My Aunt Finally Came!

Breakfast: none (slept in)
Snack: yogurt
Lunch: chicken and mixed veggies; baked potato w/1 tbsp light butter spread and 1/8 cup fat free cheddar; 1 12 oz. can regular Coca-Cola
Snack: apple
Dinner: lavash wrap w/fat free honey ham, fat free American cheese, grape tomatoes, and homemade pesto.

Hooray for modern medicine! 

Aunt Flo finally came around to visit me! Last night I was experiencing some cramping, but considering I've had one period in the past two years, I wasn't sure if it was really cramps or if I just had gas or something (amazing how one forgets...). Anyways, I woke up around 4 AM to go to the bathroom, as usual, and lo and behold... There it was!

Let me tell you, I had forgotten what it was like to menstruate, and I'm just bein' honest. I'd forgotten how often I'm supposed to change "things", how to deal with cramps, and I'm going to have to learn to keep tampons with me again (I haven't carried any with me in years). Thank goodness my MIL gave us a rice heating pad this Christmas (couldn't have been better timing) because I've had it on all day. The cramps aren't as horrible as I would expect after not having a period in so long, but they've been consistent since last night. I'm still expecting a flood of pain to set in anytime, because I just expected this first one to be horrible and heavy, which it hasn't been. Here's to hoping for the best?

I'm just so happy it's here, which is so strange to say (and admit to the world, ha). I know I've been sharing way too much information on here lately, but I guess I figure if it's too much then don't read it? I want to remember every part of our journey to parenthood... The good, the bad, and the bloody (har-har-har).

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On a completely different note, if you noticed, I used homemade pesto sauce in my wrap tonight. It was beyond delicious and totally healthy, so I will now share the recipe with you... Found here.

• 2 cups packed basil leaves, 2-3 bunches (I bought a package from Walmart and just broke the big leaves off. Don't know that it was exactly 2 cups, I just used the whole thing)
• 1/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted in oven at 350 degrees for ~5-7 minutes (I used pecans)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 large clove garlic, quartered (I used ~5 tsp minced garlic)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

I was inspired to make pesto sauce because my favorite sandwich from Quizno's (admittedly the only sandwich I've ever gotten) is the pesto turkey bullet. My mouth waters just thinkin' about it. But, I'm not gonna lie, my pesto tasted pretty darn close to theirs. Might have just had a little bit more of a basil kick than theirs, but it was delicious either way! This recipe yields about a cup of pesto, and the site said a serving is 2 tablespoons, but I used a single tablespoon for my wrap and it was MORE than plenty. 1 tablespoon of this sauce is 51 calories, according to myfitnesspal. Heck, I'll just show you the ingredients I used!

I didn't know the exact brand of basil I used, so I just did generic, but the rest are the exact ingredients and measurements I used. I set it to 16 servings because there are 16 tablespoons in a cup and I use 1 tablespoon as a serving.

Oh, I remembered that the 17 Day Diet has a whole chapter on what to eat while you're on your period (which I've never had to learn about until now) and basically it means I get to go straight to the 3rd cycle (eating good carbs and starches). So we bought some bread and lavash today to make sandwiches and wraps, which makes preparing lunches for the week ahead of time a breeze, ha. 

You know, guys... I'm really happy. And that's all I have to say. 

'Night y'all!