Learning to Roll with It

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." These words by Theodore Roosevelt have been my mantra for the past few weeks.  It has been a crazy two weeks of unexpected hiccups, as well as some unexpected gifts.  Let me begin with backing up two weeks ago when we took our Maternity Ward tour at the hospital where our sweet little angel will be born this summer.  I am not a fan of hospitals (not sure who is, but I'm definitely not) so I was a little apprehensive.  Sometimes, I think it's best to go in blindly when you can't turn away, and at other times, I think it's good to have an idea of what you're in for.  This, childbirth, is one of those times I feel like a little preview of what to expect might be good.  We made a mid-morning date out of the whole thing by going on the tour, and then going out for a delicious brunch!  Surprisingly, the tour was not as overwhelming as I had conjured it up to be in my head.  Whew! The hospital is nice, the labor and delivery rooms are up to date, and I feel pretty comfortable with having to spend a mere 36 hours there when the time comes!  I will do what I can, with what I have, where I am.
The following day upon waking for another work week to begin, the hubs woke up not feeling so well. I wasn't too concerned, as I know plenty of germs are cultivating these days, and our weather pattern, or lack of has not helped these germs.  If you know my husband, he does not get sick, and he surely never stays home from work.  Well, let's just say, whatever this was, put him in the bed for five, FIVE, straight days and then some.  The first trip to the doc, he was told it was just a severe chest cold.  Um, I'm no doctor, but I've had chest colds, and they don't keep you in bed for 5 days, once you get up, take a hot shower, you're good to move about the day fairly well.  This is when I had to repeat the words, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." to myself several many times throughout the days.  Coming home to find the love of my life still feeling yucky just wasn't setting well with me.  Poor guy was up all night coughing, hence getting no rest, hence not getting well. Finally, the following Monday he returned to work, only to land himself back at the doctor again a day later.  This time, they gave him the diagnosis of RSV, really? I thought only babies got RSV, apparently not!  Well, needless to say, for the first week Kevin was home with this gunk, I felt fine,  kept knockin' on wood, that I had missed being contaminated.  Unfortunately, I think I've been hit!  Not too bad, but enough to want to drain my head.
All this time while my hubby was sick in bed, I was running around with work, grad school assignments, and trying to keep the house clean and disinfected.  Then one night while sleeping oh so lightly, (which I am not a light sleeper), the dog awoke us by ringing his bell to go out.  The saying, " when it rains, it pours" rings true as the dog was now sick to his stomach!!!  For two nights, I believe the good Lord was trying to give us a taste of what waking every 2 hours would be like, because that's how often the dog had to go outside in the middle of the night.  I pray to be given the strength to get through the days when I am sleep deprived because I do not function well on little sound sleep.  Okay, let's wrap this up... so needless to say, my bedside manner has been tested, and the hubby and dog are back on the road to good health.  The dog has pretty much gotten back to normal and the hubby is slowly but surely getting there, while I'm hopefully also getting rid of this junk!
Unexpected gifts during this time have been the sunshine through the gray skies. While hubby was sick in bed  one Friday morning, I proceeded to the doctor for my second trimester Comprehensive Ultrasound.Can we say overwhelming on soooo many levels?  First of all, going by myself was nerve-racking because I knew Kevin would have gone had he been well.  Secondly, meeting with a genetic counselor before the ultrasound and having to answer all kinds of questions that I'm not 100% certain I knew all of the answers to, I seriously almost burst into tears. Not to mention the fact that I was reminded of my ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE by being offered more screenings and tests, which I declined.  But I managed to pull myself together! And then, the ultrasound... WOW!!!! What a miraculous experience to barely be showing, but when you get to see inside your belly, and realize that life is growing inside you AND all the important organs are functioning properly!!! I really do try not to let my previous experience with a miscarriage suck my excitement and hope for this pregnancy out of me, but I will admit that I get nervous every time I'm headed to the doctor, and sometimes I have to tell myself to keep breathing when they put that ultrasound or doppler on my belly. While I got to experience this wonderful gift of seeing our baby, I feel sad that Kevin did not. Since this was the day we were going to find out the gender of the baby, it was a little disappointing to have to close my eyes and wait until I got home from work that night to find out.  I asked the US technician to put the gender in a sealed envelope, and I slipped it away in my purse and went about my workday.  Stay tuned, I'll reveal in another post....

Birthday Celebration 2013

February 27th is a very special day in our house, not because it's my birthday, but because it also happens to be my hubby's birthday!  I know what you're thinking, but we did not time this pregnancy to add another birthday on February 27th!  Two is enough!  It can be challenging to celebrate both birthdays because I like presents and to take a little trip, and well, so does Kevin, so it can be overwhelming to choose sometimes.  This year we decided to go to Ashville, North Carolina for the weekend.  We've been several times before, but only for a day trip to the Biltmore House. Ashville has so much more to offer than just the Biltmore, although that is pretty impressive.  Kevin being the beer connosiuer that he is really wanted to explore the local craft brews of Ashville, and well, I said I'd be his designated driver and beautiful company since I'm not beer tasting these days.  I was very excited about the local food spots we had to choose from, and what pregnant woman doesn't want to eat?  Our original pick for a lunch spot upon arriving in Ashville, Roman's Sandwich Shop was closed that weekend, so we opted for what we found nearby, as it was getting to the point, I HAD  to eat!  But after that we walked around the Old Grove Arcade and downtown area, peaking in local shops, taking in scenery, and a little visit to Chocolate Fetish.  I was tame, I only had 1 dark chocolate salted caramel...the entire weekend. I didn't even buy any for the trip home!  Impressive, isn't it?  Then we ventured down to the Ashville Brewing Company.

This is where things got a little interesting.  While Kevin tried several of the local brews there, we also spotted a cute little couple walking their pig!  A PIG ON A LEASH! Good thing they came back down the street, because it was just too interesting not to talk to them.  I wasn't alone, several of the patrons in the bar went outside to take pictures and find out about this domesticated animal. Just so you know, it's name was Porkchop, she was about a year old, and yes, she is housebroken... in a litter box!

For dinner, we chose  to try Lab, also known as Lexington Avenue Brewery.  Wow!  I don't know about the beer, Kevin does though, but we started by ordering two appetizers, and that pretty much satisfied us for the night.  The atmosphere was very cool, industrial almost, dark and cozy, bar height tables, and seats around the bar, as well as small patio out front.  It was quite crowded so we opted for two seats off the side of the bar, but the service was not compromised!  Kevin ordered a tasting flight to start, and our apps consisted of Soft Pretzels with cheese and mustard dipping sauce, and a flatbread covered with honey scented ricotta, spinach, prosciutto, and figs!  YUMMO is all I can say!  Both were delicious and as I said, other than a side salad a little later, that was enough food for us! I would definitely recommend this place, and we plan to go back again when we are in Ashville. 

Sunday morning we went to brunch at Curate, a recommendation from a friend, and all I can say is muy bueno!  Curate is a tapas restaurant that serves up tons of little plate delights.  We decided to start on their special brunch menu, Kevin ordered the huevos rotos con jamon iberico fermin... this... it was a delicious little bowl of crispy fried potatoes, iberico ham, all topped by a fried egg! When he poked into the egg, the yolk dripped out, softening the crispy potato chips, and then when tossed together you got a mouthful of wonderful in each bite!

I started with the torrijas, a sweet spanish french toast dish made of challah bread that had been soaked in a citrus cinnamon custard, served with a side of fresh berries and sherry sabayon.  Until recently, I had no idea what a sabayon was, but when it was served alongside this french toast, it was a light creamy mousse-like mixture that was delicious with every bite of the french toast!  I literally wanted to lick my plate on this one! 

Tapas are such small plates that we didn't stop there, but Kevin isn't too adventurous when it comes to these things, so while I could have ordered anything off that menu, we opted to share our next small plate, which was a simple, but delicious toasted artisan bread topped with completely pulped tomatoes and Manchego cheese.  If you look at that, it's like Kevin thought he was getting pizza at the tapas joint! Again, not only was this place a hit with the food, but the atmosphere was simple, rustic, and classy! Another place I can't wait to go back to when visiting Ashville.

All of that was just the birthday celebration over the weekend!  Later in the week, on our actual birthday we tried a new little place in Fort Mill for dinner. I will save that for another post, but in the meantime, wipe that drool off your chin!