Pregnancy Journal: Full-Term, Freezer Cooking, and Nesting

I’m almost 37 weeks!  Full term!  Which, to me, means nothing more than baby will be okay whenever s/he decides to come.  I’d never schedule an induction (not that I can with a home birth) nor do anything at home to try to get baby out.  Now, if I’m still here 4 weeks from now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to say the same (about home methods)….  It’s just a relief to reach this point and not have to worry that every twinge or mild contraction might lead to baby coming too soon.

I completely revised my freezer plan over the last week or so.  I realized that I really won’t want to eat pre-cooked, frozen meals!  I never do.  It’s not who I am: I like fresh food.  It’s why I don’t do freezer cooking, even though I know it’s convenient and all.  It’s not a big deal to me to pull dinner together at the time.

Having said that, there are steps that I would prefer to skip.  And so my goal has been to do some of those steps now, so that cooking a meal is easier and anyone who’s around can help me do it. 

Here’s what’s actually in my freezer (and pantry):

• 16 qts of chicken stock (adding more)
• 10 qts of beef stock (probably adding more)
• 6 lbs. of marinated strip steak
• 6 lbs. of breaded chicken
• 4 bags of soaked, cooked black beans (about 1.5 – 2 c. each)
• 4 bags of soaked, cooked red beans
• 1 batch refried beans
• 3 lbs. of sprouted wheat
• 2 dozen apple-cinnamon oat muffins (soaked — see recipe!)
• 3 batches of soaked granola
• 2 quarts of yogurt (to be turned into 4 batches of popsicles, or 40 popsicles!)

This will all make our lives easier!  Anyone can start a batch of soup with the ingredients we have on hand (stock, beans, meat, veggies) and I can come in to add some spices.  Someone could fry the chicken easily, or grill the marinated meat (for stir-fry, tacos, whatever).  We’ll have “fresh” dinners, and yet there won’t be too much advance prep.  That was my real goal!  It suits my lifestyle much better, and if we like it, I may do more of it in the future.

Finally, my home visit.  I’ve been warned, based on my history and how I “seem” that the baby is coming SOON.  My senior midwife said “You really might want to get everything ready soon because you could have a baby by the end of the week.”  That’s been sort of my instinct too….

Saturday I woke up and went crazy getting things done.  Sunday I woke up crying for no reason, except “I’m stressed and tired and…”  Monday I continued to get things done, though I was sore.  Tuesday I woke up feeling REALLY sore, all through my legs and back and extremely tired and just not feeling well.  Experience tells me that this is how I feel in the final days before birth.  I could be wrong, but this isn’t quite right….

Luckily a visit to the chiropractor and massage therapist Tuesday afternoon restored some semblance of pain-free life!  I have enough energy to finish the last of my goals here.  Which includes a few of the foods on that list above that aren’t quite done, cleaning the bathrooms, finishing up the laundry, making sure the birth pool is ready, and baking my supplies (oops, not done…).  I should be able to finish up most of that today.  I’m also hoping to create some different boxes of activities for my older kids so I have actually educational things to distract them with.  Plus that will be a great way to start out our homeschooling!

That’s where we are now.  Every week after this is no guarantee…we may see a baby at any point!