly. If it is, add an egg yolk. (save the white for an egg wash later on.)

4. Dump out onto a piece of parchment or wax paper. Shape into a log the size of a standard rolling pin: about 1 1/2-2 inches in diameter. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5. Pull out and roll entire outside in poppy seeds (OPTIONAL!, these cookies taste just fine with out the poppies!)

6. Refrigerate for two hours.

7. Cut log into evenly spaced cookies about 1/4-1/2 inch thickness depending on how thick you like your shortbread.

8. Re-refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight, and then either freeze or bake as needed in a 350 degree oven for 10-20 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.

9. In an airtight container, cookies will keep for 1 week.

10. ***To add extra flare, use a clean rubber stamp to impress an image into the dough prior to re-refrigeration and baking. Also, optional ingredient add-ins include almond paste or vanilla in substitution of the lemon juice and zest.

P.S. For those of you who may have missed me and my jovial posts, I have been knee-deep in taking care of my newest addition to the family, Gabriel Peter Steele. He’s almost 7 months now, and I am wildly attempting to set aside some time each week to write more. Thanks for your patience and I hope you look forward to hearing from me soon;)

I awoke on Wednesday morning, May 5th, to the same prodromal labor contractions that I had been experiencing relentlessly for 8 weeks. Nothing was out of the ordinary. I say this for all of you women out there who not only experience prodromal labor but who have been told constantly that what you are experiencing is not “real” labor. I am proud to exclaim that yes, in fact, prodromal labor is real labor.

***As a side note, many women said to me upon hearing of my prodromal labor: “Just you wait…when you’re in REAL labor you’ll know what a contraction feels like…”. What I have to say after experiencing both prodromal labor and hard labor is this: there was no difference whatsoever between the contractions I experienced during prodromal labor and those I experienced during hard labor. The only change was that as my hard labor progressed, my contractions became closer together and more intense. Nothing about the type of contraction or the way it made my uterus and body feel was any different. With that said, I will continue with Gabe’s story…

I was due to meet a friend who had delivered her baby just two weeks before, but because babies are incredibly unpredictable, she had to cancel. Good thing! Because in a matter of hours I would be in hard labor!! I decided, instead, to spend my time that morning and afternoon lazing about on the deck, checking email, taking care of my electronic to-do’s. It had been awhile since I last sat down to actively time contractions, as with prodromal labor they may change from day to day, but the contractions are usually always there in some form, and even intense and close together activity does not necessarily mean that hard labor has begun. This day, however, I was inspired to time mine and just get a peek into what my body had decided to do today. My contractions were six minutes apart on the dot. I felt slightly crampy in the lower part of my abdomen (think menstrual cramps) and there was plenty of tightening going on on the top and middle of my uterus. I think it is important to point out, that while I had been experiencing many early labor symptoms for weeks (Zero constipation…if you know what I mean, cramping, nausea, etc.) I had not yet had any bloody show. I was waiting on the edge of my seat for that (quite literally)!

I timed the contractions for about an hour with a watch, from about 10-11 am, and then for the rest of the day was just mentally timing them. Nothing seemed to change until I went to pick up my 11 year-old stepdaughter, Kate, from school at 2:45 pm. Upon arriving at the school, I suddenly had the desire to stay in the car and hope that she would come to me today. Typically, I look forward to picking her up, chatting with her friends, my friends, and all of the wonderful teachers at her school. Today was definitely different, and I actually felt relieved at the sight of her being walked to my car by her teacher. I packed her in and began the five minute drive home. After getting her settled in the house, I left to go get her 14 year-old brother, my stepson, Nick, at his school 20 minutes away. Upon reaching the end of my driveway at approximately 3:24, I felt a big contraction. This one really got my attention. It wasn’t too intense, it just was “loud” enough for me to take note of the time and look out for the next one. Sure enough, three minutes later, I had another. And three minutes after that, yet another. And so they continued all the way to Nick’s school. As I said, they were not intense enough for me to pull over, just more noticeable than the others I had had so far today.

Upon arriving at his school, I was pleaded with to let a friend jump in the car so I could taxi him to the local skate park. Of course, I obliged, as it is a little known fact that when in labor up to a certain point, we women can be easily persuaded=) In other words, I did not have the energy to say no. On this particular day, it just so happened that my husband and I had taken our car, with the baby seat in it, to the shop to get an oil change, so by the time I reached the skate park, the thought occurred to me that, yes, I might just be entering hard labor, and that it would be an excellent idea to call my husband, Colin, to ask him if I could come get him early from work at 4 pm before I was unable to drive myself. Honestly, I felt a bit foolish because prodromal labor can give you so many false-starts, I wasn’t entirely sure by any means that this was “it.” I called him anyway, and he must have sensed the benign panic in my voice, as by the time I got to his office 5 minutes away, he was standing on the street corner, briefcase in hand, readily awaiting our arrival. At this point I kicked Nick out of the front seat, where he had been timing contractions for me, and had Colin take his place in the passenger seat. Apparently being in the state of entering into hard labor also makes me quite stubborn, because I was sure I could drive and I refused to have Colin take over. Colin began timing contractions, and noted that they were 2-3 minutes apart, lasting 1-2 minutes in duration. At this point, they all had the same high level of intensity. I do believe that for those of us who experience prodromal labor, everyday tasks while experiencing contractions become much more run-of-the-mill and much, much easier once one becomes used to what labor feels like. A woman who goes into labor 12-24 hours before having her child cannot often comprehend driving, grocery shopping, chatting with friends, enjoying a leisurely dinner, or paying bills during her labor, whereas a prodromal laborer has become used to doing everyday tasks through her contractions, and therefore often can continue doing these tasks deep into her labor. This was definitely me.

Once home, the time was about 4:30 pm, and we began walking around our backyard as a family, quietly enjoying these precious moments leading up to the birth of our newest member of the family. About 15 minutes into hanging out with everyone, I had a very intense urge to sit on the toilet, not to go to the bathroom, but to just sit. When I did, I noted that not only did I feel better, like loads of pressure was being released, but that I was finally experiencing bloody show, which I announced to the entire family whether they liked it or not! Perhaps it was the psychological sighting of the bloody show, or maybe my labor was just really kicking into high gear, but around 5 pm things really started to happen quickly. I realized it was now or never to go get the car from the dealership. Almost instantly and ironically, we received a call from the dealership stating that our car was ready for pick up, and off Colin and I went to go bring our car home for its inevitable ride to the hospital. Once at the dealership, a 10 minute drive away, I had to stay put in our other car, carefully and slowly getting up only to move to the driver’s seat. I was aware that my labor had definitely entered a more intense state. This baby was coming and coming fast. Driving home was challenge. I will admit that there were times when I knew a contraction was coming on and I was actively searching for a place to pull over. I did not pull over, however, and made it home by 5:30 pm.

Once home, Colin and I decided to embark on our walk. “The” walk which was one we had romanticized for months. The one that you read about other couples taking through woods and across streams. Sigh…what a romantic way to spend those last moments of labor with your partner. Well, we were certainly not destined for that! We made it about 100 yards down the path that leads from our house onto a neighboring farms and woods. At this point, I was either squatting during contractions or wrapping my arms around Colin’s neck and allowing my body to go limp and heavy. The contractions were so on top of one another that I could neither speak a full sentence nor really express any thought at all. I was beginning to go into myself in that deeply focused state that only a laboring woman can experience. I was also feeling a very peculiar pain, that had the look and air of a contraction, but only lasted a few seconds and actually hurt, even becoming excruciating at times. Colin and I both were unsure of what this pain was, and I began telling myself that it was just one of those really hard-working, progressive contractions, that dilates you a few centimeters at a time. At this point, I felt like all I was experiencing was a mixture of painful contractions and intense contractions. My uterus felt like it was hardened constantly with no break whatsoever. Little did I know what was really happening during those “painful contractions.” Realizing we were not going to enjoy our walk, we made our way back to the house, where I began stripping my clothes along the way and got into our hot tub to labor in the water.

At this point, I recall behaving very “Transitionally.” I was naked and didn’t care. I was beginning to wonder how much more I could take. I was frank and honest and was certainly not laughing or making conversation. Surprising even to me, I began making the deepest, most guttural sounds I had ever heard out of my mouth or anyone else’s. For every intense contraction AND every different, painful contraction, I would fight the panic in my head, that fight-or-flight mentality, by letting out deep groans which helped very much to get through the intensity of each contraction. I found that the deeper and longer my vocalizations were, the easier it was to get through a contraction. I experienced about three contractions in the hot tub, all two minutes, all on top of one another. I asked Colin to call the midwife, but since he felt we had not been in hard labor for that long, he wanted to put off our call to her for a bit longer. I was polite at first, then not so polite, when I looked him in the eyes and said, “call the midwife now.” If I could have, I would have picked up the phone myself. At this point I knew I was in Transition with a capital T. My midwife knew it, too. It was about 6:30 pm and she asked us to meet her at her office at 7:30 pm. I knew I couldn’t even wait that long, but got out of the hot tub, changed into a loose sundress, and spent my time sitting on the toilet waiting as my family dashed around the house getting everything ready to go. The suitcase (complete with laboring tools, towels, water bag, rice bags, etc.) and the cooler (ready to be filled with OJ, popsicles, cool washcloths, etc.), which had been ready for weeks, now seemed pointless. I knew I would not be needing any of these items!

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we piled into the car, the kids having been warned of the strict necessity to not talk or ask me questions in the car. The car ride was the worst, as I often hear it is for those of us who like to labor at home for a longer time than in the hospital. I began feeling the urge to push. I, in fact, asked Colin to pull over at one point so that I could have the baby on the side of the road. He did make it, however, in twenty minutes time to our midwife’s office, which is located within walking distance to the hospital.

The kids made the switch to their aunt and uncle’s car, patiently awaiting our arrival, as Colin and I said goodbye and made our way into our midwife’s office. I proclaimed that I would go sit on the toilet, and she was happy to meet us there to check the baby’s heartbeat and position, as well as my dilation. Gabe had been, just one day before at our last appointment, head down and almost fully engaged, with a very normal heartbeat. Actually, Gabe had been head down since 22 weeks! When Donna, our midwife, went to find Gabe’s heartbeat in the same spot as it had been in for the entire last half of the pregnancy, she came up with nothing. Not alarming us, yet, she continued up my belly until she got about 2 inches above my belly button. She finally heard his heartbeat there, and we were all a little confused and very stunned. She then did an internal exam and discovered what she thought was either a foot or a hand pushing through my cervix! My bag of waters was bulging and I was only two centimeters dilated. At this point everything happened very, very fast. She excused herself, made a call to her OB that she works with directly, and had him meet us at the hospital. Colin and I were told to go straight to the emergency room, where she would meet us and escort us up to L&D on the 4th floor. At this point, I was experiencing the most of the painful, “other” kind of contractions, and surprised even my natural child birthing self by thinking that I would need to get pain medication if this kept up.

I was strapped to two monitors, where the doctors and nurses, and of course, my midwife, were finally able to ascertain what was happening. My baby, after so long in the head down position, had flipped and become footling breach. He in fact had only flipped in the last hour or two of hard labor, and the painful, “other” types of contractions I was feeling weren’t contractions at all. Thanks to our monitors, everyone was able to figure out that what I was feeling was the baby moving: turning completely upside down and pushing with all of his might onto my internal organs. When a normal, intense contraction came on, the monitors picked that up, too, and I was able to get the affirmation that a) the contractions I was feeling were of Transitional strength and b)I was handling them beautifully. I had essentially gotten all the way to the Pushing Stage, but because my baby was breach, everyone made the unwaivering call to perform an emergency c-section. I was shaken up to say the least. As a huge Bradley Method proponent, I felt like by having a cesarean, even one that I couldn’t argue with, it was equal to failing as a mother, wife and woman. According to everyone providing my care, they were most concerned that if my water broke during labor, the baby’s umbilical cord would prolapse, resulting in compression of the cord and a depletion of oxygen via the cord to the baby. It was decided that instead of having to rush to the emergency OR, I could wait 45 minutes for a current cesarean procedure to finish before I would be wheeled into the L&D OR to have mine performed. Those 45 minutes were excruciating. Given a drug intravenously to stop the contractions (which didn’t work), I was still left with the painful feelings of Gabe’s strong attempts to defy the heavy, hard contractions that were arduously working to bring him down into the birth canal. We knew three things: Our baby had a strong will to live, he was extremely strong in both character and physicality, and that what was happening was happening for a reason and completely out of our hands to judge or attempt to control. I was given no pain medication at all during this time.

At 9:30 pm, I was brought into the OR and my surgery went underway. I was given a spinal anesthetic, which as I had read and researched, did cause me to feel nauseous and to shake uncontrollably, so much so that once Gabe was born I could not hold him very calmly on my own. At 9:46 pm, with Colin by my side and our midwife standing next to us taking pictures (she is truly an angel in disguise), the doctors were ready to break my strong bag of waters (all that Bradley protein) and pull baby Gabe out. As Colin stood to watch his baby being born, I watched my husband’s eyes intently, trying to take in every lucid moment. However, the process seemed to be taking much longer than it should, and I began to notice that the room had gone silent. Colin’s eyes also looked very still and troubled. The next thing I knew, my baby was crying, Colin was announcing that he was a boy, and I was able to see him as he was brought over and laid in his little bassinet to be checked. I began to hear murmurings that Gabe had had his cord wrapped around his neck and his body, and because of this, his cord had not only been compressed during contractions, hence his decision to move and turn breech, but that because of the cord being wrapped around him so many times, it would have never been long enough for Gabe to pass through the birth canal head first OR feet first. As it was, during the cesarean it took both doctors pulling and pushing with all their might to get Gabe’s head to the point where the OB could reach into my uterus, hook his thumb in Gabe’s mouth, and pull him out that way. Due to the shortening of the cord, it was necessary to clamp the cord right then and there while Gabe was being held out of my uterus by our doctor’s thumb. We requested no bath be given to our son, and Daddy was allowed to hold Gabe’s hand the whole time and even swaddle him before bringing him to me. Gabe scored an 8 on his first APGAR and a 9 on his second. He was pink, kicking, and all screams. I could not have been happier to see my little fighter there next to me. It wouldn’t be until the following day until I would discover just what a strong fighter he had been.

I was able to attempt to nurse him within 20 minutes of his birth, which was challenging given all of the shaking I was experiencing, but I still felt it was important to have skin-to-skin contact with him, so from twenty minutes after his birth on, he never left Colin’s or my side, and was cuddled, caressed, fed and kissed at every possible moment.

It wasn’t until the following morning, when our midwife stopped by for a visit, that we finally began to understand the complexity of the situation we had just experienced. Donna said that she had come to say thank you to Gabe, having canceled all of her appointments that day. We asked what she meant, and she began to tell us a truly heartbreaking story. Three days prior to Gabe’s birth, another patient of Donna’s who was due two days before me came in to see her. She was not in labor, but from her prior visit, Donna knew the baby had been almost fully engaged and head down. When Donna listened for a heartbeat, she found none. When it was determined that this woman had lost her baby, a cesarean was performed to deliver the stillborn baby, and the baby’s cord was found to have been wrapped tightly around its neck. Once this baby became fully engaged, it did not make the choice to turn breech and avoid having its cord compressed. Donna has always said, “I trust babies.” In this case, she lost her sense of trust. She could not understand why the baby did not turn to avoid cord compression. When Gabe came in presenting the same way, Donna was determined to not have the same thing happen. But Gabe turning on his own strength and free will redeemed the trust that Donna has always had in babies and hoped to have again. We are so deeply sorrowed by what the family before us experienced. Their experience so deeply influenced us in more ways than we can say. For me, one of the greatest gifts it gave me was to be able to accept the fact that I had a cesarean, and that in my case, I was not in any way a failure or less of a woman somehow. Instead, our cesarean saved Gabe’s life, as even if we had tried to deliver him breech and vaginally, he would have not made it out of the birth canal and could have potentially become too compressed to receive the proper amounts of oxygen. I now do fully understand the importance of c-sections for medical emergencies, and will never in my ignorance discount their importance again. I will say that on the operating table I discussed with Donna my desire to have a VBAC for my second birth. And because I experienced all aspects of labor but the pushing, she said that she 100% wants to ensure that we can both have a VBAC together.

For now, I am thankful for my supportive and loving husband and family, to my midwife, Donna, for her unwaivering support, the care I received at the hospital to help bring Gabe into this world, my Bradley Method teacher, Jenny, for preparing me for everything, and Gabe, for teaching me that the best laid plans never go as expected, and that most importantly, babies are to be trusted at all times for their strength (thanks, Donna, for teaching me this important lesson), wisdom, and the natural creation that makes this beautiful miracle possible.

***I think it is vital to note that I have not once classified labor contractions as painful. I can honestly say that they were not. Incredibly intense? Yes. Lots of pressure? Yes. The only time I experienced pain was when I was forced to lay back on a hospital bed or when little Gabe was turning breech. Moving around for each contraction and attempting multiple positions helped immensely. The contractions themselves were difficult, intense, all encompassing, but NOT painful. I truly think this is so important to recognize as we are taught as women to fear labor. For me personally, I cannot wait to do it again.

For the record, I was 38 weeks when I delivered Gabe. Gabriel Peter Steele is now 3 months old. He is strong, stubborn, willful, and happy…just like his Mom.

It’s easy to start! Take a favorite recipe from any book, say a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from the Joy of Cooking. Try it out as the recipe states, make notes about what you would like to change (ex. more salt, less salt, more brown sugar for a molasses taste, crunchier (more butter), chewier (more eggs), etc.) and with your next recipe, change your ingredients a tad, and remark on how well you liked your own changes. Over time, you WILL develop your very own family recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies that is individually yours, one that your family will ask for with mouths watering time and time again.

Incidentally, this is something we constantly do for savory recipes. We are hesitant to do this with baking because we have always been told that baking is a science and we must follow every direction exactly. This is true for candy especially, but please note that not following an ingredient list or method exactly will not result in baking ruin—JUST a different cake, cookie, mousse: whatever the product may be. For example, using room temperature butter and creaming it with sugar will result in a very different cake texture-wise than melting butter and folding it into your batter will. You might actually come to find, however, that you prefer the texture of the melted butter cake to the creamed butter variety. This is all about experimentation—and all of your results should still be incredibly edible!

Once you’ve mastered the “Recipe Doctoring Stage,” might I suggest moving on to something a little more daring? Now, what I am about to introduce can be a little daunting for baking renegade newcomers. But let’s give it a go…how about writing your own recipe entirely BASED on your preexisting knowledge of baking ingredients and the role they play in the foods we bake? Here’s a great example of something I just conjured up a few days ago out of baking excitement and pregnancy hunger pangs for crumb cake.

Every time I make a crumb cake out of a book, I’m never happy with the recipe. I know what I want: moist, cake-like, light (not dense), sweet and salty, and a realyl good streusel on top. I woke up on Saturday morning with, yet again, a strong desire for crumb cake, but had trouble with the idea of getting out of bed to make a so-so cake. SO!…I decided I would make up my own recipe. Now, when you do this, the first thing to do is to get out a pad of paper and pencil and make note of your ingredients and process. This is so that you can keep track of your recipe, no matter how bad or great it comes out! If you’re not so happy with your results, at least you have a platform from which to build off of.

So, I used my knowledge of pound cake (the idea that you use a pound of flour, pound of sugar, pound of butter, hence the name “Pound Cake”…this may not be the exact recipe, but you get the picture…) and translated that idea into a crumb cake recipe, in which I used the theme of “TWO” of everything…hence my rather creative name, “Two Cake.” My results? Unbelievable! This is a family treasure, for sure! Also, I can rest assured that no other family has this exact recipe. Except, now I’m going to share…so scratch that last part=)

TWO CAKE

preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Combine:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons leavening (1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder)

2 half teaspoons salt (1/2 for now, half for streusel)

In a separate bowl, combine:

2 eggs

2 half cups dairy (1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup whole milk)

2 half cups sugar (1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Melt butter and set aside:

2 sticks butter (1.5 sticks melted, retain half a stick and cube it, reserving for streusel)

Cake Process:

Combine dry and wet ingredients with a whisk, reserving butter and fold in gently with a rubber spatula until butter is incorporated. Set batter aside, which will help to aerate…my sneaky little tip is that melted butter, folded in to cooler ingredients, will actually fluff up your batter if you let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes.

Streusel

In a food processor, combine…

2 half cups pecans or walnuts

2 teaspoons cinnamon

your remaining 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup flour (ok…not “TWO” but no one’s perfect)

1/2 cup brown sugar (ok…not “TWO” but no one’s perfect)

remaining half stick of butter, cubed

Process until mixture is in medium-fine crumbles

POUR batter into a buttered 9×9 brownie pan or glass baking dish, top with all streusel, and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out moist but clean.

A great thing about this recipe is that you can eat almost right away.  Allow to cool for just 5 minutes, then cut straight out of the pan into squares and serve warm.  This cake can be stored with aluminum foil to cover at room temp for 4 days.  It just gets better with time, but should be served either room temp or warmed in a 350 degree oven.  IF you want to keep this cake around longer, either refrigerate or freeze in wrapped aluminum foil for easy reheating.

Hope you like this cake as much as I do.  What’s next?  Maybe there is a THREE CAKE in my future…

First of all, what is prodromal labor?  Well, because few books even offer this vocab word up in their indexes, what I’ve had to do is look into this side of labor online, referencing other laboring women’s and doulas’ experiences.  Basically, leading up to the day that a woman’s baby is born, she experiences a wide range of different contraction-like symptoms.  (Do keep in mind that some women are either not aware of these contractions or simply do not experience them.)  Braxton Hicks are “painless” practice contractions in which the uterus tightens and releases sporadically beginning in the second trimester, but for some women, especially, it seems, those who experience prodromal labor, Braxton Hicks (BH) occur at the onset of pregnancy or in the first trimester, and continue through the entire pregnancy.  This was the case with me.  Also, BH can be accompanied by lower abdominal cramping.  My midwife made sure I knew that if I ever began to experience cramping along with my BH, to call her immediately.  (While my false labor began around week 31, my prodromal labor, looking back, did not start until week 32.)  Once I began to experience this cramping with contractions, around week 32, I called my midwife and was asked to come in to have an internal exam.  At the time, my cervix was long, hard, and closed.  This was two weeks ago.  Also, this was not accompanied by bleeding of any kind.  If you experience bleeding, call your practitioner immediately.

Closer to the baby’s due date, if BH pick up and begin to simulate real labor, they are known as false labor.  Different entirely is what is known as prodromal labor.  While false labor is irregular, typically painless, and stops when a woman eats, drinks, walks, rests or bathes, prodromal labor is the opposite and much closer in its appearance to real labor.  In fact, most women who experience prodromal labor say there is nothing false about it!  After three weeks of prodromal labor, I have finally caved and started to refer to myself as being in labor, albeit early, early labor, but labor nonetheless.  Here’s why:

Prodromal labor is regularly timed contractions, or if not that, then at least they do not stop when one follows the Bradley Method principles of eating, drinking, walking, resting, or bathing.  In fact, prodromal labor can often pick up when one engages in activity, which is how I first clued myself in to the fact that what I was experiencing was not, in fact, false labor.  Also, prodromal labor is accompanied by a range of low-grade pain.  From menstrual-like cramps and diarrhea-like cramps to slightly toe-curling pangs, no matter your pain tolerance, it is obvious that the contractions experienced in prodromal labor are different from regular BH. Also, a woman can experience low back, groin, and upper thigh pain when having a prodromal contraction.   Prodromal labor can also bring on nausea, a lack of appetite, fatigue and weakness, which is why it is SO very important to still eat, drink, and rest throughout this process.  Finally, prodromal labor can last a couple of days or a few weeks.  From my research, I have found that it is more rare for a woman to experience this kind of labor for weeks leading up to the birth of her baby, but I am going on 3 weeks now, so I am a testament to its possibility.  Also, a woman who has experienced prodromal labor with all three of her births is an EXCELLENT resource in understanding and relating to this experience.  Check out Sarah’s FrogBlog.  I have found great comfort in reading her pages and pages of first-hand prodromal experience.  She has made me feel like I am not alone, and hopefully she’ll help you or someone you know feel the same.

While Sarah’s contractions were more sporadic and mine are more regular, we can both understand the experience of prodromal labor in the way she so intelligently puts it in her blog, hence her blog’s title.  Being in prodromal labor is like being a frog in a cold pot of water that begins to boil at a slow and steady rate.  By the time you’re in active labor, or in boiling water, it’s very hard to tell, since you’ve become so accustomed to labor’s sensations.  This is highly different from the majority of women out there, who wake up with relatively strong contractions that lead within a day’s time to the birth of their baby.  I think one could look at prodromal labor (and I’ve certainly read plenty of accounts) as a horrible, painful punishment.  Already, frequently when I’ve reached out to friends to tell them of my prodromal experience, they all respond saying how sorry they are that I’m in so much pain.  Funny, though, that I never mentioned the word “pain” in my correspondence with them.  For me, prodromal labor is like a mediocre period, nothing more, albeit a tad annoying and confusing.  The way I see it, as far as a first pregnancy goes, I am beyond THRILLED that my body actually knows what to do!  I feel secure, comforted, and excited to know that this baby and I are working together.  My concerns simply lie in the fact that I won’t know when to actually call my midwife to go in to the hospital, as I most likely will be unable to go by the typical signposts: either emotional or timing-wise.  Even with my Bradley Method classes behind me, when I first began experiencing prodromal labor, my experienced Bradley teacher was even stumped.  I am now sharing my experience with her so she can share it with others.  On the upside, I have heard of women, who after much prodromal labor, are able to deliver their babies in a few short hours.  This, known as precipitous birth, is rare, but is known to happen with prodromal laborers.

If I happened to go by what my midwife would like to see when I make that call, announcing my real labor, then I would have called days ago.  When I first started experiencing prodromal labor, I was not timing the contractions.  Over the past week I have been periodically timing my contractions, and as of two days ago my contractions were 14 minutes apart when resting and 4 minutes apart when walking slowly.  Some were more intense (I hate to use the word painful) than others.  Some I could talk and walk through, others I could not.  ALL were completely different in how long they lasted.  The average for me is between 1:30 and 2:30 minutes.  Those that are either weak or less than 30 seconds I do not even time or count, just as Sarah has done.  I was doing this before I started reading her blog, too!  It just felt right to only count the ones that seemed to be doing something.  As of last night, I awoke to strong cramping and contractions, and went to take a bath from 2 am to 5 am.  I then lay back in bed and was able to fall asleep until 7 am, when I became aware of the cramping again.  (Just to note: this cramping is lower abdominal cramping, like menstrual cramps, and is accompanied by painless BH contractions/tightening in a melon-sized circle around my belly button.)  Upon waking, and telling my husband what was going on, he suggested we time them, and when we did found the contractions to be 3-4 minutes apart lasting 1-2 minutes.  Now, according to my midwife, if this were to go on for 2 hours, I owe her a call, but I just don’t “feel” like it’s time.  It’s already been going on for three hours, and while I’m still lying in bed, I just don’t feel like the baby is ready to make an appearance.  Just in case, I do have my husband on call!  Could this be the frog-in-water scenario?

I also want to point out, in as great a detail as possible, what else I feel when I experience my contractions, so that you women out there who are wondering what it is you’re feeling or experiencing can relate your process to mine.  So, on a small contraction, I merely feel tightening around my belly button (which I sometimes have to feel with my hand to make sure is there) and dull lower cramping.  For a stronger contraction, I often know one is coming because I immediately feel an overwhelming amount of pressure on my rectum and urethra, like I’ve “gotta go!”  This is then accompanied by tightening and lower cramping.  Finally, if the contraction is really bad, I have all of the above symptoms, plus pain on one side of my cervix (usually for me the left) accompanied by nausea and a dull aching in my left groin, left hip and upper left thigh (sometimes my low back into my butt).  I even get a little shaky, just the way I used to when my period came on fast and I got cramps before I had time to take advil and let it kick in.  For the really bad ones, if I’m walking, I feel a tugging from behind my belly button down to my vagina, and I must stop walking or talking and hold onto the underside of my big belly.  Also, my stool has been much looser, which is a typical sign that body is clearing out the bowels for the commencement of labor.

Finally, I must state that I have suffered from Endometriosis from the onset of my period at age 11.  I have no idea if the Endo or the young age at which I got my period are any indication as to why I am experiencing prodromal labor, but I would love to hear feedback from others with this same history.  I have often thought labor would be less “painful” of an experience for me due to the pain I became used to experiencing with my Endo, so it IS possible, I guess, that this is why prodromal labor is not as bad for me.  I do not, however, want to hinder anyone else’s experience of pain in this matter, as everyone is just so different.

Just to be clear, as well, all of my symptoms are happening quite early in this pregnancy.  I am 34 weeks 1 day pregnant, which my midwife has said is not ideal for going into labor, but is not too early that she will stop my labor once it has started.  Therefore, I could be in the hospital tonight or in 6 weeks.  I will say that my women’s intuition has always said this baby would come early.  There have been many times, in fact, when my husband and I have questioned our dates, since this kind of prodromal labor does not usually start til 36 weeks, and if I am 4 weeks more pregnant than my records state, I would have been exactly 36 weeks when my labor started.  I believe we shall soon see…

From a healthy point of view, we were discouraged for some time over the state of commercial yogurt.  Turn over almost any commercial yogurt in the store and you’ll see ingredients way beyond just milk and cultures (which are the only ingredients that should be in there!).  You’ll see ingredients like gelatin, pectin, corn starch, powdered skim milk, chemical dyes, HFCS and more!  All of these ingredients are completely unnecessary to the production of yogurt, but are added by big, BIG commercial producers of yogurt to ensure a “consistent” product every time that is smooth, thick, and creamy.  What does this mean exactly?  Well, it means that dairy products are inconsistent by nature.  Depending on the type of cow, the ever changing fat content of the milk depending on the cow’s diet and the season in which the cow was milked, and the cultures used.  In fact, yogurt made with just milk and cultures can often turn out slightly different every time it is made.  PLUS, real yogurt, like the kind you find in Europe or the kind you make at home, is MOST often much thinner than the kind we’re used to from Yoplait, Dannon, or other brands.  Adding unnecessary ingredients like pectin, gelatin or other stabilizers is only added to increase thickness, and like I mentioned before, consistency.  If you see a yogurt on the shelves with any other ingredients besides milk and cultures, then in my opinion it is not a true yogurt.

When we began making yogurt and selling it at Perfect Flavor, we encountered almost immediately many customers who were very confused when they saw how “thin” our yogurt consistency was.  It was only when we encountered chefs, the family members of dairy farmers, europeans, and a small number of educated local consumers that we got the response we were looking for.  Finally, they said, here was a yogurt that was the real thing!  And we agreed.  Now, the question is, how can you achieve this real yogurt at home for less money and more fun than buying it at the store?  Easy.

There are two main ways to make yogurt at home.  The first is using an incubator: a small piece of equipment that you can purchase for little money online.  The second is using an oven.  I have used both methods and find them to both be effective!

I first came across the act of making yogurt at home using an incubator when I lived in France.  Needless to say, I was in absolute awe of the fact that I could watch my French hostess pour milk mixed with culture into small glass jars placed in an incubator at night, and in the morning have delicious yogurt in time for breakfast.

When back from France but visiting my dear friend, Samira’s, Bengali mother in Toronto, Ontario, I was curious about the delicious yogurt we ate at her home at almost every meal.  It was then that Samira’s mom taught me how to make homemade yogurt in the easiest way possible: at home with the help of an oven.

For the incubator method, your equipment needs are a little higher, therefore you’ll want to give yourself a week or so to procure your necessary tools.  You’ll need a medium saucepan, a working thermometer whose range starts at at least 100 degrees, great quality raw milk or organic milk (the less processed and pasteurized, the better!), an 8 ounce cup of plain, unsweetened yogurt as your starter (choose Brown Cow, Stoneyfield Farm, or Seven Stars–better yet: a local brand is BEST, but remember to look for the brand with the right ingredients.  You do not want to start your yogurt off on the wrong foot with unnecessary ingredients) and of course an incubator.  My current favorite yogurt incubator is Euro Cuisine.  For this model, make sure to purchase a set of extra glasses on amazon.com so you can make a batch of yogurt while one is still in the fridge.  I like this model in particular because not only is it easy to use, but it’s got glass jars.  With the constant questions raised with the health risks of plastics, especially plastics that are coming in contact with your food while being heated, go with glass and rest assured that you’re not adding any phthalates into your diet.  This incubator is also very easy to clean and has only two buttons: an on/off button and a timer to use for setting how long your yogurt incubates for.  Here’s the recipe:

Take 1 quart of milk, place in your saucepan and heat until the milk reaches 110 degrees F.  This will happen sooner than you think, so stay near the stove and keep an eye on your thermometer.  Remove your milk from the stove and have a pitcher on hand.  Spoon all 8 ounces (1 cup) of your yogurt into the pitcher, then little by little, add the warm milk while whisking until you have a smooth yogurt starter/milk combination.  The small amount of yogurt you have added will be very happy to be mixed in with the warm milk, and once incubated, the cultures present in the mixture will begin to multiply and thrive, turning your milk into full-on delicious yogurt.  Pour your milk/culture mixture into each glass jar, tighten lids, and place in the incubator.  Allow to incubate for as little as 10 hours and as long as 16 hours (the more time the yogurt is in the incubator up to 16 hours, the thicker it will be and the stronger the taste).  I make this yogurt after dinner, allow it to incubate overnight, and place in the fridge in the morning.  The yogurt is ready to be eaten once it is done incubating-at room temp or cold.  Just for your own personal knowledge, the incubator keeps the yogurt at a constant 108 degrees F.  Do not be worried about food poisoning here!  Even though you wouldn’t normally leave milk out on the counter overnight, introducing yogurt culture actually combats the growth of negative bacteria that might make you sick.  Think of it this way: yogurt culture is good bacteria that kills off the bad bacteria naturally.  This does not mean that you would want to never refrigerate your yogurt, just that in the 10-16 hour window that it’s not refrigerated is not going to hurt you.  In fact, those cultures present (probiotics) aid in digestion and help the digestive system to break down all of the food you eat in a healthy, natural way.  This yogurt, once refrigerated, will last in your fridge for up to one month, however this all depends on the freshness of your milk and yogurt starter used.

Now, for those of you interested in trying your hand at yogurt making before committing to a piece of equipment, making it at home in your oven is a great way to start.  Here’s what you’ll need: an oven, a heating pad, a towel, mason jars with lids, a saucepan, a thermometer, milk and 8 ounces of yogurt culture.  Here’s the recipe:

Repeat process above by bringing 1 quart of milk to 110 degrees F, removing it from the stove and adding yogurt culture and milk together in a pitcher.  Meanwhile, prepare your oven: Turn your heating pad on its lowest setting and place the heating pad in your oven to gradually warm the oven.  Make sure you can still create a draft-free environment for your yogurt by ensuring that you can close the oven door with the cord of the heating pad sticking out the side.  Clean your thermometer and place it inside the oven but not on the heating pad.  This is to make sure your oven is maintaining the proper amount of heat for incubation.  Your desired temperature is 108 degrees.  If this means that you’ll need to increase the heat to medium, then do so accordingly.  Pour your milk/starter mixture into your clean mason jars, loosely screw on lids, and place in oven on top of your towel but not directly on the heating pad.  The heating pad should just be sitting somewhere in the oven.  Put a note on the outside with not only the time you put your yogurt in, BUT that NO ONE should turn on oven while your yogurt is incubating.  If the yogurt reaches 120 degrees or higher, the culture will die and you will not make yogurt.  This yogurt, if made at night, will also be ready in the morning, however you may want to experiment with it to let it go a little longer than 10-16 hours in order for you to reach your desired consistency.  Periodically before bed, check the thermometer in your oven by gently opening the oven door, or better yet, just by looking through the window, to make sure the temp is staying at an even 108 degrees F.  If you must open the oven door, do not jostle your mason jars.  Yogurt does not like to be moved at all while it is incubating.  If it does move, the consistency will be chunky and not smooth.

Troubleshooting:

If your yogurt, once incubated, seems to thin, refrigerate it first and the yogurt should become thicker in the fridge, especially if it’s got fat in it.

If your yogurt has lumps, this means that when you combined your milk and yogurt starter, you did not whisk thoroughly enough and distribute the cultures throughout the milk.

Any other questions?  Contact me!

We like to add a bit of organic sugar, raw honey, fresh fruit or wheat germ to our freshly made yogurt.  Have fun with flvoring yours OR just eat it plain!

Here’s to your health!!!

Freeze your fruit! That’s right, instead of using fresh fruit, place your freshly purchased fruit, like blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, bananas, etc. into the freezer after washing and shaking dry. Place the fruit in a gallon size ziploc bag or rubbermaid container and allow to freeze overnight before making that morning smoothie. If, by chance, you prefer to buy locally grown fruit when it’s in season, then when strawberries are in season, for example, buy enough for the year and freeze the strawberries in smaller containers, like ziploc bags, that you can easily shake to separate the frozen fruit if it’s stuck together. Also, as an extra tip, let your fruit thaw in its bag, in a larger bowl, overnight in the fridge and what you’ll be left with is delicious all-natural juice that can be used to also flavor your smoothies or salad dressings. Strawberry balsamic, anyone?

Anyway, as usual when it comes to food, I digress…

Here’s the Smoother Smoothie Recipe:

Combine 2 cups frozen fruit with…

1 cup yogurt*

1/2 cup milk*

add a bit of organic cane sugar or local honey if desired. However, in-season fruit is perfectly sweet on its own!

*as many of you know, I am a real dairy girl, and therefore love milk, yogurt, and cheese in its most unadulterated form. Therefore, I use whole milk (full fat) everything! It’s much more decadent, not to mention that full fat dairy has the right kind of fat in it that is truly healthy.

Blend in a blender until smooth and eat right away. The frozen fruit will give your smoothie the chill that you’re normally going for when adding ice if eaten immediately. Also, the texture of your smoothie will be rich, creamy, and thick, as opposed to a thinner smoothie made with fresh, not frozen, fruit.

No doubt my friend, Gleamer: the Smoothie Queen, has already discovered this tip for making smoother smoothies for her beautiful kids who, lucky ducks, get to enjoy smoothies all the time. Gleamer, if you’ve got any more tips, I’m sure we’d love to hear ‘em!

I think it’s safe to say that products that fit into my “bad” category are the cleaning products and brands that most of the US population uses in their homes. Things like bleach, Formula 401, Windex and especially Clorox cleaning products like bleach, wipes, and sprays. We stopped using these products long ago. In fact, when I met my husband I was still using them to clean up my apartment and it was my husband who introduced his method of natural cleaning, but we’ll get to that later.

VS

In the meantime, harsh chemical cleaners, like Clorox brand products, are toxic and are known to be hazardous both for humans AND their pets. In fact, if you’re wondering why Fluffy always seems to piddle in the same spot, annoyingly so, which requires you to constantly be on hands and knees cleaning, consider this: the smell and toxicity of the product you’re using is repulsive to her, which is why she is using the strong ammonia in her urine to blot it out and bring her habitat back to some sort of controlled normalcy when it comes to comfort. And do not be fooled by Clorox’s new “green cleaning” line of products. Unless the ingredients are words you both understand and can pronounce, they are not natural.

So if you don’t want to have to poison your pets or lock away your cleaning supplies from your toddling tots, what other option do you have? This brings me to my “better” category…

For things like dish washing detergent, clothing detergent, and dish soap, using a natural cleaner, like a product from Seventh Generation , which refers to a Native American ideal of making decisions with the philosophy in mind that whatever you decide will not only affect your generation, but will still be suitable for 7 generations to come, is the way to go. In fact, their new TV commercial hits home when it comes to the reason why folks who want a more natural approach to housecleaning turn to what Seventh Generation has to offer. They openly declare that when using their products, it is unnecessary to hold one’s breath when spritzing and spraying in order to clean. And it’s true. How often have you found yourself holding your breath when spraying some Clorox product? Seventh Generation products actually smell great. Plus, you can opt for the fragrance free varieties. BUT, you may say, “natural cleaning products are much more expensive than regular brands.” And this can be true, but here’s where the “BEST” category comes into play.

What if I told you, that for pennies, you could keep your house clean using only ONE cleaning implement? Sure, for clothes washing and dishwashing our family still uses Seventh Generation products, but for cleaning counters, dusting, cleaning mirrors and windows, and sanitizing, guess what we use as our truly multi-purpose cleaner? Vinegar!

White Distilled Vinegar that can be purchased in 1 or 2 gallon jugs is actually the answer to all of your cleaning woes. To get started it’s simple: Purchase an empty plastic spray bottle that has never before been used. (I would normally suggest reusing an old empty bottle, however mixing vinegar with bleach or ammonia can cause a chemical reaction which creates a poisonous gas, so please don’t do that. Besides, your empty bottle will last you years.) Also, buy your white distilled vinegar at the store, and fill your bottle 3/4’s of the way full with vinegar. Top it off with water from the faucet, and you’ve got a mega cleaning product that can easily wipe away grease, spaghetti sauce, dust and more without the use of harsh chemicals. Plus, one bottle usually lasts at least a few months. The tougher the stain, the easier it is to clean: simply spray on a heavy layer of your vinegar cleaner and let sit for 5 minutes, then wipe down with a clean white towel (no paper towels here!) that has been soaked in warm water.

For those of you who might be worried about the smell that vinegar imparts, simply add a few drops of your favorite essential oil, like lavender or peppermint. Even orange or eucalyptus would work nicely. We don’t mind the vinegar smell as it evaporates quickly, so for us, we like to leave our cleaner plain and simple.

Even more importantly, you may be asking yourself if vinegar really has the power to disinfect surfaces the way bleach or other harsh chemicals can. The answer is, of course, that we wouldn’t use vinegar unless it sanitized surfaces. In fact, we believe that vinegar kills enough bacteria in our kitchen with out creating a completely sterile environment, which is actually better for you and your family in the end.

In the times of hand sanitizer, bleaching kids toys, and generally being freaked out at the thought of one single germ in your house, using vinegar will not only teach you that you shouldn’t be afraid of your own kitchen, but that simpler is better. After all, can’t you see the hypocrisy in worrying about bacteria while all the while inhaling harmful chemicals?

I think the trade-off is easy to see, and swallow.

Well, I thought to myself, maybe they’re finally going to discuss the body type that most of us have. You know the one. It’s where you eat right (local, sustainable, organic food) and where you take good care of yourself (exercise in ways that feel good not bad, meditate, practice yoga, run after your toddler) and, voila, you’re left with not only great self-esteem, but a body that matches your “body type.” Like me for example: after years of working so damned hard to make my body match what the media was dictating, including dieting, over-exercising, skipping meals-on purpose, and constantly worrying about those extra few pounds, I finally wised up. I met my husband, realized that I was beautiful just the way I was destined to be, and over the course of four years, began eating local, healthy food, cut processed foods out of my diet, and began practicing well-being type exercises, like yoga and pilates, AND gained 30 pounds.

Me, enjoying delicious crab,just before being told by my doctor that I am borderline obese and would be unable to conceive. I am now 25 weeks pregnant.

While most of the time I was so thankful to look and feel better, including the added perks of being more curvy, going up 3 cup sizes, and turning even more heads on the street, there were times when I would fall back in to the media trap of thinking that I was overweight. In fact, when trying to get pregnant, I was even told by my ex-gynocologist that I was too overweight to conceive (due to my height and weight, my BMI classifies me as borderline obese). I quickly changed doctors, and with my next visit at my benevolent midwife’s office, I heard the following news: A)I was at the weight that my genes, heritage, and lifestyle dictated, and that B)my weight gain over the last four years was directly related to my happiness that I had finally achieved through meeting my husband and starting my family. What a fantastic “ah-ha” moment. With that news, guess what? I was pregnant within 10 days. I think it would be foolish to assume that none of the above isn’t connected. Self acceptance equals happiness.

So, getting back to this morning’s Today Show segment on Skinny Fat, I ignorantly thought that this segment would finally bring the news to women out there that what I already knew was finally being accepted. That my “fat” was my very own “skinny.” Well, no surprise, but I was wrong.

As it turns out, Skinny Fat actually refers to women who, gasp, ARE skinny on the outside, but fat on the inside. Are question marks circling around your head, too? Sigh, here we go…

Joy Bauer, contributing health editor to The Today Show, who’s book, “Your Inner Skinny” I think says it all as far as her approach goes, claims that even though we may appear to be skinny, that really deep inside we’ve got a terrifying combination of genes and heredity brewing that actually makes us in reality, fat, according to what doctors deem to be so. She compared two women: both of whom are skinny, one of whom is skinny fat. Basically, the one who is skinny fat has never had to do much to maintain her figure. She never works out, she eats what she wants, she is what most would call “blessed with good genes.” Not so, according to Joy. In fact, because she does not “take care of herself,” even though she may appear to on the outside, she is slowly bringing on her own demise: a long, torturous, fatty death. Joy said, in fact, that now “it’s not enough to be thin” anymore. Because being thin could mean “skinny on the outside, obese on the inside.” Her “obesity” is determined by using a tool, much like a vice, to pinch the outside layer of her fat, therefore measuring the relationship of her fat to her overall weight and height. Now, for those of us out there (me four years ago), this would be exactly the news that I would not need. To be told that appearing skinny still could mean that I’m obese on the inside would throw me into a disastrous cycle of obsessive exercising followed by extreme dieting. In fact, the skinny fat woman, after hearing of her major fat issues, said that she is now going to “work hard and watch what she eats,” which we all know is code for not eating as much. It is only since recovering from my faulted ways that I can hear news like this and not go off the deep end. But imagine how many women (and men) are out there who are taking this news to heart?

As my genius husband brought up after watching this segment in disbelief, what about the women from Fiji, Hawaii, or the Inuit or Yupik Eskimos?

An Inuit Woman

A Fijian Woman

A Hawaiian Woman

What if they were subjected to this fat-pinching device? No doubt they would blow this poor skinny fat woman on The Today Show out of the water. Wouldn’t we all agree, though, that their bodies are designed based on a mixture of factors: environment, heritage and genetics? From Joy Bauer’s point of view, these women would practically be knocking on death’s door. If it were up to her, they would all be put on strict diets and exercise regimes, only to lose half of their body weight and return home, where they would be unable to function in their own societies. Do only Joy’s rules apply to Americans? And what of this poor Skinny Fat woman on The Today Show? Could her natural body type, instead of being a ticking time bomb, instead just represent her potential Nordic heritage? Why should she change to have to conform to the current ignorant standards of our current thinking when it comes to body image, health, and the desire to be thin?

The bottom line is this: we all look exactly the way we should, IF (and a big “if” it is) we allow our bodies to slowly get back to the size and shape that they were always meant to be. Instead of looking at an ex-Skinny girl and saying, “She’s really let herself go,” why don’t we look at her in admiration and hope, saying instead, “Wow, she must be really happy. Looks like she’s finally found herself.” My hope is that everyone watching The Today Show this morning can look inside themselves, instead of listening to a woman who does not know them, and ask themselves if there is anything they can change in order to get closer to achieving the body, heart, and mind that is the healthiest for them.

Just another reason why raising a teen is challenging.  Try standing your ground in a talk about something as serious as drug use to your teenager while being faced with eye rolls, back turning, etc.  It’s not an easy feat, but can mean the difference between life and death with your child.  Tough stuff.

This commercial really gets the message across!