Monday, September 29, 2008

Third Trimester!!!


I can't believe it . . . today is the first day of the 3rd trimester for me! It is unreal how far we've come, and I'm so excited to meet this little guy in a few months. I'm surprised by how fast this pregnancy is going, and just looking forward to becoming a mom!

In other news, this little baby finally decided to cooperate and let Grammy feel him kicking a few days ago. I can tell how big and strong he is becoming - his kicks are growing in strength, and I'm feeling him everywhere from my ribs on down!

Update on me - everything is progressing well. I go back for a repeat urinalysis this week so they can tell me I still have a UTI and put me back on antibiotics (this is what is meant by positive thinking, right?). My indigestion has kicked into high gear, and the medicines no longer seem to work. Ah well, one more thing I can hold over this little one's head when he grows up! Nevertheless, my endless craving for macaroni and cheese persists. While previously a fan of good ole' Kraft mac-n-cheese (it's the cheesiest!), I have recently discovered Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese and seem to have moved on to this new obsession. Pre-pregnancy, I never would have allowed myself to eat such a fat-laden concoction, but I seem to have a get-out-of-jail-free card with respect to calories right now. My biggest complaint is that it takes over an hour to cook! Don't they understand that is torture for a pregnant woman? At least Kraft is ready in under 10 minutes! Regardless, the thick cheesey sauce seems to be hitting the spot these days. My only complaint is that I think they should make the 10-person size bigger . . . it makes me feel awful that they advertise the portion for 10 people and well . . . let's just say it doesn't take me 10 days to eat the whole thing!

I've been trying to be so good about avoiding carbs and unnecessary fat this pregnancy, but ever since my last appointment (when they yelled at me to gain weight) I've been eating all kinds of junk! Probably not what they had in mind, huh? I'm still not gaining weight (I've always wondered what is what like to have a metabolism like DH), but with my luck, I'll have given myself gestational diabetes the past few weeks. We shall see!

Tonight is an important holiday for me . . . it begins the Jewish New Year. What a perfect day for us to begin the 3rd trimester! In preparation for the holiday, I spent yesterday making homemade applesauce, an apple pie, and kugel for our family dinner tonight. Unfortunately, I could have killed DH when I first entered the kitchen to start cooking . . . he has a way of overstuffing our fridge/freezer, so there was no room for me to put any of the vats of applesauce away! Also, he left me with a dirty pot with caked on/burnt black beans all over the bottom so I had to scrub the darn thing for 3 hrs before I could even attempt to make the applesauce. He did apologize and try to make up for it by stopping off at the grocery store for me on his way home. He also helped a bit with the pie - he used our apple peeler/corer/slicer and cut up the apples for me while I was rolling out the pie crust. I'm at least glad he loves to cook, and he always tries to help me in the kitchen while I'm baking. It was a long, exhausting day, but the food looks delicious!

3 comments:

Mandy @ The Lucky 7 said...

YAY YAY YAY!!!! The THIRD trimester!! That is nuts, I can't believe how fast it's gone! Congratulations!

Happy New Year! :) What is a kugel? I love trying to make new foods! Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Krissy said...

Yay for third tri! Don't you love it???

Me said...

Mandy - Kugel is something that roughly translates into "noodle pudding" or perhaps more accurately, it is kind of like a noodle casserole. It is served as a side dish, and is pretty much always sweet.

It comes in 2 basic varieties - a cheese kugel or a fruit kugel. The cheese kugel is egg noodles mixed with a cheese (like cottage cheese, or ricotta, or farmer's cheese or cream cheese, or some combination of those - kind of similar in some ways to cheesecake) and sweetened, usually with cinnamon and sugar. Some people will add fruit as well (like raisins or pineapple or peaches). The concoction is mixed with some eggs and baked so it all sticks together and can be cut like a lasagna into squares and eaten. It ends up being pretty firm.

The other popular flavor is just a sweet/fruit version . . . most have raisins/apples sometimes nuts (some people will put dates or even peaches in) and mix with egg noodles, eggs, sugar, cinnamon (sometimes other spices, too) and bake the same way.

It is a really traditional food served at most Jewish holiday dinners, and every family has slightly different variations of it. Some people like them really sweet and gooey, some like to have a crunchy top on it, some like the sweetness to be a bit more mild, etc.