I Just Can't Believe it

My baby girl is 9 months old today.

I just can't believe it.

I have successful kept another human being alive for 9 whole months.

When you are pregnant, you think about what is coming, but you can never really grasp the concept until it happens. You change the moment that this screaming, bright pink, wrinkly little person enters the world.

I never thought I'd be a parent, even though I wanted it more than anything. I numbed myself to a lot of the wishes and hopes of being a parent. I tried nto to talk about kids. I tried not to be around kids. Commercials would make me angry and news stories about people like "Octomom" would make me furious. Now, I try to encourage people who are like me; feeling hopeless and empty, waiting for something they think will never come.

I was once bitter and now I'm the mother of a bubbly 9 month old. With fat cheeks and chunky thighs. 7 teeth and a pretty large vocabulary for her age.

I just can't believe it!

HCG Chili & Stuffed Zuchini

This time on HCG I have a much more adventurous partner. Instead of a basic bland meal I get to create fun and exciting things. So today for lunch we had chili and for dinner we had zuchini boats or stuffed zuchini. 

I tried making chili before and it never tasted good. Today though, I got it right!!!

Chili

Ground beef

Caramelized Onions

House seasoning

Chili Powder

Cut up tomato

Roasted Garlic

Water

I browned the beef first, then added the caramelized onions and seasonings. After thats cooked down I added the tomato and water (about 1/2 cup). I tried to squash the tomatoes in the pan with my wooden spoon to release some of the juices and let it boil down for a little while to thicken up. 

I served it over cauliflower rice and that soaked up quite a bit of the extra liquid and topped it with some hotsauce. It was pretty tasty. Yet again, the caramelized onions added the sweetness I like in my chili that I normally attain with honey or agave. 

Zuchini Boats

Turkey Sausage link

Zuchini cut in half and insides removed and diced

2 mushrooms

House seasonings

Italian Dressing (the dressing I used yesterday)

2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs (melba toast crumbled)

Mix all the ingredients together, stuff inside the hollowed out zuchini and bake. I baked at 350 for about 25 minutes. 

I feel like I'm missing something. But I'm pretty sure I'm not. Let me know if you try these out and they work for you. 

P2 VLCD 1

For those of you that don't speak HCG, that means I am on the second phase of the HCG diet and reporting about my Very Low Calorie Day #1. 

It was awful. I forgot how bad the first couple days can be. When you start eating your meal you think that it is barely any food. Halfway through you have no idea how you are going to be able to finish all of that food. And an hour later you wish you could start the process all over again.

So let's get down to the nitty gritty. What I ate!

**ROGUE WARNING**

Lunch Day 1

I made what I call Shrimp "Fried Rice". I love cauliflower rice. It adds a missed texture to the HCG diet that you don't generally get to have.

I fried my "rice" in some coconut oil with diced zuchini and mushrooms. I added Braggs Liquid Amino's, red chili flake, my house seasoning ( a combo of salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder) and a teaspoon of oyster sauce. When the veggies were all cooked I added 4 g of frozen shrimp. I like to use the frozen shrimp because the ice melts and creates a really yummy sauce infused with shrimp flavor.

Dinner Day 1 

For dinner I decided to go with something a little lighter. A chicken and onion salad. 

I generally make my own salad dressing, I like to use honey or agave in it but while on HCG I try to avoid agave as much as I can. So I caramelized some sweet vidalia onions to add that sweet component to my salad. I grilled some chicken with just house seasoning in coconut oil and put it all over a bed of mixed spring greens. 

Salad Dressing
Coconut oil melted
Yellow mustard
Apple Cider Vinegar
Red Wine Vinegar
Braggs Liquid Aminos
House seasoning
Sweetener to taste

Snack

Last night when we were all settled in and watching some Doctor Who together, I got really antsy to snack on something. Which is why I try to save my fruit for when I get really desperate. I reached for an apple to save the day. 

I cut up my pink lady apple into slices and then poured some melted coconut oil over the top of the slices. I sprinkled the apples with truvia and saigon cinnamon and stirred it all around. The coconut oil leaves an essence of coconut which just adds to the yumminess of the snack. I prefer my apples cold over warm, but I bet this would be delicious heated up. 

All in all, I ate well. Everything tasted delicious. I forgot how much I love to experiment with my recipes and HCG foods. I also forgot how the first few days are pretty difficult. When I woke up this morning and was down 2 pounds, I remembered how exciting this diet is and how well it works when you keep yourself in check. 

More Of My Story

It's been over 2 years since I started my HCG journey. It's been about a year and a couple months since I have taken HCG at all. Well, I gained some of my weight back after having my daughter, so here I am getting back to it.

 HCG is ordered and being shipped.

I'm preparing my lists.

I'm preparing myself.

I am super excited and very scared. I know that HCG works, it has worked in the past, I am just so afraid it is not going to work now.

Why? I don't know.

I have some severe anxiety about everything lately. I just want to get back to where I was in December of 2011. I was confident, I was on the right track to stay healthy.
Then...
I got pregnant.
I was fine throughout my whole pregnancy. After I had my daughter, things changed. I gained almost 40 pounds. Between having to stop breast feeding cold turkey and taking birth control pills, my body was severely thrown out of whack.  I gained half of my weight loss back in a matter of weeks. Which didn't help at all with my thrown out back and pinched nerves. So now, just 8 months later, I'm trying HCG again.

Since this blog is, MY story, OUR story, and HER Story, I'm allowed to share this journey with you. I really need to get better at this blogging thing. Accountability is a big part of success. Keep me accountable!

Baby Schedule

Most people think I'm crazy and a little obsessive. I just call it practical. Ever since my Story was born she has been on a schedule. It's not like a written down followed to the T schedule. I just try to keep structure in her life.

Since being with Andrew I have learned so much about ADHD and ODD and all sorts of fun things. And...I have learned that structure is THE BEST medicine. Who knows if Story will have any of these issues, I just like to be prepared.

Uhhh, so this blog is supposed to be easy. Right? But what about being a mother is easy? Nothing. Right? So I guess this is it for now. I'm hoping I can get back into the habit of writing. It's been so long since I put my thoughts down on "paper".

Chunker Munker

Story Abigail was born on October 9, 2012. She was 8 pounds 2 ounces and 19 inches long. 

I found out I was pregnant at around 3 weeks in and she was a week and a half late. It seemed like my pregnancy was never going to end. I told myself next time I think I'm pregnant, I'm waiting at least a month before peeing on the stick. 

She broke her clavicle on her travels into this world. I think she was trying to be just like Daddy, who had broken his around the same time we find out we were pregnant.  She had to be wrapped up to keep her arm still for a few weeks. I knew the moment the doctor said we had to keep her still, we were in trouble. 

Throughout my entire pregnancy, Story Abigail never stopped moving (and she still hasn't). The average doctors appointment would take us two to three times longer because they could never get her to stay put long enough to check her heartbeat. Even during labor she was wiggling and kicking all around. And just because the doctor said she had to keep still did not mean she was going to listen. She'd be wrapped in a receiving blanket with two strips of  foam strapped around her little body, yet somehow, she would get free. If you didn't know she was broken, you never would of guessed. 

At her first checkup, just three days old, she was lifting her head and doing pull ups on her doctors finger. She was unbelievable. Even the doctor asked me if I was sure that she was just 3 days old.  

Within a couple of weeks, we found out that our little princess was allergic to milk. She had pimples like a 15 year old pizza face. Wasn't gaining any weight. And was full of never ending gas. Within 1 week of switching her over to soy formula, she was up a whole 2 pounds...the Chunker Munker was born. 

My Story. Our Story. Her Story

My story. 

I spent 13 years believing I would never be able to get pregnant. 

Our story.

I spent 13 years crushing on the same guy. Then, I got him. Then we got pregnant.

And the rest is

Her Story.