Braxton Hicks or Real Contraction? How to Tell – Ep. 138

Shanna

Hi, welcome to Big Fat Positive with Shanna and Laura. On this week's episode, we have our weekly check-ins. We have our special segment, They Said What, where we talk about confusing emojis, shocking photos, HGTV, and more. And we wrap it up with our BFPs and BFNs. Let's get started. Hi, welcome to episode 138. Hey there, Laura. Well, hello. Oh, you sound just full of energy. You poor thing. Yes, yes. Okay. Tell us what's going on. Okay.

Laura

I'm just actually really enjoying being like in a quiet room all by myself right now. Oh, that's nice. Yes. Soak it up. So we can record as long as we want. This might be a three hour episode of just Laura taking deep breaths.

Shanna

That's going to be the listeners meditation episode.

Laura

Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly what everyone tunes in for. Okay. So I am 37 weeks pregnant. I'm at the end of my 37th week.

Shanna

What? Oh my God. Okay, tell me about it.

Laura

I used it on a mint leaf that you shoved up his nose.

Shanna

They do smell good, so I gotta give them that. I would probably shove some up my nose too.

Laura

Yeah, so out in our yard, I have some mint plants and like some pots. And one of his favorite things to do is to go and tear the leaves off and smell them. And then he walks over and like makes me smell them. And we've done this for months. This is just like a routine, right? And I don't even care about him tearing the plant up because mint grows like a weed. So this week, we were just out in the yard and he was going and doing his tearing off the mint leaves and making me smell them. And then I noticed that he like was shoving them up his nose.

Shanna

I can't get enough of the mint leaf.

Laura

The way I actually noticed it was he was like, Trying to like sniff it and I was like, wait, do you have it in your nose?

Shanna

Oh my God, I'm so glad because I was like, how did he react? I could see Cece losing her mind if I tried to do this to her.

Laura

Yeah, I thought he might find it really weird, but no. I did it and I got it out to him. He was like, maw? Maw? I was like, I'm not doing more. Little weirdo.

Shanna

Oh, God. Well, I'm glad it was a success. That's cool.

Laura

And I didn't know if it would work on something kind of flimsy like a leaf, but it worked. So there you go.

Shanna

All right. Good. All right.

Laura

So there's that. And then the real quick thing I wanted to talk about because I thought it might help people, maybe you as well, is that we have had a bit of a potty training setback this week and I wanted to talk about it. We actually had a little bit of a regression a couple weeks ago and I didn't know what to attribute it to because he was doing really, really well. And it was just with Pete. It was just a thing where like, He'd be playing playing playing and then he'd go pee pee and I'd look down and he's like peed all over the floor And he had been really great about prompting and like always, you know, he hadn't had accidents for weeks and weeks and Then I realized when he was having trouble falling asleep for some naps and I noticed a lot of drool And I stuck my finger in his mouth at risk of, you know, losing the finger that those two year molars were coming in.

Shanna

Oh, so that you think caused the setback.

Laura

So then I went onto my Facebook group that's like all about the oh crap potty training method and did a search and there were so many posts about molars causing the two-year molars coming in causing a regression. So it seems to be a really common thing. So I just wanted to mention it because if you run into that or anyone else is running into that, I just want to reassure you that it's not going to last forever. A couple of weeks ago, he got three of his four bowlers in at once, which must have really sucked. Then this week, he's starting to get the fourth one in. Low and behold, he's starting to have pee accidents here and there.

Shanna

And some sympathy. You know, it's like, oh, poor buddy, like he's dealing with something painful. And that's a lot for a little two-year-old to all do and keep on top of it once. That's the potty and everything.

Laura

So you can feel for the little guy. Yeah, I do feel for him. So just wanted to mention that. So that's what's going on with the toddler. OK. Woo. So pregnancy. Mm-hmm. Home stretch, if I don't go into labor this coming week, I will have a baby via plan C section eight days from now. Oh my gosh. On my 30, the day I turned 39 weeks. Oh, wow. And I just, I didn't remember how hard it was at this point. Like I think I had blocked it out.

Shanna

Yeah.

Laura

Or maybe I just didn't have a toddler then. And so it wasn't this hard and it wasn't a pandemic.

Shanna

But that's true circumstances are just slightly different this time around.

Laura

Yeah, but I am just I'm so tired. I'm so out of breath. And one problem that we're having that's pandemic related is that my mom was supposed to come down last weekend. My mom and my stepdad to start helping, you know, she had planned to come down two weeks before my due date. so that she could start taking care of the toddler and we could do some nesting and just get our last minute stuff all together and not have to worry about if I go into labor early. And then things got a little messed up because of the pandemic because she was able to get her first dose of the vaccine up in Portland where she's been living with my stepdad. And we realized that if she came down when she wanted to, she might not be able to get the second dose. which is really important for getting your full immunity. So instead, she stayed up there an extra 10 days.

Shanna

Yeah. Oh my gosh. If you do, I guess it's just all on you, huh?

Laura

Well, yeah. So what we have is we have a contingency plan where we have friends from my mommy and me class who we were sort of potted up with for a while until the numbers got really bad and then we Backed off, but we would see them about once a week for months and my toddler like loves the the parents like loves the kid this kid is 20 minutes older than my toddler like they're the exact same age they're little buddies and They're you know, they're they're basically like family to us now. And so they are back up. So oh good If I go into labor, we're calling them, they're gonna, you know, the dad's gonna come over probably and help take care of my toddler. And, you know, I think he'll be comfortable with them. And since they have a kid the literal exact same age, they know exactly what to do with him, you know.

Shanna

Good.

Laura

So that's good. But yeah, I'm just feeling very, it's just it's starting to feel very real. And boy, do I wish I had help right now.

Shanna

Oh, I bet.

Laura

Other than Corey, Corey is being a very big help. I mean, I really can't like under emphasize how helpful he's being right now. And I would be so lost if he wasn't like a great equal partner and super good at taking care of the toddler and stuff. But Our house is a fucking disaster. Just a complete mess. We've gotten the bare minimum of stuff done. We had to put together a new wardrobe because we didn't have anywhere to put the dresser drawers or whatever.

Shanna

Oh, right.

Laura

From Ikea because we didn't have anywhere to put the baby clothes. And so like we got that done. But like, you know, piled the cardboard up outside in our yard because we didn't have the energy or time to like dispose of it properly, you know, stuff like that. So I'm really looking forward to my mom getting here and hoping I don't go into labor beforehand.

Shanna

Yeah. So how many days will you have with her before the scheduled C-section? Like three?

Laura

Sounds like it. Well, it kind of depends too if she has any bad reactions to the vaccine because they know that people are having like fever and chills and stuff. So, and she has to drive from Portland down to LA, which is a long drive. So hopefully like three, four days, maybe when I'm in the hospital, they can get the house into order.

Shanna

Yes, that's a good idea. So how do you feel about possibly going into labor earlier? Are you feeling nervous or like, get this baby out here sooner than later? Like you're welcoming it?

Laura

It's so hard because like, yeah, part of me is just like, God, this baby out of me. I want it out. We'll figure it out even if we don't have help. On the other hand, I would really like my mom not to miss out on being there, you know, for that and to have the extra help. But I will say, I think two nights ago, I might have gotten my first real contraction. Oh. Ooh. I don't know for sure, Shanna, because I never had a contraction with my first baby. Not a real one. I mean, not a real one. Like I had Braxton Hicks all the time, but They were just slightly uncomfortable, but not painful, right? For me, Braxton Hicks would just be like, my stomach would kind of clench up. It would get rock hard, but it wasn't painful.

Shanna

Right, I remember that.

Laura

So this time, I was in bed, and I turned onto my back, and all of a sudden, I got the feeling of my stomach contracting, being rock hard. they are with Braxton Hicks. But in addition, really severe pain in my pelvis and a lot of pressure feeling on my cervix. And then I was like, is this the contraction? It hurt. I had to catch my breath. You know, I definitely couldn't just sleep through it.

Shanna

No, that sounds like it could be. Did you like start a timer to see if another one would come?

Laura

No, because it didn't really occur to me until like after was over. And then I was like, well, if another one comes, then I'll I'll figure it out. And another one didn't come. So I was just like, well, who knows? Like. Was it an actual contraction or was I just like turning over and made the baby jam into my cervix or something?

Shanna

Yeah, that might be more likely because having look I'm no expert everybody who listens knows that But it seems to me having a one-off actual Contraction and then it not coming back is that common is that possible? I don't really know I

Laura

Well, I've heard people can be in prodromal labor for like weeks. So I don't, does that count? Like what, just having one contraction in the middle of the night and then, or maybe am I having other contractions and I'm just kind of like, but they're mild and I'm not noticing and- Maybe. I don't know.

Shanna

I don't know, Shanna. And did you ever get that cervix check from your doctor?

Laura

Oh my gosh. I can't believe in all my exhaustion. I didn't do that update. Oh, I did. You were right. It wasn't that bad. It was slightly just slightly uncomfortable. And I am zero centimeters dilated as of Wednesday. So who knows?

Speaker 1

Yeah. But yeah.

Laura

But he wasn't he wasn't like, oh, you better get ready. He was just like, yeah. He's like, that's a closed cervix right there. I was like, OK.

Shanna

Well, maybe that contraction did a little something, and now you're further along. I guess we'll find out at your next appointment.

Laura

Yeah, which is actually not until Thursday because I have to get a COVID test ahead of time. And so I couldn't go any earlier than Thursday because I needed to have the COVID test within four days of my planned C-section.

Shanna

Okay.

Laura

So there's that. So, yeah. And if I test positive, they just assume Cory's positive and he won't be able to join me in the C-section.

Shanna

Oh, no. You won't test positive. It'll be fine.

Laura

I mean, considering I haven't left the house in like two weeks, I can't imagine how.

Shanna

No, unless the cats have it, which that's impossible too. So you'll be fine.

Laura

Oh, no. Those cats will be the death of me.

Laura

Anyway, I feel like I've been rambling. I'm so brain fogged listeners if you guys are in your late third trimester and listening to this my heart goes out to you because I am feeling it right now and anyone I hear about these women who go to like 42 weeks and I just cannot even imagine so kudos to all of you. Yes. Oh, Shanna, I feel like I just talked forever.

Shanna

No, it's good. It's good. Like you have a toddler and you're at the home stretch and it's all interesting and we want to hear about it. But why don't we take a quick break and come back and I'll do my check-in. Okay, you're so generous.

Laura

Thank you. We'll be right back.

Shanna

All right. Well, we have a little bit of a mystery going on over here in our household. It's one of those, what the hell, rash is on my kid's skin. Oh, no. Mysteries. I know. I don't even know if I would describe it as a rash. She's been getting these little bumps on her chest, shoulder, and this time they came up on her forehead. And they do seem a little itchy. And there's not a lot of them. And every single time she gets them, I'm like, chicken pox. She's got chicken pox. And I just wait to see if more come. And I don't know. I guess there's other symptoms that go along with chicken pox. Do you know anything about it? Well, I know that our children have been immunized against chicken pox A. Mm-hmm.

Laura

There's a funny story about that, but I'll get to that. Oh, okay. And then, well, yeah, I guess I'm making assumptions. B, your child has not seen any other children to contract chickenpox from in what, 10 months? That doesn't answer your question about what the rash is. I'm just like, that makes me very skeptical that she actually has chicken pox.

Shanna

I know. I know. It's probably very unlikely. And the couple of times she's gotten this in the past, nothing develops beyond these little bumps. You know, it's not like her full body. But the reason I do think chickenpox is because back when she was 12 months old, that's when she was due for her first chickenpox vaccination. And I remember vaguely, I wish I could remember more specifically, but at that appointment, she was sick. Like she was sick a lot during that winter. Like she had the flu and then she had bronchitis and all this stuff. And so I was talking to the doctor and like, should she get her vaccines while she's ill or not. He's like, well, let's get the most important ones, which I think was like measles or something like that. And he's like chickenpox.

Laura

Well, I know that when I wasn't sure if I needed my measles vaccine, they did a antibody test to check to see if I needed it. And I didn't because I had like great antibodies to measles. So I bet there's a chicken pox antibody test.

Shanna

I should check in with the doctor about that because I'd be curious to know. Yeah. And it's probably highly unlikely that she would get it anyway if most children are being vaccinated for it. It's not like it's going around like it was when we were kids. Oh my god, did you have it when you were little?

Laura

Yeah, I have a super bougie story about it. I got it in Rome, Italy.

Shanna

Oh, how fancy of you.

Laura

My mom worked for a pharmaceutical company that was based in Rome. And so she had negotiated that she could bring her family along on some of these business trips. And lo and behold, I got it in Rome, Italy. We were staying at like a four star hotel in the beautiful city of ancient city of Rome. And I spent the whole time in the hotel room trying not to scratch myself into a million scars.

Shanna

Oh, the scratching. Well, I got mine in a two bedroom house in Phoenix, Arizona. So very, very fancy. Maybe three bedroom. I don't remember. But, you know, I don't know. I'm just going to keep my eye on them. She doesn't have a fever or anything. And I'm not one to take pictures of my kids' rashes and put them on Facebook groups for people to chime in. So I think it's just going to be a forever mystery in my house. Unless someone else, a listener has this similar experience and has something to weigh in.

Laura

Well, you know, you can always send me a picture and I can show it to my mom, especially when she arrives, if it's still happening.

Shanna

Okay, I will remember that. Are they itchy? I think so. The ones on her forehead, she's been scratching lately. Yeah, poor little thing. So that's that. And then the other thing is that I'm just continuing to struggle to understand what she's saying and Uh, you know, I overthink this totally because L was so verbose. I mean, she still is and she just spoke really, really, really well and really clearly at this age. And I've been just generally worrying about it. And so an example of this is the other night. I was putting CeCe to bed and we read our books and I turn off the light. And usually she kind of snuggles in and is satisfied to go to bed. But the other night she was like, Buddha? Buddha? And I'm like, Buddha. Hmm, what is that? Is that a book or Buddha? I'm like, oh my gosh, honey, I'm so sorry. I don't know what Buddha is. And she got so upset that I couldn't understand her.

Laura

So cute.

Shanna

Which I get now because blow dry BL those kinds of consonant blends where there's two consonants together. Blow, dry, DR, those are very tricky for early language learners. So it's like, oh, okay, you're just pronouncing it the best way you can.

Laura

Yeah, and I've read that they also have to actually physically practice with the muscles. You have to actually tone the muscles in order to get those specific sounds out. I mean, I think it's the same reason why that if you learn one language, like you learn English as a child and then you try to speak something that's completely unrelated as a grown-up that you don't necessarily like you have trouble even pronouncing the words because your muscles can't create that noise.

Shanna

Oh, totally. Even like rolling your Rs in Spanish. There you go. That is an example of something that takes practice. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, so bow die. Bow die. That's all for us this week. Should we move on to our special segment? Yeah, let's

Laura

Okay. So my first one, it's not necessarily parenting or baby related, but it's just funny. And I wanted to share it because- Absolutely. It has to do with misinterpretation of vague, language-like things. Let me get into it because that did not describe it very well. Okay, so my they said what is from something I found on the next door app from like a couple months ago actually. Okay, and what is next door for people who don't know? So next door is trying to be like Facebook for your immediate neighbors. It's kind of a shit show, if I'm going to be honest. You have to use your real name and you have to be verified as a neighbor. But you know how Facebook kind of gets you into a bubble of people with similar interests and affinities as you? Next door is just everyone physically around you, so it can kind of devolve.

Shanna

Oh, okay.

Laura

Right? It was almost, at least in my area. It's almost always fireworks. And someone responded. It was fireworks right outside my window. And then she said, why people with a question mark exclamation point, and then she did the emoji. So tell me what you think of this emoji. It's the emoji where there is a smiley face, like with big laughing, like the eyes are closed, the mouth is wide and laughing, and there's tears coming out of either corner. You know what I'm talking about?

Shanna

Yeah, that's LOL. That's laughing like hard.

Laura

Yeah, like laughing so hard you're crying, right?

Shanna

Yes, laughing tears. Exactly, okay.

Laura

That's what I would say it is, you know, like, oh my God.

Shanna

Because she's saying like, why people, why these fireworks? LOL, basically, right?

Laura

Yeah, like why would you do that at 5 a.m. right outside of my window, right? Yeah. Well, a woman named Sharon responds, why? Because it's illegal. That's why. That you find it funny speaks volumes. If anyone here knows this person and where she lives, tell the police she knows who did it.

Shanna

What?

Laura

Yeah, OK. OK. Then Margie chimes in. I didn't get the impression that Abigail thought it was funny. Those are tears on her face. And then Abigail, the original, you know, poster on this thread said, excuse me, it was a crying face. I didn't enjoy being woken up at 5 a.m. And then it devolves into like, I can't believe you're accusing me of saying this thing, blah, blah, blah. Okay. So they're all like getting into a hissy fit. And my they said what is I realized that not everyone agrees on whether that emoji is expressing laughter or crying.

Shanna

I had no idea there was misinterpretation about that, that one.

Laura

Neither did I, but it got all these neighbors into a fight. Okay.

Shanna

Oh, did you realize that at the time or do you just realize it now because of this conversation?

Laura

Well, I had forgotten about it. At the time I remembered and I like gently wrote back, I was like, hey, mom, I think the general interpretation of that emoji is that it's laughing so hard you're crying. So maybe don't use it when you send it to the people telling them about So It's So Dying. Yes. And then it reminded me also that for the longest time, my mom would sign off on her texts, LOL mom.

Shanna

Oh no, what did you think LOL meant?

Laura

Lots of love.

Shanna

Lots of love. Yeah, I've heard of people misunderstanding that one too.

Laura

Yeah, so this is my they said what I just I didn't know where else to put it in our show, but I wanted to share and I want to hear from our listeners whether there have been any like emoji miscommunications because it's not like it's an evolving type of communication, right? And I know that like between Android and iPhone, they look different. So maybe they like get interpreted differently.

Shanna

That is true.

Laura

But I want to know if anyone's had any, any awkward interactions because of the wrong emoji or acronyms.

Shanna

Uh-huh. Yeah. If you get the wrong emoji, really can sit there and be like, they said, what? Yeah, exactly. So yes, I'm curious to know to listeners. Yes.

Laura

All right, so that's my first they said what? A little out of the box. OK, but Shanna, I want to hear about you. What is your they said what?

Shanna

OK, mine is a little bit outside of the box, too, because it's not so much of they said what as a they did what. OK. They did what?

Shanna

Right after Elle was born, I've talked about this before. My incision got infected, right? It was the worst. Well, I was at the doctor's office and she was checking it out. And one of the things she said was, Steve, why don't you take a picture of this incision so that you can kind of see if it's getting better or worse. You know, you want like a visual baseline. Now, this picture. It's just horrible, right? It's total close-up of completely bright red inflamed skin. I don't want to gross people out too much, but my incision reopened a bit, right? And so it's just a picture of a wound. It's a horrible picture.

Laura

It's an open wound. I saw it because I accompanied you to one of your appointments. Yes. Because I'm not Swedish at all. I was like, let me look.

Shanna

I know. You saw it when it was much better. It was on the road to recovery. This was the first time it was ever seen by a doctor. And it was, you know, I was just like, what the fuck is going on with my body? And here's Steve being like, click. So this photo is living on his phone, right?

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Shanna

Okay, so cut to a couple weeks later when we're ready to have visitors come meet the baby. Our friends Brad and Allison come over for dinner and to meet the baby and bring us food and all that jazz. And after dinner, Steve's like, I want to show you photos of the hospital when we were with the baby and just share some stuff about our journey with having the baby. And they're like, yeah, sure. And I take Steve to the side. I was like, I know that photo of the incision is in there. Just delete it. You cannot show that photo. He's like, I'm not going to show that photo. Come on. We need it for baseline or whatever. And I'm like, okay, fine. So he starts this photo slide show on the TV, like our giant ass television, right? He's like, what do you call it when you like? You airplay. Yeah, whatever. Yeah, that kind of things, beaming the pictures from his phone to this giant ass TV.

Laura

So did they have a reaction?

Shanna

Oh God bless them. Are they just being polite? Yeah, they played it so cool. They were just like, yeah, nope. Big deal probably inside like, oh my God, is this what childbirth is? We're literally never having kids ever. I don't know.

Laura

You're the one who made it so that they'll never have kids. Yeah. They're childless by choice. No, Steve.

Shanna

Steve's the one. Yes, they are. I don't think it was me, but yeah, I could have just killed her.

Laura

He was Steve was so apologetic right like oh my god I'm so sorry I'm like I knew you were gonna do that I knew that was gonna happen well that's the thing that's worse about it for me like when you see it coming down the road you know this thing is gonna happen and yet. You're told don't worry. It's not going to happen. And you're like, I knew this is like this was fucking going to happen like next time. Don't tell me I don't know.

Shanna

Yeah, exactly. Don't brush me off like that. And then I met it myself. I'm like, I should have controlled the video slideshow.

Laura

It's so funny to me though because because I have such a completely reverse opinion about this stuff and I know it's because my parents are doctors and this is like this was my life growing up just stumbling upon really graphic like medical picture. Oh, yeah. Just every, like I grew up with this. I really, really did. This is happening my whole entire life that I would have been like, oh, cool. Can we see it again? Yeah, go back. Oh man, Shanna, that looks like that looks so painful. I'm so sorry you're going through that. Like, how does it look now? Do you have any updated pictures?

Shanna

Oh, so that's why I wouldn't have minded as much as if it were you. It's like, I didn't know how to gauge Brad and Allison's reaction to like, oh, that medical horror show. Oh, those poor people. I'm like, delete it, delete it, delete it. He's like, OK, OK, I'm deleting. So yeah. Anyway, all right. OK, OK, OK. Moving on. Laura, do you have another one for us?

Laura

I do. I actually have just a collection of little ones. And it's nothing scandalous. I just wanted to share some cute things my toddler has been saying lately. Oh, okay. Especially because you know we're closing in on it's the last week basically where he's going to be an only child and so I'm trying to like sort of bask in being able to give him my full attention and so okay. The first one I wanted to relate, I don't have an audio recording of, but it cracked me up, which is like lately, I think he can tell that the baby is coming and he's been getting like really mommy focused and mommy clingy more than usual. And he's been like sniffing me. Oh my gosh. Just CECE do that at all. No, uh-uh. So he'll like, I'll pick him up and he'll just like lean over and just like take like a deep breath, like he just wants to sniff me. And he'll go, smell mama, smell mama. I'm like, okay.

Speaker 1

Minty fresh?

Shanna

Oh my God. Were they minty fresh or is that just something he associates with smell?

Laura

I think it's because we, like I said in the intro, we smell mint from the mint plant. And so I've said that to him like, ooh, what does that smell like? Minty fresh? And he said, so that's how he got minty fresh.

Shanna

I see.

Laura

He just associates that because no I don't use like a mint lotion or anything. That cracked me up so bad.

Laura

Animals. Animals. Yeah, I give Magnus and Cal kisses, huh? Daddy does it. Kiss a butt. I'm not going to kiss your butt. On my butt. I'm going to pat your butt. Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat. Can you give mama a big kiss? On my butt. What about your butt? On my butt. You want me to pat, pat, pat your butt? Pat, pat, pat.

Speaker 1

No.

Laura

You did it earlier. I just thought it was so cute. He's just going, kiss Pasadena town, kiss that bot.

Shanna

Oh my god, that's so cute. What is Kiss Trophy's all about?

Laura

Oh, so he would go through his whole thing where he'd be like, you know, kiss forehead, kiss cheeks, kiss whatever. And then he'd say kiss light or like you heard there or like kiss couch or whatever. And he was one. And I was. And so we'd say, no, no, no, we don't kiss things. We kiss. And I would say we kiss people and we kiss animals because, you know, I pick my cats up and give them like a kiss on the head or whatever. And Corey would be like and trophies, trophies sometimes. So that became the thing. And that's why he was like, Tophies, Tophies.

Shanna

Yes.

Laura

And then the final one, I just thought this was so funny. You know, we don't do a lot of screen time as I've talked about, but every once in a while we'll just like have the TV on when he wakes up from a nap or something. And one of our favorite mindless things to watch is HGTV. I'm not sure how you feel about HGTV.

Shanna

I don't have that channel, so I don't watch it, but I'm sure I would like it.

Laura

You know, it's, it's love it or list it, property brothers, it's all good. And he's been having a little bit of like constipation lately, so we've been giving him prune juice here and there, which to help with that. And the other day, this is what happened. I asked him, I said, you know, do you want to go outside? What do you want to do today? And this is how he responded. What do you want to do today? What do you want more of? H-E-T-V. H-E-T-V. So what do you you don't want to go see the horsies? You don't want to go to the park and ride your scooter? H-E-T-V. What do you want to do while you're watching H-E-T-V? To drink. You want to drink to drink so much H-E-T-V? Yes.

Speaker 1

It was like, oh my God. Just what every two-year-old wants to do, you know? Or 80-year-old, I don't know. Drink prune juice and watch HGTV.

Laura

I know, he's like two going on 70. Oh, I love it. So those are just a cute little sampling. I have so many more, but I'll save them. He's just, he's so verbal and it's so cute and also just like baffling where he comes up with some of the things he wants to do. Yes. Like I was literally offering to take him to go watch horses at like a nearby stable. And he was like, no, I want to drink prune juice and watch HGTV.

Shanna

Got to watch those property brothers.

Laura

I mean, you got to find out if they love it or list it.

Shanna

Exactly. He knows.

Laura

All right. So that's my little, they said what? He's just, he just melts my heart. He's so cute. So cute. So I want to hear, do you have one more they said what?

Shanna

I do, but should we take a break and come back with it?

Laura

I think that's a good idea.

Shanna

Let's do it.

Laura

All right, we are back and you've got one more. They said what for us, right, Shanna?

Shanna

I do. Well, I have two, two short ones, both that L has said. Okay. So the first one, I was in the kitchen and I overheard L and CECE playing together in the living room. And I just love listening to them play. You know, they're funny too, the things they come up with. And I heard Elle say, CECE, do you know who the most wonderful person in the world is? And I'm like, oh my God, she's going to say me. This is so sweet. I just can't wait to hear her say mommy. It's going to be amazing. And then Elle answers, it's me.

Laura

So much confidence. I guess you don't have to worry about self-esteem.

Speaker 1

No, God. No, not at all. Did CECE agree? Oh, yeah.

Shanna

She loves her big sister so much. Oh, my God. So I'm sure she was just like, yeah, you're right.

Speaker 1

Is you?

Shanna

The other one, I had gotten out of the shower and I'd done my makeup one day probably because I had a Zoom meeting or something like that and was feeling like good and pretty. And Elle came in to use the bathroom or something and she looked at me and she got kind of close and she was like looking at my face and she said, mama, you look like a cartoon character. I was like, I do. She's like, yeah, because of your saggy eyes and squinty lips.

Laura

Oh my God.

Shanna

I was like, like all that confidence I has was like, which is not totally true because I understand she's only four and just says whatever. I was also just like cracking up some like saggy eyes. Oh, cool, cool, cool. Right. After I put on mascara and try to like look bright eyed and squinty lips, whatever the hell that means.

Speaker 1

It's very evocative language. It is. It is very poetic.

Shanna

You can picture a cartoon character, I guess, with saggy eyes and squinty lips. I'm just like, oh, of course. Geriatric motherhood meets four-year-old honesty. Live in the dream over here. Oh, that's sweet, though. I mean, she's noticing you.

Laura

Yes. And I feel like being told you're like a cartoon character is probably high praise for a four-year-old.

Shanna

That's true. The cartoons are her favorite thing probably in the entire world. By the way, almost five-year-old. I know she's going to be five next week. Oh, goodness.

Laura

I guess that's a spoiler for next week's episode.

Shanna

Yeah, yes it is. All right. So those are mine. Should we move on to our BFPs and BFNs? Yeah, let's. All right.

Laura

Okay, I have a BFP. Okay. Which is, I think my first legitimate pregnancy craving. Uh huh. Like, you know, I feel like I've had some, you know, I've wanted ice cream and stuff, but like, you know, nothing really out of the box. Like just, I just want like all the carbs. But for the last two weeks, at least three, four times a week, I have been making Avgilemono soup. What?

Laura

I think I'm pronouncing it right. It's a Greek lemon chicken soup called Avgolemono. He used to make it all the time in my early 20s, and I had forgotten about it. In this late third trimester, it suddenly occurred to me that I haven't made it in forever. And I just needed it. Like I like wanted it and needed it. So I started making it for myself and it's so good. And I just wanted to share the basics of it because it's super easy and maybe other people might want to try it.

Shanna

Yes. I want to try it. So give us give us the rundown. What's what is it entail and how do you make it?

Laura

You can get really, really fancy with it if you want, add all this stuff to it. But the basic ingredients are some type of chicken stock, orzo or rice. I use orzo, which is the rice-shaped pasta, right?

Shanna

Mm-hmm.

Laura

Egg and lemon juice. That's it, right? Like four ingredients.

Shanna

Mm-hmm.

Laura

And all you do is you boil the chicken broth, chicken stock. I use a bone broth from Costco that I always get in bulk. Then you throw in the orzo. You don't really have to measure. You just throw in however much you want. Wait till the orzo's done. It takes like six, seven minutes. Then what you should do is in a bowl, you whisk up an egg. So here's what I do. I do about like, I do like a half liter of the chicken broth. And I just say half liter because I have a pot that has that marking in it. Like it has like a half liter and a full liter. So like there's about four, a little over four cups in a liter. So it's like two cups of broth. So like two cups of broth, then you take like one egg and you whisk it up in a separate bowl. And the important thing is like, what you do is you have to temper it. So you take like a ladle,

Shanna

So what's the consistency of that?

Laura

Um, it's it just makes it a little like creamy kind of like it doesn't make it super thick or anything So then you pour it back in you don't you don't you turn off the heat And then you just like squeeze half of a lemon in it and then salt and pepper to taste and that's it So it's like it's like a really mild chicken soup But with the added like protein of the egg and like the kick of the lemon and I swear to God I've made it like 10 times in the last two weeks.

Shanna

Wow. What aspect of it are you craving? The tanginess or what do you think?

Laura

I think maybe part of it too is just like really easy to digest, you know, and it's good for heartburn. It doesn't like flare anything up and it's been chilly. So it's just nice and warm and cozy. And the bonus is that I ended up making some one day and my toddler wanted to try it and he actually loved it. So we got to share it. So it could be a good toddler soup.

Shanna

Yeah, definitely. I'm always surprised how much my kids like soup. They really are into it, so I'll have to try that one.

Laura

Yeah, but it's spelled A-V-G-O-L-E-M-O-N-O, Avgilemono. So, and there's a million recipes, but it can be super, super easy like that, and you can whip it up in like 20 minutes. So, and I think I'm going to try to do a little tutorial on like our Instagram reels or something.

Shanna

Oh, yeah, that's a good idea.

Laura

Yeah. But I kind of feel like special, like I finally have a pregnancy craving. I took two full pregnancies before I got there.

Shanna

You didn't have any in the first one either, huh?

Laura

Uh-uh, nothing weird, like nothing special or weird, just all the ice cream, you know?

Shanna

Yeah. Yeah. I never had anything weird either. It was just like bolognese, bagels, and yeah, bolognese and bagels were my big ones.

Laura

Yeah. So that is my BFP. Nice. Sean, I do you have a BFP or a BFN for us? I have a BFP. Cool.

Shanna

My BFP is a cardboard box.

Shanna

So exciting. But to kids cardboard boxes are really exciting. Oh my God, yes. Yes, they love them. And I got a really big cardboard box because I had a chair delivered over Christmas. Uh-huh. And the girls love playing in it, et cetera. And then I was like, can you make this into a house for us? And I was like, oh, totally. And so then it's fun for me, too, to kind of figure out, OK, what can I do? I get out the packing knife and cut a door for them. And then it's like, oh, do you want a window? Yeah, where do you want the window? And we cut little windows that they can open and close. I found another box and we made a roof on top and they decorated it and colored it and everything. And this cheapo box house has been getting so much attention for the last few weeks. It's fantastic. They play in it outside sometimes. We'll bring it in the house. They play in it.

Laura

I have to say that this is a way that cats and kids are the same. Oh do cats love boxes too? Do cats love, this is how I know you don't have a cat Shanna. Cats fucking love boxes.

Shanna

They are. Yeah, especially big boxes. I remember playing in big boxes when I was little, like my parents got a new refrigerator or something. It's just like, oh my God, it was the most magical thing ever.

Laura

We have the thing now because we had Christmas and then we had my son's birthday and now I'm having stuff delivered for the new baby. It's just like box city around here. And every time he sees a box on our doorstep, he looks out the window and can see the delivery person delivering it. He's like, open up the box. open it, open it to the box, open it. And we're just like, okay, we'll get to it when we have time. He's like, open it the box. Cause he knows like, good stuff is in there.

Shanna

Oh yeah, my kids are so attuned to packages. If Alexa, like, You know announces a package. It's like oh my god, you know running to the door. It's so exciting Oh boy these kids these kids in this day and age too funny too funny So that's it from me. Should we wrap this episode up? I think we should I am Yeah, you need to go take a nap. Listeners, if you have anything you want to share with us, you know we want to hear it. Do you have some they said what? Do you have any feedback on the cry, laughing emoji that Laura talked about earlier? Send us a message we want to hear from you. Laura, where can they reach us?

Laura

We're at Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at BFP Podcast. We have a website, bigpatpositivepodcast.com. If you want to send us an email, you can always include a voice memo in that email to contact at bigpetpositivepodcast.com. Finally, join our Facebook community group. It's an awesome private group. Just search Big Fat Positive Community. Answer the two membership questions so I know you're not a robot and you'll get sent right through to all the great conversations we're having in there.

Shanna

And please, if you love our show, rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts. And let your friends know about Big Fat Positive. Our show is produced by Laura Birek, Shanna Micko, and Steve Yager. Thanks for listening, everyone. Bye. Bye.