-Jr Family Blog

1. The unborn baby cannot verbally complain about food he is fed. He cannot refuse to eat what the mother passes on to him.

2. No diapers to change yet!

3. The mother can sleep for a few months. If she keeps herself hydrated and eats right, she should not have a big problem with going to the bathroom a lot at night.

4. The mother has a huge reason to eat healthy: no smoking, no drinking alcohol, no taking drugs (this includes most if not all pharmaceutical drugs), no junk food, less fast food, no caffeine . . . more healthy food, more clean air, more water, more vitamins.

5. People like to give things to pregnant people. I could list a lot of things people gave to us during both pregnancies and I might if someone asks in a comment.

6. No cumbersome menstrual cycles for the mother for several more months, especially if she will breastfeed her baby.

7. Many dreams, and a great time to become closer to God in time for the baby’s Holy Baptism (for babies who will be raised as Roman Catholics).

I used to store everything in plastic and eat out of plastic. Now when I come home from the grocery store, I open the cereal and pour it out of the plastic and into clean glass containers. I take snacks with us in small glass containers. I have been rinsing used glass spaghetti sauce jars for a long time and putting rubber bands and twistie ties in them, and now I also put string cheese and vegetables in them for the fridge. Instead of wrapping ground beef in aluminum foil or plastic, today I put about four pounds of beef in a rinsed metal serving dish and froze it that way. (Note: it was very hard to separate the beef when I wanted to use it, so now I freeze individual pounds on small plates in the freezer.) I can’t seem to get plastic out of the kitchen completely but I am sure trying. Glass has no chemicals that come off onto food when heated or stored for long periods of time so that is why I put snacks in glass for car rides that are likely to get warm – remember that the car’s temperature can get quite high when you park it and leave it. I bought three glass containers in a set from the thrift store and it is nice and thick and sturdy and I have not broken any glass in my home. The openings are big enough that I can stick my hand in to feel for crumbs when I rinse them out between uses. I do keep it up and out of reach of my toddler and I watch her closely when she carries the little container with her snacks so that she will be safe.