Week 10, Day 5 - My WIC appointment & weight thoughts

So today was my first official WIC appointment since we signed up - and she weighed me. Of course, with jeans on, after I'd had breakfast, all that. I weighed in at 141 - yowza! I weighed this morning before getting dressed and it was 135, up ONE POUND from yesterday. Truly strange, since today is my 3rd day of eating 100% raw.

She was kind of worried about my weight gain since I told her I started at 127 - that's 15 pounds of weight gain and I am only 10 weeks along! I practically started hyperventilating - and assured her that 1)that was my weight WITH clothes on, and 2) I was going to start exercising soon and 3) my last 2 pregnancies I only gained 25 pounds and I was determined this one will be the same.

I HATE gaining weight - and it really made me all the more determined to stay as raw as possible during this pregnancy. And MORE greens - I need to get in way more greens.

I had to go to the store afterwards and purposely bought more produce specifically geared towards green drinks and juicing. I got parsley, beets, a big head of green leaf lettuce, and curly kale. The kale I'm planning to put in my green drink, but I've also been wanting to make some cheesy curly kale chips so some of it I'll save for that.

When I came home, I tried out a new recipe that I came across yesterday - it was yummy! I was in the mood to juice, but this is an actually green DRINK so I made it anyway.

1 bunch of spinach
1 lemon, peeled
1 stalk of celery
1 apple
2 cups water
half a tray of ice

Really refreshing, a little tart, but YUM! I loved it - I can see drinking this every single day, especially when the days get hot. The celery mixed with apple mixed with lemon = pretty tasty. Of course, you can't taste the spinach much.

My plan is to get in at least one green drink per day, but keeping my weight in mind - hopefully a green drink + a big cup of fresh juiced veggies. Then, as much juicy fruit as I can - going easy on the fancy recipes and also on the dates & nuts. Yesterday I had a bunch of dates, they are SO yummy - just sat in front of the computer and munched with a big bag in front of me.

Then I felt pretty sick after that, and since this is the second time that has happened, I'm going to only limit myself to a few at a time. They're just too rich in calories and too dense, I think.

I have 2 more days to weigh in for week 10. I am hoping to see a drop down to at least 132 - I weighed in at 130 for week 9, for crying out loud! I do not want to have to document that I gained FIVE pounds in just one week.

I know it sounds kind of anal with my weight and all, but it actually does get me off my duff and start doing something about it when I get worried so it's a good thing. =)

My weight goals are going to be exactly the same as when I had Jack, since my due dates are only one week apart. And I did accomplish it! So I know I can do it again - here is my journey so far + projected future weigh-in maxes. And of course, not to be strict & anal about it, just a general guideline so that I can make sure I stay on course. =)

Week 5: 127
Week 8: 133
Week 9: 130

Week 12: 135
Week 15: 138
Week 20: 140
Week 26: 143
Week 30: 145
Week 34: 147
Week 38: 149
Week 40: 152 = 25 pound weight gain

It'll be fun to check back and see how I do! Should be fairly easy(er) during the summer to stay full with yummy juicy fruit. I know I can do this, and I know I'm going to feel soooo good, too!

What I ate today:

*6 cups chilled pineapple
*green drink: spinach, lemon, apple, celery
*Huge salad: walnut taco meat, mango, spinach, tomato, cilantro, salsa, avocado, tabasco, green bell pepper
*3 cashews
*meat from 1 thai coconut

What I said NO to today(!!):
*doritoes
*yellow cake batter
*flour tortilla with shredded cheese, melted
*corn tortilla with mozz cheese & onion, quesadilla style

Week 10, Day 4 - Really enjoying eating raw!

I feel SO much better today!!! One whole day of eating 100% raw under my belt seems to have turned things around for me - but then, it's only 9:30am so...lol...we'll see. I tend to get sicker as the day goes by, so here's hoping!

This morning I am enjoying Ani Phyo's coconut pancakes - made with ground flax, coconut butter, pure maple syrup, agave, salt, and water. Then I topped my pancake with a mixture of blended strawberries and dates.

The pancakes do not look OR taste like real pancakes, but they taste quite a bit like the crumble part on top of apple crisp! So....good, with just the right amount of sweet & salty. Definitely a heavier type of thing to eat - it's almost all flax seeds - but if I have a sweet tooth, that's going to be my go-to.

I've been finding all sorts of delicious sounding recipes to try - and it definitely helps to keep me excited about raw. For lunch today I am going to try these Taco Wraps - don't they look good? And all raw too, how much better than that can you get?? Plus, I love mexican food ALOT - especially with Tabasco sauce. =) And avocadoes...mmm. they're very appealing to me lately.

I think I might make regular tacos for the family for dinner tonight - I have 1lb of beef that I can turn into a good amount if I add homemade pinto beans and maybe, maybe onions if I can cut them small enough to get away with it. I have some kids who think onions are like the worst food invented by man, and will painstakingly pick out every single tiny piece. Even though, when cooked long enough, you can't really even taste the onion taste anymore. Silly kids.

I think I have another bag of Costco tortilla chips in the garage...hmmm...if I don't, then I have one package of 10 taco shells which should stretch to like, one per person. Ha ha! Oh well, they like it when I fill up their plate with little piles of lettuce, cheese, meat, and the shell so it should all be good.

Week 10, Day 3 - Rough night at the white throne

I had my worst night with nausea last night - it was a combination of bad food choices, I think. I had alot of reese's pieces cookies, then bbq chips, then about 8 hours later, 3 deep fried egg rolls and a Thai rice stir fry. Oh, how I did pay for that throughout the night! Twice I made trips to the white throne, after tossing and turning and moaning and feeling SO sick until about 4am.

Even now it is 11am and I still feel queasy, with a raw throat to boot. I was so looking forward to this day - it is supposed to be 70 degrees and sunny, our warmest day yet! Macleay has a fun day planned for the children with children's meeting, everyone eating lunch afterwards, then 3 hours of play on the playground until activity club starts.

I was looking forward to hanging with my friends in the sun, enjoying a relaxing day at beautiful Macleay...but alas, it is not meant to be.

I am convinced that it is my food choices. Yesterday I had several raw food choices in the morning and I think if I had kept on that course, I would be able to go to the meeting today.

So with a renewed mind I am determined to eat all raw each and every day - and it is my hope that this will change the way I feel. We'll see.

Bret took the six (!!) older ones to the meeting - he saw how sick I was throughout the night and my weary attempts to get the kids ready this morning were about all I could handle. It was nice of him to volunteer to take Jack who is 3 - not the easiest age to sit all through the 1 1/2 hour meeting. I sent along a couple of new activity books for the 2 younger ones, 3 & 4 - so hopefully that will help.

Of course there was the normal stomping of feet and acting out by Grace (6) who didn't understand WHY she couldn't wear her princess dress for the meeting...her activity club at 4pm is having a princess party so she had to bring it to change into later. But WHY?!! I DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!! she kept yelling.

And my oldest, Rachel, who is 11 going on 15 - WHY do I have to go to Macleay, I don't WANT TO GO.......as is a typical scenario for her. I was not up to combatting their arguments this morning so finally I just said I'm sorry but I am feeling really sick because I threw up all night - I am not going to argue with you about this. You are GOING. Period.

So now they are all gone and the house is peaceful and quiet with just Harmony, 22 months, and I. She is puttering about the little playhouse in the backyard in the sun in her cute little new summer outfit, holding her blankie. So precious, and such a nice opportunity to pretend that it's just me and Rachel, again.

LOL do you ever do that? Close your eyes and remember how it was when you had *just* one. How much work it SEEMED at the time, how you would look at others with 2-3 and wonder how in the world they did it?? And yet, how special...oh, how special to sit there and cuddle your sweet baby with no distractions. How clean your house always was (well, I think I could have done MUCH better with that, I really had NO excuse!!!)....

...and then I bring myself to reality and realize that I have SIX additional children now! It's almost surreal when I think about it, I mean, it's not like I necessarily planned to have this many. It's mind boggling to me, and I feel so very .... what's the word... just not CAPABLE of raising this many kids.

Not capable of doing everything that needs to be done, in fact, MUST be done. Just dentist appointments alone - there are 6 of them that need their checkups right now, I got the cards in the mail last week.

But the thing is, and like you write often Tereza, I DON'T do it all. I can't, it's impossible - I just do it one at a time and then it gets done. My house is NEVER clean all the way, 100%. There is ALWAYS a bathroom that needs clean, even though the kitchen looks deliciously sparkling. Or the kitchen is in sad need of help, whereas the yard? Oh yes, the YARD looks soooo nice!

And just so we're clear, we live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath 1190 square foot home. So for THAT, in this way, I am thankful because while we are pretty squished, I don't know how I would be able to handle 3 bathrooms, and more living area to clean. I know someday we will (hopefully!) move to a bigger home, and at the time I'm sure we will adjust, but for now I am thankful for the smaller square footage when it comes to cleaning.

I never thought it possible to be pulled in so many directions. And yet, I struggle with guilt that I am not doing my job, that the house is messy AGAIN and it falls on me to be in charge of getting it clean. YES I know my children can help, and they MUST and they DO - but it is the teaching that is the hardest, I think.

The hope that they have in their little minds, that maybe if they just sweep in the general main area of the bathroom and conveniently forget behind the door and the toilet, that maybe Mom won't notice. So it's not just that I tell them to do it, and it's done - I must go back, sometimes 2-3x, and make them do it over, and over, and over. I know you know what I'm talking about. =)

Jeanette has assured me that this is SO worth it and they DO "get it" in the end and just to keep trying (she is expecting baby #10) - so that is what my goal is to do, each and every day.

All the while, listening to their dreams from last night. Talking about modesty with the girls. Teaching brothers not to hit their sisters. No no no, that is NOT how you brush your teeth - it should take LONGER than 6 seconds....! Your hair still doesn't look clean, go take ANOTHER shower and try getting LOTS of soap suds in your hair this time. Those heels just make the dress look a little...trashy, especially for the meeting. Can you wear flats with that dress? No? No, I don't know where your other boot is....and no, it is not my fault...

...and then the praise - THANK YOU for buckling the baby in her carseat! That was so nice of you to use your own money to buy an extra strawberry plant for your brother. Thank you for doing the dishes with no complaining, you are such a good boy! Wow, you cleaned out the pens drawer without me asking, "just because" ??? =)

Lots of reflection happens when the children aren't around. =)

Week 9, Day 5 - I resisted an omelet today

This morning I didn't bring any of the kids to school because one of them started throwing up at 5am, the other one felt sick all through the night, and I am just plain not feeling well either. At least, not feeling like getting the other 2 dressed and ready and off to school. Too much work just for 2 kids!

So we all stayed home and I tried to relax in bed until about 9am, in between changing diapers and rinsing throw up bowls and getting cereal. Not very restful, ha ha, but at least I kind of had more of a relaxing morning than normal.

As I was laying there though, I started getting hungry and a good, cheesy omelet started to sound soooo good! With onions and peppers and tobasco sauce, and warm buttered toast...yum.

But that's not even fudging raw, not like Manna bread or cooked corn like I had last night. That is downright COOKED animal products including dairy, butter, processed flour...all the combo's I'm trying to stay away from.

So instead I opened a thai coconut and drank the milk/ate the meat. That was yummy...but now I'm still hungry. Hmmm...what to make, what to make.....?

Week 9, Day 4 - Making my own Manna bread!

I seem to be quite enamored with Manna bread, lol. I knew it was healthy but I didn't know that it is *just* made of sprouted wheat berries! The loaf I bought from the health food store that is a good 20 min drive away, was $4.99. For a small loaf that lasted me 2 meals.

So of course I had to google it and see if I could make my own, and turns out it's super easy! I already know how to sprout wheat berries - in fact, I like their sprouted taste so much that sometimes I add raisins & honey, and it tastes similar to oatmeal raisin cookies with a little crunch.

Edited to add: the Manna bread did NOT turn out like I'd hoped! It was all dried and crusty on the outside and gooey and not cooked on the inside. I'll have to figure out what I did wrong...I cooked it for 5 hours on Warm.
Today I finished my loaf and upon looking at the package, it is made of sprouted rye grain. So we'll see how I like the regular wheat berry kind - I have 2 cups of them sprouting now. This time I added tobasco sauce to my "sandwich" and as I looked at it on the plate, it occured to me that it looked an awful lot like a raw pizza. I had 6 small pieces centered on the plate and then topped with tomato, fresh ground pepper, avocado, baby bell pepper, avocado, and lots of alfalfa sprouts. I'm looking forward to experimenting with some spices and maybe coming up with a pizza flavored bread that I can use for my fave pizza toppings.

This weekend we spent much of our time at our church's retreat center - Bret took the five older kids and slept there, while I came home at night & naptime. I feel much sicker at night so it worked better for me to come home after dinner time.

I found out that it's much harder to be raw when you're sick, when you're away from home. Here at home my fridge is really stocked right now, with all of my favorite standbys. When it's time to eat and I start feeling nausea waves, I go through my stash mentally and can almost always come up with something that sounds good.

But when I'm on the go and I throw some bananas, soaked hazelnuts, and dates in a bag....urgh. It may or may not appeal and then I'm sitting there at lunchtime staring at these bowls of lasagna soup + garlic mozzerella bread that my toddlers have decided to turn their nose up to...and I'm hungry for THAT. Ugh.

So yeah, I didn't have a successful weekend at ALL and I also, interestingly enough, felt much more sick as well.

I'm curious about my theory of eating raw for 24 hours and seeing a bump up in feeling better. As of right now I have eaten raw for 24 hours - I fasted for 17 hours kind of on accident, just ate an early dinner and didn't eat breakfast until late. We'll see.

Cool news, we now qualify for WIC since I am pregnant (the program allows you to count the unborn baby as a member of the family, so our family of "10" now qualifies =)! I am excited about that - it's a program for women, infants, and children under 5 years old here in the US. They give you vouchers each month for certain "healthy" food - and it's quite a lot. Especially for us, since I have 3 children that qualify + myself.

The main staples are cheese, milk, cereal, peanut butter, veggies/fruit. There's more but I can't remember. They really push the milk as healthy for the children which I don't agree with, but they do eat cereal regularly for breakfast and usually go through 4 gallons per week at the least. WIC combined with going to the food bank once per month should really help with food if I can be frugal and creative.

What I ate today:

32oz of fresh squeezed OJ
4 cups of broccoli "coleslaw" salad
2 cups of cooked corn
half a Manna bread loaf w/sprouts, tomatoes, avo, tobasco, bell peppers
half a pineapple

Week 9, Day 1 - Manna Bread Sandwich & I lost 3 lbs!

Does this sandwhich not look delicious?!!! This is Manna bread topped with tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, salt, pepper, avocado, fresh basil, and baby yellow bell peppers.

I made a trip to the local health food store today, and on my list was the Manna bread. It's not 100% raw but it's pretty darn close - close enough for me, as I'm aiming for as mostly raw as I can. I would much rather have something like Manna bread if I am going to have something cooked, rather than potato chips or something!

The loaf is very small, and cost me $4.99. I know, ouch. I may look into making my own but it all seems rather complicated with lots of sprouted stuff, lol. I bought a rye loaf and it doesn't taste anything like rye to me, but it has kind of a sweet taste - no yeast or anything. It makes me wish I had not sold my dehydrator last summer so I can start making some raw wraps again.

After dropping the kids off at school at 8:15, I headed to Lifesource Natural Foods, but realized they don't open until 9am and they are only about a 20 minute drive. Hmmm...

Ever since we got home from AZ on Monday night I've been writing down some things that we need grocery-wise, and grouping them into the 4 store we usually shop at: Costco, WinCo (lots of bulk), Lifesource, and Norman's Farmer's Market. I decided to swing into Winco - I had maybe 8 things on my list so I figured that wouldn't be too hard with the 3 littles - 4, 3, and 1.

Hmmm...funny the things you buy that you didn't realize you NEEDED! Half an hour later of solid shopping and many, many different bags from the bulk section, we trooped out. I realized while in the store that Easter is, um, TWO days away, and I only have 1 single solitary stuffed bunny! And I feel sick every evening so it's not like I want to go shopping while Bret is home with the kids.

So I just tossed in 6 chocolate bunnies, peeps, jelly beans, etc into the cart - the kids were really good about it. They got fussy after a while but I found a small package of vanilla cookies for $.48 that I let them munch on. For the Easter baskets, I also bought a 10-pack of cornnuts, 3 packs of jerky to split into 6 baggies, and a family pack of ritz cracker with cheese. Marie helped me pick out some Easter reese's cups and some jelly beans. That was too easy! To fill up the baskets I'll use white tissue paper - much less mess than the fake grass. All I need are some bunnies and a couple of baskets - I realized I'd saved 4 baskets from last year so we'll just reuse them.

I weighed myself this morning and was VERY happy to see that the scale is back down, from 133 a few days ago, to 130.0. I remember from ages ago that, even while pregnant, eating raw food helps me to lose 2-3 pounds pretty much within days due to bloating and the heaviness that comes with eating SAD food. So now I can officially say that as of week NINE I have only gained THREE pounds! Yay! Last pregnancy at week 10 I had gained 6 pounds, so I am ahead - at least, if I can stick with the raw foods.

At the natural food store I was disappointed that their SO SO SO yummy food bar was not open yet - they always have the best vegan vegetable stirfries that are all natural. Instead I opted for a day-old cold piece of pizza made from spelt flour - delicious! It had artichoke hearts and all sorts of yummy veggies - all good EXCEPT for the mozzerella. But it was very minimal so I felt ok about that.

I also found a RAW ice cream sandwich! It was this tiny little thing, about 2" square and cost me $2.89 but felt oh so good to splurge a little and enjoy. It didn't taste anything like a regular one, the "cookie" part tasted alot like dates, but the ice cream was delicious, exact same texture. I also found and bought a Rawvolution chocolate coconut bar for $1.79 - very good. I ate it like candy, yum! I especially enjoyed the coconut.

When I made the kids their lunch, I had bought some Lay's chedder & sour cream chips for them - we make all our kids' lunches at school so I like to put in a few to make the lunches not so mundane. I inhaled the smell and while it did smell good, it smelled really...oily to me. I knew that if I ate some, 1) I would feel poorly shortly, 2)I would wish I hadn't because I really want to stay raw, and 3) they wouldn't taste as good I remembered them. That's just how it is - once you're mostly raw for a while, things that you remember being really good and that you crave, become wayyy too salty (like the garlic french bread I had the other day) or just more "bleh" than I remember.

At Winco they had 1lb containers of strawberries for $1.18!! The cheapest they usually go around here EVER is $2. Maybe because it's Easter and everyone is going to have strawberry shortcake and/or fruit salad, lol. I couldn't believe my eyes, and what made me actually look for them was the SMELL - wow, this delicious smell kept wafting my way in the produce section. I would have probably purchased 10 packages as we go through them like water, but there was a limit of 4 per purchase - probably a good thing, lol. They were covered with a layer of dirt, and looked & smelled almost exactly like the ones locally grown here. Usually strawberries are prime here the end of May/early June so we're almost there!

I am feeling almost no effects of morning sickness today. I am very curious as to whether this is because I am eating better (I was 100% raw yesterday, munching on that broccoli salad almost all day!) or because I'm coming closer to "the end"?? Regardless, I am thankful - I feel almost back to my normal self except I am still pretty tired.

Week 8, Day 7 - Cautions on going raw while pregnant & THE BOMB broccoli salad

Yesterday seemed to be an ok day as far as morning sickness - I didn't experience that I was worse than normal, and I was able to make a full spaghetti dinner for the family and serve it. I did end up eating 4 pieces of french bread complete with butter and garlic spread, from the store so who knows, it could've been margarine, bleh. But I'm OK with it because ~

A friend of mine, Elmina, texted to tell me that if a person has an extreme dietary change during pregnancy they can miscarry. I know there are a lot of rumors and cautions out there regarding eating raw especially, I experienced that alot when I went raw with Jack. I had to kind of get a spine of steel against the cautions I got from friends and just go with what I felt was right for my body.

So I don't know if that is true or not, but one thing that is different this time is that I was NOT eating raw when I got pregnant. I wasn't even eating a plant based diet - I ate everything I wanted except meat about 95% of the time. I was going the calorie counting route where everything goes as long as it's low calorie.

So that's the difference. I came into pregnancy with a highly toxic body, unfortunately, and I forgot about that. I know that all raw is the best for me and for baby, but not the detox part of it. So I'm going to take it slowly and work my way up to eating all raw - but mostly, I'm going to shoot for all raw each day and try, if I do eat something cooked, to have it be healthy cooked. I just know that if I give myself a license to eat cooked then I tend to go overboard the wrong way. I could totally tell too, as soon as I ate that first piece of crusty french bread, my mind immediately went to those ritz crackers I'd been avoiding all day and I wanted to just eat a whole package of them, lol!

Today so far I have eaten:

***1 thai coconut with milk & meat
***Bowl of frozen sorbet of blueberries, strawberries, vanilla flavoring, and 1T. honey.
***THIS broccoli salad - O.M.G. I am in heaven!!

I just ordered some raw cocoa powder, barhi dates, and agave. I'm looking forward to making some yummy recipes!! Now I just need to find a good source for raw coconut oil...