Menu Plan Monday & Baby Guess

Last night I almost thought it was baby time. I have been having tons of Braxton Hicks contractions lately, but last night I woke up around 3 am with mildly painful contractions that were steadily coming every 8 minutes and felt quite different from Braxton Hicks. After trying for about 45 minutes to get back to sleep (which was impossible since they were painful enough to keep me awake and kept coming regularly), I decided to get up and putter around the house to see if anything changed before waking my husband up.  I downloaded an app for timing contractions...and...I never even used it. After I walked around the house for awhile and drank some water, they completely stopped after coming regularly for about an hour and a half. So, back to bed I went! This is the second episode I have had like this, so it might be hard to tell early on when it really IS baby time. It reminds me a bit of being pregnant with Nathanael because I had contractions on and off for 3 days before I finally went into active labour. I remember calling my mom around 10 pm to say that maybe it was time, but I really didn't think so since they weren't overly painful and were still starting and stopping. Because it was so cold and stormy, she decided to make the drive in anyway. Well, by the time she got to our house, I was very much in active labour and it was time to get to the hospital! It will be interesting to see how this one turns out.

Since we are expecting this baby to arrive any day now, I am trying to plan meals that are simple and use ingredients that I have on hand (mostly pantry items). This way, if I don't end up making the recipe, I won't be wasting any ingredients. We will probably make another quick grocery trip to pick up a bit of fresh produce and dairy to get us through this week, but no big shopping trips are planned for the next while. If I feel up to it and have time, I am going to try to bake up some muffins and cookies to add to the freezer.  If this baby does not come this upcoming week, it will definitely be coming the week after that, so this menu plan should get us through until baby's arrival. Then, we will be relying on our freezer meals.

Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken over Penne, Salad, Peas/Carrots

Crockpot Balsamic Beef over Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus, Salad

Cheesy Beans & Rice, Salad, Tortilla Chips

Breakfast for Dinner (Pancakes, Bacon, Eggs)

Perfect Perogie Casserole

Gaucho Casserole

Baby Guess: Just for fun...if you want to, feel free to leave a comment guessing baby's gender, weight, and birthday.

Facts: Our daughter was 11 days overdue and weighed 9 lbs 2 oz
         : Our son was 8 days overdue and weighed 9 lbs 8 oz
         : If I was under a doctor's care, my due date would probably have been set for February 8th
         : The midwives have set my due date for February 14th.

My guess is February 16th (though I'm starting to think/hope it's going to arrive a bit sooner), weighing 9 lbs 10 oz. We know the gender, so I have to keep that a secret :-).