Friday, September 10, 2010

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....

...

...

...

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!

14 comments:

  1. really a girl?! lol well intelligender is wrong again haha! anyway, congrats I'm happy for you! a white crib sounds gorgeous for a baby girl :-)

    I am so happy you have switched to a midwife and she is taking care of you better than that other OB! The OB sounds like he would have used a lot of interventions on you during delivery :-( I switched drs this time and so much happier.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Girl! girl! girl!!! Yay!!! I was really happy when I found out I was having a girl, I'm sure you are too. I thought you're intelligender would be right and it would be a boy. Well look at her, she looks amazing, I think she's waving to you! I had a midwife, you won't regret making the change :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awww!!! Congrats on your baby girl!!!!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations!!!! I had a low lying placenta too but it fixed itself, so don't worry :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh a girl - SO exciting!!!!

    And happy you've got a good midwife - make a big difference when you trust your doctor hey!

    ReplyDelete
  6. YAY! Congratulations on the girl! So happy for you. :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratualtions! I want to say I knew it was a girl all along but I can't remember what I thought. But yay!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yay for little girls! I'm so totally excited for you!! And good job switching doctors - he sounds like a turkey from his reaction, so your instinct was right on.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, a girl! How exciting! Congrats!!

    I had a midwife and feel that I received excellent care all the way. I was able to give birth at home without any medications or interventions and the midwives came back to my house for regular home visits over the first 4 weeks or so following the birth. I'm certain that you will be well cared for, too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Whoo-hoo I was right! :) Girls are awesome! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Emily, I haven't been to your site in forever and a day, but I'm SO EXCITED FOR YOU!! I just saw your entries come in for the HALO SleepSack giveaway and I was like, "Whoa! Baby stuff! Can it mean...??" Congratulations!! And I couldn't be happier that you're having a baby girl. Clearly I'm a little biased, but girls are just amazing. I hope the rest of your pregnancy goes by smoothly, I can't wait to hear more! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Congrats!! I still remember when I found out I was having my daughter. I was so thrilled. The hubby...a little worried but now she's got him wrapped around her little finger :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Just catching up in my reader :)

    Hurray for a girl. They're so fun to dress. Hurray for the crib - make sure you check the model number for a recall. I've had two recalls on the two cribs we've owned. One, they actually sent us a gift card to Toys R Us to replace the crib because it was completely recalled. The next crib just needed a replacement part which they mailed to us and we installed.

    Aside from that, I had an OB with my first pregnancy - which we lost. I then had the same OB with Chloe for 26 weeks and then switched to a midwife. There is no way that the OB care is as awesome and involved as a midwife!
    I've had two awesome homebirths and hope to have a third but even if I end up having baby #3 at the hospital, I know my midwife will be there.

    All right, bedtime.

    ReplyDelete

Hey, why not leave a comment? I'd love to hear what you think. If you're entering a giveaway, be sure to leave your email address if it's not set to public in your profile!