The big reveal! And, easy pickles (recipe).

(because these things go together! Pregnancy & Pickles!)

So, it's finally time for the Big Reveal! Exciting, right?! Actually, I let it slip last night on Twitter (oops!), although I think only one astute person (hi, Maya!) caught on!

Today I went for the anatomy ultrasound and the gender was confirmed - well, as much as they will confirm it - she said she 'strongly believes' it's a....

...

...

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Ha! Betcha thought I was telling there.

Really, I needed to hear and see it again. After all the input I've gotten from different sources, including you guys on my little poll up there - I had myself convinced it was a boy. Well, guess what?

Baby's a GIRL!!! Here she is - It's all looking good, only I have a 'low anterior placenta', which hopefully will resolve itself in the next couple months and not result in a C-section (eeks). All the development is right on schedule and there are no soft markers for any problems like Down's or neural tube problems. Hooray!

I am finally feeling more confident that things will be okay. Did I tell you I bought a crib off Kijiji? I got a white sleigh crib. It's still disassembled for now - I can't wait to start playing nursery. It's hard with my husband gone, as we like to make most decisions together. And in general, we like the exact opposite things (doesn't that figure?), so purchases for the nursery will have to be very well considered and approved by both of us!

I also am making the switch from OB to midwife. I'm going back to the midwife I had for my first pregnancy. I can't tell you the relief I feel about this. The OB I was seeing was professional, respected, and competent, but I'd wait an hour after my appointment time to see him for 5 minutes. And sometimes I felt like I was being rushed out the door, or that my questions were 'silly'. When I told him today, he actually seemed annoyed with me - and said, "Well, why did you even start with me?". Whoa. My family doctor referred me to him when I had an ectopic pregnancy, that's why. And after that I figured he was my go-to guy for OB/gyn stuff.

Anyway. Closing the chapter.

I found the midwife to be profoundly empathetic, calm, patient, and kind. She never acted like my questions were silly or condescended to me. She always treated me like a person, not a name on a list. She was incredibly giving of her time and so, so kind when I went through the first miscarriage. I am looking forward to being in her care. Plus, I trust her to avoid interventions as much as possible and aim for a more natural birth. The OB was already talking about C-sections, for goodness' sake. I'm 'only' 19 weeks along!

On to pickles - With an abundance of cucumbers in the garden and only me around to eat them, I decided to whip up some refrigerator pickles. This is super easy to do, doesn't require any canning experience, equipment or know-how, and I think you should do it too.

Refrigerator Pickles

you will need:

• 2 cups of cucumbers (or zucchini, green/yellow beans, green tomatoes, bell peppers, whatevs), peeled (unless they're the skinny English kind) and cut into spears or slices at your discretion
• 2/3 cup sliced onion (sweet, white, or red - or pearl onions, or quartered small onions, or a lesser amount of quartered shallots)
  

optional jar add-ins, as you like it:

• 2 cloves garlic
  
• 1 hot pepper (jalapeno, little red chilis, or 1 tsp of red pepper flakes)
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill (or 2 tsp dried, or a sprig of fresh per jar)

for the brine:

• 2 cups white vinegar (or apple cider, if you like)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar, depending on how sweet you like your pickles
  
• 1 Tbsp salt (regular granulated will dissolve better, but you can use coarse pickling if you like)

optional brine add-ins:

• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 tsp celery seeds
• 1 tsp pickling spice mix
• 1 Tbsp of dried roasted garlic (I used PC's Blue Menu)
• any spice you like (try turmeric + curry powder for an Indian flavour, or caraway, or groud mustard)

Take all your cut up vegetables and optional jar add-ins, and fill up your jars. I used two 2-cup jars. (Actually, I doubled the recipe and made four!) You don't even have to use canning jars - any old waterproof container with a lid will work (although the hot brine could cause icky chemical seepage in plastic containers - if you want to use those, prepare the whole mess in a big glass bowl and ladle it into containers after it's cooled). Don't pack too tight, you need some room for the brine. I probably could have packed a little tighter. As you can see, cucumbers and onions float!

Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt and your optional brine add-ins in a pot on the stove and bring it to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Once it's all dissolved, ladle it over the vegetables, cover, and put in the refrigerator.

Now, the hard part. DON'T EAT THE PICKLES for at least a couple days, if you can stand the wait. They will keep for months in the fridge, but I guarantee they won't last that long because they are super yummy! And easy enough to make any old time.

I'd love to hear if you make these! It takes hardly any time at all and is so worth it. Ready? Go!