Sowing the suburbs

Pete and Repeat were in a boat.

2013-04-07T20:17:00.001-07:00

I've already posted this recipe, but I feel the need to now show off my stellar photography skills and share the epiphany that was the version I made last night. Fasten your seatbelts—it's devil's food cake, another time.

So it doesn't look like much. Who cares? How many times have I had a pretty little bit of pastry or cake and it tastes, well, bad? This is not gorgeous, no, but it will make your tastebuds sing.

So what did I do differently?

The fat. Butter, my friend. Butter.
The cocoa powder. My go-to cocoa powder is the Dutch-process cocoa powder from Penzey's, but I haven't had the occasion to stop in the store or place a mail order recently, so this time I used Hershey's Special Dark. But here's the thing—I haven't liked the results of the Penzey's cocoa powder much. Hershey's Special Dark is a blend of Dutch-process and natural cocoa powders, and maybe therein lies the difference, as different types of cocoa have different levels of alkalinity. Whatever happened this time around, the chocolate flavor was richer than other attempts at the recipe.
The flour. Because I'm a sucker for a low price-per-unit, I've been baking with Ultragrain flour from my beloved Costco. I've had pretty good results with it. The texture of the finished products can be crumbly, as with whole wheat, while at the same time becoming tough easily. It's a tricky flour to use, but it worked with this recipe.
The sugar. Due to an unfortunate run-in with red wine vinegar, my white sugar met an untimely demise, so I used brown sugar.
The icing. Since it's not likely that I have unsweetened chocolate and cream lying around my house, I threw some things together and ended up with the icing I wanted all along. It's pretty much a whipped ganache, but it is made of much less fancy ingredients than you'd expect.

Some might say I've created a whole new recipe. I say it's just an improvement.

Beatrice's devil's food cake, improved

Cake:

2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. butter, softened

2 eggs

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. milk

3 heaping T. cocoa

1 t. vanilla

1/2 t. baking powder

2 T. baking soda

3 c. flour

1 c. boiling water

Icing:

1 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 c. half and half

1/2 c. brown sugar

3 T. butter

1/4 t. vanilla

Using a stand mixer, cream the brown sugar and butter. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add salt, milk, cocoa, vanilla, baking powder, and baking soda and mix to combine.
Mix in the flour at a low speed, one cup at a time.
Gradually mix in the boiling water. Mix until smooth.
Pour into a prepared 9x13 pan (greased/floured or sprayed with nonstick spray). Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the icing. In a saucepan on medium heat, combine the chocolate chips, half and half, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, and boil for four minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in butter and vanilla. In a stand mixer with a wire whip attachment, whip the icing until it is cool and begins to become fluffy and lighter in color. This should take at least 15 minutes.
Cool and spread icing on the top.

My summer bucket list

2013-04-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

I have SO MANY DREAMS, guys. SO MANY. I gave myself an entire year off from anything but the bare minimum, because you really can't do much more than the bare minimum when you have two babies at the same time. But now it's go time. No more messing around. Let's make this summer count.
Here is my summer bucket list, as in what I want to do before summer kicks the bucket, not me.

Brew some beer. I'd love to shadow one of my several friends who homebrew to see how their process goes and pick up some tips and tricks. I'm confident I can master the process; it's just that I've already done plenty of hobbies where there's a massive investment in infrastructure and where I've learned that much of the infrastructure is unnecessary.
Increase gardening space. My backyard is home to three 4x4 "square foot gardening" boxes. I've never managed to get a decent yield from this setup and would prefer a more haphazard and fun method of gardening. Liz @ Food Snobbery is my Hobbery has a great garden to which I aspire. I'd like to double the size of my raised beds.
Re-contemplate chickens and—is this too ambitious?—take some real action on getting them again. It seems absurd that I spent years whining about wanting chickens, finally got two ladies (the picture is a rare one of them—I miss you, Mabel and Beatrice!), and then had to find them a new home. This time I'm going to do it the way I should have in the first place—permit from the city, a coop built by us, and lots of hens.
Go camping. Even if it's just one weekend, or one trip out to my mom's boyfriend's cabin, we're going to pitch a tent and sleep under the stars with a thin bit of nylon between us and them.
Preserve ALL THE THINGS. Okay, not all of them, but some. One thing I will skip is canning apricots, aside from a bit of jam, as even with very, very heavy syrup they ended up sour. I must remember to make dilly beans, as the eldest child devours them whenever she can.
Do some sewing. My mom helped me buy a really sweet sewing machine as a Christmas present two years ago. Have I used it? Hardly. I have a bunch of materials to make diaper covers and two babies who are growing out of their medium-size covers. I have quilts I could make and dresses I could stitch.
Exercise, exercise. I've kinda-sorta started up Couch to 5k again. My bike needs some work, which needs to be done soon because I am eager to start biking to work again. The downside of this particular item on the list is that it requires so much stuff. I have to fix my ripped or purchase a new set of saddlebags so I can transport things to work. If we want to go biking as a family, we need a second trailer (or, in my dreams, a Madsen). I need new running shoes and running clothes (five-year-old maternity capris don't really make you feel like an athlete). I exercise because it makes me feel good, not to lose weight, but the monetary expense it sometimes entails cuts down on those good feelings.
Cook a lot/bake a lot. Some people may not want to cook or bake when the temperature rises. I'm the opposite. My oven will be going all summer, and I am eager to take fresh, local produce and turn it into amazing food, especially after this year of too much pizza and too many frozen chicken nuggets.
Write more. I have a bee in my bonnet to start blogging about lactation, postpartum care, and a little about pregnancy and parenting on my business website; I find I have too much to say about these things to keep it to my Facebook page. Then there's this space, which I'd love to fill with more recipes and snapshots of our oh-so-exciting lives. Maybe, just maybe, if I distract myself with writing actual words I can pull myself away from all of the one-liners I feel compelled to leave on the ol' book of faces.

Should be no problem.

A little jar o' sunshine

2013-04-01T09:34:00.007-07:00

It's been a very, very long time since I've put up some food, but I managed a dozen jars of orange marmalade recently. The task kept shifting further down the to-do list until I realized that the oranges were starting to look a little weary and my lemons were threatening to turn to mush on the counter.

It's nothing fancy, just something from the Ball blue book. Since I live on the edge, though, I roughly doubled the recipe and didn't use quite as much sugar as called for, because I like a tiny little bit of bitter (or sour) with my sweet.

We had a rare day of sunshine and I had to take a photo of a few jars basking in it. The sun has been such a tease in Minnesota, hiding behind clouds in the morning only to pop out in the afternoon and then disappear again. The snow is finally melting, although temperatures are once again below freezing today and dirty bits of ice hang on still.

The weather has not been cooperative for sugaring, that's for sure. I've collected a few measly gallons so far, and half of that—four hard-earned gallons, precisely—fell victim to a 3.5-year-old boy as they sat on the back stoop. I'm sorry, sap, that you were fed to the driveway instead of boiled down to delicious, sticky syrup. The weather forecast looks ideal for collecting sap in the coming week, but since three of the five taps are barely producing, I'm not going to hold my breath.

My grandma's Amish cookies

2013-02-20T06:32:00.000-08:00

My grandma was (well, is) the kind of grandma who had a jar (or, more accurately, a giant, green Tupperware container with a ridged lid) of cookies on her counter for hungry little hands to place into hungry little mouths. Her standards were chocolate chip cookies and these "Amish" cookies, which are flaky, tender sugar cookies. She would use a glass to press the cookies down, leaving a starburst shape on each.

But now, it's the end of an era. Really, the era's been gone for awhile, because my grandma hasn't been baking like she used to, but now it seems the door is officially closed. My grandma has moved out of her house, which has now been sold, and her stuff has moved out as well. My mom hauled a bag of goods to my house, and this bag included two cookie stamps—one of a bunch of tulips and another of the sort of owl that was retro before it was cool. In retrospect, I wish I would've told my mom I wanted one of those glasses. The cookie stamps are nice, and since there are two of them, my older kids could do the stamping without any arguments, but they just aren't the same.

Since I'm a sucker for old-fashioned recipes, I'll reproduce it as she wrote down on a recipe card long ago. The "double it and share" suggestion always gives me a chuckle. I did exactly that the first time I made the cookies, and it was certainly a batch that was worthy of that underlined "a lot."

I did not have margarine in the house, so I used butter. They would be better with margarine, since it lends a lightness. Shortening might do this, as well, but might not have the right flavor. (But, go ahead, use butter-flavored Crisco. I won't judge.) I baked these at 350 degrees until they just barely started to brown at the edges.

My Grandma's Amish Cookies

Beat 2 eggs and set aside.
Beat 1 c. oil and 1 c. margarine, 1 c. powdered sugar, 1 c. white sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. soda, 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar. Add eggs and 4 1/2 c flour. Cool. Roll into balls and press with cookie stamp or sugared glass. Makes a nice sized batch. Double it and share. It makes a lot.

The logistics of twins: Part II—Breastfeeding redux

2012-12-08T20:53:00.002-08:00

I'll be sharing some of the logistical problems and solutions we've had with twins. I'll be speaking solely from my own experience, without trying to touch on all of the many options available. Please feel free to chime in with your own experiences. Part I, which talks about our earliest days of breastfeeding, is here.

Time flies

While having two babies at the same time (plus two older kids) hasn't been quite the nightmare I expected while at my most pessimistic, it hasn't been all fun and games, either. Case in point: The babies slept oh so well as newborns. Then they turned four months old. As if on cue, sleep of a several-hour stretch became the material of the dreams I was no longer able to have because I wasn't allowed to reach REM sleep. Coupled with an inability to sleep on their own, it was pretty hairy. While I have mostly avoided being touched out, I remain an introvert, fortified by time alone, preferably time alone where I don't have to catch up on the chores that never get done anyway and that happens early enough in the evening that I am not a total zombie.

That is all to say that time has flown. The last part of this series was written almost five months ago, and things have changed quite a bit. I'm happy to report that now, at almost nine months of age, Josie and Ozzie are letting me sleep more than an hour at a time, and usually sleeping on their own for decent stretches in the evening. I feel my sanity gradually creeping back.

Some things change, some stay the same

Our basic night-time routine has not changed, although the babies have been long out of swaddling. (We stopped swaddling when I became uncomfortable with it because they started rolling everywhere, and this likely contributed to the less-than-ideal sleep experience.) Babies get diapers (disposables, as I've never had much luck with cloth for nighttime and don't have the spare cash or give-a-darn to test drive options), pajamas (several layers now that it's cold), and are tandem nursed. At this point, we've entirely ditched the nursing pillow. The babies are just too big. I did, however, enjoy the laughs provided by a baby rolling off the pillow onto the bed, snoozing away the whole time.

Without the pillow, I tend to sit on the bed with my legs spread far enough to nestle each baby into my arms in a cradle hold. Their legs are piled up onto each other and it's quite snuggly (and Josie would say too warm, as she tends to get sweaty and overheated while we do this).

When we're not doing bedtime, I tend to feed the babies one at a time. They are both very content to play with toys (or the most inappropriate objects they can find, such as the millions of bits of paper their big sister leaves in her wake). The times we tandem feed tend to be before sleep and when I come home from an outing. The basic setup tends to be me sitting on the end of the couch with two throw pillows on the other side of me for my elbow to rest in comfort, one baby in a football hold next to the couch's arm, the other in a cradle hold, and my feet up on a footstool.

For a long while, I attempted to have naptime. Imagine, getting two babies to take a nap for an hour or two while I accomplished things around the house, or spent more focused time with my bigger kids! The babies' response to that was, "Waaaaaaaah!" Instead of sequestering us in the bedroom in a vain attempt at naps, we now just nurse on the couch and they sleep on me. I enjoy the snuggles (I think they do, too), and even if my big kids are still watching TV (so they're not jumping all over us), at least I'm in the same room.

Nursing in public, then and now

Even as a seasoned breastfeeder, nursing in public has had its challenges. When the babies were tiny, nursing often and almost always tandem, it was essential to have another adult around for outings. There were plenty of times this wasn't an option; this usually resulted in lots of crying and frustration for all parties. At times, using a wrap or ring sling helped; I could hold one (sleeping, if I was lucky) while the other nursed. Most of the time I counted on getting about an hour where they'd sleep or be otherwise distracted by the scenery; after that, it was switching one baby for another for the rest of the outing, but being cooped up all the time was worse than this.

Since both babies handle being in the stroller well, I haven't had the need to tandem nurse in public. Thank goodness, since it shows a lot of flesh, and even confident-about-feeding-her-hungry-babies-where-they-need-to-be-fed me isn't keen on that. I do, however, often need to feed babies yet still keep older kids under control, so there have been many times I've sat in parking lots feeding one baby, then the other, while everyone else is strapped in a car seat. I've gotten some smiles from older ladies doing this, although I hope I'm not sending a message that nursing in public is something to be hidden.

Josie and Ozzie will be nine months old on Monday. It's hard to believe that just 53 weeks ago, I didn't even know (for sure) that I was carrying two babies. The shock still hasn't quite worn off.

How to help your child be a civilized person who uses the toilet in many steps

2012-08-21T19:38:00.001-07:00

Ike is semi-officially out of diapers. That is to say, we are out of the disposables we've been using for him overnight, so he has to be out of diapers out of necessity. Out of the past week and a half or so, he's wet the bed once overnight, and that's it, including having two nights with his grandparents. I declare this a success. *throws confetti*

Now that I have TWO children out of diapers, I can share my method for potty training. (You can call it "potty learning" if you like; I will only judge you a bit for this.)

My method for two children has been as follows:

Introduce the potty early. Get excited when s/he gets excited about using the potty at such an early age. Predict that child will be out of diapers before 2.
Get tired of cleaning up accidents. Keep child in diapers and bemoan how s/he will never, ever learn how to use the potty like a civilized human being. Occasionally make effort to take off diaper for child to use the potty and savor the glimmers of hope. Self-flagellate re: what a terrible, lazy parent you are for not trying very hard at all.
Get determined that It Is Time To Use The Potty. Spend days pushing the issue and making a big deal out of things. End up cleaning up a lot of pee and/or poop. Persevere.
Give up again. Once again bemoan lack of civilized behavior. Ditto, lack of drive and determination.
Notice the diaper is staying dry. Say to self, "Hm." Start to leave off diaper, without making a big deal out of things. Notice that pees and/or poops are ending up in the potty more likely than not.
Try underwear after a couple of days of the above. Be dismayed that it doesn't work. Try being bottomless again.
Suddenly, notice that underwear is coming down BEFORE potties are sat upon. Maybe do some clapping, because parents clap when children pee/poop in designated out-of-diaper areas (it's in our contracts).
After much of this, attempt zero diapers outside of the house. Rejoice in successes. When success is not achieved, remind self that most people are out of diapers by the time they get to college.
Eventually, forget to put on a diaper overnight. When diaper is dry in the morning, try another night. Continue until you're unsure when you last put on a diaper at night.
Do a little dance, but don't get too cocky, and possibly make signs against the evil eye, depending upon your superstition level, as you do not want to wake up to anyone covered in poop.

Now, teaching kids to use the "big potty," as we call it, is another story. Nora took to it easily. Ike is reluctant and, as a result, I end up settling down to nurse two babies right as he's taking a big dump in the living room (the usual location of the "little potty"). Ah, parenthood.

The logistics of twins: Part I—Breastfeeding at home

2012-06-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

I'll be sharing some of the logistical problems and solutions we've had with twins. I'll be speaking solely from my own experience, without trying to touch on all of the many options available. Please feel free to chime in with your own experiences. This may or may not be a continuing series, so I'm starting with my pet topic.

The challenge of feeding babies like any common mammal

The babies had several advantages when it came to the Battle of the Boob:

I've successfully breastfed, without needing to use fancy equipment or formula, two other (singleton) babies.
They were born full-term, at good weights, and did not need any sort of interventions (which was achieved partly by believing that twin pregnancy is not high-risk until something actually goes wrong).
Bottlefeeding for reasons other than absolute need is not an option for me.
I know lot about breastfeeding and normal newborn behavior.

I see many of the challenges of breastfeeding twins to be the same as breastfeeding single babies. Those things are mainly having the right support (people experienced with and good at lactation support, as well as support with day-to-day tasks or in-the-moment needs) at the right time and understanding what a normal newborn acts like. The difference with twins is that you're more likely to have to deal with difficult circumstances due to early delivery—babies in NICU, having to pump, underdeveloped suck reflex, etc.—and that you have two babies to contend with.

Having two babies means that you're dealing with two individual beings. No two babies are exactly alike, even if their genetic makeup is. They will have different personalities; if you're lucky, they'll be personalities that work well with each other and you. Josie seems to be the more dynamic of the two of my babies; she has very definite opinions about things. Ozzie is a bit more laid-back and willing to adapt to what Josie needs.

The early days

Especially in the early days (as of writing this, the babies are almost 14 weeks old), we tandem nursed. I would put both of them on the My Brest Friend Twins Plus pillow and they'd nurse, and sleep, and nurse again. Diapers would get changed on both babies when one would need one, which happened after a dirty diaper or roughly every two hours during the day, and during wakeups at night until they were done having dirty diapers at night, after which time they were outfitted with an enormous, fat, super-absorbent diaper that usually stays on all night. Mostly, I sat on the couch (or bed) and fed babies.

Now, this isn't fun, especially if you have older kids, but after giving birth, a body needs to heal. A woman's two jobs after giving birth are to allow herself to heal and to feed her babies. A baby's job is to eat, poop, and sleep. Other people can take care of running a household. We are blessed with a great community that provided us with meals (using Food Tidings) for six weeks after the babies were born. For me, a person who likes to do things, this lying-in period is sort of like psychological torture, but letting go of the idea that I needed to do things helped immensely. (Even now, I have to stop to remind myself that I do not need to do some things. Almost everything can wait. This is why I have three raised beds full of weeds right now. But, oh, what a splendid weed harvest it will be!

That reminds me of another thing that is important in the early weeks of breastfeeding (and mothering/parenting in general): Telling moms that, yes, it really sucks. You will feel drained and tired and it will be hard. It being hard does not mean you're doing it wrong. And, furthermore, it is okay to think that it sucks and to even say so out loud.

Pumping

Some will insist that you will need to pump in order to have a large enough milk supply. Some will say that sort of thing even if you have just one baby to contend with. But the fact is, unless one or both babies is unable to latch and transfer milk properly (and assuming all of your systems are go), all you need to do in order to have enough milk is to breastfeed on demand. Sometimes the demand is constant (and it's not just about milk, either—here, read this: The Normal Newborn and Why Breastmilk is Not Just Food).

My advice is to avoid technology until there are problems and, even then, use technology as a second line of defense, not the first. Most breastfeeding problems—assuming they are actual problems, and not just perceived problems—can be fixed by low-tech means alone. Pumps are best used for establishing/keeping milk supply when a baby cannot latch or transfer milk properly or for collecting milk while a mother is away from her baby or needs milk for when she will be away. Pumps are not as efficient as a baby at removing milk; having a baby do the work makes more sense than having a pump do it, especially since adding time to pump and all of the time spent cleaning pump parts will add a significant amount of stress to an already stressful time.

I have a Bailey Medical Nurture III breast pump, which I shall review in detail at some point. I pump while I am away at work and occasionally on mornings/evenings/whenever if I need additional milk. I tend to pump exactly what I "should"; that is, I'll get about 1 ounce per hour that I've not nursed. My left breast consistently produces about double what my right does.

Basic logistics: How we sleep and how we tandem feed

As far as sleeping arrangements go, we have two queen-sized beds on box springs on the floor, which takes up roughly one-half of our bedroom and extends nearly from one wall to the other. The softer mattress, the one we have had for years, is where my husband primarily sleeps (occasionally, a big kid will climb into bed next to him). The firmer mattress is where the babies sleep; for now, they sleep swaddled (using fancy swaddling blankets, since neither of us are good at swaddling) and right next to each other in the middle of this bed. When I tandem feed in bed, I am using a nursing pillow and sitting on the mattress, with my back to the wall; when a baby falls asleep, I can move him/her to the mattress, and if one needs some additional nursing, we can do this side-lying. I sneak away after they fall asleep, and they will sleep for quite a long time (usually five hours, but up to EIGHT—I know, I hate me too!). These days, I often crawl into the softer mattress to go to sleep, and move next to whichever baby needs me as needed at night.

Want to know one of the most challenging things about twins? It's where the heck you put them all. When they were very tiny, I could put them on the couch, parallel to its length, and lift one and then the other onto my nursing pillow. Handy tip: While it is possible to bend over slightly and pick a baby up from a bouncy chair, you can only do that when you have ONE baby unless you are feeling very lucky with balancing babies on your pillow or shoulder. I don't recommend it. Use a middleman, such as the couch or another adult's arms.

Right now, they are too large and too wiggly to lie on the couch together without extreme vigilance. Ozzie can be placed on the couch without much worry, but Josie manages to roll and kick herself into awkward and potentially dangerous situations. My standard approach is to put one, usually Ozzie, on the couch, strap on my nursing pillow, and pick up the other from the playpen or bouncy chair. We settle in, and then I pick up whomever is hanging out on the couch.

Insert specific bulleted lists

Here are some specific bulleted lists about what's gone down at specific times. Any breastfeeding relationship is going to change over time; that's one good reason to stick things out when the going gets tough, because it will change, for better or for worse (but probably better) given enough time.

First eight weeks

Almost always tandem feeding using a large support pillow, nearly constantly during the day, with naps for the babies happening on my chest.
Babies would sleep on husband/other adults who were around when I needed a break; occasionally, they napped on their own during the day.
Babies got a lot of food dropped on their heads.
A bedtime routine was established fairly early: Babies diapered, swaddled, nursed on the pillow, and moved to the bed when asleep.
When babies woke at night, the husband would change diapers and provide a freshly swaddled baby to me; I would then tandem nurse them, since they usually both woke up during this period.
For about the first two weeks, my nipples were very sore, and I'd cry with a lot of feeds. I had two babies learning to nurse, not just one, and lots of bad latching happened. The soreness miraculously went away with religious application of Motherlove Nipple Cream over a period of a couple of days.

Eight weeks to twelve weeks

Maternity leave ended at eight weeks, so things changed a bit; babies began to receive bottles when I was at my part-time job.
When I was around, still almost always tandem feeding, though when one baby would be content to sit in a bouncy chair (rarely), I took the opportunity to have one-on-one snuggly feeding time with the other.
The bedtime routine looks similar, though babies no longer wake up at the same time at night as much. On the rare times that happened, tandem feeding happened. On those times I couldn't deal with more tandem feeding (because if you do it all day... guess what!... you don't want to do it all night), my husband would rock, snuggle, shush, or attempt to shove a binky into the mouth of the other. (Neither of them likes pacifiers. *sigh*)

Twelve weeks to now

Babies are getting a bit more willing to be set down; they've even had a small amount of tummy time (Josie can ROLL already!), so I do much less tandem feeding, because even if I want to sit and nurse babies all day because it's a little bit easier, I have to at least attempt to keep house occasionally.
Babies are starting to want to take actual naps. Josie wants these more than Ozzie and will put up quite a fuss if she decides it's naptime, and this fuss can only be fixed by putting her down for a nap.
It often happens at night that one baby, usually Ozzie, will be content to be swaddled and simply wait to be fed. I can stroke his/her head (which I think I established as a sleepy cue because I like to sit and stroke their sweet little baby heads as they nurse together) to settle him/her while I'm feeding the other, then flop over to feed that baby. Sometimes I need to go back and forth for a little while before both are settled.

I still feel like I'm nursing a baby almost constantly. The times where both are happy to be on their own are few and far between. I relish them. While tandem nursing is getting more difficult because the pillow seems to be shrinking, I still think it makes a lot more sense than trying to feed them one at a time all of the time, as some people do. By the time you've nursed one baby, then the other, you've got to do it all over again.

So far the journey has been more enjoyable than not. Seeing sweet little faces smiling sweet little smiles makes up for a whole lot. That said, I'm looking forward to seeing how things change and eagerly awaiting the six-month mark, where I hope the introduction of solid foods means I'm in a bit less constant demand.

FAQ (yes, just the one)

Q: So, do you assign a boob to them for the day, or what?

A: No. They tend to get the same boob at night, since they stay in place and I flip back and forth on either side of them, but during the day I try to switch breasts for each feed. Usually they are content to take only one breast per feed, too, but sometimes one (usually Josie) will want to switch, so we do.

Tonight's episode of "I just don't get it, man": Showers, poop, and why I am mom enough

2012-06-09T00:53:00.003-07:00

It seems to be the popular meme these days that parents don't get to eliminate waste by themselves or take showers. Really? No, really.

I'm on my third/fourth babies. Aside from the times where I cannot take a tantrum about something so silly (okay, so, a tiny baby might think I have disappeared off the face of the Earth, but I'm pretty sure my three year old understands I still exist, since he's capable of pounding on the door once I've closed it) as being separated from one's mother while she drops trou, I was and am capable of shoving a small person out the bathroom and locking the door so that I can take a dump. For those people who won't put a screaming baby down long enough to poop, I say, "Really? So you can hold it until they're happy and not following you into the bathroom? When is that, when they're in grade school? Enjoy your constipation!"

I might sound like a Kellogg brother, but I think regular poops are a foundation of health. It's just not healthy to force your body to hang onto waste products because you'd rather not let your baby yell for five minutes in a bouncy chair. If it makes you feel better, you could put the bouncy chair in the bathroom with you (though Ina May will tell you that if you're tense, your sphincter isn't going to relax, so maybe you should opt for earplugs instead).

And showers! I love showers. Showers transform me from an unwashed, stinky beast to a glowingly clean human being. Showers separate us from our ape ancestors. I bet if apes got showers on a regular basis, they'd so be using forks instead of sticks to eat their termites. Not everyone prioritizes showers the way I do, but since they keep coming up in discussion, I imagine that the general consensus is that showering occasionally is a nice thing. So why are people (by which I mean mothers) going days or weeks without showering when they have an infant? If we were in such a daze we forgot to shower, we probably wouldn't remember with such vividness, years later, that we did not get to shower often. Showers apparently mean something, in and of themselves or as a metaphor.

I imagine that most mothers are not alone with their children 24/7. I will even go so far as to say that they probably have another adult in the house at least half of a 24-hour period. What is preventing you from handing someone else your baby and jumping in the freaking shower? I can't imagine that I'm the only person who feels that getting clean is a restorative experience, and knowing just how restorative that is for me—truly, I am a better mother if I take a few minutes to wash my hair. It's probably worth it to set your baby(ies) down, even if (s)he (they) is (are)* unhappy, if you experience even a fraction of a degree of sanity from it.

Maybe it is simply a badge of honor. One receives the Purple ~~Heart~~Butt for bravery in ~~combat~~motherhood if one holds in ones poo rather than allowing Junior to cry outside of loving arms while you pinch off a loaf. There is a special place in heaven, no doubt with endless showers and chocolate (maybe not in that order, since if you swim in a vat of chocolate pudding you'll want a shower after), for those mothers who sacrificed bathing rather than force Lil' Susie to be held by the hairy, smelly one who does not have milky boobs (aka "Daddy"). "I AM MOM ENOUGH because I sacrifice even my personal hygiene at the altar of my baby."

Yeah, we know you're mom enough. We can smell you all the way across the room.

*They never tell you how complicated writing in a general manner becomes once you have twins. You suddenly become aware of the subtle pro-singleton slant** on everything and feel compelled to fight against it. They need to put this in the books.

**Reading the Kellymom.com Facebook page today: There's a question about how you take care of your big kids when you have a baby. Cue lots of comments about babywearing. That's great. IF YOU HAVE ONE BABY. TWO AND YOU'RE SCREWED.

Five things I know about babies

2012-04-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

1. They can smell fear.

Babies, like horses, can sense when their keepers are afraid of them (and other things, such as blankets coming alive and sneaking across the floor to smother your baby). With your firstborn, everything is a new experience, and everything is fraught with potential danger. You make yourself crazy, and you probably make your baby crazy, too. When the second one comes and he is an "easy" baby, you may be tempted to believe that he is a gift for surviving the first baby, but it's probably more likely that you're a bit more chilled out about things.

2. They know when they do not have your full attention.

Have you ever been nursing or rocking a baby with your mind overflowing with all of the things you are going to do as soon as you get.this.darn.baby.to.finally.go.to.sleep? Have you noticed that on these nights, bedtime takes even longer? My theory is that they have to receive X amount of attention before sleep can be achieved, and the best and easiest way to reach this mark is to focus on the baby at hand. Do not allow yourself to be distracted by how you're going to eat a piece of cake while standing in front of the fridge and then will be pouring yourself a glass of wine and finishing the movie you keep falling asleep through. Focus on that baby. Send him happy thoughts and all your attention. You'll get out of there faster.

3. Two words: Murphy's Law.

Murphy's Law as it applies to babies goes something like: If you forgot to pack an extra outfit, your baby will produce a giant, outfit-ruining poop. See also: If you burp a baby without a burp cloth handy, you'll be spewed upon (conversely, if you do use a burp cloth, there will be no spit-up). This especially applies when you are wearing clothes that are appropriate for wearing out of the house.

4. They have impeccable timing.

They will stop screaming in their car seats right before you reach your destination. They will take a long, blissful naps on the days you have to be somewhere at a certain time. When you tell another person (out loud or in writing) that your baby has been sleeping for an hour and OHMYGOSH how awesome is this?... your baby will wake up. (Tip: If one of these epic naps happens and you need to get to that birthday party, proclaim loudly and often that your baby is taking a long, blissful nap.) And, of course, they know when, ahem, adult activities are happening and interrupt accordingly.

5. It is hard to be a baby (and it eventually gets to be less hard).

Oh, when babies are tiny, they want you to know: THIS IS THE MOST MISERABLE I HAVE EVER BEEN. MY LIFE IS HORRIBLE. Because, you're, say, doing them a favor and changing their dirty diaper. Sometimes they get mad at boobs: The milk is coming too fast, the milk is coming too slow, the nipple looked at me funny, Mercury is retrograde, I have to burp, I am tired, I am NOT tired, it is growth spurt time, I like to hear myself cry. The vast majority of the time, the answer to "Why is my baby crying?" is "Because it is hard to be a baby." It has nothing to do with you (or your milk). Don't take it personally, or try not to, anyway. It'll pass. Tomorrow you may not have to deal with a baby shrieking while you're trying to feed her because the growth spurt will have passed. A couple of months from now you'll stop and notice (not out loud; see #4) that no one has cried for half of a day. And then you'll probably cry because your baby is all grown up and practically in college.

How the Veggies happened

2012-03-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

Radish is planted

The story of Radish and Broccoli (later to be known as Josie and Ozzie) begins with round ligament pain. "Funny," I said to myself as I rolled out of bed and felt those familiar twinges, "That only happens when... Oh shi-." The cabinet had a pregnancy test. I took said pregnancy test and confirmed my suspicions; I was with child. I woke my husband up and we alternated giggles with swear words and kisses.

Getting pregnant was not in our plans at the time, and it took me a little while to get used to the idea of welcoming a third baby into our family. One of the immediate repercussions of pregnancy was that I weaned Ike; he was two years old and, having nursed Nora through my pregnancy with her brother, I was not about to go through that again. Since he was basically only nursing down to sleep, and not daily, at that, this transition was easy.

I was tired through the first trimester, as I normally am, and started feeling movement pretty early - around 11 weeks. Through our early prenatal appointments, with the same midwife who attended Ike's birth, it was noted that I was measuring a bit ahead and the baby seemed posterior, but that was not unlike my last pregnancy. The "t" word - "twins" - came up in the appointment we had before our scheduled ultrasound, and we talked about what would happen if I did have two babies dwelling in my uterus, but my midwife wasn't making any predictions.

After much consideration of in-utero names, we decided upon "Radish," for no other reason than it amused Matthew and I. At one point we took a prophetic photo at the Minnesota Children's Museum of my belly in front of radishes planted in Mr. McGregor's garden: TWO radishes, not just one.

Radishes

We ended up not having an ultrasound when I was pregnant with Ike mostly because there was nowhere to make that happen if we were outside of "the system." This time, though, we were able to go to an independent imaging outfit, and insurance even covered it in whole. We were at about the 25-week mark when we hauled our family in for a look at the baby. Almost immediately upon placing the wand on my belly, the tech said, "Are you aware that you're having twins?" I laughed like a crazy person off and on for the rest of the appointment, and hit a stunned-looking Matthew every once in awhile. The big kids didn't quite get the significance of the discovery, but the adults in the room were pretty excited (and the parents were a bit terrified).

I'm grateful that we live in a state where we don't have to circumvent the law to have a midwife attend a twin birth at home, though we needed to change our plans slightly and hire multiple midwives. My midwife pulled in her mentor (Jeanne), along with one of her apprentices (Amber), and we had a big team assembled for the twins' birth. We continued to have as many prenatal appointments as usual, but some of them took place at the second midwife's home office.

Funnily enough, this pregnancy was quite comfortable for me. My exhaustion, heartburn, hemorrhoids (what, didn't you hear that pregnancy is really, really sexy?), etc. were all not as bad as with my singletons. My blood pressure was awesome throughout the pregnancy, and I admired my lovely, non-swollen feet up until the last few days. The only point of anxiety was how Broccoli (named by Nora) was not as active as Radish and rather shy when we'd try to find his heartbeat, but both things could be explained by his position (breech and posterior) and demeanor (he's a laid-back dude).

"Harvest" nears

Even though my job is not physically taxing, the last few weeks were hard. I ended up working remotely rather than dragging my increasing girth to work on the bus and, by week 34, I took short-term disability leave. I nervously counted down the days until February 22, the "good to go" date for having a homebirth, then rejoiced when week 37 hit. At that point, my body decided to do a little preparation. Little bits of mucous plug (remember: sexy) started making their way out. I'd have regular contractions that weren't too intense but were definitely doing some sort of work, happening 7 to 8 minutes apart for an hour almost every night. All of this early labor kind of stunk, even if I knew it was laying the groundwork for a nice birth. I soldiered on. By which I mean I complained on Facebook a lot, made my husband get me ice cream, and sat with my feet up because moving around required my enormous belly to overcome the pull of gravity and gave me the sensation that babies were going to fall right out of my pelvis.

And when I say "enormous belly," I do mean enormous. My fundal height was "full term" at 28 weeks. I hit 60 cm at my last prenatal appointment, two days before my water broke at 39 weeks gestation.

I still haven't gotten my hamburger

The scene: A ridiculously warm and sunny Saturday afternoon in March. The big kids had just been whisked away to their grandparents' and my husband was pulling down Christmas lights in a timely manner. After spending the morning on the couch, nursing a bad cold, I stood outside in my bare feet, sunning my belly and talking to the babies. Matthew and I decided to get a hamburger, and I was wrestling with whether or not we should do an enormous grocery run and try to cook some food for our freezer. I had this urge! But I was in such pain I doubted I could get groceries! But we were not ready until we had food prepared! I was going to reassess after our late lunch.

Halfway to Culver's, at around 3 p.m., I felt a big "twang" in my belly. We hypothesized that a baby was pulling its umbilical cord tight and strumming it, which cheered Matthew, as we need a bass player for our family band. I said that I wouldn't be surprised if that was my water breaking, but wasn't going to shift around to find out, and we should continue on to our hamburger. A minute later I felt a contraction, which huuuuuurt, and I begged Matthew to turn around the car and head home. We were bad citizens of the road and Matthew called Vanessa and Laura (a friend of mine who was going to observe and take pictures). I sent some texts in between contractions. And I talked about how I still wanted a hamburger (emotional signpost: If you can talk about hamburgers longingly while you are having contractions, it's still early in your labor yet).

When we got home I gingerly got up from the seat of our new van, in hopes of preserving its upholstery and dignity. I succeeded, and the gush hit the ground (and my legs and sandals). I hobbled into the house, stripped off my clothes, asked for water and the necklace put together at my blessingway, and got into the waiting birth tub. Vanessa arrived minutes later, as she was very nearby when we'd called. I asked her if the amniotic fluid was a good color (it was) and told her the hamburger story as I weathered some contractions, which were much gentler in the water.

The other two midwives arrived not much later, but things were already pretty serious. I was hanging on the edge of the tub, in my own birthing world. I ended up finding a break where I could be pleasant and greeted them, and then it was back to work. Laura arrived at some point, but I didn't notice her until she had settled in. I was surrounded by people, but, thankfully, I didn't care, because I also wouldn't have had the wits to put together a coherent request for them to get the heck out. Vanessa occasionally asked if she could listen to the babies with a doppler, and asked if she could pour water on my back. I consented, and didn't actually like the sensation of water being poured on my back, but, at the same time, it seemed to draw contractions out of my body, and since I was already eager to be finished, I was happy to have the help.

I won't lie, being in labor hurts (for most women). It certainly hurts me, and my mental monologue included wishes that I had taken a Hypnobabies course from a friend of mine (Lindsay at Elleos Birth), but since I'm hearing impaired I'm not sure it would have even worked. I thought of her peacefully birthing moms with a bit of envy, though. I wasn't peaceful, but I am happy to report that I swore a lot less this time than I did when Ike was born. I am growing as a person. There was a lot of "This hurts!" "I don't want to do this anymore!" "Why does it have to hurt so much?!" and "OH GOD."

But it is still a beautiful thing to give birth, especially the sort of hands-off birth my midwives gave me. I have no idea what my dilation was at any point, because I wasn't checked. My body plunged into active labor and followed its own blueprint. At some point, I started pushing, though it wasn't really me consciously pushing. At 4:33 p.m., Josie was born into her daddy's hands, possibly with her hand by her face, which would account for how damn much it hurt to get her out of my body. I flipped over so I could sit up, held her as close to me as her short cord would allow, and marveled at how much vernix covered her body and how very fat she was.

It wasn't long after she was born that I felt more contractions, and lamented having to do it all again. Josie was handed off to her father to be cooed over while Vanessa gave me encouragement and shined a flashlight into the pool to keep an eye on things. I was repeating to myself that the second twin is easier, and at some point, I felt the urge to push again. I was a lot calmer while Ozzie made his way out, both feet first, 29 minutes after his sister. And, it was true, the second twin was easier. Ozzie was a bit floppy and not willing to make noise, so the midwives worked on him while he was on my chest and I sat there looking a bit scared. It became evident at some point that he was a-okay and just unwilling to make a squawk (he still takes his time getting mad and does not have the vocal projection that his sister does).

But then, it was placentas time. I dislike pushing out placentas. I disliked this part even more than pushing out babies, and that might have shown in how long it took me - 1 1/2 hours after the birth of each baby for the associated placenta. The contractions were uncomfortable and weird; it felt like my entire torso, with this floppy, awkward uterus, was involved. I was scared to push still more out of me. Eventually, Josie's arrived, and Vanessa suggested I get up out of the tub. She and Jeanne supported me as I gradually made my way out; my legs were very weak. Once out, they held onto me and directed me to the plastic-and-chux-pad-covered futon nearby. I fainted on-route, which was pretty cool, and after getting settled and being fed a spoonful of honey followed by shepherd's purse tea and finally getting little Josie on the breast (she took it eagerly and expertly), I felt crampy and Ozzie's placenta slipped out after a few gentle pushes.

And then, I was done, at about 6:30 p.m. It passed in a wink. I had one little tear, and two huge babies: Josie was 9 pounds, 2 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long; Ozzie was 8 pounds, 14 ounces and 21 1/4 inches long.

I didn't cough once while in labor, but it picked back up afterward. Coughing with no abdominal muscles while holding onto two just-born babies is not fun.

13 days later

I am typing this covered in babies. Thanks to a giant My Brest Friend Twins Plus pillow, I can plop two babies on my chest, prop up a netbook and my elbows, and type away.

Recovering from having twins was harder than I expected, though why I expected it to be easy I cannot tell you. It took several days before I could walk around without feeling as if my lungs were being crushed by my ribs, which were moving back into place. My pelvis is just now beginning to feel intact and somewhat more stable (i.e., I can move my legs apart without it seeming like my pelvis is splitting in half). My legs are getting stronger; apparently hauling around a huge stomach does not keep your muscles in shape like proper exercise might do. My nipples feel lovely, thankyouverymuch, after about a week of toe-curling soreness from so much use by two babies who are learning to nurse (and their mom who is learning to juggle them).

Awesomer babies could not have been asked for. They usually sleep and nurse at the same time (so far). They eat well, and are growing fat. Their older siblings love them, with Ike delivering kisses on a regular basis along with dangerous levels of toddler enthusiasm ("Do not crush the babies" is said often). I have not gone bonkers caring for two babies yet, but credit for that goes to my husband and the wonderful helpers we have had, who have fed us, cleaned up accumulating messes, held babies at times, and entertained the big kids.

Let this story be put out there as another voice of hope for twin moms out there who don't wish to be treated as high-risk simply because of the number of babies they're carrying and who may desire to give birth in a way different from what doctors have decided is best. Here's one more story about twins being carried to term, choosing their own birthday, being born vaginally even with one twin breech (and at home, even!), without a hospital stay away from their parents, and successfully breastfeeding.

Ike is born

2012-03-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

Ike was born in 2009, at home. It was lovely. This was written a couple of days after his birth.

Ike's birth story really begins a couple of days ago. I'd been struggling with not only the idea of having to give birth (because OW) but the idea that I would need to be a parent to two children. Early Thursday morning (the 13th) I woke up in the middle of the night with a revelation that, hey, I can do this. Later that morning I told Bunny (as Ike was called while baking) that he could come any time, because we were ready. I may not have been entirely done nesting, but it seemed insignificant now that the emotional stuff was squared away. I did have a reflexology session on Wednesday (a freebie as part of a class final, so nothing labor-triggering was done, specifically), which totally infused me with a sense of calm and centered me, and I wonder how much that had to do with it. Also on Thursday, I woke up with a strong urge to burrow somewhere dark and be left alone until I had given birth (to which Matthew responded with, "Oh no! I need to go boil water!") and we finally figured out the names we liked.

Thursday night around 10 p.m. I sat on the birth ball and knit for a bit while watching TV. Matthew had gone to bed early and I was alone with my knitting and bread baking in the oven. (I felt really energetic that evening, obviously, and had attributed it to remembering to drink my red raspberry leaf and nettle tea.) An hour later I felt the baby very obviously drop in my pelvis and my belly was so low. And then some contractions started up. They were mild, even pleasant, and regular. I alternated between doing figure 8s with my hips while standing and sitting on the birth ball; I didn't think anything would come of these but wanted to make them work a bit. About 12:30 a.m. I decided to get some sleep, figuring that they'd peter out. I ended waking around 4, having had just an occasional contraction. I emailed Vanessa, my midwife, to update her, though I figured I'd probably have prelabor like that for possibly days.

Then, 45 minutes later, while playing Bejewled Blitz on Facebook, I felt a POP. I got a little giddy, stood up, and sure enough, dribbled fluid everywhere. I went to sit on the toilet and called out to Matthew that my water had broken. Poor dude shot out of bed looking little panicked, but quickly set to work calling Vanessa and his boss and setting up and filling the birth tub, which had only been dropped off the day before.

While Matthew was on the phone, the contractions started up - 45 seconds long, 1.5 minutes apart. Like with Nora's birth, the awful part was my pelvis feeling as if it would split in half. I walked around a little, discovered sitting on the birth ball or toilet was excruciating, and settled with kneeling with my arms on the couch. I was getting very nervous that Vanessa wouldn't show up in time, since she had sent and email with the tub instructions when Matthew called and said she was going to go back to bed and I very quickly went from being excited to very serious (yay emotional signposts). Luckily, she couldn't sleep and we kept having to pester her about the tub anyway, so she arrived within a half hour.

When Vanessa showed, she changed the bedsheets and got me into bed, which was miserable. She suggested I sleep and I said there's no way that would happen. She also said that sometimes this happens early on - things are really, really intense, but then they even out and you can deal with it better. I whined, "Don't tell me that!" because the last thing I wanted was to think this was going to be anything other than a really quick thing. Kneeling on the bed stunk, too, so I got out of bed and went back to the couch, after declaring that I just do it anymore (could I be more textbook?). The contractions kept up the same pace the whole time, increasing in intensity. I got through them by attempting to relax (as if), swearing, whining, and bearing down ever so slightly (but not pushing quite yet).

I had invited two doula friends along for the ride and both Vanessa and Matthew kept asking if I wanted to call them. Nope. I wanted to be left alone, husband and midwife included. I'm afraid I make a snappish laboring woman and those two were subjected to much attitude. My apologies.

The tub still hadn't filled by this point but Vanessa asked if I wanted to go in. Heck, no. I wasn't moving, no matter how uncomfortable it was to kneel on the floor. Shortly thereafter, I announced that I was going to push, but went into "vulnerable and needing reassurance" mode and cried out for Vanessa to be by me. As it turns out, she WAS by me; I was so far in my own world that I couldn't hear her talking to me. I asked her permission to push, to which she said I could when my body wanted to, and I asked if it was all going to be okay, to which she responded that it would. Pushing was pretty intense, though more pleasant than just dealing with contractions. I made lots of noise, and I wasn't sure what I was feeling at all, though soon Vanessa had announced that the shoulders were out. Soon after, I felt his body spiral out of me and he was passed to me through my legs. His cord was short so I held him a bit awkwardly, but there he was, a little man just like I had hoped for! It was immediately apparent that he looks like his daddy. Vanessa told me today that she had seen Ike's head crown, then go back in and spin around, so he decided to be born anterior, thank goodness. Good baby.

Possibly due to his quick arrival, he had issues with goo in his lungs. Matthew cut the cord a little sooner than planned so Vanessa could work on him (just keeping his face down and head below his butt); it took awhile and his wee face was a little blue, but eventually the mucous cleared and we got him nursing. He certainly loves boobies.

Having experienced a very, very fast labor with Nora after my water was broken, I knew I could probably expect similar this time around, although I had no idea what to expect leading up to it. I am so grateful for my midwife, who was just what I needed - very hands-off (no cervical checks the entire pregnancy or labor!), trusting of my body, reassuring when I needed her to be, and calm. It is also so nice to be recovering at home, where it's quiet and calm and comfortable. It was all wonderful. Our living room rug might disagree with me on that point; it took the most abuse of any of us.

The birth of Nora: A drama in four acts

2012-03-05T10:09:00.003-08:00

Note: This was written a few days after Nora's birth in July 2007. Since then, I've learned quite a bit, not only about how birth tends to be handled in hospitals, but about how this particular birth was handled. It was an experience that, while it ended up producing my sweet and wonderful girl, has also produced a lot of anger (at myself, my midwife, and the culture of maternity care in the U.S.). I could give you a whole list of things I would've done if I had known then what I do now, but it is what it is.

Revisions and notes are in italics; it doesn't tell the whole story to offer the sanitized version.

Cast of characters:
Me = mommy
Matthew = daddy
K = certified nurse midwife
E= student midwife
A = doula

The scene:

For the last few weeks of my pregnancy, my blood pressure was being monitored, as it was gradually creeping up. At week 38, I was put on modified bed rest, and a week later I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia after protein was found in my urine. Sunday, July 15, K called to say that she was diagnosing me with pre-e and that she would set up a time for me to be induced the next evening, pending the results of Monday's checkup.

To add more context, my blood pressure has always been on the high side of normal (120/80); my blood pressure was creeping up from that to 140/90, which is the threshold at which providers want to make a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia. I have also since learned that it's very normal for women to have at least some protein in their urine toward the end of pregnancy. Aside from swelling, which would be better attributed to being pregnant during July and living in a house with inadequate air conditioning, I had no other symptoms of pre-eclampsia. During the time period leading up to being induced, my midwife also told me I should stop consuming sugar (though I passed the gestational diabetes test with flying colors) because my A1C level was at the high side of normal. She also requested that, for reasons she didn't explain, I get a biophysical profile. I initially consented, but after sobbing in the car for awhile, went back in to tell her I wasn't going to do it, because I didn't feel it was warranted. In retrospect, it seems clear that she had lost trust in my ability to be pregnant and give birth, even if I hadn't, and was eager to set the scene for induction for a "big baby" or pre-eclampsia or... anything.

On Monday morning we went to K's office expecting to take her advice to induce that evening, but the plans changed after the appointment; K wanted us to go to the hospital right then, after stopping home to get our bags and tie up loose ends. Since an exam showed that I was 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced, we could skip a cervical ripening agent and start Pitocin immediately; we'd hopefully have a baby soon after. Somewhat reluctantly (given how gung ho I am about natural childbirth), I agreed. K stripped my membranes while I was there, so I had some delightful cramping after that appointment.

After we got our things taken care of, A met us at our house, and we began the two-block trek to the hospital. We got to labor and delivery around 1 p.m. and were told we'd need to wait; there were no rooms available. We joined another woman and her family (they'd already been waiting an hour) in the rather uncomfortable waiting room, and finally got into triage at about 1:30. The fetal monitor was strapped onto me and I was instructed to lie on my side (something I was all too accustomed to, having been on bed rest doing the same thing for almost two weeks). They fed me, some time passed, and we got the go-ahead from K to start my IV of Pitocin.

This was induction attempt #1. Hours later, I was having regular contractions but not feeling them, and another exam showed no progress from earlier in the day. K and E came to discuss my options, and they strongly favored admitting me and trying a cervical ripening agent overnight. Again, I agreed somewhat reluctantly; I felt a little bit betrayed at this point, since K had seemed so confident that it would work the first time, and I felt strongly, as well, that my body wasn't going to produce a baby unless it was ready to do so.

We were transferred to a much, much nicer room with a somewhat more comfortable (though that's not saying much) bed. After I was allowed a shower, on came the fetal monitor once more. Around 9 p.m., K and E placed Cervidil on my cervix and told me that I'd need to stay on one side for two hours and recommended that I take something to help me sleep. I attempted to bypass that, but the pain in my hips was so distracting that I ended up taking four of something-or-other. It didn't knock me out like the morphine they wanted me to take, but I did get some sleep. Since the fetal monitor had to be readjusted every time I switched sides, my hips were still not happy in the morning.

Induction attempt # 2 yielded the same result as #1 - nada. My cervix didn't change at all, so K suggested pressing on, this time using Cytotec. This should pack a wallop, she said; the wallop for me ended up being "maybe 3 cm." As in, I was now maybe 3 cm dilated. Induction attempt #3: FAIL.

This, by the way, was after she asserted that babies who are induced because of pre-eclampsia end up coming out FAST, like they know something is wrong. This is a statement I've heard echoed by other people whose philosophies fall all over the spectrum of maternity care, so I can believe it. But it also leads me to believe that neither me or my baby were in any danger whatsoever. Even if we were, since I was so close to my due date (two days before, precisely) and showing no severe symptoms, my midwife could have taken a wait-and-see approach. Pre-eclampsia, while it is certainly to be taken seriously, is generally less of an emergency when it occurs later in pregnancy.

During this time, I was pretty darn uncomfortable and unhappy. I was confined to bed, both due to my high blood pressure I really should call it "high blood pressure," including quotes, while relaying the story, since my blood pressure was, and always had been, under 120/80 while I was lying on my side during this fiasco and the weeks prior. I asked my midwife the question, "If I really had high blood pressure, wouldn't it be high regardless of my position?" and she ignored me every single time I asked. and the constant fetal monitoring, except for brief stints to the bathroom, and stuck on either my right or left side. We did figure out that placing pillows under and around me helped increase my comfort level somewhat. I was adamant that if I were allowed to get out of bed on occasion - not to walk around, just to stand up - that this would start chugging along. Unfortunately, each request was shot down. Of course, I was told I could do whatever I wished, but it was strongly recommended that I stay on my side. More accurately, I was told I was at a high risk for having a seizure and my midwife didn't want to have to put me on magnesium sulfate. My response was, "I'm in a hospital. Isn't that the BEST place for me to have a seizure if I'm going to have one?" No response to that, of course, just repeating that I should stay in bed. But it was about to get unhappier!

K and E came to me around 3 p.m. with their last-ditch effort: We'd restart the IV Pitocin and break my bag of water if the contractions weren't enough to change my cervix on their own. I really, really did not want my water broken at any point, largely because I tested positive for Group B strep and didn't want the baby exposed to that any longer than she needed to be. Once those waters break, you're on a timeline, and I also have heard that Pitocin-induced contractions are pure hell after your water breaks. The alternative? I could go home and we could try again in a day or two, but that brought with it additional dilemmas: What if I got sicker? What if the baby was put in danger? K refused to go ahead with the plan if my answer remained at "It pains me to say it, but yes," so I had to work it up inside me to fully commit to the plan. I got as far as, "I guess," but, for me, that's commitment.

The Pitocin was restarted shortly after 4 p.m. This time I was feeling contractions more frequently, and feeling those more strongly, but it wasn't enough on its own. K's backup OB was called in to help break my water, as the baby's head wasn't quite in the correct position. (A was impressed with the consideration shown to this, as she hadn't heard it before.) At around 5:30 p.m., my water gushed its way all over the darn place; that was a pretty awesome sensation. To complicate matters for yours truly, they placed an internal monitor in to measure my contractions and also one on the baby's scalp.

Did anyone ask before placing either internal monitor, or even give a heads-up that it would happen? Nope. It was announced that it was done after it had been done. Again, this was something I was very concerned about because of the Group B strep issue, but apparently I was the only one who thought about that. To add insult to injury, I really, really, really had to pee at that time, and if I had known anyone would be shoving wires into my uterus and baby, I would've used the bathroom first. Instead, I had to squat onto a bedpan in front of everyone. The internal monitors were just one part of my birth plan that was ignored; in fact, the whole thing was ignored the moment I consented to induction.

Every contraction I felt until this happened and been bearable - pleasant, even. Once the baby's head hit my cervix - whoa, mama. They came hard, and they came fast. I was told that I was having a contraction every two minutes, but those were the fastest two minutes of my life. A helped me breathe through each one (sending the breath down through my cervix and envisioning it opening), though I realized it would be more helpful to go through each one by myself, when I could. Matthew stayed off to the side, which I appreciated. There were so many people going in and out and touching me and there was so much noise... It was tremendously overwhelming, and if I had time between contractions to catch my breath, I would've lashed out very, very strongly.

At some point, K came to tell me that my liver enzymes were elevated. That is, I was getting sicker. Just another thing to add to the list of things to freak out about.

I had the pleasure of reading through all of my records when I got a copy to give to my new/current midwife. All my labs were fine the whole time.

I was so, so mad that I couldn't move anywhere, because it HURT. The problem was that the baby was coming down very quickly, so between each contraction I felt very intense pressure in my lower pelvis. I didn't have time to compose myself between contractions. There was begging (from me) for drugs. There was the typical "Let's just wait until this contraction is over" response. (I wanted to yell, "BULLSHIT, I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO.") While I was able to get through most of the contractions fairly well, there were plenty of panicky ones in there.

K came to check on me and reiterated what she said earlier about my liver enzymes being elevated, as I really, really wanted to get out of bed. Then she said, "We're going to repeat the bloodwork at 9:30," and I think that - along with the acceptance that the contractions were going to hurt so I might as well suck it up - was the turning point for me. It also might've helped that E went home just prior to that, with the intention of returning. For some reason, I didn't want her around when I gave birth.

I had this very strange contraction that felt like my uterus was having its very own earthquake. I told K, "This feels very different." She said, "Different how? Pain or pressure?" and went for her gloves as I said, "I don't know - both?" She checked me and I was at 7 cm. Commence frantic scrambling on her part. She explained that she was getting a bunch of people together to help with the baby. I think I cut her off midstream with my sudden urge to push. I keep remembering the tone of her voice, because it struck me as funny and so matter-of-fact, when she said, "You're pushing, aren't you." She checked me and I was already at almost 10 cm, and this time things got REALLY frantic. She was concerned about shoulder distocia, so they wanted to tilt the bed up and get me near-vertical. She let me push as I wanted, though, all but the first couple of times.

And, oh, pushing felt good after that. It was a very odd sensation that I didn't have much control over at all; I couldn't imagine having someone attempt to control whether or not I pushed. Between contractions, I had a blissful period of rest. The pushing wasn't too bad, although I did scream once, attempting to keep my voice down and low (unlike the lady in the next room, who screamed bloody murder for a good hour; I'm so glad I couldn't hear that).

I was almost vertical, my feet in stirrups, and was instructed to grab onto the backs of my legs; a couple of people helped to hold my legs back. K was literally counting down as the baby came out, and I had about ten people around me yelling for me to HOLD MY BREATH instead of blowing it out. I was a little too focused to care what the hell they were yelling at me. The nurse I really disliked was the only person I remember being yelled at by, and she kept yelling even as I got the baby out. Take that, you annoying nurse!

What I remember most about pushing, now, was that I had about a dozen people around the bed, and the nurse who was by my head stuck her face directly in mine and SCREAMED at me not to scream during contractions. You can imagine that I felt very supported...

Oh, and all this talk about shoulder dystocia? The baby practically flew out of me, without assistance.

I didn't enjoy the next part so much. They took the baby to the corner of the room and did whatever they usually do to babies. Matthew sort of ran around being happy and snapping pictures like a Japanese tourist (that part was cute, not bad). I sat around with my blood pressure getting automatically monitored while I was attempting to see my baby and getting stitched up (two minor tears - four stitches - and a couple of skid marks) and having blood drawn and having my uterus massaged and clots pulled out. I very much wanted my baby, but I didn't get to hold her for almost a half hour. Grr.

This was despite asking - and begging - "please let me hold my baby." At several points, she was in a small plastic bassinet across the room without anyone around her whatsoever, screaming the whole time.

Eventually, I got to hold her, and she was perfect. And then we got a recovery room and spent the next couple of days having everyone and their neighbor popping in at almost all hours and me being entirely unashamed if they happened to catch me with my boob out. Serves you right!

Nora had quite a few visitors. We ran into her aunties Annie and Amanda on the way to our recovery room. Grammalinda stopped by sometime the next day (we both slept through that visit!). Smae and Al and Grandpa Frank came by later that day, too, and our neighbor Susan, who works in the hospital, visited right before we came home.

Things are going okay. Matthew and I are a little in shock that we're actually parents, but we agree that we're doing pretty well. Matthew's such a proud daddy and has already showed her off to the neighbors and enjoys dressing her up. Nora is a very heavy sleeper; that's both a good and bad thing. We're all well-rested at the moment, but it makes it very difficult to wake her up to nurse regularly.

Breastfeeding is a hell of a lot more difficult than I anticipated. My 42DDs are only getting bigger, but my small nipples aren't growing much. It's difficult for Nora to latch well, particularly on my right side. I'm going to haul out the breast pump to make sure that one's getting the stimulation it needs (though whaddya know, she just nursed for a good 20 minutes on that side). I haven't seen any direct evidence that my boobs are producing anything, but we've had lots of wet diapers. There were lots of poopy diapers while we were in the hospital, but I don't think we've seen one since we've been home. We've been using cloth diapers in order to tempt fate and to get rid of the poor little irritated bottom she has thanks to all the disposables.

Breastfeeding wasn't helped by the hospital staff, certainly. I saw a lactation consultant twice for about five minutes each time. The first, she breezed into the room, introduced herself, grabbed my breast and squeezed a nipple to show me that I had colostrum, and helped me shove the baby on the breast. If Matthew hadn't been paying attention, I would've had no clue what I was doing. As it was, I didn't have a clue anyway, and none of the various nurses we had were helpful. At least no one suggested giving a bottle, though one nurse did suggest putting formula on a nipple to convince Nora to try to suckle. The lactation consultant came by the next day and was cheery and encouraging but not helpful. We finally had a decent, supportive nurse right as we were being discharged (which took forever, and we sat around for hours before getting the all-clear), though her idea of support was to make sure I got the "breastfeeding support kit" that had more cool stuff than formula; there was just one can instead of several. It is through the miracle of the internet (that is, Kellymom), a whole lot of hardheadedness, and my husband's support that we managed to make breastfeeding work.

I do think we're well on the road to getting to know each other, though, and it's pretty darn awesome.

Sowing of a sort

2012-03-05T09:18:00.000-08:00

What have I been doing with the last eight months? Growing TWINS. That's right, in my uterus. To say we were surprised might be an understatement. The pregnancy wasn't exactly planned, and we found out I was carrying twins at 25 weeks, during an ultrasound we had just to put our minds at ease about things in general. This pregnancy has probably been the most comfortable one I've had yet, and they could arrive any day now.

I was scolded for suggesting that I start yet another blog to be a "mommy" blog, so it's about to get more mama-fied in here. So I have a spot to put them, I'll be adding the birth stories of my other babies, and hopefully the birth stories of "The Veggies" (Radish and Broccoli, for now) will be added soon, 'cause mama's getting a bit more uncomfortable each day.

Chicken ladies in the hen hizz-ouse

2011-07-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

Staying up really, really late one night paid off when I was able to jump on an offer through the Twin Cities Chickens on a cheap-or-for-trade coop. I ended up trading handmade soap and a bunch of canned goods for this nice coop to the right. It's not winterized (yet) and there's not a good way to enclose them for the night beyond making sure they're in the coop/run, but it's great for two hens (which is what I can have in my city without a permit) and a great start, too.

The ladies themselves came from Craigslist. A woman was picking out what birds she wanted to take to the fair and which would stay, and had some year-old Buff Orpingtons that she wanted to find homes for so that she could keep some of the younger birds. While Partridge Cochins were tempting, ultimately, I went with the Buff Orpingtons because they were already laying and are better layers in general. When you only have two hens and you want some eggs, you gotta get a breed serious about their egg-laying.

The ladies aren't too thrilled with our dog, kids, or me, and didn't want me going all paparazzi on them, but I managed to snap this picture of Beatrice (on the left) and Mabel (on the right). I think that's who is who. My husband decided that the fatter one is Mabel and, thus, the skinnier one is Beatrice. Beatrice had a bit of an adventure today when my dad let the dog out of the house when the back gate happened to be open. It took three adults and a pint-sized neighbor boy to corral her, which the neighbor boy eventually did. I told him he'd have to come visit our chickens sometime, and he seemed eager to do so. This, however, emphasizes the need to put a wee bit of fencing between our garage and the neighbor's fence, as that is prime small-creature escape-route area.

The ladies had a nice dinner of our leftover dinner. I hope they sleep well, and that someone leaves me an egg tomorrow (preferably in a spot I can access easily).

The "farm," she grows!

2011-07-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

My brilliant idea this year was to move the tomatoes and green beans out of my three (little) raised beds and into containers. They've been growing like crazy on the driveway, which I have renamed the "toma-patio." The green beans are very happy in their big storage bin, and they are also not climbing all over my other plants. A big win all around!

There's an amazing number of blossoms on my cucumbers, melon, and winters squash plants. I have high hopes.

This year is the first I've grown garlic, and that has been fun, since it's so enthusiastic and the first thing out of the ground when it gets a little warmer. I'm also growing malabar spinach, which is neither a malabar nor a spinach, and I am mildly frightened of it, as it found its trellis all by itself, even being several inches away. My daughter (four years old today; how time flies!) likes pulling leaves off and making a "leaf sandwich" and chomping it down while meandering through the yard.

Potatoes are new for me, as well. I built a couple of potato towers. Unfortunately, I ran out of compost and straw before I ran out of room in the cylinders of fencing, but I have high hopes that I will at least get a few potatoes out of them.

My grape vines are growing wildly, and I need to prune them. I need to read up on how the heck to prune them, first. I don't think I'll get grapes from the red table grape, as that died all the way down to the ground this winter, but maybe more than one tiny bunch of concord grapes will develop.

I wish I could say I've been eating all sorts of greens from my garden for awhile, but I think greens hate me. I had ONE spinach plant, total. There's some bolt-resistant Romaine growing well, but I think that the heat we're having now might lower its resistance and bolting is imminent. I had horrible germination with beets (two are growing), carrots (five), and chard (two). The happiest plants, as always, seem to be beans and anything I have nothing to do with starting the seeds of.

Chicks love me

2011-05-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

Me and Pippi, Frances, and Katy
have a special bond. (Photo
courtesy their mama.)

My friend Karen (of mamalooma) is living the chicken dream. Whereas I promised myself last year that 2010 would be the year of the chickens, I did not achieve that goal, and I still haven't worked up the guts to apply for a chicken permit. Part of it is because I resent having to jump through hoops and appear in front of a city council to justify using my own land for my own purposes. But it's mostly that I have a terrible fear of authority figures, even if they're just councilpeople in a rather small city, and do not wish to be publicly humiliated. I am afraid there's some neighbor out there within the 300 feet of the corners of my property who has a life-long phobia of chickens and will protest vehemently, and I will be able to do nothing but cry.

But Karen has jumped right in. Granted, she lives in a different, chicken-friendly city, but it's still quite the plunge. Today I had the privilege of meeting her little ladies: Pippi, a Barred Rock; Frances, a Silver-Laced Wyandotte; and Katy, a Rhode Island Red. Katy's the assertive, adventurous one of the bunch and Pippi's the runt. Frances likes to peck me. But they all seem to love me. Just call me the chicken whisperer. Pippi quickly hopped into my lap, and when I told Frances that she could come up, too, she did so, with Katy not far behind. Instead of pecking the ground, they snuggled me.

Attempts at getting a neighborhood robin to join us was not met with success.

And I saw a giant earthworm and freaked out.

However, I remain very impressed with Karen's cute little urban garden and her even cuter soon-to-be-finished chicken coop. I hope I will get to visit her ladies often, and think I'll bring them some (much less frightening) tiny worms next time I visit.

"Dandylion" cordial using child labor

2011-05-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

You see weeds; I see liquor.

My daughter is entranced by "dandylions." She's been providing me with a steady stream of bouquets, which are being plunked into mason jars and placed on the dinner table. It's a good thing, because our beautiful suburban lawn is inhabited by as many plants in the weed category as those in the grass category (though, between you and me and everyone else, my heart is with the LessLawn folks so it doesn't bother me one bit). Dandelions keep this little girl occupied for a very long time.

My helper's always
near-at-hand bucket.

Today I decided to take advantage of the combination of her love of dandelions and her love of helping after seeing a recipe for dandelion cordial. I had a whole (two) lawn(s) full of blooms and half of an enormous bottle of the very same Prairie vodka; it must be fate. My helper grabbed her bucket and tore heads off of dandelions like she'd been doing it all her life. I helped in between taking pictures and calling to the dog to get her to stay in the yard, and the bucket quickly filled with the smell of spring.

Free-range booze.

The blogger who posted the recipe suggests drinking dandelion cordial with tonic water and lemon. I'll let you know in six weeks if this is a good idea, or if I am very upset at sacrificing my lovely vodka for this little adventure.

In other news...

The garden was partly planted with lettuce, spinach, rainbow chard, beets, carrots, and snap peas several weeks ago, and the seedlings are finally, gradually emerging from the ground. I am very eager to get everything else in, and also for Minnesota to decide it would like to get warm and stay warm (and sunny, too, please). I already have a farmer tan going on, at least.

A taste

2011-04-06T05:11:00.000-07:00

We are alive and kicking. We made it through the long winter (I cannot resist a Laura Ingalls Wilder reference, inappropriately used or not) intact, and we didn't even have to grind our own flour using a coffee mill or braid strands of straw for "firewood." Comparatively, it was pretty darn comfortable, despite the enormous amounts of snow.

I was overjoyed when the temperatures began to shift and we got above freezing during the day, because this year I was determined to tap our two maple trees. One of my favorite places ever, Egg|Plant Urban Farm Supply (could there possibly be a store more suited to me?), had sugaring equipment. I bought a package of four spiles (those things you tap into a tree to help in collecting sap), waited anxiously for the weather to warm, and tapped those suckers as soon as I could. One-gallon jugs were used to collect the sap, and this worked well, despite some mishaps. It took a few days to work out the kinks in the system.

I will share more soon, once I have photos of the finished product. For now, let it be known that it is very possible indeed to make the maples in your front yard work for their room and board.

Carrot cake from someone who knows carrot cake

2010-11-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

I make the best carrot cake ever, no lie. It's even almost healthy, if you pretend that frosting has no calories. I looked long and hard for a carrot cake recipe that met my basic requirements: it must not have pineapple or raisins; it must use oil; it must not contain egg substitutes or anything else to make it "light," since I have my own ideas about that stuff. The result is this recipe, adapted from something I found on Recipe Source and can't find again because there are approximately 500 carrot cake recipes.

My modifications are to use some whole wheat flour, substitute applesauce for half the oil, and substitute flax seed meal and water for two of the eggs. This makes three layers, one 13x9 pan, or 24 cupcakes. I'll bet you could make a good zucchini cake if you use that instead of the carrots. I leave out the nuts these days, since I have a little dude who isn't quite at the nut-eating stage yet.

The 501st recipe for carrot cake on the Internet
Cake:
2 c. flour (I use half whole wheat and half white)
2 c. sugar
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. ginger
1/2 t. allspice
2 eggs
2 T. flax seed meal
6 T. water
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. applesauce
3/4 c. oil
3 c. grated carrots
1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 t. vanilla
4 c. powdered sugar

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
Mix sugar, eggs, flax seed meal, water, vanilla, applesauce, and oil.
Gently mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
Fold in carrots.
Bake in a 350 degree oven in a greased 13x9 pan for about 40 minutes (timing will obviously vary if you use a different sort of format), or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center. Cool completely.
For frosting, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until fluffy. Frost cake and enjoy!

The last canning

2010-11-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

This goes down as the last thing I canned this season, though I may pull out my jars at some point during the winter to make some orange marmalade. We have here some Italian prune plums, purchased at the grocery store and hailing from who-knows-where, canned in honey syrup. The recipe comes from Food in Jars.

I bought about 8 pounds of those plums just 'cause they looked awesome and I have somehow obtained a huge quantity of honey from various places. It's one of those things I like to pick up as a souvenir, and then my mom stealthily provided me with a giant jar of it from her friend's neighbor's hives. I didn't notice it until I had bought another big container of honey at the farmer's market. Oh, well. It keeps. I remind myself that they find edible honey in Egyptian tombs. The stuff in my cupboard is fine. Might as well buy more.

I have no idea what I'll do with these lovely plums, though Smitten Kitchen has a contender.

Pickl-ed-It

2010-11-13T16:47:00.000-08:00

My Pickl-It jars have allowed me to make non-moldy sauerkraut. Hooray! I used the basic recipe for kraut from the Pickl-It website for one jar, and the other is a beet/cabbage/onion concoction that I found here. I didn't add whey, since the Pickl-It people says it's not needed for this kind of fermentation.

The verdict? The sauerkraut tastes like sauerkraut! The beet stuff is so darn sour it brings tears to my eyes and makes me cough, but the flavor is nice otherwise. Since my favorite way to eat sauerkraut is cooked in the crockpot with pork, onions, bacon, apples, and caraway, it's not practical to use this sauerkraut for that. It took several weeks to get it to this point, and cooking would pretty much make all that nice probiotic stuff obsolete.

"Use your imagination" muffins

2010-10-08T07:25:00.000-07:00

First, imagine a picture of really delicious muffins here.

Second, imagine these muffins brimming with any sort of fruit, nut, berry, or other goodie possible. The sky is the limit. This is a recipe you can experiment with and the results will be delicious despite your lack of adherence to a specific recipe. This is how I like to cook, using recipes as a guide instead of gospel.

I also will not micromanage your baking. The original recipe is very specific about whisking dry ingredients together, adding things in a specific way. You can do that if you want. Me? I dump things in a bowl and as long as I don't mix the flour very long, they turn out.

Use your imagination muffins
Adapted from Elise's blueberry muffin recipe. Makes big, bakery-style 12-16 muffins, but cooked in a regular tin. The thick "liquid" used to bind everything together - yogurt, sour cream, or buttermilk - enables you to really mound the batter up and get a big, puffy muffin. These are fantastic straight out of the oven.

Ingredients
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon if using unsalted butter)
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt, sour cream, or buttermilk
Plus: mix-ins of your choice (see sample variations)

Method

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Oil or grease a standard muffin tin. You will need 12 to 16 spots, and will definitely want to use a tin rather than any stand-alone reusable muffin papers, as these spread a little on the top.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Add vanilla/almond extract.
Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix to combine.
Mix in yogurt/sour cream/buttermilk.
Gently fold in flour. (Or, throw caution to the wind and dump it in your mixer, furiously beat it just until it comes together, and hope it doesn't become tough.)
Fold in whatever mix-ins you're using.
Mound the batter into each tin, going for about an inch over the top of the pan.
Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Variations

1 1/2 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen) and 1/2 t. lemon zest
1 1/2 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen) with almond extract
2 cups diced apples mixed with 1/4 cup of the sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and any other sweet spices you like (I use allspice), and a pinch of salt and left to sit while the remaining ingredients are mixed
1 1/2 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen), 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, and orange zest if you have it
1 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup chopped strawberries or whole raspberries
Whatever your little heart desires

It's grrrrrrrrrrrrrrape!

2010-09-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, one of my friends and I raided the grape vines growing all over the fence she shared with a neighbor. I'm not sure of the variety - maybe Red Swenson - but the jelly I made from these grapes was decent enough. Better than the usual storebought, of course, but maybe a little too sour and definitely not the deep, rich purple we know and love from Welch's.

I was informed that her new neighbors ripped out the grape vines. Panic set in! Then I resolved to find a new source of grapes. Enter Craigslist. Now, if you haven't used Craigslist to source local produce, eggs, meat, and the like, you've been missing out. Almost everything you could possibly want is being advertised on Cragislist.

In this case, I found a very nice gentleman not very far away from me who has multiple varieties of grapes for winemaking, jam/jelly, and eating. Someone swooped in and picked the wine grapes, but there were Bluebell grapes enough to pick about 10 pounds (plus 2 pounds of table grapes) in less than an hour. The scent of the grapes was intoxicating, and sent me right back to my childhood. Our neighbors had a grape arbor covered in concord grapes and we kids would go over and pop them into our mouths at every opportunity.

Those ten pounds of grapes yielded 2 gallons of destemmed fruit to work with. Half of that has been turned into the most delicious grape jam one could possibly consume.

I was introduced to grape jam via a jar from another friend. At first I was reluctant; who wants to eat those skins? But one taste had me hooked.

Using the recipe from the Ball Blue Book, I set to work, and one batch of 7 half-pint jars took about 3 hours from start to finish AND I was wrangling two young children at the same time. Another batch done that evening took even less time.

After what happened with the apricot jam (darn near eating through it in record time), I may just need to turn the other half of the grapes into jam as well, though I might want to do jelly instead to skip the whole "acid from the grapes eating away at my skin and making it itch like crazy" thing.

Canned fruit army

2010-09-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

Hear me, o peaches and o pears! Thou are not safe from me! I shall turn you all into an army of perpetually preserved produce.

Yet another thank-you to Amy of Crazy Boy Farm for organizing the second round of bulk buying of the most gorgeous fruit my palate has ever laid into. I bought two boxes of pears and peaches, which weighed about 22 pounds each.

Here are the results of my can-stravaganza, peach-and-pear style:

4 pints, 4 half-pints, 1 quart, and a quart-sized container that is living in my fridge of peach salsa; 8 quarts and 3 pints of sliced peaches (one of which did not seal)

15 quarts of pear halves

I've also got three gallon bags full of sliced peaches in the freezer because I ran out of jars and had a bunch of peaches that needed tending to before they'd get overripe.

Peach salsa
The basic idea came from this recipe. I ended up with enough to fill the equivalent of 10 pints.
16 peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 large red pepper, finely chopped
The zest and juice of 3 limes
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
6 banana peppers, finely chopped (note: please don't wimp out and use these peppers; get yourself some jalapenos)
1 cup white vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt

Throw all of the ingredients together in a large pot and bring to a boil for five minutes. Take pot off of the heat and let everything sit another five minutes.
Process in sterilized jars.

Gadgets make me happy on the inside.

2010-08-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

Ah, kitchen gadgets. I do love you. I don't really go for the unitaskers, but there are some things I can't live without. My microplane for one (zesting has never been zestier). My Kitchen-Aid for another. I'm also fond of my plain ol' wooden lemon reamer, and my possibly-ridiculous-but-nonetheless-awesome ice cream maker.

I found two new loves today: Pickl-It jars, introduced to me by Alyssa and TATTLER reusable canning lids, which can be found at Egg|Plant Urban Farm Supply. Be still, my heart.

For those of you who are local to the Twin Cities of Minnesota, Alyssa is gathering orders for a co-op for the Pickl-It jars. We can get a decent discount if we order as a group. I look forward to being able to make sauerkraut that doesn't look like something out of a horror film.