Cute Kids

Don't want my other kids to feel left out in our picture taking frenzy of the new baby.

Punch Out

Something about having a new baby brings to mind funny things from my childhood. I become very nostalgic and all the sudden want to go through old journals and the piles of memorabilia that I have stashed in my hope chest.

Ever since Ben brought home the wii, I've been remembering when nintendo first came out and the first time we got a nintendo. I was never very good at video games actually. I usually would just sit for hours watching my brother and marvel that he could beat any game he was given. I'm the type of person that will sit and read the entire manual that comes with the game and still barely get past level one.

However, there was one game that I absolutely loved to play. I guess I spent enough hours watching my brother play, that I actually was able to get past the first round. It's called Mike Tyson's Punch Out and I've been searching for a copy for a long time. I've told Ben all about it and we've looked in old game stores but have always come up empty handed.

On Sunday though, we were perusing the million titles available on line and there it was, Punch Out (apparently there were 2 different versions, one you fight Mr. Dream at the end and one you fight Mike Tyson). Of course we downloaded it right away and Ben could not believe how much I could remember from when I was a child. It's a whole lot easier now though because if you don't know how to beat someone there's this wonderful thing called the internet and somewhere out there, there is a geek who has posted all the tricks to beating the game. I tell you nothing helps a frazzled, sleep deprived mom more, than beating the daylights out of a computer generated enemy.

911

Whenever I hear an ambulance I wonder two things. First, where are they going and second what are the feelings of those waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Now I know the answers to both of those questions. . . they are coming to my house and the feeling is absolute panic.

Only fifteen minutes after my mother had left, did the crisis erupt. I was checking something on the computer downstairs and heard a faint cry. Babies do that, so I wasn't too worried, but I thought I would run upstairs and check since Logan was still under the "lights" and sometimes he pulled the blanket thing over his head or rolled too close to the side.

When I got upstairs I saw that he had spit up, rolled to his back, and was somehow choking. His arms and legs were stiff out in front of him and he was tomato red. I wasn't too worried though, I mean babies spit up alot too. Hyrum was the king of spitting up and choking.

So, I calmly lifted him out of the box and did the usual patting on the back ect. He coughed a little, but still seemed to be struggling. My panic level raised a little, but I was still in control. I ran into Ella's room and grabbed the bulb syringe and tried to suction out the problem.

I was able to get a little out but he still seemed to be going through stages of breathing and no breathing. Now I was panicking. It had been several minutes and he still wasn't doing great. His eyes started to roll to the back of his head and he was foaming at the mouth. His color was turning a grey/purple now and I had tried everything I knew.

I quickly called Ben to see if in my panic I had forgot something. Through all my sobbing I was able to recall him saying "call 911" over and over again. I hung up and called 911 still trying to help my struggling son.

The fire station is only 2 blocks away so I heard them the minute they left the station. Logan was doing a faint breathing by the time they arrived, but he was no longer choking and had regained some of his color.

The paramedics were so nice and understanding and re-assured me that Logan was going to be fine. They checked his lungs and breathing to make sure no fluid was in his lungs. Ben arrived just seconds after they had left. Then I fell apart.

I think I single handily ended the draught in Utah with all the crying I did that night. Every time I thought about Logan's distressed little face, the water works started. I called my mom and she was just outside of Salt Lake, so she turned the car around and ended up staying until Saturday.

The first couple nights were hard for me. I kept running out to the living room (he was still in the box) to make sure he was breathing. My mom slept on the couch and checked him anytime he made a noise. It was a restless few days.

Fortunately, the drama is over now and hopefully we can start to get things back to normal. Logan is out of the billi lights and sleeping in his bassinet, so I can somewhat sleep at night. The choking incident appears to be one of those freak things that sometimes happen, but thankfully someone was watching over us and this 911 call has a happy ending.

My Story

I finally have a spare minute and thought I'd post some new pictures and write down everything that I'm sure to forget a week from now. The biggest surprise was that this labor was so different from my other two (and that's a good thing!)

I started having somewhat regular contractions on April 30th around 7 o'clock at night (even with all my vacuuming and cleaning, I still didn't start contractions until night time). I held off until around 9 to go to the hospital because I was just sure the minute I decided to go, my contractions would stop. Of course a few minutes after they hooked me up to all the machines they did stop, but I had changed from a 4 to a 5 so they decided to keep me!

The first pleasant surprise was they got my I.V in on the second poke. That has NEVER happened. It took them 2 1/2 hours with Ella and they finally had to call a specialist in to do it (darn those tricky veins!) I was so relieved. Of course the biggest hurdle was still to come. . . the epidural.

Any of you that have heard my epidural horror stories will understand why I was a little apprehensive. With Hyrum, my epidural came out and by the time they figured it out and gave me a second epidural, it was useless. With Ella they punctured my spine and had the epidural in the wrong spot. It did absolutely nothing and I had to go to the hospital a few days later and get a blood patch (worse than labor).

So, naturally when they started to put in my epidural I went completely white and started to pass out. I didn't completely crash, although I was really embarrassed. Then I felt the weirdest thing, NOTHING! They had pumped me up with pitocin and I was having contractions on top of one another, and I felt nothing!

Two hours later they came and checked me and I had only changed to a 6, so I figured this would be a nice long labor like the other two (although I didn't mind too much since I was pain free). Ben decided to take a little potty break since I had tons of time left and in the half hour he was gone I jumped to a 9+. Fortunately, he got back in time, which was good since ten minutes later I was at a 10.

They grabbed the doctor and I probably pushed (again pain free) for 20 minutes and then I had my baby! I just couldn't believe it! I was telling jokes in between pushing and just taking it easy. Now I understand why people rave about epidurals. I mean it still wasn't a spa treatment or anything, but it was the best labor ever! I didn't tear or anything, so although I'm a little sore and really tired, the recovery hasn't been that bad.

I came home on Friday night and my mom got here Saturday, so I've had lots of help. She leaves today, so we'll see how I do later on in the week.

Logan has had to be under the billi lights the last couple of days, but hopefully he will be able to get out of the stupid "suitcase" here soon.

As for the kids, they have been pretty good about things. Ben got me a wii for our anniversary so they have had a blast playing Mario Kart and bowling.

Anyways, here's a few of the million pictures we've been taking this week:

She looks so big now!

The proud big brother.

Not my best family photo.

Isn't he precious?

Going home

I swear we have the exact same shot with Ben holding Hyrum

New Baby

Hi everyone. This is actually Ben writing this. Arin's still in the hospital but she wanted pictures of Logan up so everyone could see him. He was born this morning at 3:25 am, 19 inches long, and 6 lb 9 oz. Enjoy the pictures. I'm sure there are plenty more to come.