I'm finally starting to realize that the chaos of pregnancy is over and done with. When I lay comfortably in bed at night, I realize the nighttime discomfort is gone. The heartburn? Gone. The swelling? Gone. The acne and other strange bodily changes? Gone. The bedrest? Gone. That last one has been the biggest realization that my mind has had to process as it felt like forever that I was confined to a bed or a couch with my legs propped up, unable to even make myself a sandwich or pour myself a glass of water. With my husband to chauffeur me until my OB clears me to drive again, I'm able to walk up and down the aisles of the grocery store. I'm able to stand in our kitchen and cook dinner again. It's been so blissful to even compose grocery lists, as I get too excited to even sleep at the thought of having to write them. It means liberation, no more confinement and helplessness.
The best part to life returning back to normal is that I have my little boy here on the outside with me. I have my husband, who is on paternity leave for over a month, here to create routines and schedules with me. We've settled into said routine with Ethan and it's been amazing to feel like not only a functional human being, but a family.
Last night I stayed up making a meal plan for the week and the accompanying grocery list. I felt like a child happily composing a wishlist for Santa Claus. In between adding items to the produce section or the frozen items, I was able to get up and pick up Ethan, feed him, change him and snuggle with him. I was able to watch my husband cuddle with Ethan on the couch and stare in awe at the beautiful little boy we're both so in love with. It's basically worth every second of swelling, preeclampsia and bedrest -- and, no, I'm not coming down with childbirth-amnesia already. Life is just that incredible right now.
Tonight for dinner, I made chicken Parmesan burgers from a recipe I adapted from Skinny Taste. My husband has Celiac so I made a couple of gluten-free adaptations and loved every second of playing around with seasonings and spices.
To make these easy and delicious burgers, you'll need:
- 1 lb. ground chicken
- hamburger buns or rolls (I used Udi's new gluten-free buns)
- shredded mozzarella cheese
- pasta sauce
- Spices to taste (I used oregano, parsley, garlic, onion powder and grated Parmesan cheese)
1. Season the chicken as desired and form into patties.
2. Cook patties over medium-high heat (approximately 3 minutes per side) until cooked through.
3. Place patties on buns and add shredded mozzarella cheese on top.
4. Once cheese is melted, spoon pasta sauce on top.
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I also have to take a minute to pat myself on the back for being so diligent in regards to Ethan's baby book and photographs. I had this irrational (or maybe quite rational, given that I have a newborn) notion that I would fall behind on printing photographs of him and one day he'd be five years old and wonder why his only baby photographs were on Facebook.
He now has an up-to-date photo album and we now have an insane amount of framed photographs ready to be hung around our house.
You know, it's always something going on.
Since my life has traded in the chaos for amazing-ness, I'm also proud to say I'll be making some great new changes and features to this blog. I have a couple of fantastic giveaways coming up soon (one even this evening -- so keep checking back!) and a lot of interesting posts and things going on.
(And, yes, lots of ridiculously adorable pictures of my son to post. I can't help it. You know how it is.)
Being a mom is so, so, so, so awesome.
You're more than welcome to make up a meal-plan/grocery list for me every week :) I absolutely dread it! I'm not very creative when it comes to choosing meals. It's so daunting!
ReplyDeleteBut I'm so glad things are going back to normal for you because I know how hard your pregnancy was on you... but I have to agree, it had to have been worth every second of it because Ethan is the most beautiful baby boy, ever! I'm so honored to be able to be a small part in his life :) He's so awesome and I can't wait to watch him grow. Bailey and I love him (and you!) to absolute pieces! You're such a great mommy, Lindsay!
I'm making this chicken parm tonight for dinner! I'm pretty excited :)
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