Only one more week....

until I can finally get off my butt and out of this bed! I saw my midwife this morning and as long as I don't "spring a leak", I should be back to work on Wednesday. I never thought I'd say this, but I might actually be glad to go back :) Thank you to everyone for your prayers and good thoughts. I also greatly appreciate those who have sent packages or popped in for a visit... I really have some great friends :)

Christmas was fantastic. I spent the weekend at my parents' house (yes, lying down) and my brother was in town. I received some great things, the 2 that I'm most excited about are a pressure cooker (artichokes in 10 minutes!!!) and my new maternity jeans (my brother is WAY too generous and bought me some sevens). As you can tell by the picture below, they look great on him ;)

I'd now like to share with you this weird side effect of pregnancy (don't worry, it's not my belly button)... we refer to it as fire toe. Sometimes it's just one toe, sometimes it's my whole foot. As you can see here my right foot is ON FIRE. This happens at night and it makes it really hard to sleep and frankly it sucks. Please don't mind my non groomed feet, bed rest is giving me ample time to give myself a pedicure :)

My View

I would have been one of the first people to tell you that I would be a perfect candidate for bedrest... I love to read, watch TV and play on the internet. But when that is ALL you can do, it's not really that fun. I'll admit it, I'm bored, this is really not as fun as I thought it would be. If I could move freely it might be better, but every time I get up I worry that I"ve been up for too long and I'm going to start bleeding heavily again and that I'm putting my baby in danger (yes, I'm a little of a worry wart.

I thought today I would show you what I've been looking at for the next 3 days..

As you can see here I have all my necessities... vaseline, water, tp, my phone

Right now I'm watching the Today Show and eating some Cream of Wheat. I try to not watch the TV ALL day long, because really daytime TV is BAD and Food Network makes me too hungry

My baby registry books and the computer (I'm working from home so I don't have to go on disability)

Yeah, it's pretty exciting around here, what can I say? Right now I'm reading a book called Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell, it's very cute. Last night I watched Mad Hot Ballroom, the documentary about ballroom dancing classes in inner city schools... SO cute!! I loved watching those kids dance! I also watched the finale to Shot of Love with Tila Tequila... I can't believe I just admitted that ;)

I hope everyone is well!!! Thank you so much for the good wishes :)

Had a little scare today :(

I had some bleeding during the night and spent the morning with my midwife. It turns out that everything is okay with Baby Schwab, but I have "placental abruptions", basically bleeding in my uterus. They aren't sure why, there are some tears that the bleeding seems to be coming from, but there really isn't anything that they can do to *fix* it. So I'm on bedrest, full-on bedrest, until at least 12/27 and hoping that the bleeding stops.

The upside of this is that we got another ultrasound and the baby looks great. S/he had NO idea anything was happening, actually it looked like s/he was at a dance club, moving around so much! Here is a cute little picture for you :)

Yummy Dinner!!!

I just made a super yummy dinner using the random ingredients in my fridge and had to share. Now I know that there are some of you that don't like peas in their pasta, but believe me, it was good!
Jamie called on his way home from work to tell me that he was bringing home some smoked salmon. I checked the fridge and had cream (naughty, naughty girl), dill and a lemon so I figured I could whip something up.
I started with a roux and added about a cup of cream (I know, but you could use milk) and 1/2 cup of chicken broth (all I had open) and simmered that with one smashed garlic clove. When that thickened I added about a cup of peas, a handful of chopped dill, the juice and zest from half a lemon and about 1/3 lb of smoked salmon, flaked. Done. Seriously, that was it. And it was SO good. I normally don't rave about my own meals, but this one was fantastic. Especially since I just threw it together. It's too bad I don't have a picture, but I was starving ;)

16 weeks!

My how time is flying... well not really, but I'd like it to :) We had a nice weekend, a little (cooked) sushi, lunch with my girlfriends, some babysitting, some football watching and a little shopping. I think my belly is getting smaller, which is weird, but I guess it proves that it really was bloat at the beginning. I have an appt on Wednesday and I'm interested to see how much weight I have gained (I'm promising myself I won't freak out if it's 5lbs or under. It's been 5 weeks since my last appt, that's reasonable, right?). And in other pregnancy news my belly button is getting weird, but I won't gross you all out with pictures quite yet. I wish someone would have told me to take a before photo so I could compare it, but oh well ;)

Ode to Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's, oh how I love thee!!

My trip to LA was good. In N Out Burger was just as good as I was told it would be, Ikea didn't disappoint (except for the fact I can't bring most of the stuff home on the plane) and Trader Joe's was wonderful, ***sigh***. Seriously, that store is just fantastic.

So in preparation for my trip I packed my biggest suitcase. Since I was only there for 3 days/nights, there obviously wasn't a ton of stuff in it and when I check my luggage on the way out there I had 20 lbs to spare before being charged... I thought I was set. I spent about an hour at TJ and managed to find almost everything I wanted and then it ALL fit in my suitcase. I was a happy camper.

Until I went to check my bag and discovered I was 10 lbs overweight. That's right folks, I bought 30 lbs of stuff at TJ. Now in my defense, I did buy quite a few items for friends, but still. The lady checking me in was laughing quite hard at me as I tried to move some stuff around. Luckily I had picked up a bag at the gas station and it lasted through security. Then I picked up a plastic bag at a store in the airport, and it was holding, but the straps hurt my hand. So then I bought a reusable grocery bag (who knew they sold those at the airport) and all was good. Everything made it home in one piece, and I have Christmas presents galore ;)

I've been a bad blogger :(

Sorry! I'm not too sure where the last 2 weeks have gone, but it's been crazy!!

Thanksgiving was wonderful! My Gramps was in town, along with my brother and Sam, my Aunt Susan and Jeffry and my Uncle Charlie. We were also joined by our good friends Jay and Miriam, and the day ended up being a blast!!! Great food, great company and some great, competative Cranium playing (that was great because my team won ;))!

Let's eat!!

Stuffing!!!

Me and Gramps :)

This is a serious competition (L-R; Dad, Jamie, PJ, Jay)

Family Photo

(back row L-R: Jeffry, Susan, Sam, PJ)

(front row L-R: Jamie, me, Gramps, Mom, Dad)

We then headed to OH for Grandpa's Schwaberow's funeral. It was a really nice service, very small, and our BIL Jeff did the eulogy and per usual he did a great job. It was nice to spend some time with the family, even though it wasn't the best of circumstances.

Jamie and Madi

Me and Dorothy

The big news this week is that I'm 15 weeks and FINALLY off my medication. Wow, am I a different person... so much happier and although I'm not sleeping as well, I think everyone likes the nicer, kinder Ivory :) I purchased some maternity pants this weekend... sweet lord are they comfortable... I think I might like to wear these when I'm not pregnant!

Last night Suzie and Mike came over for dinner and I made an awesome (if I'm allowed to say so) Molasses Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans. YUM!
Here is the Pork recipe:

Molasses Pork Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce

Ingredients
1 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 1/4 cups molasses

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

2 large garlic cloves, minced

3 (3/4-pound) pork tenderloins

Combine first 6 ingredients in a shallow dish or heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; add tenderloins. Cover or seal, and chill 8 hours.
Remove tenderloins from marinade, discarding marinade.
Grill tenderloins, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat (350° to 400°) 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 160°, turning occasionally. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with Red Wine Sauce, if desired.
Note: Tenderloins may be pan seared in a hot skillet to brown and then baked at 375° for 15 to 20 minutes.

Red Wine Sauce

Ingredients
1/2 small sweet onion, minced

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can beef broth

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons cornstarch
PreparationSauté onion in butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat 3 minutes, or until browned. Add wine, and cook 3 minutes. Add beef broth; bring to a boil, and cook 5 minutes.
Stir together 1/4 cup water and cornstarch; add to broth mixture, stirring constantly, 1 minute or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat, and serve over tenderloin.

Tonight I'm off to LA (Ontario really)for 3 days. It's my first time in the area and I've already planned out my stops at In N Out Burger, Trader Joe's and Ikea... watch out!