Steal of a Deal

Today's tasks were all baby-related. I spent the first half of the day in the nursery cleaning out the nursery closet and sorting baby clothes by size. Some things went into the donate pile, and this afternoon I took those items to MLHS for their fall rummage sale. 

I had a little time, and they always need help, so I stuck around to help organize and set up for the sale (which is open to the public starting Wednesday). I've been a shopper at this sale for probably over two decades, which made it pretty easy to bring items to their respective locations... books to the left, shoes to the right, decor in the little back room, kitchen items on the long tables close to the entrance...

One perk of volunteering is that you get to shop early too. Come across something you like? Set it aside and buy it before you leave. 

I got some major deals today! For a grand total of $7, I got:

• a nursing pillow (on my baby registry, $45 value)
• a second nursing pillow cover ($20 value)
• two potential diaper caddies (if not good for diapers it can be used as an animal care caddy or some other organizational carrier)
• a baby floatie (also on my baby registry, $24 value)
• a 9x9 glass pan (been on my to-buy list for months)
• a stainless steel bowl that might be a great dog food dish (Misty has completely trashed her plastic food bowl)

I'll be back there on Saturday for the $3 bag day (aka Heintz sisters' favorite shopping day of the year)! 😉

Surprise Flowers

Last spring, I spread packets of wildflowers randomly across our yard and the goat pasture, hoping some would come up. I'd kind of forgotten about them until I spied this cheerful yellow bloom popping up. Maybe you can see the other two flowers to the left of it?

 

Mopsy took three kittens on a hunting expedition. They crossed the border into 'town' aka the development next door so they could get to the woods beyond. G and I didn't notice them back home the rest of the day. But bright and early the next morning, they were there to greet my in-laws for their morning treat. 

Goat Cough

We normally sleep with our windows open. Fresh air and the added bonus of hearing what our animals are up to. The rooster crows, Misty barks, the ducks quack... and lately we've heard one of the goats coughing. 

Since Ilsa died, we've been on high alert for anything that could indicate any of our other goats are falling ill. We want to catch anything in time to treat it before it becomes a major problem. We found out last time that a vet won't make an emergency call to a farm unless there has been prior care established. Guess we should bump that up on our list. 

Our plan is to use a holistic approach to our animal's health, which I thought meant natural remedies. Neither of us knows much about herbal remedies, so, I did a quick google search that brought me to this interesting article. Not anything super applicable in the moment, but the bottom of the page has a list of recommended books for futher reading. You know how I like further reading! 😉

Another quick google search revealed a site listing all the holistic veterinary services in Minnesota. None are close by. The nearest is in the Cities, and upon further investigation, all but one are small animal vet services. Hmm. The one that practices large animal care is in Red Wing and primarily does chiropractor and acupuncture. Hmm. Again, not quite what we're looking for.

Back to the book list.

Only one of the books was in the library system (and yes, I put a hold on it). The other three I found for sale on Amazon and on Acresusa.com. It was the first I'd ever heard of the second site. They have all sorts of eco-agricultural books for sale, much cheaper than on Amazon AND on sale this month. Now... how many books should I buy??? 😏

Smallest Cantaloupe in the World

The Northern Lights were out last night. Hard to see with the naked eye, but there was a faint tint to the sky to the south. Interestingly, I couldn't see anything to the north. They always show up better on camera. Here's a picture looking south:

It's supposed to freeze Sunday night, so I did a quick walk through my garden to see if there was anything to harvest that wouldn't withstand the cold. 

A few tomatoes, lots of celery, a couple green beans... A handful of peppers, but those might grow some more the next few days, so I left those. 

Near my trellis, I spotted two bright orange balls on the ground, both very small. They were the cantaloupes I'd noticed a few weeks ago, dropped from the dead vines. One of them had a hole in the bottom and was completely infested by picnic bugs. The other had a small soft spot on the side, but was otherwise intact! I cut it in half and G and I both got one side for breakfast. It tasted like a cantaloupe!

Fun fact: Baby H is 24 weeks today! According to thebump.com, babies at that age gestation are about the size of a cantaloupe. No doubt the cantaloupe they're using as a reference is much bigger than mine...😂

Out on a Limb

My orchid is growing a flower branch! 

The orchid was a present from my sister, probably about a year ago, and the flowers from back then are long gone. She told me that with some orchids, you can cut the flower stalk at a node, and it'll make a new flower branch from the stalk instead of growing a whole new stalk. Months ago, I did that and the stalk has stayed green. Now, new growth! 

I have a second orchid (present from G for my birthday back in April), again, flowers long gone. I tried the node cutting method on that plant and recently noticed the flower stalks have browned and shriveled. Guess that kind has to grow new stalks every time. 

Fermentation Fun

One of our wedding presents was this book about fermenting vegetables. It's been unused until this week when I had some shriveling beets needing to be used. 

First recipe - cumin basil pickled beets. Super easy, makes one quart. 

The last step is to weigh down the veggies so they stay submerged. The book gave a bunch of methods including a cabbage leaf, a boiled rock (to kill the bad bacteria), and a small glass jar. I went with the jar. You put a cloth over top to keep dust out. Two weeks from now they should be ready! 

My second recipe doesn't use salt; tea tannins make fermentation happen. Ingredients - beets, fennel, and cold brew black tea. 

I thought I had fennel in the fridge... actually, it's a leek. So I tweaked the recipe. I think the combination will still work. This one only takes a week to ferment, so we'll know pretty soon!

Hunting Field Trip

The kittens are in training; Mopsy is teaching them to hunt. 

My in-laws witnessed this the other day. Mopsy walked to the edge of our property, pausing every few steps to turn around and meow for two of her kittens to follow. They were pretty reluctant. 

She did get two to go with her, and the trio headed off into the deep wilderness of the neighborhood. They were gone all day! 

But they made it home eventually, safe and sound. 

Apple Cider Vinegar

Time to strain the apple cider vinegar. This is my first time making it with pulp from juicing. Not gonna lie, it was way more difficult. I don't think I'll be doing that again. 

Maybe it would be better if I actually had cheesecloth to strain it. Our pieces are too small, so I attempted to strain it with the old fashioned apple sauce squisher. 

It worked better than expected to drain the liquid. The pulp filled up the strainer so I pulled another strainer out. 

That worked even better. Or maybe I had just gotten down to the juicier parts of the pulp. 

The bottom of the jar had the most visible liquid, easiest to pour off but still requiring straining. 

It didn't take me too long to give up; we have plenty of apple cider vinegar left from last year and our chickens will enjoy eating the pulp. I ended up with about four cups. It's now in a glass jar sitting in darkness (aka our fruit room) for three months to continue curing. 

Crisp Autumn Day

The air this morning was the epitome of a crisp, fall day. It reminded me of a Camp Omega morning... Made me want a bonfire really bad. 

Relatives on my mom's side came to town for a family wedding this weekend, and we decided to host an impromptu get together the day before the wedding. 

G was a rockstar today. He mowed the lawn, cleaned everything up outside, and even set up strings of light down by our fire pit. 

And this evening was indeed the perfect night for a fire! 

Mayo and Mankato

Yesterday, Galen and I met with doctors at Mayo in Rochester for a second opinion on our situation.

They did another full anatomy scan and cervical check, and everything is the same as last week (or very minor changes), which is a really good sign. They also had me bear down while they were checking my cervix, and my cervix stayed closed. Also very reassuring. Baby was very wiggly and squirmy, which I take to mean is that he/she is strong!

Dr. Rose wasn't as concerned about infection as the doctors at U of M were. He said the sediment could be the beginnings of an infection... or some blood or baby's sloughed off skin cells. They see that fairly often. The fact that it's been a week and I haven't had any developed symptoms seems to indicate it's not an infection. Or if it is, it might be a slow-growing one. Something to keep an eye on, but not something that would prevent me from getting a cerclage in his opinion.

He said if we wanted a cerclage, first he would check if my cervix is still closed (via manual check, not ultrasound), then I'd be strapped to a contraction monitor for a few hours, no food/drink while that's happening. If after a few hours, no contractions, they would give me a cerclage.

Our other option was to continue taking progesterone daily. A medical study just came out in August studying the effects of progesterone in women whose cervixes are still closed but are less than 12cm. In that study, women not given any intervention had a preterm labor rate of 38%. Woment given progesterone had a preterm labor rate of 19%.

Dr. Rose said that neither option is guaranteed to work, and at this point, he would feel good about us picking either way. Both are good options and we should choose what makes the most sense to us.

He did a manual cervical check and verified that my cervix is indeed still closed. We opted to not do a surgical procedure and stay with the progesterone treatment.

This morning we met with our Mankato OB, Dr. Barnacle to come up with a plan moving forward. He is fine meeting with us every two weeks, so our next appointment will be when I hit 24 weeks. Lord willing, we'll make it that long.

I've been feeling good physically. No special medical instructions aside from don't lift heavy things, try to take it easy, but live life as normally as you can. Bedrest would probably make my situation worse, so stay active. I can still do moderate exercise (walks, yoga) and go up and down stairs.

Mentally... Still a roller coaster. It was a big relief to hear that things haven't changed much from last week. I'm still on high alert for contractions, probably to my detriment. Any strange feeling makes me wonder if it's just baby moving or labor starting. Or Braxton-Hicks! Fun fact: The only difference between labor-inducing contrations and Braxton-Hicks contractions is that one opens the cervix and the other doesn't. The only way you know what you're having is if you go into labor or not.

Sometimes I feel really positive and sure baby will stay put for a long time. Then I think about percentages and how likely is it that I'll be part of the successful group?

I made a pact with Galen that I'm not going to do any deep dives on the internet or read any more articles related to our situation. If I come across something I want to look up or read, I'll send it to him so he can filter out the pertinent information and pass it on to me. Hopefully that will keep me mostly sane. ;)

As of today, I am 22w4d. Lots of people have been wondering how things are going, so I made a Caring Bridge site to post updates. Fridays are my week 'turnover' day for this pregnancy, so my plan is to post there weekly to at least say how far along we are. Otherwise, consider that no news is good news!