Chloe's Story Part 1

Hi Everyone! I'm finally blogging again. Sam asked me how long it'd been - it looks like forever based off of our site. Anyway, I guess people are asking for the entire story of how Chloe was born and "What?! She was born in the truck?!" . So here I am with all the details of Thursday evening the 5th of June.

Thursday mid-morning I thought that I might have a slow/small amnio fluid leak and I called my doula. We figured out that it very well could've been and that maybe sometime that day I would go into labor. Well, the previous weekend I had two nights of contractions timing at 5 minutes, then 4, then 3, then 2 1/2 minutes and then disappeared. So I wasn't too worried. I felt what seemed to be braxton hicks throughout the day, painless tightening every so often, but nothing serious at all.
At 7pm I came in from talking with the neighbors to make a quick leftover dinner for the girls. I noticed that I was starting to have contractions that kind of took some concentration to go through. I couldn't heat up the quesadillas, get the girls to clean up the fishies on the floor and get through the contraction all at the same time, so I thought it might be the night and called Sam to tell him to stay close to the phone. Ten minutes or so went by with a few more contractions, no cooperation from the kids and still no dinner for them so I called my doula/neighbor 3 doors down, to come and help me. Kirsten came over by 7:15 pm and after we talked for a few minutes and went through some contractions together we called a different friend to have her come and pick up the kids. No one we originally talked to about taking the kids was home! Figures, ya know?
So Larissa came and picked up the girls around 7:30pm which by then I really had to concentrate through the contractions and couldn't speak through them. I was trying hard not to let the girls see that it was tough because they were really worried. After they left we called Sam to tell him to come home and this was the real deal. While we were waiting for him the contractions were really coming on and Kirsten decided we should get the hospital. So at 7:45pm we called Sam to tell him to meet us at the hospital and he had just gotten onto the freeway in Sandy. Kirsten put our bags and things into the truck and then helped me out there.
We left our house just before 8 pm and when we got to the stop light down the block I was starting have really intense contractions, right on top of eachother, no breaks in between. After we turned onto 8th North I couldn't get comfortable sitting forward so I flipped myself around so I was leaning against the back of the chair, facing the back of the truck, kneeling on the chair. Finally a little relief! But after I did that I started pushing - I couldn't help it at all, and I could barely get myself to breath through the contraction so as to not push Chloe out.
Between 8:05 and 8:10 we made it to Timpanogos Regional Hospital and Kirsten pulled up into the ER entrance where she jumped out and yelled at onlookers to get an nurse because I was having the baby in the truck. After what felt like forever a nurse came and asked me to get out - I said there was no way I was doing the that because I was pushing. So she checked me to see that I hadn't crowned yet, hopped into the seat behind me and Kirsten drove us around to the maternity entrance. It wasn't very far but I was definately pushing and the nurse kept trying to get me not to push, but it was too late - Chloe was on her way.
The whole delivery team was waiting for us outside and when we stopped the nurse and Kirsten jumped out. They were trying to figure out how to get me inside because I was pushing. And while they were discussing this I pushed Chloe's head out. I couldn't tell them because I was pushing and groaning but after she was out I yelled as loud as I could, "the baby's head it out!" I was still fully dressed, so they pulled my clothes off and sure enough there she was. So I delivered Chloe the rest of the way at 8:14 pm - Kirsten called Sam and told him the baby was born and that it was a girl. He was still on the freeway, but not too far away. They took Chloe inside to the newborn admitting and I sent Kirsten with her. They took me into the delivery room where we took care of the rest of the delivery, but I had to wait 1 1/2 hours for my doctor to show up to stitch me up because he was doing an emergency c-section. Sam showed up right after I was taken into the delivery room, and a few minutes after that my mom, brother and Jen Barnes all arrived. So this is the true story of how Chloe was born in our truck in the Timp Hospital parking lot in an hour and 15 minutes. Check in again soon for part 2 - the rest of the story and new photos too! (I'm going to take a nap!)

Yard Sale

On Friday night Sarah and I were cleaning out our garage and back patio (or should I say storage shed with no walls). I told Sarah "someday we are going to get tired of storing all this "stuff" and we will have a yard sale and get rid of it. So about 15 minutes later I told Sarah that it was time. So we went through everything and pulled everything out that we haven't used in the last year or more. We filled our entire carport with "stuff".
The Sale went very well. I got up early for the die hard buyers and put all the "stuff" out. Sarah sold all of her "stuff" for dirt cheap. I don't think she sold anything for more then a dollar. She sold all the toys and kid clothes for only 25 cents. I had fun bartering with people. The best deal of the day was a guy who was looking at some fabric that Sarah had. He asked me "How much?" I said "Two dollars". Then he kept adding more fabric to the pile and the price went back and forth and he ended up buying all the fabric on the blanket and even the old blanket it was all lying on.This same guy ended up spending about $50 at our sale. At noon we had made $130 and it was about 130 degrees or at least it felt like it so we packed up and took the rest of the "stuff" to the thrift store.
With our money we purchased some pavers to go under our fire pit and some wood for a hammock stand Sarah has commished me to make.
The girls did good with selling their stuff. The did end up taking a few things back
The water was a good idea but we didn't sell a single bottle! We drank it though.
We wanted to sell this stroller but Ginger hung out in it the entire time. She loves to play "Baby"

Busy week having fun with dad

We're HOME!

We did it! Chloe past all of her tests today and the Dr said she can come home. We were hoping that she could have come home this morning, but the Dr wanted her to be on the lights a little bit longer. That was a let down so we didn't want to be let down again, so we just told ourselves that we wouldn't come home till Monday morning. We were so excited to hear that we could come home tonight. Chloe's Beliruben levels have continued to drop. We still need to get her tested again to make sure they don't go back up. It is so nice to be able to finally be able hold Chloe whenever we want. When we were at the hospital we were regulated on the amount of time she could be out of the lights, we were always trying to sneak in a few extra minutes. I am going to have alot of time off from work so my goal is to be Super Dad for the next few weeks. I have planned to do alot of fun things with the Kaylee and Ginger so Sarah wil be able to have alot of time to herself with Chloe.

Chloe Pictures

Day Two

To start, Chloe is doing good and she wil hopefully come home tommorrow morning. To correct myself in the last entry she was actully born at 8:12.
It has been a new experience for Sarah and I to have a baby who not only was born in the front seat of the truck but to also have one that has had to stay in the nursuery the entire time. I have more time today to give a better update on Chloe. On Thursday night/Friday morning Chloe was in the nursurey and her oxygen saturations would drop into the low 80s. This worried the Dr. so he put her on oxygen with a nasal cannula. They also did a chest X-ray. She had some fluid in her lungs. The blood test reults came back that she had some type of infection. So because of all of this they started her on an antibiotic. If that wasn't enough her beliruben levels were rising, meaning that she was jaundice. She now has three lights on her to help. They want her to stay in light for 2 1/2 hours then she can be out for 1/2 an hour to nurse. It was an emotional roller coaster, we knew that none of this was too serious but we wish she could be in our room, so we could pick her up and hold her whenever we wanted.
We got good news this morning. They did a blood test and her white blood count was down meaning that the antibiotics were working! She will be finished with the antibiotics in the morning. The Dr. said that she should be able to go home tommorrow morning also if her beliruben level stay down. She has been doing really well with her oxygen levels. They weaned her off of the oxygen and she has been keeping her level up all by herself.
Thank You everyone that has and will be helping us. We hope to her from you all soon.

Chloe Olivia Hale is Here!

Chloe was born last night at 7:12 pm in the front seat of our Expedition in the parking lot of the hospital. I was on my way there from the fire station, after receiving a phone call from our neighbor Kirsten who drove her there. Chloe had a rough start into this world but she is doing good now. They are keeping her in the nursury while we are at the hospital to be able to monitor her vital signs. They have also started doing some light therapy because she is a little jaundice. Sarah is doing very well and has been up and around. I will post some pics soon. Visiting Chloe is very limited so it may be best to wait till we get home to see them. Feel free to give us a call. Keep Chloe and Sarah in your Prayers. Thank You Everyone who has been helping us.

So today I was reading and letting the kids play and we all know what happens when we let our guard down with kids. This was the surprise today - Ginger loves chocolate, but this was a new way to love it. I'll need to keep a closer eye on Ginger and her treats I guess.