As the name implies, labour is hard work! One lovely thing about home birth is that I can eat and drink during labour if I choose. Often I forget or don’t want anything, but my midwives always know that a sip of something through a straw can make a world of difference to my energy levels and ability to push through, as it were.

My labour aid drink last pregnancy was functional but I didn’t enjoy the taste. So when Megan suggested I try a green monster this time around, I jumped at the chance to sample something different.

A green monster begins with two cups raw spinach, and then you can add any smoothie ingredients you might normally enjoy! Since I like blueberries, both my green monsters became purple. Here are my two recipes, which I made on Kitchen Day and froze until the onset of labour:

Labour Monster One

• 2 cups spinach
• 1 banana
• 1 tsp flaxseed
• 2 tbs homemade nut butter (almonds, cashews, brazil nuts + coconut oil)
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup blueberries

Labour Monster Two

• 2 cups spinach
• 1 banana
• 1 tsp flaxseed
• 1 cup homemade plain yogurt
• 5 canned pineapple rings, drained
• 1/2 cup blueberries

both smoothies ended up looking like this: purple!

I tasted each batch and they were yummy. The second one was thicker, but both are easy to drink with a straw. It’s good to have something tasty to power me through labour!

“The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned, Abraham held a great feast.” – Genesis 21:8

It has been months since Nikki latched on properly to breastfeed. Probably she forgot to nurse for a few days and when she got back to it her latch wasn’t the same. However, since she is the oldest, I have been asking her to wait until her siblings have finished nursing before I set the timer for one minute and let her latch on. Simply by opening her mouth, she has managed to get some milk, and she also usually tries one or two compressions before her minute is up. The compressions have felt unproductive to me, but I had had no way of telling whether or not this strange new latch was working for her.

Until last Sunday. Both the other kids were occupied and I was free, so I set the timer on my phone and let Nikki nurse. She tried several compressions, but when her minute was up, she popped off the breast and sadly said, “I didn’t get any milk.” I looked, and my nipple hadn’t changed shape, either. Definitive proof, then, that her latch was not effective.

I talked to Nikki on the 5th of June and suggested she had forgotten to latch on. I asked her how she thought we would know whether she was still able to breastfeed. She said I could look in her mouth and tell her how to change her latch, but I explained I couldn’t see in her mouth when she was latched on. So she tilted her head to one side, fighting sadness at the thought of no more numnums, and she said, “We could pray to God.”

We held hands, and I asked her to pray first. She asked God to allow her to latch properly so she could have more numnums. I asked God to show us whether Nikki could still have numnums or not.

I nursed the other kids, both of whom got milk, we ate lunch and the kids laid down for nap. Ben suggested I look up the scriptures associated with weaning. The one about a feast for Isaac in Genesis 21 leapt out at me.

On the 15th Nikki asked to nurse again when waking up from her nap, and I let her attempt to latch before her siblings to see if she could get any milk while I counted to 100 very quickly since her compressions were so uncomfortable. She said before she latched on that she would open her mouth very wide, and after 100 she pulled off and said that she got “some water that tasted like numnums,” but she wasn’t sure if they were actually numnums, since she thought it might just be the “water in her mouth.” I asked if she was ready to be weaned, and we read about Isaac and his weaning feast, as well as about Samuel and how he was dedicated to the Lord after Hannah weaned him.

Nikki wasn’t sure whether she wanted to be weaned, because “I really like numnums.” But after she discovered that both Baba and Mama were weaned, and that she is older than either of us were when we were weaned, she started to get excited about having a feast. She chose as her meal: tuna noodle casserole AND crackers and cheese.

We held the feast on Friday evening, and I added apricots, raisins, and hot chocolate to the menu. Everyone enjoyed the food while Ben and I shared memories of when Nikki was small. We praised God that Nikki was able to get “all the numnums she needed.” The bittersweet emotion of the moment took me by surprise, but mostly I was very proud of my oldest daughter for making such a big decision.

Vi wears her oatmeal with a sense of satisfaction

Runny rice cereal and sticky oatmeal are breakfast staples for our kids, as well as yogurt for lunch. This past week I had to step away from the table during breakfast, so I handed Vi her bowl and spoon and let her go at it.

When I came back to the table I caught a video of Vi’s first autonomous breakfast, during which Nikki and Michael were very encouraging. And hungry.

Last week I listed the menu items in our “international menu experiment,” and this week I have the results, shown below:

• USA: Mama’s chili – a perennial favourite in our house; all except Vi love it, and she’s learning
• Mexico: burritos – well, you already saw how popular those are
• England: sausages and mash – another favourite with all five of us
• Scotland: salmon and leftover mash – Michael and I liked the salmon the best, but the others enjoyed it as well
• France: cheese and ham croissants – this was a fun change from normal sandwiches, and enjoyed by all
• Ireland: baked potatoes – a huge favourite at our house, experiment or no (recipe following)
• Turkey: Mediterranean breakfast (feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cherries) – I wasn’t sure how the kids would like feta, but we all loved it
• Germany: grilled Frankfurters – not so popular with me, but Ben loves them, and it was nice to cut up the leftovers for mac-n-cheese
• Austria: Wiener schnitzel – again not a favourite of mine or Vi, but Ben and Michael especially enjoyed the fried lamb
• Switzerland: grilled Swiss cheese sandwiches and tomato soup – a popular favourite at our house, made a bit more special with Swiss
• Italy: wood fired pizzas – another favourite of Ben’s and happily devoured by the rest of us as well
• Canada: pancakes with real maple syrup – we all love Ben’s pancakes
• Egypt: Koshary – Ben, Vi, and I thought this was delicious (though nothing like the koshary we had in Egypt!), but Nikki and Michael took one polite bite each and were finished with the meal
• The Vatican: an excuse for pasta – for whatever reason we don’t serve pasta very often, but when we do, it is always popular. We also finally found a brand of jarred pasta sauce that we like!
• Cyprus: grilled chicken and garlic mayonnaise on rice – I love, love, love this meal, especially now that I’ve discovered how to make my own garlic mayo
• Australia: grilled steak and mash with asparagus – Michael, Ben and I enjoyed this the most, but Nikki and Vi did justice to the meal as well

Now for the promised baked potato recipe. I remember the day a co-worker and I went to lunch at Jason’s Deli in Dallas and my life changed forever. The baked potato I was served was huge and filling and absolutely delicious, and it became a staple meal for me all through college. Here is how I serve baked potatoes to my family.

1. Bake your potatoes. I microwave mine, first washing them and then jabbing them once on each side with a fork so they don’t explode. I then arrange them on a plate in a star formation with one end of each potato pointed toward the center of the microwave. For us, 1kilo (2lbs) of potatoes takes up to 20 minutes in an 800watt microwave (10min, then turn, then 7min or so). When the potatoes are done, they will give a little when squeezed. Do not overcook. If you are a little impatient and start preparing them before they are fully cooked in the middle, this is ok, because you will heat them up just a little more before you serve them.
2. While your potatoes are cooking, prepare your toppings. Cut bacon into pieces and fry it. Thinly slice chives or spring onions. Grate your cheese (a mild to medium cheddar works well).
3. Once potatoes are cooked, divide the baked potatoes onto plates for each person. Chop them roughly with a knife, and add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Cut butter into the potatoes. I use unsalted butter. The important thing is to leave no corner unbuttered! This incorporates your seasonings (salt and pepper) and is the difference (in my mind) between an average and a great potato.
5. Add chives or spring onions, reserving some for garnish.
6. Top with cheese, leaving no corner un-cheesed.
7. Microwave for 1-2min, just until cheese starts to weep; remove before it becomes gooey.
8. Sprinkle on your bacon pieces (if desired).
9. Add a dollop of full-fat sour cream, sprinkle reserved chives or spring onions, and grind a dash of pepper on top.

We also enjoy substituting chili or pulled pork barbeque for the bacon and chives. How do you eat your potatoes?

The enthusiastic burrito eating pictured above launched our “international menu experiment” featuring menu items from countries Ben and I have both visited, in the order of first encounter. Here we have the list:

• USA: Mama’s chili
• Mexico: burritos
• England: sausages and mash
• Scotland: salmon and leftover mash
• France: cheese and ham croissants
• Ireland: baked potatoes
• Turkey: Mediterranean breakfast (feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cherries)
• Germany: grilled Frankfurters
• Austria: Wiener schnitzel
• Switzerland: grilled Swiss cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
• Italy: wood fired pizzas
• Canada: pancakes with real maple syrup
• Egypt: Koshary
• The Vatican: an excuse for pasta
• Cyprus: grilled chicken and garlic mayonnaise on rice
• Australia: grilled steak and mash