Restaurants? Who needs restaurants?

I'm a devoted foodie. I love going out to eat. I love fresh ingredients. I love trying new recipes. I just love food.

But our one-income status will soon put a serious damper on my foodie fun. No more super fancy artisan cheeses. No more restaurant meals. It will be a big change for me and my stomach.

So I'm super committed to giving myself the foodie experience at home and on a budget. In preparation, I made an incredible meal for Ben and I yesterday evening... lemon and caper grilled salmon, ricotta gnocchi with brown butter sauce, and roasted broccoli with lemon and basil. Delish!

The salmon ($9/pound at our local supermarket) made it a little pricey. But all in all, I made the entire thing for $10.80/person. Not too shabby.

Babies, babies everywhere!

Oh my gosh! So many new babies!

M had her darling little boy on June 3... Milo North (isn't that just the cutest?!?). And K had her sweet baby girl (5 weeks early!) on June 5... Claire Genevieve.

I'm so thrilled to have so many friends with new babies. Another new friend from my Bradley class is due in a few weeks. She's a cloth diapering, nautral childbirth, chemical-conscious, organic freak like me, so I think we'll have fun swapping baby tips. Right on.

What was I going to write about again?

Pregnancy brain is totally a real thing. Case and point: completely forgot about breakfast date with friends J and T this morning. Completely forgot. Even though we talked about it at least three times this past week. And I was really, really excited for a frittata.

Then today I got this little tidbit from my weekly What To Expect e-mail...

Forgetfulness: No wonder your brain feels especially foggy these days — hormones are wreaking havoc on your memory and your brain-cell volume actually decreases during the third trimester. Try not to take this temporary pregnancy symptom to heart — stressing about it will only cloud your pregnancy brain even more.

At least it's an actual documented problem. But it still makes you feel like a crazy person. Especially type-A, hyper-organized me. I never forget things.

So please don't hesitate to remind me of any plans we have. Chances are it's stuck somewhere between "maybe cloth diapers are a better option" and "what am I going to eat for lunch?"

Just because

Here's a list of things I love today...

1) Dresses with pockets. So fun and summery.
2) Summer hours. Our office works 1/2 day Fridays Memorial Day through Labor Day. Heaven.
3) My crazy dog. Even when she's naughty, you can't help but love her.
4) My crazy husband. Even when he's naughty, you can't help but love him.
5) The plans for our new deck. Construction starts next week. It's going to be awesome.
6) Fresh sheets. Crisp, cool, perfect.
7) Locally grown produce. The farmer's market opens on Saturday, and we get our first CSA box in 12 days. I can't wait.

Sugar, sugar

I did my gestational diabetes test last night. Not too bad. You drink this super sugary liquid, wait an hour, then the lab tech draws some blood for a glucose reading. The liquid pretty much tasted like flat orange soda with an extra shot of corn syrup. But it was ice cold, so it went down fast.

I can ask about my results at my next appointment, but they'll only call me if my blood sugar reading comes back high. So no news is good news. I'm addicted to the cookies at Caramel Crisp Cafe, so here's hoping I'm diabetes-free.

We also saw the doctor last night (we decided to stay with our hospital and pay out-of-network, by the way). The baby's heartbeat is really strong (140s), and the doc was happy to see him moving so much. He's measuring about a week ahead of schedule, which confirms the doctor's suspicion that I might deliver a bit early (hooray!).

Speaking of deliveries, one of my oldest, bestest friends went into labor yesterday afternoon! I'm dying for an update. Boy or girl? How big? Agh!

She is also hoping for a waterbirth, so I can't wait for her full, unedited account of labor and delivery. She's been my pregnancy rock, sage and confidant. I'd strongly recommend having a good friend three months ahead of you if you decide to get pregnant. They've just experienced whatever you're going through, and have a ton of great advice. Hugs to you, M. I love you!

What's your doctor worth to you?

Insert wrench here: I'm losing my health insurance on August 1. That's a whopping three weeks before the baby is due.

I'm not losing health coverage entirely... I will join Ben's plan when my own benefits expire. But my hospital and my doctor will now be considered out-of-network, so we'll be paying $2,000 more to have the baby if we stay where we're at.

We're entertaining the idea of switching hospitals and doctors to remain in-network. But the system covered by Ben's plan does not offer midwife care or waterbirth, which is pretty much the foundation of our entire labor and delivery plan. And at 28 weeks pregnant, I can't say I'm thrilled by the idea of changing doctors.

So is my doctor and birth plan worth an extra $2,000? Or should I just suck it up and make the switch? I'm not sure I have an answer yet.

Mom Guilt: It starts early

I swear I've had mom guilt from day one. Literally from the day I got the positive pregnancy test. I was elated for about 30 seconds, then distraught that I drank martinis with my co-workers three days prior. The horror! Only a terribly tragic mother would be unable to sense a tiny growing ball of cells in her uterus and curb her drinking appropriately.

As it turns out, practically every life decision is associated with some sort of pregnancy mini-crisis. You got the flu shot? Autism! You cleaned your bathroom with Clorox? Brain damage! You allowed minor home renovations? Lead poisioning!

On Sunday I used bug spray while hanging out in a friend's backyard. I just didn't want to be itchy, but failed to read the pregnancy skin care memo that proclaims DEET is the devil. I then spent a good portion of the following morning sobbing that I had irreversibly screwed up my baby.

And yesterday, I ate a ham sandwich. Sure did. Nitrates and listeria be damned. Sometimes I girl just wants a f'ing ham sandwich. It was good too. But wait... are those flu-like symptoms coming on? Do I have a fever? Why does my stomach feel like that? Damn you, delicious ham sandwich. Damn you.

Pregnancy is exausting.

Nope, that didn't feel good

Note to self: You are 7 months pregnant. Your body can no longer do everything you want it to.

Like lunge to grab Stella before she sprints over the see the neighbor's dog. Ouch. I forget that my growing belly makes fast movement and long extension difficult. Things just don't move like they used to.

I had some dull pain in my lower left side for a few hours yesterday, but everything feels good this morning. The baby has been moving like crazy since Saturday, so the strain didn't seem to bother him any. Still, a good reminder for mama to take it easy.