The Swelling Will Go Down, Right? Right?

My Weekend, in a Nutshell:

Uniform: Nightgown & robe; Company: Puppers (and Austin of course); Activity: Getting my  Friday night swollen manatee feet to shrink down to normal

So... I had noticed on Wednesday that the feet and ankles were looking mighty swollen. By Thursday, it was clear they were, so I started elevating my feet at work and staying off of them. Still pretty swollen. Friday, I had a work event that my team manages. Typically in years past, i'm running around backstage with a headset on. This year, our venue (the Georgia World Congress Center) was much more organized and, thanks to one of my amazing and thoughtful team members, I was able to sit down for the most part (outside of the multiple bathroom trips, trips to the water cooler, and the 1/2 mile walk to/from the parking deck before and after the event). Between the bit of walking I had to do to get from place to place, the short visit to the networking reception, and a post-event team celebration at Biergarten, by the time I got home around 9 p.m. my feet were HUGE. Like scary big. I kind of freaked (so did Austin!) and vowed to stay off my feet all weekend and passed out!

Saturday I slept in until 7 or so and had a day of rest! I stayed propped up, only moving around to do laundry, and drank tons of water. I read half of On Becoming Baby Wise, and me and Austin caught up on our TV - Castle, The Good Wife, Shark Tank, etc. We also attempted to watch a couple of movies - none very good. My foot went down considerably - yay! I have ankles!

Sunday was very similar, although I was a bit more active. We sorted our paint, getting ready for the painters who come Thursday (yay!), and I finished On Becoming Baby Wise.

This book focused on Parent-Directed Feeding (or PDF), and how to get your baby on a schedule to give your baby and the family a good night's sleep. They went over multiple benefits. I like this book because it's somewhere in between hyperscheduling (clock-focus only) and on-demand feeding (baby cue-focus only). It takes into account both, as well as the context and allows parents to make the best assessment for the baby, while keeping in mind baby's need for food, mom's need to produce milk, etc. I won't be following it to a T or anything, but I definitely appreciated its 4 Babywise Phases, the sample schedule, ideas for waketime activities for infant and very clear 'healthy growth indicators' for each week of baby's life to ensure they're getting enough food. Definitely don't read this book if you want casual language, a cutsie/humerous voice, etc. It reads as though it was a Thesis turned into a book (I actually so think it was just because of how they're saying things like read the chart below or above when it's really on the right or left). The language is direct and it's very text book.

Austin went to the grocery store and dropped off a big donation at Goodwill (my purging has been going well!), and when he got back I made two new recipes - one in the crockpot, Crockpot Chicken & Wild Rice, and one on the stove/in the oven, Four-Cheese Spaghetti Pie. I'll post them both this week!

Q: What was the highlight of your weekend? Mine was definitely rest - I slept 8 - 9 hours each night, took naps, I just really felt like I took care of myself to get that swelling down. I also drank TONS of water (like more than the usual TON of water. :) ) I'd have to say preparing for Beckett and reading books like this is also a big highlight. I have so much to learn, but really feel more confident every day, and more excited for her arrival!!