Chapter 59 - Apple Seed

It was finally the end of another week and I was tired.

With the final exams being only three weeks away, Minjae and I had been meeting up most days this past week to study and simply just to have fun.

It was now Saturday and I was doing what I usually had been doing for the past five weeks and is slugging and lounging about.

I had the house all to myself again which was not really surprising giving that she was hardly here and always with him.

I hadn't given much thought to Shiwoo in a while mostly because I have more important things to worry about.

As per usual, I checked the mirror first thing in the morning looking at my stomach and lo and behold there was a bump.

I was beaming and bubbling the whole day as I did some research finding out that my baby was now the size of an apple seed.

I was elated and my anxiety for next week just intensified as I snapped some pics of my belly. 

My belly was not noticeable from the front nor back but if you look closely at side, if you know that it is there you will see it. 

Nevertheless I was proud of my bump.

It made me feel as if I was doing something right and eating right for my baby.

The ultrasound next week was to take my first look at the baby.

I wouldn't be able to know the gender until about 18-20 weeks, the second trimester and by that time my belly would have grown significantly and I would be back home. 

I checked the schedule that the nurse had given me at the last visit to ensure that I had gotten the dates right.

It says that I an scheduled for a 6 weeks early  ultrasound because I fell on my back while pregnant so it was wise to have a check up then and to get a predicted due date and hear their heartbeat for the first time.

The doctor will also track milestones and determine determine the number of babies in me and see whether I have an ectopic pregnancy. 

I was not scheduled for a Dating Ultrasound, 10-13 weeks for everything that would have been done then would have already happened at the ultrasound before.

I saw that I was scheduled for a Nuchal Translucency Ultrasound, 14-20 weeks though. The nuchal translucency (NT) test is  to check for Down syndrome, heart defects, or other chromosomal abnormalities. I can only pray and play my part so that nothing bad doesn't happen to my baby.

The final ultrasound that I saw listed was Anatomy Scan , 18-20 weeks

This detailed pregnancy ultrasound, which generally happens between weeks 18 and 20 in the second trimester, lasts 20 to 45 minutes if you're having one baby and longer if you're having multiples. It's the most thorough check-up your baby will have before they're born.

I took in all the information on the card wondering how I was going to do it alone but then I remembered Minjae but then I remembered that he had a life and wasn't obligated to follow me around dealing with my problems. 

I sighed as I skipped through the, desperately hoping for something entertaining to watch when I came across a kids cooking show.

I was immediately intrigued by how well their tiny hands worked and how professional they were at such a young age.

I was captivated the most by this tiny one who couldn't be no more than five to six years old.

She was such a cute little expert and I know that her momma was proud.

I smiled the entire as she made her batter for her chocolate chip cupcakes adding such big chunks of chocolate before trying her best to stir.

I was cheering her on from my side of the screen praying for her success the timer ticked down.

I was biting my nail and at the edge of my seat when she finally got around to placing them on the sheet.

She carefully opened the oven making sure to use protection when she placed the cookie tray in.

She set the timer and checked the heat before she quickly ran into the pantry to grab what I now learned was ice-cream, fruits, milk, whipped cream, a cup, straw and sprinkles.

I realized that she was about to make a milkshake and I feared for her using a blender but then I remembered that she was the chef at work and not me.

She truly amazed me with her knife skills when she chopped up the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries before adding it to the blender along with ice, strawberry ice-cream and the milk.

Before she began to blend she ran to get a chair and stood on it before pressing down on the lid of the blender pressing he button to start.

I gushed at her tiny cute face as she wrestled with the blender as she tried not to make a mess.

One of the hosts saw her struggling and came over to be of assistance but she down right rejected him giving him a cute little, "no thank you. I'm a big girl. I can manage."

The host raised both his hands in defense backing way from the little lady giving up on trying. 

When she finally decided that the milkshake was blended enough she aggressively took the lid off and grabbed her cup.

She gently and gracefully poured the pink liquid in to her cup making sure to wipe down the edges and then topped it off with whipped cream.

The oven dinged and she, as fast as she could, jumped from the counter and opened the oven taking out the cookies with her mittens.

She placed the tray on the counter using a her bare hands to remove from the sheet before putting them on a cooling rack.

In the mean time she ran back to the pantry returning with a bottle of chocolate and strawberry syrup and a white plate that I'm guessing was for the cookies. 

She went back to finish decorating her milkshake topping it off with some of the chopped up fruits before drizzling the syrups then the sprinkles.

It looked absolutely tasty and she had now inspired me to make one.

I went to the kitchen and looked in the fridge to see if I had the ingredients I needed and thank God I did.

I wasn't going to make cookies from scratch for I didn't have the time so I used ready made dough and plopped them in the oven.

I got out a glass and placed it on the counter as I got the ingredients to blend.

I got the strawberries, blueberries and raspberry and gave them a thorough rinse before placing them on the cupboard. 

I chopped them as well as I could before adding them to the blender that had already had the ice, ice-cream and milk.

I gave it a nice blend leaving it the right balance between chunky and smooth before removing the blender from the base. 

As opposed to what littles miss cutie did I only used strawberry syrup in mine because I didn't like chocolate that much and one chocolate chip cookie was already crossing the line. 

I drizzled the syrup on the inside of the cup before pouring my milkshake in then sprayed it with whipped cream.

I looked delicious already and I wasn't even done yet. 

I carefully placed the fruits on the whipped cream before drizzling the syrup then topped it off with some rainbow sprinkles.

The cookies were done and I didn't give it much time to cool for the baby was growing impatient and I didn't want them to have a mark as us Jamaicans believe. 

I took two hot cookies from the tray before placing them directly on the cup instead of on a plate.

I returned to the couch and then found that my girl has won.

I cheered for her in excite for she really deserved to win.

He recipe was awesome.

I could make this all the time.

She was smart at her young age to know that in cooking competitions it is usually good to go with something simple that you can pull off and just make it as fancy a possible.

Although a Milkshake might be deemed as plain it is the safest route as opposed to a soufflé. 

Yes a soufflé may be extravagant and fancy but a soufflé wont always rise and you might have to do it several times.

I was proud of the little girl or she really did a good job and handled herself well.

Me and my child are definite going to bond over cooking for its a very fun experience.

Making cookies together is a must and I think that I might have found the perfect milkshake recipe that we can both enjoy together in our future life together.