Hopefully you saw my recent post on The Best Meals to Freeze Before Baby Arrives. I had so many ideas that I wrote up a follow-up post for the Ergobaby Blog. Please hop over there to read up on my favorite way to nest: with food! My article on Stocking Up On Food Before Birth is now live.
Click on the image above to read about:
The first few weeks after a baby is born are the most wonderful, most difficult, slowest, and fastest time ever in the life of a family. Many families feel as though they struggle just to keep breathing. Cooking should be the last thing to worry about. Take out can be great. But nothing is as nourishing as a home cooked meal. Freezing precooked meals can be the best of both worlds when preparing for baby’s birth. Drawing on my experiences before and after the birth of my girls, scouring the interwebs, and picking the brains of some of the best food bloggers and recipe developers, I have created a list (or round up) of the best meals to freeze before baby arrives.
Both Maggie of Mama Maggie’s Kitchen and Laura of Family Spice recommend soups as freezing well.
Laura has a delicious (and beautiful) recipe for purple sweet potato soup.
Maggie’s Clam Chowder will freeze well.
Borscht can be made with beef (which, along with the greens, is good for replenishing iron) or vegetarian, is affordable, and can help with losing baby weight. Enjoy it chunky or pureed, as in this photo.
For more soup recipes, click here.
Defrost this, or a classic basil pesto sauce, frozen in convenient one-ounce ice cubes, and add some freshly boiled pasta. Step it up with a few shrimp.
Lisa is a New Zealand-born food blogger, living in Italy. She shares authentic Italian recipes on the aptly named, Italian Kiwi, and this Ragu, a tomato sauce with ground meat, is no exception. She explains why you should never order Bolognese in Italy and why this recipe may not be her husband’s 95-year-old grandmother’s secret recipe, but how it holds it’s own.
Bri shares a delicious recipe for Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas. This is very similar to how I make it, too.
I made a double batch of this recipe before baby was born and was able to defrost and reheat the frozen one in time to bring along to the last session of our hypnobirthing class. (We also brought 7 day old Baby Bird.)
Debbie Anderson from San Diego Momma shares, “I’m invoking The Pioneer Woman here…but this lasagna truly is the best ever and freezes well and is amazing and I love it and totally make it.”
A dear friend of mine brought us a fresh batch of this recipe after Baby Bird #2 was born. It was delicious. And according to comments from Brenda of the Sugar Free Mom, it will freeze well, too.
Azlin is a veritable encyclopedia of world cooking. I asked her about the best food to freeze and she recommended curries. She has several on her website, but handpicked this Massaman Curry, a mild Thai curry. She states that it is one of the milder ones, in case any new moms are worried about too much spice.
Laura reports it freezes well and it just looks delicious!
Don’t forget the first meal of the day! A big dish, ready to go, can be a blessing, especially when extended family is in town and you don’t feel ready to face a busy, weekend restaurant. A frittata will freeze and defrost well, as well as one of these French Toast/Bread Pudding hybrids.
(Add the Brûlée after reheating.)
Sadly, no booze. But these exercise classes (popular with Hollywood-types for creating long, lean dancers’ bodies) do create a natural high.
I started going to Bar Method classes before my wedding in 2010. My body type is naturally on the thin side, so I passed 30 without having much of a workout routine beyond occasional yoga and dance. But with my wedding approaching, I wanted to tone my arms and improve my posture. I definitely met my goal of more toned arms and straighter posture by my wedding. But then I kept going! My husband laughed at me when we were both home jet lagged after our honeymoon and I went out our first day back to take a Bar class!
My results included toned arms, better posture, tighter lifted butt, strong slim thighs and core strength. Basically all the things every woman wants. I’ve been heavy into yoga before but these results are above and beyond. The crazy thing is that it takes just a few Bar Method classes to get how to do the exercises but you will ALWAYS be trying to perfect them. So, the more you go, the harder it gets. The class is very challenging, literally shaking and exhausting your muscles, but it is actually low to no impact. Many of the exercises are like physical therapy. I used to have chronic knee problems, but the strengthening has cleared it up.
Yup! When I was pregnant with Little Bird #1, the owner of the San Diego Bar Method in Point Loma, Allison (herself a two time Bar Mama), offered a workshop on prenatal modifications. I also attended a class taught by Bar Method founder, Burr Leonard, at the Solana Beach Bar Method while pregnant.
For this second pregnancy, I again used the prenatal modifications. For example, after twenty weeks, you no longer lay flat on your back. Modifications are gradually added as your body changes. Care is also took to not squeeze the baby too much by overworking the transvers abdominus, or “girdle muscle.” To know more about Bar Method pregnancy modifications check out this page.
This pregnancy, after learning in Jolie Cash’s Hot Mama Prenatal Yoga, how sustaining an interval of intensity can prepare for contractions or surges, I rejoiced that a Bar Method class is ALL intervals! Each thigh exercise gave me the mental preparation to face contractions without fear and with the confidence that they will pass. I wrote more about this realization and how it inspired me to try for an all natural, medication-free birth here.
My first pregnancy, I stopped attending Bar Method around 35 weeks and switched to solely using prenatal yoga for exercise. This time I was still going strong at 39 weeks, and only stopped going because I had gone on maternity leave at work and did not have childcare to go work out.
Finally, as part of my hypnobirthing preparation, I was instructed to practice different breathing techniques for relaxation and surges. Allison laughed at me one class when I appeared to be taking a break during a difficult exercise. I smiled and explained how it was the perfect opportunity to practice breathing and focusing.
A note from Mama Bird: This is the fifth post in a series on birth. I had an amazing experience and am now passionate about birth education and choices. I believe that all kinds of births are awe-inspiring miracles and life-changing experiences. I don’t believe that one kind of birth is necessarily better than any other. But I do believe that the current American medical system does not educate women and families on all the options that are available. Please check back for new installments in this ongoing series, which includes our birth story. Use the subscription box to the right if you would like an email notification when new posts are published.
Part One: Why I Pursued an Unmedicated, Intervention-Free Birth
Part Two: The Surprising Birth Story of Baby Bird #2
Part Three: The Birth of Baby Bird #2 from the Eyes of Our Doula
Part Four: How My Mama Tribe Helped My Pregnancy
Part Five: How I Used the Bar Method to Prepare for Birth
A note from Mama Bird: If you enjoyed our birth story in the last post, then I thought you might be interested in hearing about it from the point of view of our sweet doula, Karen Sousa. She wrote this sweet letter to our baby a few days after her birth and has given me permission to publish it here. You can learn more about Karen at her website and her Facebook page.
This is the third post in a series on why and how I pursued an “all-natural” or medication- and intervention-free birth. I had an amazing experience and am now passionate about birth education and choices. I believe that all kinds of births are awe-inspiring miracles and life-changing experiences. I don’t believe that one kind of birth is necessarily better than any other. But I do believe that the current American medical system does not educate women and families on all the options that are available. Please check back for new installments in this ongoing series, which includes our birth story. Use the subscription box to the right if you would like an email notification when new posts are published.
A sense of relief and confidence bubbled up inside of me as I spoke with your Mom and Dad at their prenatal appointment. After a few questions and answers I could tell that they had what it takes to attain the kind of birth they had hoped for. It was your mother’s convictions verbalized with authority and your father’s intentions of protection. I know from experience, that will give a woman power to birth. I also know that the power of a woman’s mind is the most important variable. I instructed your sweet but strong momma to really believe in the tools the Hypnobirthing education would give her. That believing in that relaxation technique and truly practicing it now will surely pay off. And she sure must have listened!
Your mom was a relaxing master! I remember she called me in the afternoon of October 2nd 2013 with an explanation of what seemed to be some prelabor that came and went. I was excited! But I was remaining patient along with your patient mom to see what would happen next. She was going to try to sleep, but that didn’t work out so well. So then she went to make some food. I didn’t hear from her for a few hours so I figured maybe it was just a sign of something to really come in the next few days or so. Boy was I wrong! To the best of my knowledge, she was so good at relaxing, she must not have even known the power that was behind her surges. Surges that we would soon find out were quickly opening her cervix!
At 4:59pm we spoke one more time on the phone and I told her it seems early. Again, very wrong! The surges were only just beginning to be in a set pattern, they were about 6-8 minutes apart. I figured I would probably leave within the next hour depending on if it continued for that hour or not. Yet, while on the phone a surge came and I listened to her breathe through it. She said that they weren’t intense and that she was just breathing to get into the habit of relaxing through it. I wasn’t exactly convinced. I thought to myself, hmmmm I bet they’re more intense then she even realizes. I still couldn’t be sure but when she said for the last one she asked her husband to be with her, then it began to settle in. I started to get ready to leave and asked her to check in with me in an hour, but I was prepared to leave sooner. It’s hard to know when to go when those mommies are so strong they barely ask for help!
Sure enough only a couple minutes later at 5:05pm your Daddy called. He said, “She wants you to come now but no rush.” I still rushed J. My kids got picked up and I was out the door. I got to your house in the later part of the hour. On the way there your Dad texted me saying that she had thrown up. Good thing I was already on my way because little did we all know, she was already nearing the end! I quietly opened the door and saw your Dad there. I asked him if it was intense when she threw up and if he was timing the surges. He said he lost track of the timing because he had to help her when she was throwing up, understandably. This was my first sign that it was going fast. The next thing that happened wasn’t really a sign, more like a billboard.
I went into the bathroom and found your mom there in the tub. The first thing she said to me was “I feel like I have to push.” I turned and looked at your Dad and said, “okay, we should probably go,” as gently as I could because I’m sure he wasn’t expecting that. Your mom started to explain that she was pooping and not sure about the pressure she was feeling if it was poop or not. I asked her if she could feel your head, she said no. Hmmmm I though, could it REALLY already be time? I’ve never seen labor go so fast! So I asked her if she was feeling the pressure during surges only. Her reply was yes. I asked her if she had pooped much that day, she said yes. Okay I debated again, we might really need to go now. When your mom told me that she had a dream she was pushing the baby out in the bathtub and in her dream holding you in an ambulance, I thought, there’s that powerful mind! She then said “I feel like having this baby in the bathtub.” I responded, “Okay, well hunny I’m here for you. Are you sure that’s what you want?” Your dad asked what she said and I told him. That was a pretty awesome look on his face!
In my role as a doula I am not trained to deliver babies so it’s always safer to have a care provider there. I would hope to always make it to the hospital or make it to wherever there was a midwife or doctor. Yet, at the same time, I trust birth. I trust birth enough to say something like “I’m here for whatever you want to do.” Thankfully your Mom put the ball in my court and said, “I just want someone to tell me if I should hold back the poop or not.” I quickly responded, “Yes. Yes, you should hold it back until we find out what’s going on with your cervix.” It was still a little confusing trying to go back and forth between whether what she was feeling was just a bowl movement or if in-fact she had really already reached the end of her labor in such a record-setting time. Nevertheless, we played it safe and got in the car.
The car ride was very surreal. I was reminding your mom not to push. The amount of strength and control it takes to not push when a laboring mother is feeling pressure is like nothing else on earth. Yet she did it the whole way there. When we stopped at a red light, I looked around and saw no one coming the opposite way so I said to your Dad, “It’s okay to run it if you want to.” His protective instincts said no and I thought, good for him. He trusts his ability to protect his family. A young guy pulled up next to us, leaned out of his window and said, “Hey bro you know you’re hazard lights are on?” Your dad rolled down his window and took the opportunity to VERY proudly say, “Ya, thanks. My wife is pregnant. She’s having the baby now.” The young guy looked in the back seat where your mom was lying and said, “OH, well haul &*% dude!” I laughed.
“Music louder please,” she asked with grace and authority. I plugged in my phone to car’s speakers. I looked back again and again and continued to see your mom smiling between surges. Absolutely incredible, I thought. I have so much respect for her amazing strength because I have given birth undedicated and I have seen many others do it too. But never have I seen someone retain that much control at the end of their labor. She even held it together in the wheel chair as we went up to labor and delivery. I really tried to shush the annoying guy nurse who assisted us up. Believe it or not, this guy was trying to tell your mom a story about another woman who came in ready to push about a month before. I wouldn’t usually be so frustrated with someone so ignorant to a laboring woman’s needs. But guess what?! The woman he was talking about was a mother I was there helping that time too! He was just as interruptive then and unfortunately he still hadn’t learned his lesson. Yet again, you know who wasn’t frustrated? You guessed it, your mom. She remained so calm right up to the room they quickly put her in as they knew to expect her since we called on the way there. The midwife checked her YES! The report was fully complete and +2 station! Another surprise ran through my head, A +2 station while holding back pushing?! AMAZING! That means you were already so low; right about to crown. It went so fast that it is like a blur to me too. I knew where they kept the ice so I ran as fast as I could to get some. I came back and it couldn’t have been more the two pushes that your head emerged out. And then your body so quickly after. It was 6:59pm. You were given to your mother’s arms at that very moment. A few tears left my eyes as I enjoyed watching your parents love on you instantly. Your mom said to you, “my baby, baby, baby. I love you. I love you baby. I love you.” It was difficult for your Dad and I to adjust to what had just happened mentally. It’s like our hearts out grew our minds. I was in awe and mostly speechless.
Your parents remained strong even still. The nurses didn’t have a chance to read the birth plan, so they had to be assertive about what they wanted. No rubbing in vernix, delayed cord clamping, and allowing the placenta to deliver naturally without any pressure or cord traction. Now what happened shortly after has been blowing my mind for days still…
The midwife gave your mom two options. Either she was going to have to give her a shot of Pitocin to lessen the heavier bleeding or she was going to go into her uterus and scrape out what she expected to be blood clots. YOUR MOM CHOSE THE LATER! THAT’S how much she’s willing to power through anything as long as it’s best for you and her. She got through that with no less grace and strength as all that had transpired before. Quickly, and sort-of even at the same time, you began nursing. Both your mom and dad cheered you on as the watched in excitement you getting “the good stuff.” A little while later, they weighed you. Six pounds, fourteen ounces, nineteen inches long and “the perfect size for my body,” your Mommy proudly and faithfully stated. Soon after that I was able to quickly convince the staff to let us take your placenta for encapsulation. I left your parents after you all went to a different room to enjoy a night of baby cuddles and love. Thank you Mom, Dad, sister, and Baby for letting me be a part.
Congratulations on your blessed life little Bird!
Part One: Why I Pursued an Unmedicated, Intervention-Free Birth
Part Two: The Surprising Birth Story of Baby Bird #2
Part Three: The Birth of Baby Bird #2 from the Eyes of Our Doula
Part Four: How My Mama Tribe Helped My Pregnancy
Part Five: How I Used the Bar Method to Prepare for Birth
Posted in Birth, Our Family, Parenting, Pregnancy
Tagged birth story, intervention-free birth, unmedicated birth
The day before our due date, Little Bird and I were running errands. She was “independent” and had to be carried out of the street a few times. When we came home for lunch my Braxton Hicks were acting up, but I thought perhaps I had just over done it carrying the toddler. They were stronger than they had been, but still stopped as soon as I sat down. After Little Bird went down for her nap I decided to try to sleep, too. I figured if it was pre-labor, I would need the rest, and if the contractions stopped, then it wasn’t “the real thing.” They didn’t really stop.
I called my husband and told him, “I feel a little different, but it might not be anything... just letting you know.” I then called our doula and told her the same thing. I warned my sister up north, who would watch Little Bird, that it could potentially be tonight, but not to come down yet. “I don’t want you to come down and watch me, waiting for me to go into labor.” I couldn’t really sleep so I decided to make myself lunch, and started timing the surges (as we were taught to call them in hypnobirthing). On a whim, I told my husband to go ahead and come home early. “It could be false labor, but so what? You miss an afternoon at work?”
They say to eat lightly in early labor, but I really wanted the bone marrow I bought that morning (my one true pregnancy craving) and roasted it up. It was 2pm and for the next hour the contractions were 5-6 minutes apart. At 3pm I got in the bath tub to relax. My husband made it home just when Little Bird woke up from her nap. Once I was in the bath tub the contractions slowed to 15 minutes apart.
My doula checked in with me around 4:30pm. The contractions had pretty much stopped so she suggested just resting and watching a movie, and if the contractions started up again, to time them for an hour and then call her. I laid on a futon in the tv room, and around 5pm they started and I told my husband that we should start timing the contractions. I was using an iPhone app, but I didn’t like that it had a big red button saying “Stop Contraction.” I asked him to do the timing. I also wanted him to comfort me by putting his hand on my shoulder, a relaxation cue we had practiced as a part of hypnobirthing. I still didn’t think it was the real deal, but he was already running like a chicken with it’s head chopped off, running between taking care of Little Bird, coming in to comfort me during surges, and getting ready to go to the hospital. After the first surge or two, I asked him to call our doula back and have her just come, we needed the childcare help since our nanny bailed on us (another story!)
I remember tensing up during the surges and telling my husband that I wasn’t doing this hypnobirthing thing very well. He said, “Well there is a cartoon on [Little Bird’s movie pick of course], why don’t you lay down in a quiet room?” I laid down on the couch in another room and he put on my Rainbow Relaxation CD, the hypnobirthing “brainwashing” I had been listening to every night. That helped a lot and I breathed my abdomen out, expanding, every time the surge wanted me to tense up. Well, I must have been “doing this hypnobirthing thing” well, because the next thing I remember is feeling nauseous and throwing up. At the time, I just took it in stride, as I’m prone to nausea, but, in hindsight, I was probably transitioning, meaning I was likely fully dilated to 10 cm at that point. Again, no clue. The force of vomiting pushed out the mucus plug, and I finally believed I was in labor.
TMI warning: Next, I felt the need to go to the bathroom. Yes, I KNOW that the sensation of your body being ready to push is similar, but remember, those contractions had only started being regular again less than an hour before. I thought my body was just wanting to clear out, like it did in the day before my first was born.
I told my husband. He freaked out. I’d been carrying the baby low for weeks, and didn’t think it was that different. I freaked out because I had heard that holding the baby in when she was ready to come out was the most painful thing ever. I also had envisioned calmly going to the hospital, not rushing. I was a little doubtful still. Around that time our doula, Karen, came. Thank goodness I had asked her to come “early.” I told her I either had to push or go to the bathroom. I don’t think she believed it. She didn’t think I could have labored so quickly, but suggested I start doing the short, shallow “pa pa pa” breaths to hold the baby in, just in case.
I was back in the bath tub. On one surge I said, “I want an epidural.” On the next I said, “I want to have the baby here in the bathtub.” Karen, bless her heart, said, “Well if that’s what you want to do, I’m here to empower you,” although I could tell she didn’t really want that. (Doulas by the way, are not medical professionals. They do not deliver babies but offer emotional support and education. They do not check how far dilated you are or give medical advice.) On the third contraction I said:
Commence mad dash to the hospital. In the car. Not an ambulance. They had to help me get dressed. Somehow I had on flip flops, a sports bra and skirt, but no shirt. My belly was still henna’ed, so I’m sure I looked like some crazy hippy at the hospital. Karen ran over to our neighbor’s to ask her to watch our two-year-old until my sister could get there from Orange County. (Actually, I later learned that she ran over, breathless, “She’s having the baby!!!! Quick, can you come help?!!” And my sweet neighbor is thinking she means help catch the baby. She was much relieved when she came over and it was only babysitting needed.)
Taking one of several breaks on the walk to the door for a contraction, holding that baby in with all my strength, my husband asked me how I was doing. I said, “I’m so confused. I don’t know if it’s the baby or if it’s poop.”
My husband drove. I laid out in the back seat. We asked our doula to ride with us instead of taking her own car. She had the presence of mind to call the hospital to give them the heads up we were coming. I had her ask them if it really was the baby and if I should hold her in or not. They said to hold her in. I must have finally believed she was coming, and it strangely calmed me. I knew all I had to do was hold her in. We had a plan. The not knowing was what made me anxious and any last bits of anxiety and confusion left. The pressure was intense, but there were always breaks in between.
My husband drove super smooth. We had the hazard lights on. Our doula coached me on the “pa pa pa” breath, “Imagine a feather is floating in front of your face and you are trying to keep it in the air.” My husband was breathing, “pa pa pa.” My water broke in the car. We left the car in emergency loading. They got a wheel chair for me at the hospital. I kept my eyes closed to maintain the zone and was still saying “pa, pa, pa.” I kept holding her in as we rode up the elevator. Thank goodness for all those kegels I did during Bar Method and yoga.
An absolutely amazing midwife met us and rushed us passed triage into a delivery room. “She’s feeling pushy,” Karen told them. “Um, how about she’s been feeling pushy for over an hour?” I thought. I said, “pa pa pa.” The midwife said, “My name is Cathy Vaux and I’ve read all of your birth plan.” I silently thanked my doctor for scanning it into the medical record.
I crawled up onto the bed and instinctively lay on my side. The midwife said, “It can be hard to check how far dilated you are in that position, but I’ll try…. Oh, that’s a head. Pos 2!” Pos 2, or positive 2, means that the cervix is fully dilated and that the baby has descended past the pubic bones, one centimeter away from crowning, or coming out. On the next surge, I finally let go and her head was out. On the second, she was born!
I held baby in my arms right away and focused on her. It wasn’t all bliss though, to be honest. She didn’t latch on to nurse right away and was still crying. I was also cold and shivering. After the placenta was delivered the midwife asked me something about Pitocin. I said, no, “No Pitocin,” as I had wanted a medication free birth. The baby was born, weren’t we done?
She explained that I was bleeding a lot and she was worried about hemorrhaging. Pitocin was usually offered to help. She said, “I wouldn’t normally offer option B, but since you are a hypnobirthing mom, we could try…”
“Option B, please.” Which turned out to be manually reaching in to my uterus to remove blood clots. I wouldn’t say it was comfortable, but it wasn’t as bad as holding in the baby when my body wanted to push. I practiced deep breaths but was mostly focused on baby. At one point during the procedure, I sang the lullaby she heard me sing to Little Bird every night. She finally calmed, latched on and nursed, and I relaxed. The midwife finished soon after that.
I had heard that having an unmedicated birth is a tremendous high. Beforehand I had doubted my ability to resist an epidural, let alone enjoy birthing. But having such a fast labor and natural birth was a trip! I didn’t feel tired and could walk around immediately. We asked to check out as soon as possible the next day. I had always been dead set on only giving birth twice, but after that I said, “I could do that again! I’m ready for a home water birth!”
A note from Mama Bird: This birth story is the second post in a series on why and how I pursued an “all-natural” or medication- and intervention-free birth. I had an amazing experience and am now passionate about birth education and choices. I believe that all kinds of births are awe-inspiring miracles and life-changing experiences. I don’t believe that one kind of birth is necessarily better than any other. But I do believe that the current American medical system does not educate women and families on all the options that are available. Please check back for new installments in this ongoing series. Use the subscription box to the right if you would like an email notification when new posts are published.
Part One: Why I Pursued an Unmedicated, Intervention-Free Birth
Part Two: The Surprising Birth Story of Baby Bird #2
Part Three: The Birth of Baby Bird #2 from the Eyes of Our Doula
Part Four: How My Mama Tribe Helped My Pregnancy
Part Five: How I Used the Bar Method to Prepare for Birth
Posted in Birth, Our Family, Parenting, Pregnancy
Tagged birth story, natural birth, unmedicated birth
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