Cooking and Stewing

I’ve already spent 5 hours today cooking up a storm for Thanksgiving tomorrow, and there’s still plenty to be done. I really enjoy spending all that time in the kitchen, chopping and blanching and baking and simmering, but I have to admit that being pregnant throws a bit of a wrench into the process. While I was finishing up chopping, washing and blanching the chard (one of the biggest pains of all my tasks), my stomach started hurting. I’ve been feeling kind of bloated and full all afternoon (couldn’t have anything to do with the massive pile of spaghetti I had for lunch, could it?) but then it just seemed to get worse.

So I sat down to take a break and do some baby-surfing (as Andy calls it when I spend time online cruising the baby message boards). There have been a few more poor girls in the past few days who have had miscarriages, and reading all about it freaked me out. I don’t begrudge anyone at all their right to post about the tough parts of pregnancy as well as the happy parts-that’s what those forums are for, in my opinion-support in good times and bad. But I should probably keep away from some of the tougher discussions at my more vulnerable times.

Overall I feel like I’ve done pretty well so far not letting my worries get the best of me. But it is scary to realize how common it is to have miscarriages in the first trimester. You hear about the statistics but somehow don’t realize that translates into not really being able to breathe easy for the first 12 or 13 weeks. I also know that they say there’s not much you can do either way if it’s going to happen. But I read this one post today where someone said their sister’s doctor told her, after one miscarriage, that in her next pregnancy if she starts to feel any pain she should sit down and rest. So does that mean then that you can do something about it? It made me worry that I’ve been too active, or that if I start to feel bad at all at any time that I should rest and put my feet up or something. I don’t know. Hearsay isn’t the best way to get advice, I know.

My next doctor’s appointment isn’t until 2 weeks from Friday. Wanna bet on whether there’s a phone call or two between now and then? Hopefully I won’t have reason to. I do feel better now after relaxing for an hour or so. I’m going to have some tasty tacos from Chipotle for dinner, and then instruct Andy on how to make the bechamel for the Swiss chard gratin while I chop some veggies for the chorizo-corn bread stuffing. Yum. I do love Thanksgiving …