Hospital Night #2

I guess it is my turn to add to the blog. Randy took the boys home to put them to bed and I was given instructions to put something on the blog. Today was a great day. I took a shower, walked around a lot, ate real food, hardly any pain--it was nice. We also had a ton of visitors which helped pass the time. It was fun to have so many people want to see our new little boy. Now it is 9:15 PM and I think Seth and I are ready for bed. My mom is staying here for a little bit just to keep me company before she goes home to sleep at my house. We'll see how tonight goes all by myself--well, by myself with a team of nurses. :)

Here are some pictures that we took today of our new family. I love seeing Mark and Dax love their little brother. Hopefully the newness will never wear off and they will always help take care of him. Thanks for all your emails, texts, calls, and visits.

Randy loves Seth. Seth is not so sure about Randy.

Dax was more interested in Seth today.

Mark is a great big brother! He is so loving with Seth.

Our new family of 5.

Seth was a little more awake today than yesterday.

I took about 20 pictures of Seth today. This is one of my favorites.

Baby Update

10pm that night (6/29)

Things seem to have cleared up with Seth's breathing. He is eating really well. Natalie was up and around-- well, as far as the bathroom tonight. Her incision is bleeding a little more than they'd like, but no worries right now. I will be staying with Nat tonight because she can't pick him up, so I'll have to set him on her lap.

Seth is very calm. He whimpered and grunted all morning, a sign that he was struggling to get air (or so they tell me). He has been mostly quiet since. He is a cute little thing and played with us for a little while when he was awake this evening.

Dax was here earlier and said, "Dad, I think we should keep him."

Mark just smiled and as we were saying goodnight he said, "I'm really glad we have another brother in the family."

We didn't have too many visitors today, but if you'd like to drop by tomorrow, just call ahead.

Try not to look so skeptical, Seth!

Baby Seth

Hey, this is Randy . . .

Well, the big day is finally here. Natalie told me that we had to be into UVRMC at 5:15 am so that they could do the scheduled c-section at 7:00. That seemed way too early at the time. However, when she woke me up at 1:50 am and told me that she was having contractions and we needed to get to the hospital ASAP before things progressed too far, that seemed a little much. Of course, I still insisted on taking a shower . . .

We arrived at the hospital at about 2:30 because hey, at least there was very little traffic. Contractions were irregular and not too painful-- especially for me. We were admitted, and they began monitoring contractions. At 3:30, they called the doctor with all the details and he said that they would continue to monitor things, but the c-section would go on as scheduled at 7:30. They did give Natalie an epidural at that point, but she was still pretty mad that she had to go through labor for a scheduled c-section!

After some fitful sleep, Dr. Thorpe came in at about 6:30 and said we would be doing the c-section at 7:00.

Seth James Ockey was delivered by Dr. Thorpe and Dr. Drewes at 7:15 am. He was 9 lb. 6 oz. (Mark was 8 lb. 6 oz. and Dax was 9 lb. 8 oz.). He was 20 inches long.

Natalie had no complications, but Seth caused a few worries. His blood sugar came in below the number they wanted (37, and they want a 45). They put a tube 18 cms long down his throat and into his belly and gave him some formula. That raised the number to 68. I guess it is not uncommon for big babies to be unable to maintain their blood sugar.

The more serious problem was respiration. Seth was struggling to breathe. His respiration rate was too high and he kept moaning and grunting-- a sign that he was struggling hard for breath. He kept this up most of the morning and was checked by respiration specialists twice. Everything seems to be a little better, but they think that his lungs aren't fully expanded yet.

It is currently just after 10 am, and Natalie is attempting Seth's first feeding. They seem to be working well together. We are both very tired but happy. I've taken lots of pictures, but they all look like a slightly blue baby covered in amniotic fluid. Here are a few of the best:

Timp Cave

Hey, this is Randy:

We went to Timpanogos Cave today as blogged about on our other blog. There were way too many cute pictures for that blog, though, so I decided to put a few on here.

You'll notice Natalie is absent. We wouldn't let her make the hike. The boys and I had fun, though.

Be sure to check back for baby news tomorrow. We go in at 5:15 am tomorrow. We will try to put up some pics by 9.

Dax couldn't wait start the hike. Too bad we had to wait for over an hour!

"Is that the cave, Dad? Cool!" 

"This cave is great, Dad!"

"Now this MUST be the cave, Dad. I love it."

Do we look like we climbed a mountain?

"This is the cave, right, Dad? You said we were there!"

How come all the best pictures are the ones they don't know you took?

Now we're in the cave, he doesn't really seem so excited.

Nice, Mark. Nice.

See Mark's Junior Ranger Badge and Dax's patch?

One More Day

This is probably the last picture of me with only two boys. Tomorrow is my last day being pregnant and then Friday morning we'll head to the hospital to deliver our 3rd little boy. Mark and Dax are so excited to have a new little brother. Randy and I hope we are ready to have a newborn around the house again. I think we are all ready for mom to finish being pregnant so she can pick things up again. So wish us luck and watch for pictures of baby Seth to show up in a few days.

Star Wars Birthday Party

Mark is turning 6 in a few weeks, so I decided if he was going to have a birthday party this year it was going to have to be before the baby. He is really into Star Wars and wanted a Star Wars birthday party. I had a lot of fun planning the party and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun. Randy was a great help and had the kids laughing all the time.

I gave each of the party guests a card that said they were a Jedi in training. They had to pass off all 5 tasks to become a Jedi master. They were so excited. First, we played Star Wars Bingo. Then they had to "use the force" and pin the light saber on a Star Wars poster we had. Next, they used their Jedi mind tricks to figure out what the picture was (I took pictures of household items up close) and the sound (I recorded sounds around our home). Then we headed outside to maneuver through the asteroid field. They had to find an asteroid of each color (the asteroids were prizes wrapped in tin foil with colored stars on them). Finally, the kids had to prove they could use a light saber by keeping a balloon off the ground as long as possible. We also played Red Saber, Green Saber just like red light, green light.

Then we opened presents, had cupcakes (the light saber below), and then it was time to head home as Jedi Masters. It was such an easy party, but so much fun. Here are a few pictures.

Light Saber Cupcakes

The party guests!

Dax hunting for asteroids

Opening asteroids to find prizes

Red Saber, Green Saber

We actually only had a red and blue saber, but they got the idea.

Light Saber skills

Opening Presents

We love Star Wars!

Father's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day. The boys and I tried really hard to make it a special day for our amazing father! We made him a big breakfast, went for a bird drive, cooked him a big dinner, and bought him some fun presents. Mark bought his dad a Star Wars book, called Darth Vader and Son. I think we have read this book about 50 times in the last two days. Dax bought his dad a new version of Uno--the Star Trek version. They played it about 10 times yesterday. Dax loves Uno, Randy loves Star Trek...it was a good gift. We also bought Randy a few new shirts to wear. The boys were so excited that they had to wear them too.

I am grateful for Randy and all that he does for our family. He is a great dad. He play basketball, baseball, soccer, and many other sports with the boys. He wrestles with the boys, reads books to them, does puzzles, teaches them many things about the universe, lets them help with tasks around the house, and takes them on many adventures. He is a great husband. He does all the dishes in the house, takes care of our yard, vacuums out the van, does lots of deep cleaning projects, discusses books with me, and supports me in all I do. I am so grateful to have Randy. We love that he teases us, makes us laugh all the time, and is so knowledgable about everything. We couldn't make it without him. Happy Father's Day Randy!

A Change of Heart

Well, at least a change of attitude. We don't know what happened, but Dax decided that going swimming was okay. He loves hanging on the side of the wall, putting his face in the water, and most everything else in his swim class. Don't ask him to do a back float--he still hates that, but at least he isn't trying to kick his teacher anymore.

Swim Lessons

We were pretty worried about swim lessons this year. Dax is usually fairly brave (but not VERY brave) and Mark has major fears of the water. Mark refuses to get his face wet. Even washing his hair in the bathtub is a screaming, crying adventure. We had Mark in a private swim lesson last year, and the teacher was awesome, but Mark was pretty bad at doing just about anything. He loved it as long as she was holding on to him, but he refused to go solo or even put his face in the water.

This year, we scheduled classes at the AF Pool. We scheduled Dax first, hoping Mark would see some bravery and be a little tougher. On the first day, Dax did great, although he wouldn't float on his back. Mark didn't watch Dax, but went to splash in the pool. When the time for Mark's lesson came, he did really well. He put his face in the water, played all the games, and made a poor attempt at floating-- but an attempt.

We're not sure the reasons for his bravery. Maybe it's because he has a male teacher, maybe it's because he has a cousin in the class, maybe he's just more mature, but Mark's doing great.

We should have been more worried about Dax. After Day 1, he completely shut down. He loves to splash around and play in the pool, but he's not participating with the class at all. He says "No" to the teachers and sometimes tries to kick them away. It's a delicate balance to be forceful, but not TOO forceful with him. Maybe someday . . .

Here are a few pictures of the boys at the pool:

Dax NOT getting in the water. 

Dax will get in for this game because it is in the shallow end where he can stand. 

Mark doing superman arms.

Love the water!

Mark's good at his ice cream scoops.