A Really Long Story

Today is Dalley's third birthday and I can't believe it. I can't remember what life was like without him yet it seems like just yesterday that we had him. This post is really long but I realized that I haven't ever written down the story of his birth and I wanted to do it because the details are starting to get a bit foggy. Dustin and I will talk about our delivery plans for this new baby and he will remind me of things with Dalley that I totally can not remember. I wanted to record it before I lose it altogether so Dalley will know the details some day.

First of all the were a few events leading up to my delivery that I know the lord had his hands in. I was going to a mid-wife in Panguitch and at the very end, due to a few scares that never panned out, they sent me to Cedar to an OB. At the time I didn't understand why we had so many false alarms, but knowing now that Dalley needed advanced medical care I believe the Lord had a hand in getting us over to Cedar. If Dalley had been born in Panguitch, we probably wouldn't have him now.

I was scheduled to be induced on Friday, February 29th. I thought it would be fun to have a leap year baby, but on Wednesday, February 27th I was getting ready to go to work and my water broke. I wasn't sure what was really happening so I called every woman I knew who had had a baby to confirm that is what happened. Nobody could tell me so I waited until 8:00 when the doctor's office opened and they told me to come in. I went and got Dustin from work and we headed to Cedar. After that my memory gets a little foggy. I know they gave me pitocin after a while but I never progressed. I remember my mom and dad coming and just sitting there visiting with nothing much happening. As the day went on nothing much changed but the contractions started to hurt. I know that I never progressed farther than a six but when I finally got to a six they gave me the epidural. After that my blood pressure dropped really low and they had to give me epinephrine. The nurses kept checking me and finally around 4:00 in the morning the Dr came in and said we had to get the baby out right away so he would have to do a C-section cause the baby was stuck. They took me into the operating room and I don't really remember the delivery. Dustin watched the whole thing and said he couldn't believe how hard it was for them to get the baby out. He said they basically beat the crap out of me and I had a lot of bruises to prove it afterward. They showed me the baby quickly then they had to rush him to get care. They told me he had swallowed the merconium (or whatever it is called) and had to be on oxygen and I could see him in a few hours. Every few hours they would come in and say he wasn't ready to be off the oxygen yet. I began to get frustrated. I had a lot of visitors who got to go to the nursery to see him but I still hadn't. I didn't get to see my baby for 12 hours after he was born and when I did see him I couldn't hold him. I still believed that it was no big deal, because that is what they kept telling me. Late that night the pediatrician came in and told me there were problems with his heart and lungs and they needed to rush him to St. George. He showed me an x-ray that showed his heart on the wrong side of his body and a large mass that appeared to be pushing it over. As he was talking to me he was so calm about it that I thought it was no big deal. He told me later that at that point he didn't think my baby was going to live. They let me, Dustin, Celeste, and my mom go in the nursery to see him as they got him ready for transport. My doctor told the nurses that Celeste was Dustin's mom so they would let her in.They finally let me hold Dalley before they took him away. The emergency transport people brought a disposable camera and took pictures of us and they took pictures of him on the transport and in the NICU, it is kind of neat to have those pictures.

My Dr. wouldn't let me leave the hospital because I had the C-section so Celeste and my mom went to St. George with Dalley. My brother Shawn and his friend met them at the NICU in St. George and gave him a blessing. Tom Simper and Doug Hansen two guys I used to work with came to the hospital and helped my brother Rowdy give me a blessing. I barely slept all night long.The next day was one of the hardest days of my life. Dustin's sister came and took him to St. George but I had to stay in Cedar at the hospital. Dustin and Celeste kept me posted on the progress. Dalley was having seizures that they couldn't explain and he had a bad infection which they thought was the mass on the x-ray. They took him for an MRI and discovered that his kidneys were also having issues, they are connected so instead of two separate kidneys he has a horseshoe kidney. They had him on a lot of meds and they had to put a tube in him to assist his breathing. It was really hard to hear all the news and have to stay there in that hospital even though there was nothing I could do in St. George.

Dustin's mom came to stay with me and my friends Claudia, Christa, and Tom came to check on me. It was hard for me to be social. The nurses had me pump but it felt weird since there was no baby to pump for. The doctor checked me in the morning and told me I couldn't leave yet and he would be back at 7:00 that night. I was determined that no matter what I was leaving that day. I got everything packed and was not taking no for an answer when the Dr. came. He finally showed up around 8:00 and released me. Dustin's mom took me to St. George. The hospital arranged for us to stay in a room just down the hall from the NICU. It was nice to have a free place to stay but there was no bed just a couch and a chair. I couldn't sleep because my incision hurt so much. I also had to pump every two hours and then take the milk to the NICU to go in the freezer. I pretty much didn't sleep the entire time we were there. The first two days Dalley was unable to breathe on his own and they had him on feeding tubes but as the days went on he got stronger and he quit having seizures. By the second day all of our family went home and it was just Dustin and I left. It was pretty boring but we got into a routine. We would spend the whole day sitting there with him. I usually would sit with him most of the night since I couldn't sleep anyhow. By the fourth day they took him off the meds that kept him asleep and took the breathing tubes out. I was able to try to nurse him and I was glad that I had the lactation specialist there the whole time. She was really helpful. He got better everyday and by the sixth day wasn't on any more meds just oxygen. On the seventh day they let us go. I was never so happy in my life to be able to go home. I called my mom and she came to St. George and followed us home.They sent us home with a list of five specialists that we were going to have to see and he had to be on a heart monitor and oxygen but at least we got to go home. I was scared to death going over the mountain because right before we got to the summit the battery on our heart and oxygen monitor died. I was afraid something was going to happen and we wouldn't know it but we made it home fine.

We had to keep him on the oxygen for a month but it seemed to go by quickly. We took him to all of the specialists and he checked out just fine. He has a few issues that he will always have to deal with but at least we know now that they aren't life threatening. These days you would never know that he has the issues that he has. He is a healthy active kid. He is a little on the skinny side and a bit small for his age but we can deal with those things. He is such a joy in our lives, and we are so blessed to have him with us.

All about Dalley

• Dalley loves gum. He will chew a piece of bubble gum for hours. We use a little gumball machine as his potty training prize so he is always chewing gum. He is the cutest little gum chewer that I have ever seen
• He loves to give me big hugs and say, "I love my mommy soooo much!" It is pretty much my most favorite thing ever.
• He loves horses.I have a ton of pictures of him on horses with his daddy and he can name every horse in the pictures. He even pays attention to horses color. If he sees a horse on TV or in a book he will tell me which horse of Daddy's that one looks like. "That one is the same as half pint." or "That one is the same as sorrely"
• He is a big tease.He calls my mom Nana and my dad Papa. The other day I asked him if he wanted a banana and he smiled and said, "After I eat nana I well eat papa."
• He loves the Lion King, but not for the reason most kids do. He likes to hunt the bad lions and the mean dogs on the show.Whenever they come on the screen he has to shoot them with his shotgun
• He is really friendly and is always inviting people to come play with him. The other day he invited my visiting teaching partner and the lady who works at the assessors office to come play with him at his house.
• He is a big fan of church. I think it is because of the social aspect. He walks in all by himself and shakes everyone's hand he sees. If I don't keep a hold of him he will just walk up the aisle shaking everyone's hands and saying hi.
• When he gets mad at me or Dustin he will tell us that we are no longer his best buddies. When he is happy with me he will tell me I am his best buddy again.
• He is always talking about Nevada. He has a lot of stories about roping cows, riding horses, and feeding in Nevada. One time after getting back from Nevada I walked in and he was pretending to give one of his toy cows a shot like "Papa does in Nevada"
• He has quite an imagination. He loves to pretend like he is a puppy and to get daddy to pretend with him. Lots of nights I will have two puppies crawling around my living room.

Fun in the snow

Dustin bought a snowmobile from one of the guys he works with. He decided that since our family was growing so should our snowmobile collection. He came home from work the other day and decided it was time to head up the mountain to try out his new ride. We rode to the top of the Beaver and it was beautiful! We lucked out and went on a day that was fairly warm so we didn't get too cold. I was afraid Dalley would get cold and hate it but he loved every minute. He is such and outdoors kid. I was glad to have some fun with my two favorite boys!

Dustin took Dalley up a steep hill and he loved it

Dalley and mommy

Dustin showing off

Checking the oil before we took off

Notice the different colored gloves. I just can't seem to keep track of his gloves, so we had to make do with what we could find

Top Ten of 2010

• Dustin was able to move home from Moab. He was gone for 6 months after getting laid off from the ranch, and we were so relieved when he was able to get his old job back.
• Dalley turned two.
• Dalley got a clean bill of health from the nephrologist. Now we only have to see her once a year and only have to test every two years.
• Dalley had a good visit with his cardiologist and she decided to put off medicating him until she knows more about his condition. His situation is unique because they haven't treated a baby for this syndrome before since they usually don't discover it until a child is older. She has been reluctant to treat him when he hasn't shown symptoms yet. I was very thankful that she decided not to medicate him yet. I worry about the long term side affects of the medications he is taking.
• After nine months of trying we finally got pregnant. I am due June 4th and we find out in two weeks, hopefully, what we will be having.
• Dalley and I got to go on an adventure to the South Pacific with Stina and Ira. We loved spending time with them and are glad we got to make those memories.
• We went an entire year without a hospital stay or an emergency room visit, Dalley's first two years of life were full of them so we are glad to go a whole year with none.
• Dustin took an entire week off work to go and help my dad. Dalley and I haven't spent that much time with him since Dalley was born. Even though he hated not being at work, we loved being with him.
• We were able to attend a Hatch Reunion, a Hull reunion, and a Wright Reunion. I saw a lot of people that I haven't seen in years, it was good to see how everyone is doing.
• I was able to take two weeks off work in December to spend with family. Dalley and I spent the whole two weeks in Nevada with my parents. I am glad for these opportunities for Dalley to get closer to my parents. I also loved spending so much time with Dalley. it made me so jealous of moms that get to stay home with their kids. I have never wanted to quit my job more than when i had to come back to work.

Winter Stuff

We have been gone so much lately it feels like I am never home. We went out to Nevada for Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. We spent Thanksgiving with the Hulls.That is my mom's mother's family. It was fun to see people we hadn't seen in awhile. We had dinner at the high school in Alamo. It was weird to be back there. I think I have only been in that building one other time in the 10 years since I graduated. After dinner we made cards for missionaries and played games. Then we went to my Grandma Hatch's house for a visit. It was a fun day. On Saturday we went to the Wright reunion. Which is my mom's dad's family. I don't remember ever going to a Wright reunion before. Jeanne did a really good job of putting it on.



We have spent a few weekends helping my dad bring his cows in. We went out the day before Thanksgiving and we found two wild heifers. I had the tranquilizer gun ready but Dustin was able to rope one and tie him down and then chased the other until he could get her in the trailer. It was a fun day and Dalley had a good time riding the horse and gathering cows



The next weekend Dalley and I went out with my dad. Dalley and I drove a herd about 4 miles to the pond. He did really good. I was afraid he would get bored and want to quit but he is really starting to enjoy being out on the range. When we got to the ranch we unloaded the calves out of the top last and I had Dalley chase them up the alley. He thought he was pretty tough. We also split the wieners into groups. Dalley chased them around with my dad the whole time. He thought he was quite the little helper. He was really excited when I let him ride the horse bareback as I led him to the corral. I can't believe how big he is getting. He is going to be just like his daddy.

Dalley and Mommy

Dalley passed out while we were feeding

Handsome Husband

The first time it snowed Dalley and I made little snowmen, his hands were freezing by the time we were done.I bought him gloves so but it hasn't snowed again

My dad tying one of the wild heifers in the trailer

Dalley and Papa

I loved this picture,i think the mountains are so pretty out there.

Dustin was going to let Dalley pet one of the wild heifers but he would have no part of it

The first heifer Dustin roped

Dalley on Homer

I bought Dalley this hat with ear flaps, he looks like a little old man in it

Three cowboys checking the cows
Dalley feeding the horses

Dustin let Dalley lead Homer to the corral, he thought he was pretty big.

Daddy and Dalley asleep in the back of the truck on the way back to the ranch

Samoa

I have about 500 pictures from our month in Samoa, but as I was uploading I got really bored so I am just posting the cute Dalley ones for now and maybe at some point I will post some of the scenery type.

Our month in Samoa was quite an experience. I am very glad that I went but there were many times when all I wanted to do was come home. First of all, less than a week before I left I found out that I was pregnant. I was happy about this because we had wanted it but I was pretty bummed about the timing. I had morning sickness every day that we were in Samoa which made for some not fun times. On our field days we would hike in the 85 degree weather through the rainforest and I thought I was going to die. Not only was it hot but the humidity was always around 100%. I did get used to it after awhile. Well either I got used to it or I quit noticing how wet I was all of the time. The days that we would go surveying were amazing. The island we were on(Tutuilla) is very mountainous, so the areas that were flat is where the people lived. That left the steep areas for farming. The average slope was around 50%. It would take us about 3 hours to lay out contours on 1/2 an acre. At home that would take about 15 minutes. The landscape was so steep that we would have to move the level often.

Here are a few pictures from our adventure. They are in no particular order The first week we were there Stina, my sister-in-law/Dalley's babysitter, found a play group at the library. It gave her and the boys something to do a couple days a week.
Everywhere we went it was like we were with movie stars. They were not used to seeing white people, especially not little blond blue eyed boys. People would always want to get their picture taken with the boys.

A view of the harbor where we stayed

Stina became friends with a bishop of one of the wards and his wife. They were really good to us while we were there and treated us like family. This is Dalley with Bishop Matagi

Picking coconuts at Bishop Matagi's house

Our two cute boys

This is Bishop's wife Rita. She was a really sweet lady

Stina took the boys to a Halloween party at the library. They were dressed up as Samoan boys in their little lava lavas

They spent a lot of time watching a Dora DVD. It was a lifesaver.

This is the beach at our hotel. The boys loved playing in the sand

My handsome boy, everyone there said he looked like a little surfer dude with his blond hair and blue eyes.

A performer at a show we went to

Another dancer

The whole group

The boys getting their picture taken with Miss American Samoa

This is Eppi, she worked at the museum and became a good friend. The boys loved her

Dalley and Rita after stake conference

One of the weavers

Dalley sitting with the ladies that weave outside the museum

Cute boys in lava lavas

This picture was taken outside our hotel. We had a pretty spectacular view of the ocean.

Update From American Samoa

Around the end of July my work opened up an opportunity for an exchange detail to American Samoa. This meant someone from Utah would switch places with someone from the American Samoa office. For some reason I had a temporary lapse in judgement and signed up. I never thought they would select me to go. Well, I was wrong. I got the job. I called my sister-in-law and asked her if she would like to come with me so I wouldn't have to leave Dalley behind. Shawn and Stina gave it some thought and decided that she and their almost two year old would come with me. That was the greatest blessing. The thought of leaving Dalley for a month made me sick.

So 2 months after I found out, Dalley and I left on our Samoan adventure. We took a very long six hour flight from Vegas to Honolulu. We got there around noon and checked into a beautiful hotel on Waikiki. The next day we met Stina at the airport in Hawaii and took an almost 7 hours flight to Pago Pago American Samoa. Flying with two year olds is a very challenging task, but Dalley and my nephew Ira both did great.

When we got here we were both a little underwhelmed. It may be an American Territory, but it is basically a third world country. We were told not to drink the water, not to swim on the beach out back of our hotel, and about all the creepy crawlies that we could be sharing a room with. Needless to say I slept the first night with one eye open.

Now we have been here for three weeks and we leave in another week. The time has flown by and it has been quite an experience (I will go into more detail when I can upload pictures).
The thing that has made this trip the best is the people. The people here are so amazing. They are so giving. I have visited plantations where they live in shacks and have very little money, but nothing makes them happier than to have something to give. We have felt very comfortable since we arrived because the people are so wonderful.