Though it’s really week nine, but whatev.
We went to my first OB appointment Friday and my doctor used a special amplifier on my abdomen to allow us to hear the fetal heartbeat. whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh! it said. Best part of the exam.
Doc also said I need to basically graze all day, and load up on protein and fats to keep nausea at bay. So cheese, yogurt, lean meats, nuts, etc. I am now able to eat more foods, so I need to pace myself a lot better. Friday night I literally ate pickles and ice cream (not at once).
Did you know there is something called a “push present”? It was invented by greedy mommies who think they deserve diamonds and expensive handbags as a gift from their husbands for delivering the baby. It is really called that, too. Disgusting. There are threads about this on one of my pregnancy forums. Fortunately a lot of women share my view that this idea is extremely distasteful. One woman started a thread about how mad she was at her husband for not giving her a card and push present after the baby was born. Lots of people responded with, “um isn’t the BABY the ‘push present’?”
I thought I might be showing already, but turns out I’m mainly just bloated. I need more water.
Yesterday we finally started building our backyard vegetable garden. We got 36 cinder blocks and are building a 16″ high stone wall in a square, which will be filled with a raised bed. The cool part is that the holes in the middle of the blocks will be filled in with dirt and I will plant herbs there — the kind that keep pests out. I need to know a few of these besides onions. Anyone?
I started my seeds on Saturday: tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, zucchini, parsley, basil, thyme. Carrots and radishes will be started outdoors.
Mint and pennyroyal are supposed to be good for repelling bugs. Marigolds are planted around tomatoes to keep pests away.
I’ll go look for my companion planting book and see if I can find others.
thanks! that’s good info.
I’m looking at “Carrots Love Tomatoes,” a book on companion planting, and it has a list of plants and which pests they repel. In general, it says that well nourished, organically grown plants attract fewer insects because they produce less of amino acid that attracts bugs.
Some of the heavy hitter from the book’s list:
Basil deters flies and mosquitoes.
Garlic: Japanese beetles, aphids, weevils, fruit tree borers, spider mites
Marigold: Mexican beetles, nematode, many other insects
Nasturtium: Aphids, squash bugs, striped, pumpkin beetles, wooly aphids
Pot Marigold [I don’t really know what the difference between the two marigolds is]: Asparagus beetles, tomato worms, and many other insects.
Rosemary: Cabbage moths, bean beetles, carrot flies, and malaria mosquitoes.
Tansy: Flying insects, japanese beetles, striped cucumber beetles, squash bugs and ants
Wormwood: Animal intruders, cabbageworm butterflies, black flea beetles, malaria mosquitoes.
Pennyroyal is supposed to repel ants (personally, I didn’t have a whole lot of luck with this) and peppermint is supposed to be good for ants and white cabbage butterflies. Mint is a terrible weed once it starts, so keeping it in the cinder blocks is a good idea.
When all else fails, I use diamataceous earth on the bugs. It does seem to keep their numbers down.
my dad bought my mom a ruby ring for when I was born and an emerald one for when my brother was born. I told steve a while back I wouldn’t be opposed to such a thing should the time ever come. Not necessarily on that level but, well, it’s sort of nice of the guy to be like um, wow, so…you did that. I can’t imagine what you went through so here is a pretty for my pretty.
It’s great if on his own the father decides to give a gift like that, but what I’m talking about is the concept of a Push Present being expected by the mother, and how some women even ask for one. I think that’s totally tacky.
yeah although I don’t think it’s as bad as demanding big-ass engagement rings. but yeah any sort of demand of jewelry isn’t nice.
Lemon verbena is supposed to be good for keeping the bugs away.
my experience with marigolds and nasturtiums may be true for insects but SLUGS love them. Considering the climate, the more important consideration might be what repels slugs. (my only safe repellent is a swath of coarse sand: slugs don’t like it on their tummies!). Any other ideas? Mom