*Note: this one took me a little while to finish and post, so the dates are a bit off. We left Zion today, so this was written about three days ago.
We arrived at Zion National Park four days ago. We've been having a great time hiking, swimming, relaxing...it's been wonderful.
Last night we decided to take a little bike ride around the campground. Usually the kids ride their bikes while The Hot Contractor and I help them, carry the baby, and walk Sugar. But this time I decided to put Little Brother in our little baby seat on the front of my bike, and take him for a *real* ride. We had a blast, and you could hear a good amount of "wheeee!" going on.
As I pulled into our campsite, I tried to go around a log and a rock, and park the bike by the tree where we'd been keeping it. As I started going through the grass, I realized it was really tall, and I was quickly losing momentum. I wanted to put my foot down to get stability, but I looked, and there was the rock. Since the seat where Little Brother was was in front of me, it was hard to quickly get off, and I ended up taking a spill (and bringing poor Little Brother with me!). I felt two pops in my ankle as I hit the ground. And I couldn't move my ankle, the bike that was on top of me, or help Hysterical Little Brother get out of the seat he was in. The Hot Contractor came running over with the baby in his arms, trying to help one of us, but realizing he only had one arm to do so. The Princess was about 20 feet behind us, and started sobbing when she realized Mommy was hurt. It was a pretty intense moment.
An elderly couple staying in the campsite next to us came over to help. We'd made friends with them, and they took Little Brother and The Princess to their motor home for band-aids, teddy bears, and comfort. The man got me ice, and he and The Hot Contractor helped me get into the trailer so I could nurse Crying Little Brother.
I thought at first my ankle was surely broken. But after I calmed down and reassessed, I thought maybe it was just a bad sprain. Nevertheless, I haven't put any weight on it since.
Today we decided to go into town and look for some veggie oil and do our laundry. We noticed a sign for a farmer's market. There were 20 minutes until it closed, so we quickly hunted it down. I stayed in the car, and The Hot Contractor went to look at all four tables that were there. There was a table where someone was selling homemade goat milk soaps. I had told The Hot Contractor to look for some raw milk, so he thought the goat milk soap people might be good ones to ask. They told us about a family that was there who has a CSA, and has goat milk shares. They happened to have three quarts of fresh, raw, goat milk. Now, I've tried goat milk a few times, and it's always tasted pretty "goaty" to me. But this milk...The Hot Contractor told me at first that it was cow milk, and I believed him. It was so good! We had a little illegal transaction, and obtained the contraband...Um, for our dog....believe it or not, it is illegal to buy raw milk for human consumption in many states, including Utah. You can, however, buy alcohol, cigarettes, and high fructose corn syrup galore, in all 50 states. There's our government for you...keeping us safe and healthy. Safe from that horribly healing and nurturing food called raw milk.
We also got some pastured chicken eggs, which we were very happy about. Those are legal to purchase, by the way.
Then we went around to get some veggie oil. We've become a little discouraged as we've looked in some cities. It seems like everybody already has their "guy" who gets their oil. But we've discovered that the smaller towns are much easier to find used veggie oil in. And today we scored about 60 gallons! We didn't get about 100 gallons more that was available because we didn't have the room for it. We keep calculating the cost savings, considering a gallon of diesel fuel is about $5/ gallon right now. That's like $300 we saved in one afternoon!
After we found the fuel, and the farmer's market, we decided to take the kids out for some ice cream. We were sitting outside the little ice cream shop/ cafe, and this little lady that worked inside saw The Hot Contractor piggyback me to the table, and saw me unwrap the ace bandage from my ankle. She asked The Contractor what happened, and then proceeded to call all the local medical clinics to find out their hours for us (unsolicited, mind you). She came out and gave us the rundown.
While she was talking, there was a man standing nearby listening. I hadn't noticed him, and he was the only person around besides us. After she left, he said, "Or, you could go to the local Foot and Ankle Institute". Then he started looking through his wallet for a business card. I asked him if he wasn't by chance a doctor who worked at said Institute? He smiled, and said he was.
A few minutes later, he came back and asked me if I'd like him to "save [me] a trip, and check it out now". I said "sure". How cool was he?!?!? I couldn't believe how kind he was! Here he was out with his wife and grandchildren getting ice cream, and he took the time to help me.
So, he did a little exam on my ankle, and unfortunately, told me he thought it might be broken. No visit saved, but I was thankful to know that it was serious enough to go get x-rays.
*Fast forward....now I'm finishing this post three days later.
Yesterday we went to that Foot and Ankle Institute, and got the ankle checked. Turns out it's not broken! It's`just a bad sprain. And instead of needing to be non-weight-bearing for six weeks (which would be the case if it was broken), he said it actually helps a sprained ankle to walk on it. Unless it hurts too bad, then I need to back off. I'm so thankful I don't have to be immobile for six weeks. I think it would get really old for The Hot Contractor to do all the cooking, cleaning, child carrying, oil gathering and filtering, and care for me for that long. Plus, that's pretty much through to the end of our travels. While I won't be going on any long hikes while we're traveling, I can at least go for walks and enjoy some physical activity with my family. I'm SO thankful for that. I have this cute little brace to wear, and I'm taking it easy when the ankle hurts. Oh, and no more bike riding through tall grass!
We're now on our way to Yellowstone....
Showing posts with label Rv living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rv living. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Rig
Per Brendan's request, here are some pics of the rig. Kind of Beverly Hillbillies style. But we've been known to sport a lot more hillbilly than this. This is pretty high-class for us. ;-)
The Once-A-Travel-Trailer-Turned-Flatbed-Turned-Cargo Trailer-Trailer. The Hot Contractor just finished building this a couple days ago. It has all our remaining possessions inside. I kinda think we should spray paint "U-Haul" on the side. What do you think? Too W.T.?
Here's what it looked like as a flatbed trailer.
Here's The Beast
The veggie kit just arrived today, so The Hot Contractor will begin installing it tomorrow. I'm not gonna show you a picture of the tailgate. That's because the other day, when I went to the RV store, I was backing up, and backed right into their big ol' sign out front. The guy working there came out laughing and said, "Haha...Everyone does that!". I wasn't laughing when I looked at the tailgate. Oh, well. The sign was fine, by the way.
Here's the Travel Trailer.
Home Sweet Home.
We're hoping to finish the veggie conversion, and some other essential repairs by next Tuesday or Wednesday. We'll then head down to Santa Barbara to visit some friends for a few days.
The Once-A-Travel-Trailer-Turned-Flatbed-Turned-Cargo Trailer-Trailer. The Hot Contractor just finished building this a couple days ago. It has all our remaining possessions inside. I kinda think we should spray paint "U-Haul" on the side. What do you think? Too W.T.?
Here's what it looked like as a flatbed trailer.
Here's The Beast
The veggie kit just arrived today, so The Hot Contractor will begin installing it tomorrow. I'm not gonna show you a picture of the tailgate. That's because the other day, when I went to the RV store, I was backing up, and backed right into their big ol' sign out front. The guy working there came out laughing and said, "Haha...Everyone does that!". I wasn't laughing when I looked at the tailgate. Oh, well. The sign was fine, by the way.
Here's the Travel Trailer.
Home Sweet Home.
We're hoping to finish the veggie conversion, and some other essential repairs by next Tuesday or Wednesday. We'll then head down to Santa Barbara to visit some friends for a few days.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
New Plans!
For the last few weeks, The Hot Contractor and I have been watching gas prices rise, listening to some economists we follow predict that gas will reach $5/ gallon in the next few months, and crunching the numbers on our trip budget. It didn't all add up.
We decided to buy a travel trailer and a diesel truck which we can convert to veggie oil, and sell our motor home. I know, sad to say goodbye to her. After remodeling her, birthing my son in her, and enjoying her cute coziness, it is hard. But we will be ok. ;-)
So last weekend we got a travel trailer and moved into it. And this week we decided on a truck to buy, and are currently in Bakersfield, CA (AKA "the armpit" of California), picking up our new truck. The new travel trailer is not so cute, but it "has good bones" (as my Hot Contractor likes to say), and we are loving the layout (like the dining room table we can all sit down at). We may paint it and fix up a little at some point, but there's no time to do it now.
The Hot Contractor has been researching biodiesel conversion, and learning a ton. We're super excited about using vegetable oil from restaurants to fuel our vehicle.
This plan should allow us to not be held back by the rising fuel costs, and to have a little more play, and a lot less work while on the road. We always like that!
And for an added bonus, this truck holds all five of us (plus our dog Sugar), and will be a great work truck for The Hot Contractor once we get to our destination. We know someone who traveled the country in a converted motor home for months, and spent less than $200 on fuel. I think the fuel cost savings we are going to experience will be amazing.
Our current plan is to leave Santa Cruz in four weeks, go back to Oroville and pack up our belongings for a week, then head out. We will head to Idaho for a couple weeks, after visiting some friends in Southern California.
Can't wait!
We decided to buy a travel trailer and a diesel truck which we can convert to veggie oil, and sell our motor home. I know, sad to say goodbye to her. After remodeling her, birthing my son in her, and enjoying her cute coziness, it is hard. But we will be ok. ;-)
So last weekend we got a travel trailer and moved into it. And this week we decided on a truck to buy, and are currently in Bakersfield, CA (AKA "the armpit" of California), picking up our new truck. The new travel trailer is not so cute, but it "has good bones" (as my Hot Contractor likes to say), and we are loving the layout (like the dining room table we can all sit down at). We may paint it and fix up a little at some point, but there's no time to do it now.
The Hot Contractor has been researching biodiesel conversion, and learning a ton. We're super excited about using vegetable oil from restaurants to fuel our vehicle.
This plan should allow us to not be held back by the rising fuel costs, and to have a little more play, and a lot less work while on the road. We always like that!
And for an added bonus, this truck holds all five of us (plus our dog Sugar), and will be a great work truck for The Hot Contractor once we get to our destination. We know someone who traveled the country in a converted motor home for months, and spent less than $200 on fuel. I think the fuel cost savings we are going to experience will be amazing.
Our current plan is to leave Santa Cruz in four weeks, go back to Oroville and pack up our belongings for a week, then head out. We will head to Idaho for a couple weeks, after visiting some friends in Southern California.
Can't wait!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
The Birth of Baby Brother
First, let me apologize to all of you whom I've lied to over the last nine months. It was such a hard thing to do, especially as a person who likes to share exciting things. Um...and tell the truth. But I learned quickly that I needed to keep my mouth shut about my plans for how I would birth Baby Brother. Even people I consider "crunchy" or "alternative" reacted to my news with fear. I realized that what I was planning to do was pretty far out of most American women's understanding of how to have a safe and peaceful birth.
I was planning an Unassisted Childbirth.
What is Unassisted Childbirth (UC), you ask? It's a home birth without a home birth midwife in attendance. Or any other medical professional for that matter.
You're probably thinking I'm crazy about now. Let me tell you how I got to this point.
I've wanted to have a home birth for a long time. Since before Little Brother was born. We couldn't afford it then, so we opted to birth at the birthing center where we'd had The Princess. It had been a pleasant experience (we joke that it's like staying at a five star hotel). I was able to have a natural birth with Little Brother, and felt like I had fulfilled my desire to know that I was capable of giving birth without medication.
This time around, we again interviewed all the home birth midwives in the county (all two of them), and were set on having a home birth. There was one midwife I could maybe see myself connecting with, and we began to consider hiring her. As I was weighing the financial cost, the mediocre connection I'd had with the midwife, and doing some research online on home births, I came across Unassisted Childbirth. I'd never heard of this! You mean people actually do this nowadays?!? In America?!?! At first, it freaked me out a bit. What if something went wrong? What if...the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck....what if I hemorrhage?...what if I tear?...
In order to have the safest possible birth for me and my baby, I must birth in a hospital, and submit the responsibility of my child's birth to the medical professionals who "know what they're doing", right?
And then I started researching.
I discovered that statistically, it is safer to birth a child at home than in a hospital. I also discovered that America has the second highest hospital birth infant mortality rate in the developed world. So, if I want to increase the chances of my child dying, I would birth in a hospital. This seems like it can't be true. But it is. Additionally, America has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world. That's not a statistic I want to join.
As The Hot Contractor and I started to read books on Unassisted Childbirth, and Emergency Childbirth in preparation, we felt this amazing feeling of empowerment. We were taking back the responsibility of our birth. Of my body. Of my child's entrance into the world. I was not going to be told to lay flat on my back (the most uncomfortable and WORST position to give birth in). I was not going to be told that my long labor had a medical term of "Failure to Progress", and that I therefore needed a C-section. Before medical intervention, women often had labors that lasted three or four days. They also were often pregnant for more than 40 weeks. Left to nature, forty-three or forty-four weeks is not an uncommon length of pregnancy. And I didn't want to be told that going past my due date required that I have an induction.
I wanted to trust myself. My body. God. He made my body capable of doing this. If not, then how did people for centuries get here? If so, then, why was I not trusting Him?
Birth itself is not inherently dangerous. How is it that God can create systems in our body that work so perfectly....the respiratory system, the digestive system. He can make it possible that a sperm and an egg can create a person, but had no good plan for how to get that person out? I just can't believe that.
Along the way in our journey to discover UC, The Hot Contractor and I started to feel like this was something that should be done with just us two present. This whole pregnancy began as an intimate expression of our love, and we wanted to finish it in that same intimate way....a culmination of the process we had been through over these last nine months. We also wanted the most peaceful experience for our child to be brought into the world. I didn't want strangers telling me what to do, or sweeping my child away to check him for something (most of which is entirely unnecessary). The more I learned, the more I wanted to be in control of my birth experience, and not submit myself, or my child, to unnecessary medical intervention.
I also learned that the reason so many women experience pain is because of things that intervene in our birth experiences. These can be internal (fear), or external (strangers present, a sterile hospital environment, medical interventions, etc.). I figured if I didn't put myself in an environment that was uncomfortable, but made the most peaceful, comfortable place possible, then at least I was eliminating the external factor. Now to work on the internal: fear. I'll be honest, I have had a lot of fear about childbirth in the past. I was terrified with my first pregnancy, not knowing what to expect. With my second pregnancy, I knew what to expect, but I was pretty afraid to do it naturally (which I was committed to after researching the effects of medicated births on an infant). I did it, but experienced a lot of pain (probably because of my high level of fear). This time, I wanted to let go of my fear. I wasn't naive enough to think that I would have a completely painless birth, but I did think I would manage it much better having less fear. And going in, I was pretty fearless. I knew that fear would make my body have a fight or flight reaction, and that blood would stop flowing to my uterus, which would, in turn, cause me to have pain. I didn't want that.
The Hot Contractor and I started watching UC birth videos on YouTube (I dare you to do it). This one made me completely convinced that this whole "pain free childbirth" thing was not made up! It's really possible! (Warning...there is nudity). We also let our kids watch the videos. The Princess became a bit obsessed with watching birth videos for about a month leading up to Baby Brother's birth. At one point, I asked her if she wanted to watch Baby Brother be born. She said she didn't.
So, ya, maybe people have gotten here for centuries, but also, "a lot more babies used to die"...one of the responses people reacted to our news with. But, as Laura Shanley writes about, there were reasons for this. Poverty is one of them....poor living conditions, lack of food. If a woman is not well-nourished, she will have a harder time giving birth. There is also documentation that there are many tribes around the world where women give birth painlessly, quickly, and without incident. In developed countries, 100 years ago, women were corseted from early adolescence. This caused them to have narrow pelvic bones, and therefore, pain in childbirth. All this to say that there were reasons that babies used to die more. And they aren't because we now have hospitals, and we didn't before.
Here are some fears/reactions/responses I heard from the few people I told about my UC early on. And here are the things I had learned that diminished my fears:
What if you tear?
Well, first of all, without a medical professional telling me when I have to push (which happened with my first two births, when I tore), I knew if I just let my body do what it needed to do, and push when I felt ready to push, I'd have a lot less chance of tearing. It turns out, during this birth, that's what I did. And I didn't tear. If I had torn, I learned that laying with my legs together (or just not opening them more than necessary) for a few days would heal any tears I had. I'm laying low, and being very sensitive to my body's signals. I never knew how dilated or progressed I was, and didn't care to learn how to check myself because I just wanted to pay attention to my body, and let it tell me when it was ready. And it worked!
What if the baby's cord is around the neck?
About 30% of babies are born with the cord around the neck (including Baby Brother). It is not a medical emergency, contrary to popular belief. Babies are getting their oxygen from the cord, but unless it is tied tightly around the neck (two or three times, or is an unusually short cord), it won't cut off the blood flow to the baby. Once the baby is out, it can be easily undone. And at that point, the baby starts breathing, and getting oxygen that way, so it's not important.
What if you hemorrhage?
I'll admit it, this was the thing I had the hardest time getting over my fear of. I knew that if I bled more than two cups, I should go to the hospital. But knowing what two cups of blood looked like was hard. I also knew that if I felt faint or dizzy, or passed out, that I should be taken to the hospital immediately. I armed myself with every natural anti-hemorrhaging tool possible. Herbs, homeopathy, eating a chunk of my placenta, breast feeding immediately after birth, not letting anyone pull on the placenta to get it out, but just letting it come out naturally... I still had a fear of leaving my children motherless. I prayed a lot about this, and really just had to let it go. People can hemorrhage and die for up to two weeks after they give birth. I know that I must just be really careful, give my body a break, and not push it too much. So far, so good. I'm still here. The only things they would have done at the hospital are give me a shot of Pitocin (which I tried to acquire unsuccessfully), or a blood transfusion. I decided that this risk was not worth going to a hospital or birthing center to give birth. Percentage-wise, hemorrhaging is not a high risk. And most women who die from hemorrhaging die after bleeding for hours...not minutes. If bleeding was an issue, we'd go in as soon as we knew, and do all we could to stop it. Plus, being in a hospital doesn't mean I wouldn't die anyway if I hemorrhaged. There's still a chance of that happening.
Plans
While we were still living in Oroville, The Hot Contractor and I planned to UC in the bedroom at the house we were at. We bought a large pool for birthing, and were set. Then we decided to hit the road in the RV before the birth, so that threw a little curve-ball into the situation. Plan-A was over. On to Plan B...
We decided to bring the pool with us, and set it up under the awning of the RV. We brought an outdoor rug for comfort on our feet, some twinkle lights to hang on the awning, a wood stove for heat and to boil water for the pool, a large stock of firewood. We were set! I mean, the property where we were planning on staying is a secluded, 25-acre wooded property. We'd be off in some corner of the property, birthing in private, right?
Then we arrived on Thanksgiving day. The landlord told us where he wanted us to park: right in front of his 84-year-old, blind mother's house. Like two feet from her bedroom window. Because her eyesight is lacking, her hearing is really good! I just couldn't subject this poor woman to my laboring moans. Surely she'd hear them, and I'm not sure how she'd react. So, we had to come up with Plan C.
My in-laws live about two miles from where we have the RV parked. They have a large bathtub in their master bedroom, and we thought this might be a good option. So, we let them in on our secret plan to UC, and asked if we could birth at their house. They were really supportive, and open to the idea. So, Plan C was a go!
Then a few days later, they started feeling nervous that their landlord might find out and evict them. They've had some issues with their landlord, and didn't want to push the envelope. We understood. So, we moved on to Plan D.
We decided to have our birth at a resort just a few miles from where we're staying. It's a beautiful, beachfront resort with spa suites that have huge, two-person tubs. Oh, and ocean views. I went and toured the spa suites, and was SO excited about giving birth there! I'd read a few stories online of other mamas who'd birthed in hotels when they couldn't, or didn't want to birth at home. And if this hotel was booked the night I went into labor, I had three other ones in line that had large tubs. (Did I mention that birthing in water was very important to me? I believe it's God's epidural, being in water. I did it with Little Brother's birth, and felt sooo much better laboring that way).
Then, I went into labor on New Years Eve. We called all the hotels on our list, and every.single.one. of them was sold out. Darnit! What was I going to do? We thought about our options at this point. The RV, or the birthing center. After going through this whole process over the last nine months, there was just no way I could bring myself to going to the birthing center. So, the RV it was!
Baby Brother's Arrival
I woke up from contractions at about 1:00 in the morning on January 1st (1-1-11). I waited until I was sure I was in labor, then got up to tell The Hot Contractor. He was still up watching movies (poor guy didn't get any sleep that night), and I told him I was pretty sure I was in labor. He called his mom to come over and sleep with the kids. Then he got the bed ready with plastic under the sheet, then towels, and puppy pads on top. I labored around while doing things between contractions...lighting candles, getting my herbs and homeopathy out and ready...etc. Here's me laboring.
Ya, not my most glamorous moment, but this is real life.
The kids and grandma woke up about 6:00. Things were starting to get more intense for me. Little Brother was really wanting mama snuggles (typical morning thing), so I leaned on their loft with each contraction, and held hands with kiddos between contractions. I was really surprised that they were not phased by my laboring moans. I really thought they'd be scared, or cry, or want mommy. Nothing of the sort. They watched, and asked Daddy why I was making those noises. We told them that I wasn't hurt, and that it was how Baby Brother was coming out. They were so excited to meet their Baby Brother!
Sometime in the seven o'clock hour, I got on the bed, on all fours. This was the best position to be in when I birthed Little Brother, so I thought it'd be great. It wasn't. I tried lots of different positions, and just went with what felt the most comfortable. Sometimes that was laying on my left side with my leg up in the air. Sometimes it was standing up and leaning hard on my left hip. Not sure why it felt better on the left, other than there was more room on my left side. Baby Brother had been on my right side my whole pregnancy, and I thought maybe he still was. I was in transition for about 45 minutes. Eventually, I felt like I needed to get on my hands and knees. So I did. I started feeling the urge to push, so I went with it. The whole time, I was really working on letting go of my fears. My mantra was that "God made my body to do this. My body knows how to do this. I was created to do this." I knew I could do this. It definitely wasn't pain free, but before I hit transition, it was pretty painless. It was intense, but not painful. Transition,on the other hand, was painful.
Once I started pushing, it was only five or ten minutes before Baby Brother was out. I remember asking The Hot Contractor if he could see anything, and he said "no". Then, at the next contraction, he said, "you totally just opened up!" The Princess was standing on his right, and Little Brother was on his left. All three of them were eagerly awaiting the first glimpse of our newest family member. One more contraction, and The Hot Contractor said, "I see his head!" I went with the urge to push (I remembered reading in the Unassisted Childbirth book to "do nothing", and your body will do what it needs to do...so I kept telling myself to "do nothing".). My body pushed hard, and his head popped out. The Hot Contractor (my AMAZING midhusband) was talking to me, telling me what he could see, that Baby Brother was ok, that his head was out, but his chin was still in there a little. My body pushed again, and his head came out all the way. A couple more pushes, and his body slid out, into his Daddy's arms. The Princess, Little Brother, and The Hot Contractor held him there while I turned over to lay down and hold him. A few minutes later, the placenta came out, and we were all in Newborn Heaven.
The Princess didn't want to get out of bed. She literally stayed in bed with me and Baby Brother almost all day. It was so sweet. She cried when it was Mommy's turn to hold Baby Brother because she didn't want to give him up.
I am so thankful that we ended up with Plan E. Looking back, I see that it was the best plan all along. My kids got to be there delivering their brother. We labored listening to rain by candlelight, eating yummy food, drinking tea...in the comfort of our own home (um, RV). I didn't need the water (although, it would have been nice, I'm sure). My kids weren't freaked out by watching (something I was really worried about), and Baby Brother entered the world without a glitch, completely naturally and safely. I'm sure he sensed the peace that his family had when he was born, and hopefully (despite the difficult descent, I'm sure), was at peace too.
Welcome Baby Brother! Named after my brother who died in 2009.
Born on 1/1/11 at 8:22 am.
10 lb, 7 oz (we bought a baby scale on eBay so that we could weigh him...I know you were wondering how we knew how much he weighed).
22" long.
And congratulations if you read this whole blog! Whew!
(For a cool documentary on hospital and home births in America, check out The Business of Being Born. It was done by Ricky Lake.)
UPDATE! In July 2012, I was interviewed on the radio show, Preggie Pals about my UC. You can hear the interview here.
I was planning an Unassisted Childbirth.
What is Unassisted Childbirth (UC), you ask? It's a home birth without a home birth midwife in attendance. Or any other medical professional for that matter.
You're probably thinking I'm crazy about now. Let me tell you how I got to this point.
I've wanted to have a home birth for a long time. Since before Little Brother was born. We couldn't afford it then, so we opted to birth at the birthing center where we'd had The Princess. It had been a pleasant experience (we joke that it's like staying at a five star hotel). I was able to have a natural birth with Little Brother, and felt like I had fulfilled my desire to know that I was capable of giving birth without medication.
This time around, we again interviewed all the home birth midwives in the county (all two of them), and were set on having a home birth. There was one midwife I could maybe see myself connecting with, and we began to consider hiring her. As I was weighing the financial cost, the mediocre connection I'd had with the midwife, and doing some research online on home births, I came across Unassisted Childbirth. I'd never heard of this! You mean people actually do this nowadays?!? In America?!?! At first, it freaked me out a bit. What if something went wrong? What if...the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck....what if I hemorrhage?...what if I tear?...
In order to have the safest possible birth for me and my baby, I must birth in a hospital, and submit the responsibility of my child's birth to the medical professionals who "know what they're doing", right?
And then I started researching.
I discovered that statistically, it is safer to birth a child at home than in a hospital. I also discovered that America has the second highest hospital birth infant mortality rate in the developed world. So, if I want to increase the chances of my child dying, I would birth in a hospital. This seems like it can't be true. But it is. Additionally, America has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world. That's not a statistic I want to join.
As The Hot Contractor and I started to read books on Unassisted Childbirth, and Emergency Childbirth in preparation, we felt this amazing feeling of empowerment. We were taking back the responsibility of our birth. Of my body. Of my child's entrance into the world. I was not going to be told to lay flat on my back (the most uncomfortable and WORST position to give birth in). I was not going to be told that my long labor had a medical term of "Failure to Progress", and that I therefore needed a C-section. Before medical intervention, women often had labors that lasted three or four days. They also were often pregnant for more than 40 weeks. Left to nature, forty-three or forty-four weeks is not an uncommon length of pregnancy. And I didn't want to be told that going past my due date required that I have an induction.
I wanted to trust myself. My body. God. He made my body capable of doing this. If not, then how did people for centuries get here? If so, then, why was I not trusting Him?
Birth itself is not inherently dangerous. How is it that God can create systems in our body that work so perfectly....the respiratory system, the digestive system. He can make it possible that a sperm and an egg can create a person, but had no good plan for how to get that person out? I just can't believe that.
Along the way in our journey to discover UC, The Hot Contractor and I started to feel like this was something that should be done with just us two present. This whole pregnancy began as an intimate expression of our love, and we wanted to finish it in that same intimate way....a culmination of the process we had been through over these last nine months. We also wanted the most peaceful experience for our child to be brought into the world. I didn't want strangers telling me what to do, or sweeping my child away to check him for something (most of which is entirely unnecessary). The more I learned, the more I wanted to be in control of my birth experience, and not submit myself, or my child, to unnecessary medical intervention.
I also learned that the reason so many women experience pain is because of things that intervene in our birth experiences. These can be internal (fear), or external (strangers present, a sterile hospital environment, medical interventions, etc.). I figured if I didn't put myself in an environment that was uncomfortable, but made the most peaceful, comfortable place possible, then at least I was eliminating the external factor. Now to work on the internal: fear. I'll be honest, I have had a lot of fear about childbirth in the past. I was terrified with my first pregnancy, not knowing what to expect. With my second pregnancy, I knew what to expect, but I was pretty afraid to do it naturally (which I was committed to after researching the effects of medicated births on an infant). I did it, but experienced a lot of pain (probably because of my high level of fear). This time, I wanted to let go of my fear. I wasn't naive enough to think that I would have a completely painless birth, but I did think I would manage it much better having less fear. And going in, I was pretty fearless. I knew that fear would make my body have a fight or flight reaction, and that blood would stop flowing to my uterus, which would, in turn, cause me to have pain. I didn't want that.
The Hot Contractor and I started watching UC birth videos on YouTube (I dare you to do it). This one made me completely convinced that this whole "pain free childbirth" thing was not made up! It's really possible! (Warning...there is nudity). We also let our kids watch the videos. The Princess became a bit obsessed with watching birth videos for about a month leading up to Baby Brother's birth. At one point, I asked her if she wanted to watch Baby Brother be born. She said she didn't.
So, ya, maybe people have gotten here for centuries, but also, "a lot more babies used to die"...one of the responses people reacted to our news with. But, as Laura Shanley writes about, there were reasons for this. Poverty is one of them....poor living conditions, lack of food. If a woman is not well-nourished, she will have a harder time giving birth. There is also documentation that there are many tribes around the world where women give birth painlessly, quickly, and without incident. In developed countries, 100 years ago, women were corseted from early adolescence. This caused them to have narrow pelvic bones, and therefore, pain in childbirth. All this to say that there were reasons that babies used to die more. And they aren't because we now have hospitals, and we didn't before.
Here are some fears/reactions/responses I heard from the few people I told about my UC early on. And here are the things I had learned that diminished my fears:
What if you tear?
Well, first of all, without a medical professional telling me when I have to push (which happened with my first two births, when I tore), I knew if I just let my body do what it needed to do, and push when I felt ready to push, I'd have a lot less chance of tearing. It turns out, during this birth, that's what I did. And I didn't tear. If I had torn, I learned that laying with my legs together (or just not opening them more than necessary) for a few days would heal any tears I had. I'm laying low, and being very sensitive to my body's signals. I never knew how dilated or progressed I was, and didn't care to learn how to check myself because I just wanted to pay attention to my body, and let it tell me when it was ready. And it worked!
What if the baby's cord is around the neck?
About 30% of babies are born with the cord around the neck (including Baby Brother). It is not a medical emergency, contrary to popular belief. Babies are getting their oxygen from the cord, but unless it is tied tightly around the neck (two or three times, or is an unusually short cord), it won't cut off the blood flow to the baby. Once the baby is out, it can be easily undone. And at that point, the baby starts breathing, and getting oxygen that way, so it's not important.
What if you hemorrhage?
I'll admit it, this was the thing I had the hardest time getting over my fear of. I knew that if I bled more than two cups, I should go to the hospital. But knowing what two cups of blood looked like was hard. I also knew that if I felt faint or dizzy, or passed out, that I should be taken to the hospital immediately. I armed myself with every natural anti-hemorrhaging tool possible. Herbs, homeopathy, eating a chunk of my placenta, breast feeding immediately after birth, not letting anyone pull on the placenta to get it out, but just letting it come out naturally... I still had a fear of leaving my children motherless. I prayed a lot about this, and really just had to let it go. People can hemorrhage and die for up to two weeks after they give birth. I know that I must just be really careful, give my body a break, and not push it too much. So far, so good. I'm still here. The only things they would have done at the hospital are give me a shot of Pitocin (which I tried to acquire unsuccessfully), or a blood transfusion. I decided that this risk was not worth going to a hospital or birthing center to give birth. Percentage-wise, hemorrhaging is not a high risk. And most women who die from hemorrhaging die after bleeding for hours...not minutes. If bleeding was an issue, we'd go in as soon as we knew, and do all we could to stop it. Plus, being in a hospital doesn't mean I wouldn't die anyway if I hemorrhaged. There's still a chance of that happening.
Plans
While we were still living in Oroville, The Hot Contractor and I planned to UC in the bedroom at the house we were at. We bought a large pool for birthing, and were set. Then we decided to hit the road in the RV before the birth, so that threw a little curve-ball into the situation. Plan-A was over. On to Plan B...
We decided to bring the pool with us, and set it up under the awning of the RV. We brought an outdoor rug for comfort on our feet, some twinkle lights to hang on the awning, a wood stove for heat and to boil water for the pool, a large stock of firewood. We were set! I mean, the property where we were planning on staying is a secluded, 25-acre wooded property. We'd be off in some corner of the property, birthing in private, right?
Then we arrived on Thanksgiving day. The landlord told us where he wanted us to park: right in front of his 84-year-old, blind mother's house. Like two feet from her bedroom window. Because her eyesight is lacking, her hearing is really good! I just couldn't subject this poor woman to my laboring moans. Surely she'd hear them, and I'm not sure how she'd react. So, we had to come up with Plan C.
My in-laws live about two miles from where we have the RV parked. They have a large bathtub in their master bedroom, and we thought this might be a good option. So, we let them in on our secret plan to UC, and asked if we could birth at their house. They were really supportive, and open to the idea. So, Plan C was a go!
Then a few days later, they started feeling nervous that their landlord might find out and evict them. They've had some issues with their landlord, and didn't want to push the envelope. We understood. So, we moved on to Plan D.
We decided to have our birth at a resort just a few miles from where we're staying. It's a beautiful, beachfront resort with spa suites that have huge, two-person tubs. Oh, and ocean views. I went and toured the spa suites, and was SO excited about giving birth there! I'd read a few stories online of other mamas who'd birthed in hotels when they couldn't, or didn't want to birth at home. And if this hotel was booked the night I went into labor, I had three other ones in line that had large tubs. (Did I mention that birthing in water was very important to me? I believe it's God's epidural, being in water. I did it with Little Brother's birth, and felt sooo much better laboring that way).
Then, I went into labor on New Years Eve. We called all the hotels on our list, and every.single.one. of them was sold out. Darnit! What was I going to do? We thought about our options at this point. The RV, or the birthing center. After going through this whole process over the last nine months, there was just no way I could bring myself to going to the birthing center. So, the RV it was!
Baby Brother's Arrival
I woke up from contractions at about 1:00 in the morning on January 1st (1-1-11). I waited until I was sure I was in labor, then got up to tell The Hot Contractor. He was still up watching movies (poor guy didn't get any sleep that night), and I told him I was pretty sure I was in labor. He called his mom to come over and sleep with the kids. Then he got the bed ready with plastic under the sheet, then towels, and puppy pads on top. I labored around while doing things between contractions...lighting candles, getting my herbs and homeopathy out and ready...etc. Here's me laboring.
The kids and grandma woke up about 6:00. Things were starting to get more intense for me. Little Brother was really wanting mama snuggles (typical morning thing), so I leaned on their loft with each contraction, and held hands with kiddos between contractions. I was really surprised that they were not phased by my laboring moans. I really thought they'd be scared, or cry, or want mommy. Nothing of the sort. They watched, and asked Daddy why I was making those noises. We told them that I wasn't hurt, and that it was how Baby Brother was coming out. They were so excited to meet their Baby Brother!
Sometime in the seven o'clock hour, I got on the bed, on all fours. This was the best position to be in when I birthed Little Brother, so I thought it'd be great. It wasn't. I tried lots of different positions, and just went with what felt the most comfortable. Sometimes that was laying on my left side with my leg up in the air. Sometimes it was standing up and leaning hard on my left hip. Not sure why it felt better on the left, other than there was more room on my left side. Baby Brother had been on my right side my whole pregnancy, and I thought maybe he still was. I was in transition for about 45 minutes. Eventually, I felt like I needed to get on my hands and knees. So I did. I started feeling the urge to push, so I went with it. The whole time, I was really working on letting go of my fears. My mantra was that "God made my body to do this. My body knows how to do this. I was created to do this." I knew I could do this. It definitely wasn't pain free, but before I hit transition, it was pretty painless. It was intense, but not painful. Transition,on the other hand, was painful.
Once I started pushing, it was only five or ten minutes before Baby Brother was out. I remember asking The Hot Contractor if he could see anything, and he said "no". Then, at the next contraction, he said, "you totally just opened up!" The Princess was standing on his right, and Little Brother was on his left. All three of them were eagerly awaiting the first glimpse of our newest family member. One more contraction, and The Hot Contractor said, "I see his head!" I went with the urge to push (I remembered reading in the Unassisted Childbirth book to "do nothing", and your body will do what it needs to do...so I kept telling myself to "do nothing".). My body pushed hard, and his head popped out. The Hot Contractor (my AMAZING midhusband) was talking to me, telling me what he could see, that Baby Brother was ok, that his head was out, but his chin was still in there a little. My body pushed again, and his head came out all the way. A couple more pushes, and his body slid out, into his Daddy's arms. The Princess, Little Brother, and The Hot Contractor held him there while I turned over to lay down and hold him. A few minutes later, the placenta came out, and we were all in Newborn Heaven.
Here's The Princess holding him, just a few minutes old.
Here's the little angel.
Little Brother touching "baby".
Welcome Baby Brother! Named after my brother who died in 2009.
Born on 1/1/11 at 8:22 am.
10 lb, 7 oz (we bought a baby scale on eBay so that we could weigh him...I know you were wondering how we knew how much he weighed).
22" long.
And congratulations if you read this whole blog! Whew!
(For a cool documentary on hospital and home births in America, check out The Business of Being Born. It was done by Ricky Lake.)
UPDATE! In July 2012, I was interviewed on the radio show, Preggie Pals about my UC. You can hear the interview here.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Update On Our Plans
Since it's been more than two months since I posted about out adventure, I figured it was time for an update.
We decided mid-September to move into the RV pre-baby, rather than try to do it with a newborn. The thought of packing up and moving while pregnant was also a little daunting, but I think it was the better option of the two. Considering this has been my easiest pregnancy so far, I was feeling up for it.
So, we began the remodel. First, The Hot Contractor rebuilt the area over the cab. It was all dry rotted, and he even found three ant colonies living under the loft bed! He rebuilt it, and now it's water proofed.
Then he tackled the dry rot in the other areas of the RV. He ended up replacing/rebuilding almost all the other walls, as he kept discovering more dry rot with each removal. It took a little longer than we planned. Once all the walls were done, he repainted them (and the cabinets). We chucked the gold cabinet hardware, and put on our oil rubbed bronze ones. I plan to do a before and after post, and I don't have my "before" pics handy right now, but here's a little sneak peek of the "after".
We also decided to paint the fridge and the gold laced mirror cabinet doors with chalkboard paint. They're super fun! The kids draw on the fridge whenever they have an artistic itch, and we use the freezer part for our grocery list. We've been using the other three (previously gold-laced ones) for our to-do list. Here's a sneak peek.
You'll notice our family shrine here too. :-)
Here's how the bedroom turned out.
The Hot Contractor and I both sewed new curtains. He did most of it, as he worries I might destroy them. Again, justified worry.
Without going into too much detail, we became very stressed as the Mad-Rush-to-Finish-Before-Thanksgiving arrived. We loaded up Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and hit the road! Somehow we made it. It was probably those days working from 7am-11pm for the two weeks prior. Ugh. It was hard, but it's over.
I left Oroville before The Hot Contractor because he had more things to load, and I needed to get to Sacramento to buy our refurbished washer/dryer before they closed. The Princess and I were in the RV, towing The Hot Contractor's work trailer loaded with all his tools. Unbeknownst to us, the ball on the hitch was a little too high, and every time I touched the breaks, I would skid. Sometimes not even stop. It was the scariest drive of my life! We made it (miraculously) to Sacramento 15 minutes before they closed. I told The Hot Contractor how scared I was driving. I thought the brakes had gone out, but he checked everything he could think of, and found nothing wrong with the brakes. He had the thought about the ball on the hitch being too high, and the weight of his trailer lifting the back tires on the RV when I braked. He lowered the ball, and it fixed the problem. I love that he's so knowledgeable, and that he can figure out stuff like this! I felt so safe and protected by him, knowing he wouldn't let us get on the road again until he was sure it was safe. We ended up spending the night in Sacramento, parked in the driveway of the RV salvage place. We left early Thanksgiving morning, and made it to Santa Cruz only a couple hours after we told my in-laws we would be there. I was full of gratitude. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
We decided mid-September to move into the RV pre-baby, rather than try to do it with a newborn. The thought of packing up and moving while pregnant was also a little daunting, but I think it was the better option of the two. Considering this has been my easiest pregnancy so far, I was feeling up for it.
So, we began the remodel. First, The Hot Contractor rebuilt the area over the cab. It was all dry rotted, and he even found three ant colonies living under the loft bed! He rebuilt it, and now it's water proofed.
Then he tackled the dry rot in the other areas of the RV. He ended up replacing/rebuilding almost all the other walls, as he kept discovering more dry rot with each removal. It took a little longer than we planned. Once all the walls were done, he repainted them (and the cabinets). We chucked the gold cabinet hardware, and put on our oil rubbed bronze ones. I plan to do a before and after post, and I don't have my "before" pics handy right now, but here's a little sneak peek of the "after".
We also decided to paint the fridge and the gold laced mirror cabinet doors with chalkboard paint. They're super fun! The kids draw on the fridge whenever they have an artistic itch, and we use the freezer part for our grocery list. We've been using the other three (previously gold-laced ones) for our to-do list. Here's a sneak peek.
You'll notice our family shrine here too. :-)
Here's how the bedroom turned out.
The Hot Contractor and I both sewed new curtains. He did most of it, as he worries I might destroy them. Again, justified worry.
Without going into too much detail, we became very stressed as the Mad-Rush-to-Finish-Before-Thanksgiving arrived. We loaded up Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and hit the road! Somehow we made it. It was probably those days working from 7am-11pm for the two weeks prior. Ugh. It was hard, but it's over.
I left Oroville before The Hot Contractor because he had more things to load, and I needed to get to Sacramento to buy our refurbished washer/dryer before they closed. The Princess and I were in the RV, towing The Hot Contractor's work trailer loaded with all his tools. Unbeknownst to us, the ball on the hitch was a little too high, and every time I touched the breaks, I would skid. Sometimes not even stop. It was the scariest drive of my life! We made it (miraculously) to Sacramento 15 minutes before they closed. I told The Hot Contractor how scared I was driving. I thought the brakes had gone out, but he checked everything he could think of, and found nothing wrong with the brakes. He had the thought about the ball on the hitch being too high, and the weight of his trailer lifting the back tires on the RV when I braked. He lowered the ball, and it fixed the problem. I love that he's so knowledgeable, and that he can figure out stuff like this! I felt so safe and protected by him, knowing he wouldn't let us get on the road again until he was sure it was safe. We ended up spending the night in Sacramento, parked in the driveway of the RV salvage place. We left early Thanksgiving morning, and made it to Santa Cruz only a couple hours after we told my in-laws we would be there. I was full of gratitude. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Here She Is!
The beauty.
Notice the duct tape on the loft over the cab. That was what our friends did to stop it from leaking last winter.
And here's my kids enjoying some sibling time on the front step. I thought it was precious that they just sat down together, and put their arms around each other. The Princess was asking Little Brother, "So, how was your day?" Precious.
Notice the duct tape on the loft over the cab. That was what our friends did to stop it from leaking last winter.
And here's my kids enjoying some sibling time on the front step. I thought it was precious that they just sat down together, and put their arms around each other. The Princess was asking Little Brother, "So, how was your day?" Precious.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Hittin' the Road!
So, it's been a long time since I've blogged. What's new? But, I have a great reason to blog right now. I'm super duper excited about this adventure we're about to embark on. We're moving into an RV, and are going to explore the great U-S of A!
Here's how it all transpired:
We've wanted to leave California for a long time now, but for various reasons just haven't. Partly because we haven't known where we want to go. This summer, we took a family vacation to New Hampshire to check it out. We've done some research, and New Hampshire is rated as the "freest" state, and home of The Free State Project. Our little Libertarian hearts are longing for some of that freedom, so we've been mulling it over. It would be a big move, but we've got some adventure left in these spirits, so why not? We're planning on this being our final destination after our adventure, but we're also open to having our minds changed by our adventure.
A few weeks ago, some friends of ours gave us an RV that they no longer needed. Our other friends had given it to them. And some friends of theirs had given it to them. So, we're the latest recipients of this love, and are so grateful for this huge blessing! Traveling the country with our kids has always been a dream of ours. We've always said we wanted to do it for a year while homeschooling them, but since they're not quite school aged yet, that probably just means we'll have to do it again someday.
Since I'm currently with child (did I neglect to mention that here?), we are trying to figure out the timing of our move into the mansion. We're not sure if we should bust tail and get in there before the baby is born, or wait until a few months after he comes to move in. All just details, but stuff we're working through right now. The Hot Contractor has been getting more work in the Bay Area than he has here (which is pretty much none), so we're considering just movin' in and going down there for a while this Fall/Winter, and "practicing" living in it. I think it will be fun.
The cool part is that we took it camping last weekend (can I just pause here to tell you what glorious Camping Sleep this pregnant Mama had in that thing? Seriously. Camping Sleep and Pregnancy just don't go together well in my experience). While camping, we discovered all these things that are broken/need fixing on it. Like how the generator doesn't work, and the hydraulic system is broken, so we aren't able to level it. And how if it's not level, the fridge and freezer don't work. And how the water pump leaks, so whenever we use it (which is whenever we want to turn on water), it leaks a lot of our water, and we end up with an empty water tank in about a day. And the window coverings that don't exist. It might sound like I'm complaining, but really, these quirks excite me! Know why? Because we get to make it our own while we fix it! Woo-hoo!!!
When we first got it, the front door wouldn't close, so The Hot Contractor rebuilt the door. It took a few days, but it was well worth having some privacy when we went camping last weekend. We also decided to tear up the carpet, and put down laminate floors. We found some really fun stuff at Home Depot, and since it's a sprawling mansion of 29 feet, it cost us about $200 in flooring to replace it all. I also got a carpet remnant (shag, of course) at a carpet store for $35. We're going to cut it to size, and have a nice cushy carpet runner under our tootsies. Ahhh....how homey does that sound???
We're going to repaint the cabinets and walls eventually, and replace the oh-so-retro (but not in a good way) cabinet hardware with some cute oil-rubbed bronze knobs I got cheap on eBay. I'm going for a vintage country look. We bought some upholstery fabric, and are making cute curtains for the lodge (The Hot Contractor is doing that too. He's just a better seamstress than I am, and has a hard time letting me sew important things...because he's a little afraid I'll mess them up. Justifiably). A few of them ended up shorter than we wanted (width-wise), so I have an idea of adding some fun fringe or tassel fringe to the edges to extend them out a bit. I'm still looking for the prefect fringe, so let me know if you see any. ;-)
Another idea I had....since storage is an issue when you're living with five people in a 29-footer, I'm collecting vintage hooks to put on the walls all over the RV. Whenever I think of this, I imagine cute little hooks decorating spacious feet of wall space.
And then I go in there.
And I realize there aren't very many places to hang hooks because there is very little wall space. Even though I will be spatially challenged, I'm determined to succeed with my vintage hook decorating idea. I think it will be functional, yet cute. And that's what I'm going for.
One aspect of our adventure that is really challenging is laundry. If we're living in this thing full-time, I really don't want to be dragging three kids to a laundry mat every other day just to keep up on my laundry. I use cloth diapers, cloth napkins, cloth towels (instead of paper towels), and even more "cloth" stuff that I won't mention here. Some things I'm willing to give up, but some things I'm not (like cloth diapers), so I must find a way to do laundry in this RV. If I don't do one to two loads a day, I'm behind, and that's only with two kids! We came across this machine that washes and dries your clothes all at once, and is about 2'x2'x3'. We think we have a place for it in the RV (we'll lose one of our nice Lazy-Boy type chairs, but I think it will be worth it....especially since we'll add a counter top to it so we expand our kitchen counter space). It's about a $1,200 unit, and a little out of our budget for this "Design on a Dime" endeavor, but I called around to RV salvage places, and found a used/refurbished one for $600. Cool, huh? It's down in Sacramento, so we'll go check it out the next time we go that way. Maybe y'all should start calling me Frugal Mama, because I'm SO feeling it right now.
There's a lot of dry rot we're discovering, so The Hot Contractor is planning on tearing all of that out and replacing it. There's a little teensy bit of me that is afraid of what we will discover, but it's all a part of the adventure, eh? And again, we get to make it our own!!
There's the update. I think I need to start an RV blog. RVMama? What do you think? I definitely need to find some way to document our adventures. For now, Homesteadmama will have to suffice.
Here's how it all transpired:
We've wanted to leave California for a long time now, but for various reasons just haven't. Partly because we haven't known where we want to go. This summer, we took a family vacation to New Hampshire to check it out. We've done some research, and New Hampshire is rated as the "freest" state, and home of The Free State Project. Our little Libertarian hearts are longing for some of that freedom, so we've been mulling it over. It would be a big move, but we've got some adventure left in these spirits, so why not? We're planning on this being our final destination after our adventure, but we're also open to having our minds changed by our adventure.
A few weeks ago, some friends of ours gave us an RV that they no longer needed. Our other friends had given it to them. And some friends of theirs had given it to them. So, we're the latest recipients of this love, and are so grateful for this huge blessing! Traveling the country with our kids has always been a dream of ours. We've always said we wanted to do it for a year while homeschooling them, but since they're not quite school aged yet, that probably just means we'll have to do it again someday.
Since I'm currently with child (did I neglect to mention that here?), we are trying to figure out the timing of our move into the mansion. We're not sure if we should bust tail and get in there before the baby is born, or wait until a few months after he comes to move in. All just details, but stuff we're working through right now. The Hot Contractor has been getting more work in the Bay Area than he has here (which is pretty much none), so we're considering just movin' in and going down there for a while this Fall/Winter, and "practicing" living in it. I think it will be fun.
The cool part is that we took it camping last weekend (can I just pause here to tell you what glorious Camping Sleep this pregnant Mama had in that thing? Seriously. Camping Sleep and Pregnancy just don't go together well in my experience). While camping, we discovered all these things that are broken/need fixing on it. Like how the generator doesn't work, and the hydraulic system is broken, so we aren't able to level it. And how if it's not level, the fridge and freezer don't work. And how the water pump leaks, so whenever we use it (which is whenever we want to turn on water), it leaks a lot of our water, and we end up with an empty water tank in about a day. And the window coverings that don't exist. It might sound like I'm complaining, but really, these quirks excite me! Know why? Because we get to make it our own while we fix it! Woo-hoo!!!
When we first got it, the front door wouldn't close, so The Hot Contractor rebuilt the door. It took a few days, but it was well worth having some privacy when we went camping last weekend. We also decided to tear up the carpet, and put down laminate floors. We found some really fun stuff at Home Depot, and since it's a sprawling mansion of 29 feet, it cost us about $200 in flooring to replace it all. I also got a carpet remnant (shag, of course) at a carpet store for $35. We're going to cut it to size, and have a nice cushy carpet runner under our tootsies. Ahhh....how homey does that sound???
We're going to repaint the cabinets and walls eventually, and replace the oh-so-retro (but not in a good way) cabinet hardware with some cute oil-rubbed bronze knobs I got cheap on eBay. I'm going for a vintage country look. We bought some upholstery fabric, and are making cute curtains for the lodge (The Hot Contractor is doing that too. He's just a better seamstress than I am, and has a hard time letting me sew important things...because he's a little afraid I'll mess them up. Justifiably). A few of them ended up shorter than we wanted (width-wise), so I have an idea of adding some fun fringe or tassel fringe to the edges to extend them out a bit. I'm still looking for the prefect fringe, so let me know if you see any. ;-)
Another idea I had....since storage is an issue when you're living with five people in a 29-footer, I'm collecting vintage hooks to put on the walls all over the RV. Whenever I think of this, I imagine cute little hooks decorating spacious feet of wall space.
And then I go in there.
And I realize there aren't very many places to hang hooks because there is very little wall space. Even though I will be spatially challenged, I'm determined to succeed with my vintage hook decorating idea. I think it will be functional, yet cute. And that's what I'm going for.
One aspect of our adventure that is really challenging is laundry. If we're living in this thing full-time, I really don't want to be dragging three kids to a laundry mat every other day just to keep up on my laundry. I use cloth diapers, cloth napkins, cloth towels (instead of paper towels), and even more "cloth" stuff that I won't mention here. Some things I'm willing to give up, but some things I'm not (like cloth diapers), so I must find a way to do laundry in this RV. If I don't do one to two loads a day, I'm behind, and that's only with two kids! We came across this machine that washes and dries your clothes all at once, and is about 2'x2'x3'. We think we have a place for it in the RV (we'll lose one of our nice Lazy-Boy type chairs, but I think it will be worth it....especially since we'll add a counter top to it so we expand our kitchen counter space). It's about a $1,200 unit, and a little out of our budget for this "Design on a Dime" endeavor, but I called around to RV salvage places, and found a used/refurbished one for $600. Cool, huh? It's down in Sacramento, so we'll go check it out the next time we go that way. Maybe y'all should start calling me Frugal Mama, because I'm SO feeling it right now.
There's a lot of dry rot we're discovering, so The Hot Contractor is planning on tearing all of that out and replacing it. There's a little teensy bit of me that is afraid of what we will discover, but it's all a part of the adventure, eh? And again, we get to make it our own!!
There's the update. I think I need to start an RV blog. RVMama? What do you think? I definitely need to find some way to document our adventures. For now, Homesteadmama will have to suffice.
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