Baby B - Spencer Don Blair

Spencer was the second baby to come out, and he had a pretty rough journey into life. He was breech, but the doctor thought he could be pulled out after his brother who was in the correct position. Well he was pulled out, but it wasn't as easy as the doctor thought it would be. He kept trying to grab him, and he kept getting a hand and a foot instead of two feet. Finally the doctor had to push him back in and to the side so he could reach his other leg to bend it down and get the little guy out. He was so bruised after that ordeal that the doctors couldn't find a place to put an IV when he was being transported. They had to put it in his umbilical cord. His own arm was actually x-rayed because it looked so bad, but it had not been broken thankfully. Anyway, Spencer was born at 4:59 am on Oct 23, 2010. He weighed 4 pounds 1 ounce and was 17 inches long. When he came out there was no cry for a least 1-2 minutes. Both Jeff and I sat there with anticipated agony, hoping the little guy would do something. Finally we heard a small sound, after which he was whisked out of the room to the nursery. They first put oxygen on him, but his blood oxygen level was still too low, so they put in a respirator which seemed to help. They quickly decided they needed to life flight him to a NICU (he didn't actually fly - they just call it that). All this time, I was in another room trying to stop shaking. The mixture of an epidural, stress, and a fever was making me shiver uncontrollably. I had no idea how the babies were or what they looked like. About an hour after the birth, Jeff stepped in to tell me they were going to transfer one of the babies. Then at least another hour went by before I got news that the baby was going to be taken to Primary Children's hospital instead of Murray because he might need surgery. Little by little we learned of his esophogeal atresia that would have to be repaired immediately. I was glad I got to see him as they were taking him out of the hospital. He was taken up to Salt Lake and had surgery that afternoon. For a week after the surgery, he had to be kept still so he wouldn't rip out his stitches inside. To do this, they completely sedated him. It was hard seeing him that way, but I'm so grateful for the doctors and nurses who knew what they were doing. After a week, he was able to be taken off the ventilator and we were able to hold him. After another week he was given a feeding tube so he could have food by mouth. He has just started taking a bottle that past couple of days, so we are hopeful that it won't be too long before he will be home. There are still some things he has to accomplish before leaving the hospital, but he seems like a fighter, and is progressing well. We all love Spencer, and can't wait for him to come home.

Baby A - also known as Ethan Koller Blair

I decided both boys needed their own post. Being a twin, they will have to share everything, but at least they can each have a blog post. Ethan was the first one out at 4:55 am on Oct 23, 2001. He weighed 5 pounds 11 ounces and was 19 inches long. That is pretty good for a 34 weeker (as they call them in the hospital). He struggled with maintaining his breathing at first, but he did actually cry when he was born. That is always a reassuring sound when having a baby. When the cry is not there, it is a terrible silence. Anyway, he was taken right to the nursery so he could be hooked up to oxygen, a feeding tube, and a warming bed. Unlike with our other babies, he never got to come to my room. This was a bit depressing, and it made it so the kids couldn't come see the babies. In fact, they didn't get to see Ethan until six days after he was born. The hospital was nice enough to let us take him into his own room for an hour so the kids could come see him. Ethan stayed in the Riverton hospital for ten days before coming home on oxygen. He is now doing well, and is a great baby. He spends most of his time in our room because of the oxygen he's hooked to, but in a way that's good because he is more protected there. Soon enough he will be out playing with his siblings. The kids all love having him around.

Our new boys!

On Oct 23rd our world was turned upside down. This was the day our twins decided to enter our family - six weeks early. They were born at 34 weeks 6 days, which is still early for twins. I'd gone in at 2 am the night before with contractions, at which time they gave me medicine to stop the babies from coming. Then at 2 am again the water broke along with a placental abruption, causing their birth to be inevitable. When they came Ethan, the first baby, was having trouble breathing, but was doing pretty good. Spencer, the second baby, however was not doing so well. They had to breath for him for the first two minutes, and then they put him on oxygen. The oxygen wasn't really helping enough, so they intibated him and arranged for him to be taken to a near-by NICU. When the transport team arrived, they discovered that Spencer had what's called a TEF or EA, which is where his espoghagus didn't reach his stomach. The team decided at that time to take him to Primary Children's hospital instead for a specail surgery. We are grateful that these special doctors discovered the problem pretty early, and that there is a wonderful children's hospital here that specializes in things like this. Spencer is still in the hospital recovering, but he seems to be doing well. The first week was rough because Ethan was in one hospital and Spencer was in another. Ethan is home now, and doing well even though he is still hooked to an oxygen machine. Here are a few pictures of their first few days of life.

Pumpkin Patch

Fall wouldn't be fall without a trip to a pumpkin patch. I have to say I was disappointed to find that all of the pumpkin patches around here cost money. I did find some coupons, which helped. I will admit that the place we went was pretty cool and worth what we spent on it. I would have liked to have done some of the activities, but that will have to wait until next year.

Dino time with Grandma

When the kids were out of school for UEA, I decided to take them to the dinosaur park near my in-laws' house. One reason was because I got this pass to a bird aviary in the summer which could get us in free to the dinosaur park, and I wanted to get my money's worth out of the pass. I also just wanted to take the kids some place. We didn't stay long because I couldn't walk around a lot without being in pain. Jeff and his dad were also taking the kids to the cabin so we had to get back in time for them to leave. The kids liked seeing the dinosaurs while we were there though, and they also loved the halloween decor that was up. It was a fun day.

Ashley turns 9!

It's hard to believe that Ashley is 9. I remember the day she was born, and what a special birthday present she was for me. Right after I had her the nurses brought be a big piece of cake because it was my birthday too. I wouldn't have wanted to spend that birthday any other way. Ashley is a real sweetheart who love to help around the house. She is also a great big sister who willingly shared with her siblings, and helps take care of her younger brothers. I am sure grateful to have her for a daughter. I love her a lot. The theme for her birthday was a pretend sleepover. The girls made pizzas, decorated frames, ate cake, and watched a movie. I was very glad that Pat was still visiting because she really helped the party run smoothly.

Pat Comes

We had a special treat right after mine and Ashley's birthday - our friend Pat Castle came to visit. She came to attend General Conference, and she even brought a ticket for me. It was a wonderful experience being able to attend Conference in the Conference Center. It was also just fun having Pat around. She was a great help.

Goblin Valley and Arches

For Labor Day weekend we decided to take a trip down to southern Utah. I wanted to get down there one time before having our babies since I'm not sure how easy it will be later. As southern Utah can be, it was hot, but not unbearably so. We went down on Friday morning, stopped and wandered around Goblin valley that evening, and then went to Arches and home on Saturday. We did this so Jeff could get to his meetings on Sunday and we could use Monday to do some work. We also only had one free hotel stay and we didn't want to pay for more. Anyway, it was a fun trip. The kids loved running around the red rock formations in both places. We didn't see a lot of Arches because after walking out to the Windows, we were all too hot and sweaty to do any more. Jeff and I figured we would be back again, so we didn't push the kids to do more. The only bad part of the trip was when we accidently left Emily at the Arches visitor center. Talk about feeling like a bad mom. It was only for a few seconds because we quickly noticed she was gone. From now on, we are using the buddy system.

Back to School

The kids had mixed feeling about going back to school, but they seem to have taken to it well. Taylor has Mr. Bilbao, Ashley has Mrs. Elmer, and Emily has Mrs. Cowley.

Soccer Time

So I posted a couple of random pictures to see if the pictures from my new camera would work. They did, so now I can hopefully update my blog quickly, and put pictures of our new babies on here.

Fall soccer was fun, but a little tiring for me. Getting around to the games and practices was just a little harder this year. Maybe because I was carrying two little ones inside me. Anyway, I only signed Emily and Taylor up this year because I figured I couldn't handle having four kids play soccer. Ashley didn't want to play, and Parker gets to play in the Spring. Anyway, Emily and Taylor both did great. It was fun watching them run around the field.

In the Stocks

Goblin Valley

Zoo in the Rain

Also in August, we went to the zoo for a short visit before letting some of the kids go with their Grandma Blair for a couple of days. The boys took a turn and then the girls took a turn of spending the night at the grandparent's house. Anyway, the zoo was fun while it lasted, but we got rained out pretty good. We did get to see a neat elephant show and bird program, so it was worth going.

Discovering Fun!

In August, I took the kids on one more adventure before school started. We went to the Discovery Children's Museum, which is a great place for kids to explore and pretend. The best part was that we had a coupon which got us in for free. The kids had fun building and pretending. The only scary part was when I thought I lost Carter. We'd gone upstairs to go see the helicopter on the outside roof, and while we were waiting for our friends to come upstairs, Carter went outside on his own. He was safe there, because it was just another exhibit of the museum, but I didn't know he'd gone out before us. Talk about a panic attack. Anyway, we found him and all was well. I'm learning that Carter has a mind of his own, and goes where he wants to.