Preparing for the Birth!

[Sasha's Mama]

I was reading the Dec. DDC and saw a thread about what everyone was doing to prepare for the birth and kind of wondered why Dec. was already thinking about it when I realized that I'll be full term in TWO MONTHS. Yikes!

There was a projects thread earlier, but I wanted to see how everyone is doing getting ready for their babies to be here. Have you started childbirth classes? Ordered birth supplies? Started hoarding food?

I'm scheduling some Birthing from Within classes to start soon and just bought a groupon for prenatal yoga. That's about it right now!

[IwannaBanRN]

I've gotten blue cohosh, to enhance contractions and just picked up a hand-me-down swing from a gal in my playgroup that I just found. Also have the crib set up by our bed. Starting to round up some clothes as well. I probably should be stocking food in the freezer, but when we grocery shop, there's so much that goes into the freezer that stored food wouldn't have room in there.

[meesh933]

I had my 28 wk appointment today, and started thinking about this too. Third trimester already? I have a lot to do!

I organized my diapers and put all the baby clothes in the laundry today. I also realized I have way more diapers than I could possibly need, even with 2 in diapers! I asked my midwife for another copy of her birth supplies list, and started checking off what I already have. It's on my fridge to hopefully motivate me to get some things together. I have a friend who had a HB in April; I need to take her up on her offer of leftover birth kit supplies and see where I stand. I have a big basket to put everything in, but I'm afraid my kids will just trash it if it's all gathered together now.

I've started freezing meals, but not enough. And I've been so exhausted that we've eaten most of what I've put up, lol. My plan all along was to really start getting ready in September, so I guess now I need to start moving.

[LiLStar]

I meant to ask my mw about ordering a birth kit or a supplies list at my appt yesterday, but forgot! Argh.

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[jbk21]

Just bought a birthing ball  (well, exercise ball) today, but it didn't blow up as big as it said it would!  Must have been why it was on clearance. Ugh.  I  will return it for a different one.  I'm not sure what the birth center has, so I'll have to double check and compare lists.....

[1love4ever]

I have been WANTING to do a lot of things like get my carpets cleaned but it does not seem to be happening:(

Other than that, I have a lot of baby clothes, I just bought half a beef so my freezer has less room than I would like it to so I am waiting to start stocking up on food til we get some of that eaten or sold.  I am waiting til after my baby shower which is Oct 1 to order things that I want/need for myself and the baby.  I made a registry and am hoping people will stick to it for the most part, but they never do.  So I will probably be ordering some blankets, diapers and postpartum healing stuff at the beginning of Oct.

My midwife gave me the list of supplies needed.  I have a lot of it already, but need to get on getting everything together!  And I put the birth kit on my baby registry lol, so hopefully I wont have to buy it:)

So, overall, I would say I am currently very unprepared!!  AGH!!  We are so short on money right now, and DH needs surgery before the baby comes, so we will be short on money for awhile, as well as I will be taking care of him instead of getting things around the house ready for the baby, so I am actually pretty stressed about it all.  I am kindof hoping for a miracle actually, like maybe my mom will step up and say "I will take DD for the day, you go clean your house!"  Ha, that would be the day.  By the end of the day when DD goes to bed I just do not have the energy to do anything:(

[IwannaBanRN]

Hmmmm.... I may end up buying a yoga ball from Walmart on Monday, so I can help DS come down later on. I'm sure my kids would love to play with it too, so long as they don't do anything that might pop it. lol

[birdhappy85]

For those who pre-cook a lot of food and freeze it, I was wondering what kind of storage containers you use in the freezer for particular dishes? I want to make some soups but I don't know what I would store soup in since we always just eat it out of the pot after it's made or store a little bit of leftovers in a tupperware. But a whole pot of soup won't fit in our tupperware. Hmm...

I was thinking maybe I should make some casseroles and lasagnas to freeze so I can pop them in the oven when hubby is hungry after the baby is born. I won't be able to eat them since I'll be eating GFCF again  so I have NO idea what I can freeze for myself. Soups and stews are the only worthwhile freezable dish I can think of that I can make GFCF. I guess I'll start looking up more options for myself, but I don't have the money anymore to eat the expensive GFCF I used to. *sigh*

[IwannaBanRN]

What is GFCF?

[jbk21]

If there is one thing people love to buy, it's blankets!  Just not the kind you want, lol.  They get the big fluffy cute ones when you need the swaddling an receiving blankets.    

I want to clean the carpets too... We'll see if that gets done.  It's the ONE big thing we have left, though.
 

Originally Posted by 1love4ever 

I have been WANTING to do a lot of things like get my carpets cleaned but it does not seem to be happening:(

Other than that, I have a lot of baby clothes, I just bought half a beef so my freezer has less room than I would like it to so I am waiting to start stocking up on food til we get some of that eaten or sold.  I am waiting til after my baby shower which is Oct 1 to order things that I want/need for myself and the baby.  I made a registry and am hoping people will stick to it for the most part, but they never do.  So I will probably be ordering some blankets, diapers and postpartum healing stuff at the beginning of Oct.

My midwife gave me the list of supplies needed.  I have a lot of it already, but need to get on getting everything together!  And I put the birth kit on my baby registry lol, so hopefully I wont have to buy it:)

So, overall, I would say I am currently very unprepared!!  AGH!!  We are so short on money right now, and DH needs surgery before the baby comes, so we will be short on money for awhile, as well as I will be taking care of him instead of getting things around the house ready for the baby, so I am actually pretty stressed about it all.  I am kindof hoping for a miracle actually, like maybe my mom will step up and say "I will take DD for the day, you go clean your house!"  Ha, that would be the day.  By the end of the day when DD goes to bed I just do not have the energy to do anything:(

[jbk21]

I freeze soup in mason jars.  I don't like to freeze plastic (same reason why I don't like to heat it- the chemicals) so I just save pasta jars, large sauerkraut jars, and other mason jars for re-use.  They're perfect 2-serving (ish) portions for the large jars (4cups or so).  I have some soup frozen in them now :)  Just be careful with temp changes.  I refrigerate them with the soup in there for a little while so it chills, then move to freezer.  (oh, and leave an inch or two of headroom for expansion).  Then thaw the day before (in the fridge) and it should be good to go in the saucepan the next night.  

Hope that helps!

(I think people freeze stuff in gallon freezer bags too.  Portions of spaghetti, soup, beans, etc.)

Originally Posted by birdhappy85 

For those who pre-cook a lot of food and freeze it, I was wondering what kind of storage containers you use in the freezer for particular dishes? I want to make some soups but I don't know what I would store soup in since we always just eat it out of the pot after it's made or store a little bit of leftovers in a tupperware. But a whole pot of soup won't fit in our tupperware. Hmm...

I was thinking maybe I should make some casseroles and lasagnas to freeze so I can pop them in the oven when hubby is hungry after the baby is born. I won't be able to eat them since I'll be eating GFCF again  so I have NO idea what I can freeze for myself. Soups and stews are the only worthwhile freezable dish I can think of that I can make GFCF. I guess I'll start looking up more options for myself, but I don't have the money anymore to eat the expensive GFCF I used to. *sigh*

[IwannaBanRN]

You can use a foodsaver too. It doesn't work well for soups, because liquids will be vacuumed out with the air, but you can do pastas, cooked meat, steamed veggies, breads, sandwiches, etc.

[TalkToMeNow]

I'm just using gallon freezer bags. I either cook stuff to freeze during the day when I'm alone or on a night where there won't be many of us for dinner. If I do it on a normal night, there'd be nothing left to freeze! I squeeze as much air out as possible, fold the bag flat, and lay it in the freezer. So far I have four meals, which I feel is a good start! 

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by IwannaBanRN 

What is GFCF?

Gluten and corn free or casein free (the protein in milk).  I think in Joanie's case she is casein free. 

Originally Posted by jbk21 

I freeze soup in mason jars.  I don't like to freeze plastic (same reason why I don't like to heat it- the chemicals) so I just save pasta jars, large sauerkraut jars, and other mason jars for re-use.  They're perfect 2-serving (ish) portions for the large jars (4cups or so).  I have some soup frozen in them now :)  Just be careful with temp changes.  I refrigerate them with the soup in there for a little while so it chills, then move to freezer.  (oh, and leave an inch or two of headroom for expansion).  Then thaw the day before (in the fridge) and it should be good to go in the saucepan the next night.  

Hope that helps!

(I think people freeze stuff in gallon freezer bags too.  Portions of spaghetti, soup, beans, etc.)

Yep, we use pyrex, canning jars, jars from other foods, etc.

[birdhappy85]

Yep, what Jaimee said! (Thanks Jaimee!) For me GFCF is gluten and casein free.

Ooo I'll need to start saving jars again. Good idea! I was always hesitant to freeze liquids in jars because I worried they'd break. But I'll try leaving some space in there for expansion. I wish I hadn't brought a bunch of my mason jars back to my friend's farm a few months ago. I had gotten some gallon sized glass jars for raw milk and gave back my quart sized mason jars since they could re-use them. Time to go get some more milk! lol. It'll give me an excuse to go visit her new baby again anyway.

[birdhappy85]

And now I'm afraid to freeze jars for a REASON! Grrr. I've had a jar of milk frozen in the freezer for a while and just decided to take it out and thaw. It was my first attempt at freezing something in glass and I kind of forgot about it in there. I had left several inches of empty room in the jar in case of expansion, and somehow the jar still broke! It was one of my really nice gallon jars too. :( Completely cracked down a whole side...... I don't see what could've gone wrong since I left room in there!

[Jaimee]

Did you temper the food and the jar prior to freezing by first cooling them?  I sort of assume so if it's milk, but I thought I'd ask...

[birdhappy85]

Yes, it was kept cool in the fridge before I had put it in the freezer. Could having our freezer temperature too low make a difference? I don't know much about those kinds of things. I'm just speculating. This is a really thick glass jar too. I'd think any other glass would break before THIS one! So weird.

[Sasha's Mama]

Originally Posted by birdhappy85 

For those who pre-cook a lot of food and freeze it, I was wondering what kind of storage containers you use in the freezer for particular dishes? I want to make some soups but I don't know what I would store soup in since we always just eat it out of the pot after it's made or store a little bit of leftovers in a tupperware. But a whole pot of soup won't fit in our tupperware. Hmm...

I was thinking maybe I should make some casseroles and lasagnas to freeze so I can pop them in the oven when hubby is hungry after the baby is born. I won't be able to eat them since I'll be eating GFCF again  so I have NO idea what I can freeze for myself. Soups and stews are the only worthwhile freezable dish I can think of that I can make GFCF. I guess I'll start looking up more options for myself, but I don't have the money anymore to eat the expensive GFCF I used to. *sigh*

Shepherd's pie!   That is my go-to comfort food dish. I just make it w/o the cheese and usually I'm too lazy to mash up the potatoes so it's more of a ground beef stew thing w/gravy. Looks gross, tastes delicious. And you can throw all sorts of veggies in. I've been making it w/radishes this summer since we got tons out of the garden and they're a really good addition to the carrotts & celery. Also, beef for iron!

[Jaimee]

In general casseroles and things like lasagna freeze well, too.

And yes, if you have a deep freezer instead of a normal freezer, it could be too cold for glass.