A little catching up to do

I have been absent in more than one way.  I am sorry that I have taken so long to get on here and post something about anything.  My biggest excuses are that my computer decided to go on vacation (or something) when we got to Utah and well I was pregnant.  All I really wanted to do was take a nap.  So what is different about today?  I got a nice two hour nap with my son.  After which I fed him and he slipped back into dream land leaving me free and with some energy.  Who doesn't love the coma like state babies go into after eating?  As for my computer it is still having problems.  To do this post I turned it on in "Safe Mode" which lets me get things done but it wont let me download pictures.  Sorry folks it will have to wait until after Les wipes my computer and installs everything back on.
So here is what has been happening since I checked out last month.  We made the decision to move the kids and I to Utah to wait for the baby to come.  We packed up the house and moved it all into storage until we decide what we are going to do.  Our choices are at this time are: 1 - Move back to Logan so Les can do a graduate program (dependent on Les getting funding) or 2 - Les keeping his current job until he finds something more challanging and we all stay in (or get moved back to) Maryland.  After getting everything stowed we headed across country in our Yukon stuffed as full as we could get it with things we would need to get us through and our kids.  It left on Sunday March 25th and arrived in Utah on March 27th.  We stopped every 2 1/2 to 3 hours for the girls to use the bathroom and for me to walk around (to prevent clots).  Coming through Wyoming our youngest threw up every hour or so.  Emma thankfully did not throw up too but she did complain a lot about the smell.
The kids and I moved in with my brother Daniel and his family so I could be as close as I could to the OB I had before we moved away.  With the stress of everything else I didn't want to add upon that by trying to find a new one that late in the game (I was 37 weeks along).  I am grateful that they were so willing to let us crowd into their home.  Between the two families there were 6 kids.  Not the easiest thing to do.
I went into see myy doctor and set up a time to be induced so that Les could be there with me.  One week ago I got a call from his office telling me that the day we set up for me to be induced the doctor would be out of town for a meeting that had been set up last year.  He gave me my options of moving everything back or to try to do it early.  I called Les and we discussed the situation.  We both preferred to go early rather than take the risk of my going into labor without him there.  Between that decision and another matter I will write about in a minute Les decided that he would do what he could to change his flight.  He managed to get a flight out that afternoon and made it to Salt Lake International at 10:30 pm.  I was so grateful to see him.  the girls and I missed him so much.
Even with him there I had a problem.  On Saturday (April 14th) I noticed blisters all over Khloe's hands.  they had not been there earlier in the day.  I took her to the ER in Tooele to have her checked out.  We spent several hours there.  Mostly because Khloe was dehydrated (a symptom of what she would later be diagnosed with) which made it hard for the nurses to get a blood sample.  The possible answers to what could be the cause of her blisters went from Chicken Pox to Hand, Foot, and Mouth.  Not one of those answers seemed to accurately fit what seemed to be happening to her.  The ER doctor wanted to make sure that it was diagnosed accurately so he sent us over to Primary Children's Medical Center.  We arrived there at midnight and were quickly checked in.  Both of us fell asleep waiting for someone to come look at her.  At 2 am a group of doctors arrived to see what they could make of the mystery.  They boiled it down to a weird manistation of Hand, Foot, and Mouth or the herpies virus (cold sore kind) on her hands.  They scaped the top off of one of the blisters and took a sample.  The doctor asked me to bring Khloe in again on Monday after 7 pm because she would be on duty and that would simplify things for us.  So once again on Monday I took Khloe into the ER at PCMC.  Thankfully this time we didn't wait several hours to be seen.  We were told the test for herpies came back negative.  Khloe was finally diagnosed with Hand, Foot, and Mouth.  I drove her back to Stansbury Park (we stopped at McDonalds for a little treat on our way) and got her to bed.  Les sent me a text when he landed and then waited for our friend Jeff to pick him up and bring him out.
The next morning, following my doctor's instructions, I called Labor and Delivery at Logan Regional Hospital to be put on a waiting list.  At 10 they called and told me to be there at noon.  Thankfully I had managed to get the kids packed and we rushed them over to Les' sister's house.  Then we flew up to Logan and got me settled in.  Since I am GBS (Group B Strep) positive I needed to be on antibiotics for at least 4 hours before I delivered.  To do so they made sure that my labor progressed slowly.  After the first four hours they started to turn up my pip to get my labor going.  Every hour a nurse would come in and turn it up a little more.  During that time I had problems with my IV.  It seemed to run slowly at times.  The line was flushed a few times.  Then it happened.  The reason my labor took so long.  A change in shift happened.  My new nurse also noticed that my IV was running slow.  She flushed the line.  While she was doing that I started into a contraction that lasted several minutes.  I made a comment about it to the nurse.  She stared at the machines and suddenly told me to roll onto my left side.  As I was doing so she slipped a mask over my face and told me the baby was in stress.  She called for help and another nurse came.  They turned off the pip and gave me a shot to stop my contraction.  Here is what we think happened.  The pip and the saline lines join at my hand just before it actually enters my hand.  Even though the pip was running it must have been going up into the saline side rather than into my body.  When she flushed the line all the pip in that line entered my body.  There was too much of it there for my body or the baby to handle.  So for a few hours I went pip free so that what was there could be diluted.  Eventually they started the pip again and within a few hours my son was born. 
Sorry this is where this story ends.  I will tell you all about the newest love in my life when I can post some pictures of him.  Until then this is goodbye.

It's only been 2 weeks?

So, I guess it's my turn to finally make another post. I usually leave all of this to Melanie as I think she enjoys working through things as she makes her posts.

I thought I'd add a post though about how excited we are for this next week. (Mind you excited is neither positive nor negative) We've only been away from each other for about a week, however, it sure seems like it's been a much longer time. I've been staying in Maryland and Virginia while she and the girls have been staying with her brother Daniel and his family.

So, three weeks ago we made the trip. The 2000+ mile trip from southern Maryland to western Utah. It only took us about 48 total hours, but we really drove some long hard stretches of the day. The drive went well for the most part, with no real problems until we got a low fuel light just outside of Peoria, IL. That's where we learned that there are basically no gas stations for about a 40-50mi stretch. Of course in a large SUV, you'd think 2 gal of gas could get you that far... Well, apparently it won't. We waited for about 90 minutes for USAA to have a guy bring out two gallons for us, only to find out that the next gas station was about a mile and a half to 2 miles down the road... So close....

Our next problem didn't start until we hit the great state of Wyoming. We knew we were there as soon as the Nebraska winds stopped blowing us around like leaves in a tornado. (We missed the two tornadoes that went through North Platte by a couple of hours). The second indicator of being in Wyoming was Samantha's allergy. Apparently she is vehemently allergic to Wyoming. (Insert evil grin). She started vomiting like a volcano from the moment we got in to Wyoming until we crossed the Flaming Gorge Dam. Melanie still thinks it was altitude sickness (I'm sure Carolyn will side with Melanie too), but, I know the truth. After all, I'm the one who had to clean it all up.

We were grateful to then be able to spend the week together as a family until I had to fly back to Maryland. We've noticed that are time in Maryland has been very effective for our family. We've learned a lot of lessons. Some we already knew, but there were others that I think have helped our family grow stronger.

One of the first lessons was that yes, the government is ridiculous in it's spending and costs. The costs of living in the DC area are extreme and unwarranted. A lot of the housing is not in good condition, between high water tables and extra humidity there is a lot of mold, and of course the southern half of MD was/is a bog, so that brings its own challenges. Our neighborhood median income was around 100k, and many of those neighbors were still struggling. It's hard for me to believe that they are all just fiscally non responsible. yes, maybe one or two, but I think the real problem lays in the setup of the area.

The biggest lesson I think Melanie learned was that she can do it. She can take care of the girls, maintain a home, and still make friends and perform her church callings. She has grown SO much, and I'm so proud of the work that she has been able to put in to our family. The girls also have grown a lot, they've further learned that they can be sisters AND friends at the same time. For so long we've tried to get the girls to not be so jealous of each other and what they each are doing. While in the East the girls didn't have a lot of other children their age in the area, so they played with each other and bonded with our family that much more.

I'd like to think God has proven to Melanie and I that he'll take care of us no matter where we are. We just need to be willing to make the decisions for our future. I think the biggest lesson that I've learned is a lesson that I've already known, and really don't like. That lesson is that, no matter how much letter time, phone time, or internet time you may get with your family, being away from your family sucks. I really miss my girls. I really miss my wife, and I can't wait to see my soon to be newborn son.

The girls have been fairly dissatisfied with being out of Maryland as well. At first we thought they would love to be back in Utah, back with family and friends, but one of the biggest comments I get out of the girls is that they want to come back to Maryland. They really miss their bishop. (He is a really good bishop and friend). They even told their primary when they left that they were coming back. They stated it so matter-of-factly that even now it's hard to say what will happen.

I've gotten a number of pictures and emails/texts from my little girls over the last two weeks. I've really enjoyed them and shared them with all of my coworkers and roommates too. They all love my lil' girls pics. I even showed them my Samantha's 'Underwear dance'. (She was clothed ) I can't wait to be back with my girls next week. As we get closer to Melanie's due date we have been getting more and more concerned about what we are going to do in the near future term. I've enjoyed my job in DC, but, have been counseled numerous times by numerous people that I need to get my graduate studies done. We feel that they're probably correct and that to keep putting it off will only make it that much more difficult to complete later on. So for now we're planning on me trying to do a grad program through USU, but we'll see what the future holds for us. If anyone has any leads on an inexpensive place or any hiring for a biological engineer let us know.

I know and have always known that my family is the most important thing to me. More than anything I can do, say, or be. They're the biggest reason that I accomplish the things I do, so that I can take care of them, and raise them to be the daughters (and son) of god that they are.