Adventures of Mama-Dirtyfoot: Blog Identity Crisis

Sonogram - 20 weeks

Geez, is this a "Mommy Blog", an "Adoption Blog", a "Pregnancy Blog", "Travel Blog", "Food Blog"???? Pretty bizarre, I guess, when I have just as many blog posts about what I cooked for dinner as I have about my daughter. But, if you know me, I guess it really isn't *that* unusual. I am hoping that you readers forgive my fickle nature and allow me some swings in what I discuss. I have always said that I am convinced I could be diagnosed with Adult ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). My mind is in constant motion, constantly shifting gears....as is this blog. If you love the blog, well then, you have a good handle on how my mind works. And so, in light of the profession above, today's blog post will be a complete hodge podge, mishmosh of items.

Today, I am 20 weeks pregnant. Half-way there already!! So far, things have been a relative piece-of-cake. In general, I am feeling great. Although, the more difficult half has just begun. I have been feeling the baby ("Porkchop") for the last 3 weeks. The majority of this time, porkchop's movements have been very regular. A few days ago, I kept feeling occasional sharp stabbing pains in my lower abdomen. I wasn't overly concerned, however, as there was no regular pattern to the pains and I had no unusual bleeding. I figured that this pain was round ligament pain (a result of stretching ligaments to make room for the growing baby). I did have a raised eyebrow, however, when after these pains I did not feel the baby move for several days. Although I realize that I am still early on in how regular I should feel the baby, because of the fact that I *was* feeling the baby regularly and then no longer felt him, I decided to call the doctor to see what he had to say. I probably would've even waited a little longer to call but since it is Friday, I figured it would be best to make the place a call to the doctor before the weekend. The doctor's office had me go to the hospital's fetal monitoring department to take another peek. When I arrived, my blood pressure was elevated....no surprise, I was worried! They did a quick peek and all is well. Porkchop was squirming away (and I felt none of it) and his heartbeat was 153 bpm (normal). Ahhhh.....tears of relief! They took my blood pressure before I left and it was back to normal. The sonogram picture on this post was taken today. Happy 20 weeks, Porkchop!

My yummy crab cakes

The day began with me dropping Madeline off at school, a trip to the Indian Reservation to gas up the vehicle, out to the hospital, and then a trip to Destination Maternity. Yep, time for new bras...$70 for 4 new bras and there is no guarantee that this size will even get me through the pregnancy. Ugh!! Cha-ching!

Next stop, waxing. I gotta look good while sporting those new bras. And NOOooooo.....I didn't get my chest waxed! My eyebrows, however, no longer look like caterpillars.

Time to pick up Madeline at school - red face and all. From school, a super quick stop at home to pick up our library books and movies and then off to Madeline's library story time. Straight from the library to Wegman's for a super-sized two week grocery shop. Zip home, unload groceries and whip up dinner. I am amazed that, with all the running around, I actually got a yummy, Lent-friendly dinner on the table. I tried a couple new recipes that I had to share.

Roasted red pepper sauce with capers & dill

I made crab cakes for dinner. Although real crab meat is more expensive, it is very much worth the extra cost. I am really pleased with the way they turned out. Click HERE for the crab cake recipe I used. I also made a roasted red pepper sauce with capers and dill (recipe here). The sauce was good, although I believe next time I would prefer to try a sauce with a little more kick - maybe a horseradish flavored cream sauce?? Initially, I had planned to fry up some sliced cooked potatoes with onions and parsley yet, due to time I did the easy version of potatoes by throwing some frozen french fries in the oven. I zipped up the fries by adding Tastefully Simple's Seasoned Salt. Initially I was disappointed that I did not have the time to make the potatoes I had planned, however the seasoned fries hit the spot. I also served dinner with salad. I only had creamy dressings in my fridge but felt as though a lighter dressing would pair better with the crab cakes. I whipped up a dressing recipe that I had found on line (click here) that was perfect and so easy - olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar and fresh basil.