All my bags are packed...

All my bags are packed because baby, we are at 37 weeks. Holy moly. Full term peeps. That's what that means. Baby Girl Melbs could arrive at any time and everything would likely be okay. While you can never really know how things will ever go, there's definitely a sense of relief to know we made it this far.

Here's the belly at 25, 33, and 37 weeks in the same outfit for a little comparison:

Whoa. It's amazing what the female body can do!

I keep meaning to blog about something other than pregnancy, but have found my inspiration to be lackluster lately. So, for those tired of hearing about the impending arrival (and it's okay if you are...there are times I'm sick of talking about it, to be quite frank), here's some other things that have been going on in the Melby household:

A delicious, refreshing lunch on my half-day Friday last week. Fresh basil can make any meal go from blah to grand!

Processing the last of the peas from our garden. I think we have about 8 bags of them in the freezer, ready to go for stir frys and the like.

And our puppy. Who is the cutest puppy around :-)

Sick!

It hasn't left.  This thing.  Whatever it is that has possessed my chest.  I slept for 13 hours last night.  Who does that??  Then I stayed home today from work and rested and tried different remedies.  I'm hoping that this did the trick.  I'd really like to accompany my classroom on their field trip tomorrow.  I'm like a child--"I don't want to miss the field trip!!!  I don't care if I'm sick!"

Here's a bit more about the remedies I tried:
1. Unsure of the eucalyptus steam bath (see previous post), I decided to do a chest rub instead. 

• 30 drops jojoba oil
• 5-10 drops eucalyptus
• Mix thoroughly.  Apply liberally to chest.  Cover with cotton towel or flannel.  Top with heating pad.  Snuggle up under the blankets (or sheet as the case may be for me as it's the middle of summer) and rest.

The eucalyptus is supposed to be an expectorant to get the gunk out (as opposed to what's in most cough medicines--a suppressant--which limits or suppresses the cough), but also is said to help thin out the mucus as well.  I must say, after using both last night and tonight, it worked on both accounts!

2. Chicken noodle soup--my husband looked at me like I was crazy last night when, after he'd been out in the garden til 8:30 pm, I told him I wanted chicken noodle soup.  I knew we didn't have any chicken noodle soup in our pantry.  But I didn't care.  I wanted chicken noodle soup. Even if it meant that he might have to run to the store to buy his poor ailing wife some chicken noodle soup.  I wanted chicken noodle soup.  Lo and behold, though, the man manages to pull chicken noodle soup out of the pantry using:

• one can low sodium Campbell's chicken gumbo soup
• one can cream of chicken soup
• can of white chicken breast chunks
• a handful of broken linguine noodles
• a carrot
• two celery stalks

What would I do without him??  It tasted great and exactly what the doctor (or me) ordered, especially served with yummy whole wheat bread from a local bakery all slathered in butter.  I proceeded to replicate this meal for both lunch and dinner today. 

But there absolutely must be something to chicken noodle soup (or soup in general) being good for illness. I swear, I was running a low-grade fever before last night's soup feast, but after--gone.  My shirt was soaked after eating lunch today, just drenched.  Sure, perhaps this was also because, as aforementioned, it's the middle of summer and hot outside anyway, but I'm just going to imagine that it helped cleanse my body of toxins through the old fashioned way--sweating them out. 

3. Tea--and lots of it.  I'm not kidding--I was trying to hit this thing from every angle.  Lemon balm tea (from our very thriving plant; this calming herb, when steeped for long enough, is said to have anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties), chamomille tea (helps to calm and relax muscles), echinacea tea with fresh ginger (helps to boost the immune system), and green tea with honey (provides general antioxidants).  Next up: I'm thinking of trying thyme before I go to bed.  It's known to clear up coughs. 

Herbal steam bath for cough

So for my facebook friends, this is old news, but I started the blog while under a bit of duress from a nasty chest infection.  As my husband says, "You sound SO attractive when you cough like that."  I'm sure your mental picture is well-formed by that simple statement alone. 

I've long been a fan of Ricola's natural herbal cough drops, but this time decided to try the herbal steam bath.  I've read a lot about it, but never have given it a go myself.

I tried it when I came home from work early yesterday.  I put about 15 drops of Eucalyptus oil (a natural expectorant) into a bowl of freshly boiled water.  Put a white towel over my head and sat hunched over for 15 minutes.

Three things of note happened:
1. I opened my eyes to peer into the bowl to see what the oil looked like after I dropped it in.  Heed the warnings.  It burned like mad.
2. I immediately could not breathe in much.  It also kind of burned my nostrils and air passageways.  I did, however, begin to cough up gunk.  Mission accomplished momentarily.
3. The burn went away and the smell mellowed as time went on.  So did it's effects.  While I did remain relatively cough-less for the next few hours, did it make my cough and the gunk go away?  No.  But it helped.

Then I tried it again this morning before work to test again it's efficacy, this time adding slightly fewer drops (10).  This time:
1. I did not open my eyes.  Success! 
2. I did not cough right away.  Success in that I was able to breathe in more of the fumes, but less gunk came out.
3. I still had a cough when I was done, but I didn't feel like death warmed over today as I was headed out to work.  I had pep in my step, zip in my hip.  I'll take any day.

Conclusion: will definitely use again in the future.  May add additional oils, such as camphor (Vick's Vapor Rub, anyone?) and peppermint.  Also very refreshing for your face.  Splash on cold water when done and "voila!" Revived!