My Teddy Bear

ULCER

Last weekend Spencer rode with his dad and two brothers in the ULCER (Utah Lake Century Epic Ride), a 100+ mile long bike ride around Utah Lake.  His dad has been doing this race for several years, and Spencer wanted to do it with him at least once before he calls it quits.  Spencer bought his road bike two weeks before the race and only had that long to prepare for it.  He has a mountain bike already and has been riding for years, but has only been on a handful (make that a small handful) of rides this year.  Let's just say it was an ambitious task.

He was pretty sore afterward, mostly from sitting on the bike that long.  He also got a little sunburned.  But he did a great job and was glad he got to do it.   I am so proud of him!  Now he is looking forward to using his new bike to start doing sprint triathlons.

Crew and cousins waiting to cheer on our riders in Springville.

Here they come!

Taking a little break in Springville.

End of the race!  They all survived and now have medals to showcase their hard work.

Happy family!

Cloth Diapers

While I was pregnant, I decided that I would like to try cloth diapers for our little guy.  Why?  Well, a few reasons, really.  First, the cost.  While the initial cost of cloth diapers is greater, in the long run they are much more economical.  Second, babies who are in cloth diapers generally potty train more easily.  This is because they can feel when they are wet, whereas the disposables are so good at soaking up the moisture that the discomfort of being in a wet diaper is not there, and there's less motivation to stop peeing in a diaper.  I also liked the idea of being a little more earth-friendly, but this was just an added bonus for me.  It really didn't influence my decision one way or another.

My problem with taking on a cloth diapering system was that I had almost no experience in cloth diapers and no idea where I should even begin.  My only experience with cloth diapers before now was when I myself wore them, and I really don't remember much about that time in my life. :)

Thank goodness for amazon.com!  I searched for cloth diapers on their website, read a bunch of reviews, and eventually found the perfect fit for me.  A company from Australia makes a cloth diaper kit, with everything you need from birth to potty-trained.  They also guarantee them to last through at least two kids.  It was on sale on amazon.com for about $450, so we bought it.

So basically, these diapers consist of the outer shell and the cloth diaper, which folds up and is tucked into the shell.

cloth diaper (folded) and outer shell

cloth diaper inside shell

The kit came with four different sizes of shells and cloth diapers (or "nappies," as the Aussies call them).  Six shells and 24 nappies in each size.  The outer shells only need to be washed if they get poop on them, so six is enough to last through all the nappies.  Laundry needs to be done every couple of days.

I was a little worried about scooping poop off of diapers and rinsing them off before throwing them in the wash, but with these I don't have to do that.  Since I'm nursing, Crew won't have solid poops until he starts eating solid foods.  And at that point the kit has included 800 disposable liners to place on top of the nappie, which can then be tossed in the trash at each diaper change.  Right now when I change a diaper, the cloth (and cover if it gets dirty) just goes in a 5 gallon bucket until it's time to wash.  Then I dump the bucket into the washing machine and run a cold rinse cycle, and then add detergent and run a hot wash cycle with extra rinse.  At first I dried the nappies in the dryer, but last week we got a clothesline and now I hang them to dry outside.

Once the nappies are dry, I fold them all so they are ready to go when Crew needs a diaper change.  Easy peasy.

We still use disposables at night, although the kit came with two nighttime inserts that are extra absorbent.  We also use disposables when we go out for more than a couple hours.  They're just easier to pack.

One small downside is that they are a little bulky.

But once the onesie is pulled down and buttoned, it's hardly noticeable!

I am so glad we decided to do the cloth diapers.  They really are pretty easy to do, and it is so nice to know that I am not just throwing money away every time I change a diaper.

Crew's First Camping Trip

We took Crew on his very first camping trip last weekend.  Every year (when we can) we tag along with the Lorenzon's to attend the big Bangerter family reunion in the Uintahs - more specifically, Black's Fork.

This year we drove up Saturday morning and arrived just in time to eat lunch and set up camp before the big storm rolled in.  Spencer had gone off fishing and got drenched.  I stayed in camp and managed to keep mostly dry.  It rained all afternoon and most of the evening.  I think it ended up raining about an inch total.  Crew mostly just slept the day away, all snug in his blanket.

Sunday morning, the weather was much improved.  It stayed a little overcast, with the sun peering out behind the clouds every now and then.

We attended the family church service, where a few family members shared stories about pioneers and past camping experiences.

After lunch we packed up and headed home.  All in all, an enjoyable little campout.  Just enough to get me in the camping mood.  We will have to plan another trip very soon.

I'll end with a post-camp picture.  This is what we did when we got home Sunday evening:

Rub-a-dub-dub...

... Crew's in the tub!

Crew loves bath time.

Mommy and Daddy love bath time too.  Mostly because he is just so cute!

One Month

Crew has been a part of our family for one whole month today!  He is currently taking a nap, which gives me an opportunity to do a quick blog update.

The first week of Crew's life was pretty overwhelming.  My mom stayed after the birth for a few days and was a LIFESAVER!  She cleaned the house, fed me, held Crew between feedings, changed diapers, etc.  I don't know if I could have survived without her!  I was really exhausted and was trying to recover from the after effects of childbirth - it hurt to sit, it hurt to stand, walking was a chore..., let's just say it was rough.  Breastfeeding was a bit of a challenge, but not more than is typical.  It took a couple of days for my milk to come in, which created some all-night nursing sessions.  And when my milk DID come in, the engorgement lasted a couple of days and it was hard to get Crew to latch on.  By the end of the first week breastfeeding was becoming easier and I was starting to heal physically.

Week two was an improvement.  I got out of the house a couple of times and took Crew to the doctor for his PKU shot.  That was a terrible experience because he started to get hungry right before they poked his heel, and when I asked if I could feed him they said the PKU shouldn't take very long and I should just feed him afterwards.  Well, half an hour of Crew screaming at the top of his lungs while the nurses squeezed tiny drops of blood out of his little heel made me regret giving in to the nurse's suggestion to "just wait and feed him when we're all through."  Lesson learned.  I will be one of those moms who gets her way when it comes to my little guy.

Crew also went in to the doctor during his second week to get his frenulum clipped.  That's the little piece of skin under the tongue, which in his case was preventing him from sticking his tongue out past his lips.  That appointment went so much better than the PKU!  For one thing, Spencer came, so I wasn't there by myself.  And Crew didn't cry at all when they gave him the numbing shot or when they clipped his tongue.  The bleeding was pretty minimal as well.  He can now stick his cute little tongue way out!

Week three:  steady progress!  I was now able to sit pretty comfortably in almost any type of chair, we took Crew to church, breastfeeding was well established, and I finally felt like I was getting the hang of things.  I even felt good enough to teach my primary class.  I went grocery shopping with Spencer and Crew, and once by myself while Spencer watched Crew.  And I visited the elementary school where I used to teach.  It was fun to see the teachers and some former students.  And of course everyone loved Crew!

We are now halfway through week four.  Crew is sleeping a little longer between feedings at night, which is very helpful for me.  Spencer has been sleeping in the other room on our futon so he can go to work every day.  But soon he would like to try sleeping in the bedroom again now that Crew is not awake all night.  I just want to be sure at least one of us is well rested every night.

I can't quite fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans yet, but I have a pair of pre-pregnancy khakis that I can get into.  My stitches have healed up and I don't have any problems with sitting anymore.  Hooray!  Crew is getting a little faster at breast-feeding, but still comes unlatched now and then when he is fussy.  He almost never spits up.  He's getting chubby and is just as handsome as ever!

I'm sure there is a lot more I should mention about these first few weeks of Crew's life, but I'm not sure how much longer he will stay asleep, and I feel like I need to take advantage of his nap and take a nap of my own!  So that's all for now.  We sure love our little guy!

Birth Day

He's here!  Introducing...

Crew Rollins Erickson

The Birth Story:
(pictures at the bottom of the post)

My "due date" was Thursday, May 10th.  I went to my pregnancy exercise class in the morning from 8:30 to 9:30, and when I got home I mowed the front lawn.  Spencer worked half a day today, so in the afternoon I went with him to take a load of stuff to the green waste and pick up some garden mulch for my grandma.  I was feeling really good and was getting over the cold that I had last week.

I had originally planned on having my mom come up for the birth, and would call her when labor started. But there was a quilt show in Salt Lake City on Thursday that she wanted to go to, so she said she would come up for that and just stay until the baby came.  That actually worried me a little bit, because I thought I might go at least a few days past my due date, and what would she do all that time waiting around for him to come?  Well, that little decision for her to come up early ended up being ideal, and I would say inspired.

Thursday night my brother, his wife, and two little ones came over for dinner since our mom was here.  We played our traditional Jeopardy games and had a nice visit.  Then off to bed.

Friday morning I woke up a little before 5:00 am with a contraction that felt much different than the Braxton Hicks contractions I'd been feeling for weeks now.  Those contractions just felt like a tightening sensation.  This one felt like things were being pushed down.  A few minutes later I felt another one and decided I'd better keep track of when they came, just in case.  So at 5:04, 5:10, 5:17, and 5:22 I felt more of these contractions.  I knew Spencer's alarm was going to go off at 5:30, so I waited until then to tell him what was going on.  When he woke up we just laid in bed for a little while together and kept track of a few more contractions.   They were coming very regularly about 5 - 7 minutes apart.

At 6:30 we decided we'd better call our midwives.  Lisa was the one on call that day.  I told her what was going on, and she said since this was my first it would probably be a while before things really got going.  She said she would drop her kids off at school and head over to our house around 9:00 am.

By 7:30 the contractions were about 2 minutes apart, and Spencer and I both figured we better not wait for our midwife to show up at 9 am.  So Spencer called back, but there was no answer.  He called our other midwife Heather and she said she would head right over.  We had a birthing tub set up in our bedroom in case I wanted to use it.  I asked Spencer to fill it up and I was ready to get in.  I was a little worried I was getting in too early, but I didn't care.  In the tub I went, and it was very soothing to have that warm water around me.

Heather arrived around 8:00 am and checked me to see how far along I was.  I was expecting her to say somewhere around 6 or 7 centimeters, but instead she said, "Well, do you want to have the baby 20 minutes from now or right now?"  I was already fully dilated!  She said I could go ahead and push whenever I felt the urge.  Sure enough, with the very next contraction I was ready to bear down.

Heather then began rushing to get all her equipment set up, and I tried to relax through the contractions, which were completely overpowering.  I was so thankful for the short rests between each contraction.  And SO thankful for Spencer and my mom for taking such good care of me and supporting me.  At some point Heather asked if I would like her to rupture my fluids, which could speed up the process a little.  She broke my water during the next contraction.

I don't remember too many specifics of what happened for the next little while.  I tried focusing on relaxing my throat and mouth during each contraction and tried to recover as much as possible whenever I got a break.  At some point Lisa, the other midwife, arrived.  So did Darby, one of the midwife assistants. Typically at each home birth they like to have two midwives and two assistants, but the other assistant was down in Spanish Fork and I heard Heather telling her over the phone, "You won't make it in time, don't worry about coming up."

I changed positions a couple of different times in the birth tub.  The water was really warm, and I was feeling overheated.  I had already taken my shorts off so Heather could check me when she first arrived, and now I took my shirt off to cool down.  I NEVER thought I would be one of those women who give birth completely nude, but modesty is thrown right out the window when you're going through something like this I guess!

After several more contractions in the tub, Heather suggested I move to the birth stool since I wasn't making progress.  Spencer sat down in back of me for support, and with the first contraction on the birth stool the head was crowning.  We had planned on Spencer being able to receive the baby, so the midwife was telling him, "Hurry up and get over here if you want to catch your baby."  But there was no way I was letting him leave me as my back support.  On the next contraction, the head came right out, and the body followed before the contraction ended.  He was born!  They immediately put him up to my stomach and I just held him while Spencer held me.  There was a lot of blood, but I felt so calm and relaxed and happy!

Suddenly the midwives were rushing around, not panicked but definitely alert.  I was hemorrhaging.  I remember someone squirting some gross tasting liquid in my mouth from a dropper while someone else began vigorously massaging my uterus, and another person gave me two shots of Pitocin in my leg.  Then a chalky pill that I needed to suck on but not chew.  And Heather was saying to push out the placenta.  The placenta came right out, probably less than two minutes after the baby.The bleeding slowed down, and I was able to move to the bed.  Spencer held me in bed while I held our little baby boy.  He was so cute, so healthy looking!  Because of all the blood loss, they gave me an oxygen mask to wear.

From here on out, I don't really know exactly the timeline for how things happened.  The midwives were busy cleaning up and checking me.  I was worried I had torn my perineum, but I did not!  That was good news for me because I had done a lot of research and preparation to avoid a perineal tear.  Unfortunately, My labia DID tear.  The midwife said that was better than the perineum tearing, because it was just a skin tear versus muscle.  They were impressed that my perineum hadn't torn and I was grateful, but they still needed to stitch me up.  This was not a fun part of the process.  It took what seemed like FOREVER.  They gave me three different numbing shots, but I could still feel a lot of what was happening.  They ended up giving me 8 or 9 stitches.  Luckily, I got to just lie there with Spencer and our baby so I had something to take my mind off the pain.  After the room was all cleaned up and I was stitched back together, they checked the baby, and weighed and measured him.  He was so healthy and perfect.  His initial APGAR score was between 9 and 10, so he came into the world just as ready as could be.

Spencer and I had not decided on a name at this point, but we had a list of choices.  Almost from the moment I saw him, I felt like his name would be Crew.  We had added Crew to our list of names just a few days before.  In fact, it was the last name we added to the list.  When I was stitched back together and things had settled down, Spencer asked everyone to give us some privacy to discuss the name.  I suggested Crew, and Spencer felt good about it too.  We talked for a little while about a middle name, debating between Spencer and Rollins.  Rollins is a family name on Spencer's mom's side of the family.  Soon we had the name:  Crew Rollins Erickson.  A perfect name for a perfect baby.

There were moments during labor where I felt overwhelmed and was wishing for an easy, medicated hospital birth.  I remember at one point telling Spencer that now that we had been given this blessing of having our very own baby, we could just go back to our adoption plans for any other children we wanted to have.  But now that I have had a couple of days to recover, I am so glad everything happened the way that it did.  It was SUCH a challenge, so humbling and intense.  At the same time it was empowering and beautiful and a miracle.  I couldn't have asked for a better birth.  Well..., maybe I could have gone without needing stitches.

day before Crew's birth

during transition

in the tub (this was not a great position)

moments after birth, on the birth stool

happy family

holding Crew while getting stitched up

proud papa

midwives

our healthy little boy

I want to just stress how thankful I am for the support of Spencer, my mom, and the midwives during labor.  While it's true that I was the one who really had to do the work, they all played such a huge part in my being able to handle everything.  Spencer was so good at keeping me calm and relaxed.  My mom was always right there getting me whatever I needed or wanted.  The midwives provided great suggestions and ideas for making the process a little easier for me.  Their expertise was a huge source of comfort for me.  Everyone was encouraging and uplifting during the whole process.  It was a wonderful, unforgettable experience that I will treasure forever.

April Showers Bring May Babies

No, I haven't had the baby yet.  The title of this post is the title of the baby shower my ward friends threw for me and another girl in the ward.  Cute, right?  The ward shower was last Thursday, April 26th.  It was really fun, and I felt so spoiled.  I am in such a great ward!  My friend who shared the baby shower with me actually had her baby the day before the shower, so she only came for a little bit.  We got to see her cute little boy, and it made me more aware of how soon I will be holding my own little baby boy.

I don't have pictures from the ward shower, but I think someone took a few so if I get any I'll add them to this post.

I had my first baby shower a few weeks ago during General Conference weekend with my side of the family.

It was held at my Grandma's house just a couple of blocks away from me.  My mom and cousin-in-law Desi threw the shower and did a great job!  The food was delicious, and the company was even better.

Spencer's family threw me a shower on April 14th in Bluffdale.  

Just like the other two showers, I had a great time and got some amazing gifts.  Our baby is going to be one stylish little boy!

As of today (May 3rd) I am 39 weeks along.  I got a cold a few days ago and that has been annoying, but other than that I am feeling great!  I haven't had any heartburn and am still comfortable when I sleep (except for this annoying cold and having to blow my nose every 5 minutes).  I'm still going to my Baby Bump Body Pump pregnancy class twice a week at the gym, though I have to admit it is much more difficult to motivate myself to get there in the mornings.  The exercise has just been so beneficial though, I don't want to break this great habit by missing even one class.  I have just told myself I will go every time unless I am in labor.  No excuses!

I am feeling more and more ready for the birth, but if it takes a while longer I will just continue to enjoy these last days of pregnancy.  I'd really like to kick this cold before labor begins, and it seems like the last couple of days I have been getting over the cold a little at a time.  Hopefully a few more days and I'll be back to normal.

Now that I've gotten a couple of blog posts out of the way, I am even more ready to get going on this new adventure!  There are still a few loose ends I'd like to tie up.  I have been preparing the garden area for planting and want to get at least some seeds in the ground before the birth.  And the last couple of days I've had a desire to paint the cabinets in our master bathroom.  I'm just so sick of painting, I don't know if that's going to happen.  But I am feeling a lot more prepared overall than I was just a week ago.  Who knows, maybe my next post will be about the arrival of our little guy!

Hole in the Rock

Last year we took a trip down to the Hole in the Rock trail, near Lake Powell, with one of Spencer's brothers and a few of his kids.  There are a couple of different trails you can take to see the famous "Hole in the Rock."  One is a fairly mild dirt road that leads to the top of the Hole in the Rock, or you can take an extremely rugged, off-road trail that closely follows the path taken by the pioneers who originally blazed the trail.  Of course, we took the extremely rugged route.  The whole point of the trip, after all, was to test the 4Runner's off-road capabilities.  And they were definitely tested.  The "road" (I use that term very loosely here) was super bumpy and slow and tooth-rattling.  We didn't really know what we were doing or how long the route would take, so we ended up only going about halfway that time, and I remember thinking that I would never need to attempt that trip again.

Fast forward to a year later and with me now 7 1/2 months pregnant, and we set off again to tackle the Hole in the Rock trail.  What?!?  I thought we weren't going to do this miserable trail ever again!  Oh well, this time we were much more prepared.  Spencer is part of an off-road internet forum community and many people on the site will plan off-road trips for other local enthusiasts.  One of the guys Spencer had met previously decided to plan a Hole in the Rock excursion.  He set up the whole itinerary, mapped the trail, found GPS coordinates, the works.  All we had to do was basically show up and try not to embarrass ourselves among these much more experienced off-road drivers.

I debated quite a bit before the trip about whether or not I should go along with Spencer.  I knew how bumpy the road could be, and I wasn't sure if it was such a good idea given my "condition."  But as the day drew near to depart, the weather forecast looked good, I was feeling great, and I really didn't want to spend 3 days and 3 nights by myself at home while Spencer was off having fun.  So it was decided.  We would leave together right after Spencer got off work on Thursday night and come back Sunday (this was March 22-25, I've just been procrastinating blogging about it because I knew it would end up being a LONG post).

The guy who put the whole trip together did a trip report on the off-road forum, which you can read here if you're really interested.  It's much more detailed than what I'm going to share.

The main group left Thursday afternoon, and we were planning on meeting up with them later that night at a campsite, but ended up missing the turnoff for the camp and just camped by ourselves and met the group Friday morning.

Here's our group near the beginning of the trail on Friday morning.

Side note:  All of the camping on this trip was real camping - no running water, no showers, and no toilets.  I was quite proud of myself for being able to camp this way for 3 nights while pregnant.  And I was quite grateful that I didn't have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.  Really, quite grateful.

To illustrate just how rugged the trail is, let me just point out that we drove the trail all day Friday, from about 10 am to around 8 or 9 pm when we finally arrived at the end of the trail, and the distance we covered was less than 30 miles.  We did stop for lunch and went on a couple of short hikes to break up the monotony, but still, it was a treacherous road and the pace was s l o w.

This is where we turned around last year, about halfway along the trail.

Here's a great overlook on top of grey mesa where you can see part of Lake Powell.

The slow pace actually proved to be quite an advantage for me, because I was able to get out and walk alongside the trail during most of the really bumpy sections.  Walking was much more comfortable than the constant jostling back and forth and up and down on those uneven rocks that made up the trail.

Anyway, we got to the end of the trail well after dark, set up camp, and sat around the fire for a little while before heading to bed.

The next day (Saturday) we hiked down more of the trail that the pioneers took (which is much too dangerous for vehicles to attempt now),

The beginning of the walking trail at our campsite.

Can you imagine bringing wagons up this rocky hill?

packed up camp, and headed back the way we came in.  We were able to go at a much more relaxed pace today because we were going to camp along the trail this time instead of doing the whole trail in a day.  This gave us more time for hikes along the way.

One of the more adventurous hikes, where we had to traverse over a shallow slot canyon with pools of stagnant water underneath us.

Spencer and I are enjoying the view from one of the hikes we took.

The rock formations were so beautiful.

Spencer is taking a break on one of the longer, steeper hikes.

We set up camp that evening along the trail, had a relaxing dinner around the fire, and on Sunday morning we finished up the trail and the group went their separate ways home again.

Once we made it back to pavement, we decided to go with a couple of other drivers to see some old Indian ruins.

I guess we hadn't done enough driving for the weekend, because we also decided to tag along and drive an extra hour to visit Natural Bridges National Monument.

If you look closely you can see an arch in the middle of the picture.  This whole area was down below the horizon line, so if you just drive past you wouldn't even know it was there.

Here I am at one of the overlooks.  I'm holding my hat on so the wind doesn't blow it away.  It was windy.

 I am so glad I decided to go on the trip.  We had a lot of fun together, and it felt good to be out of the house and doing something fun.  Now that we've completed the ENTIRE trail, I don't know if we will feel the need to do it ever again.  But it is a great experience to have.