Jenna

I woke up Adam and then I thought – well, let me try to go back to sleep like they all say because contractions haven’t started yet. I was expecting the tub to feel as good as it did during my labor with Luke, but this time it just didn’t. Anyway, I felt like pushing took forever but it really didn’t because 7 minutes later, out he came! I definitely have had it both ways (Grayson’s birth was incredibly difficult and felt very traumatic to me for a long time).

I love a good freezer meal and prepping my freezer is my FAVORITE part of nesting for sure! (I froze them “naked” without the sauce and froze the sauce separate so it wouldn’t break) and a creamy kabocha squash and red lentil soup. The chicken, red date and ginger soup, kabocha squash and red lentil soup, hearty sausage stew and vegetable recovery stew are all from that book and are optimal for the initial week postpartum while you’re recovering from birth. Don’t try to freeze my white chicken chili because freezing sour cream in a recipe usually isn’t the best idea and will cause the soup to break.

I get a lot of questions on how I am preparing for birth, if I’m reading any books, what my birth plan is…ect. I have been a little quiet on the subject thus far simply because your birth choices are just that: they are YOUR birth choices. I’m not going to re-write that birth story because you can read the whole thing right here if you want, but it was very hard for me. Flash forward a couple years, and all my ideas of a strict birth plan for Luke’s birth went out the window.

I decided to make him an ice cream cake for his little family birthday celebration and it turned out so well and was SO EASY that I actually have made another one since! All you need is time (well, and chocolate cake and ice cream) so with a little planning ahead, you can make a delicious ice cream at home too. I let the ice cream thaw for about half an hour to make it easier to spread and then you do the magic trick – line a cake pan with plastic wrap, plop that ice cream right in and smooth it to the top. I hope I took some of the intimidation out of it because, really, if you can bake a cake (and you can) and if you can spread ice cream in a pan (you can do this, too), you can make a beautiful ice cream cake that will wow your friends and family!