Update on little Miss Megan

 We took Megan down to the InstaCare in Hurricane and the doctor there said she had a nasty case of "The Crud" (I really think that might be the medical term for it!).  Luckily it hasn't turned into Bronchialitis, they usually wouldn't do anything for it, but since she's had it for 2 1/2 weeks and we're about to travel again they sent us down to get her a "deep suction."  She is doing MUCH better since they got all of that "crud" out and is sleeping a whole lot better too, which is nice for mommy!  She is on her way to a speedy recovery now that she doesn't have to work so hard to breath.  A special thanks to everyone that has expressed concern for our little Megan.   

Love,

Shelly

2 days left!

Hi again. The videos keep coming. I hope the boys get to see this one, but they might not get to it today because Shelly has to take Megan to the children's clinic. Megan has been having a lot of trouble breathing because her nose is full of snot and hasn't responded well to saline and bulb treatment/steam treatment/patting her back half the night over the last few weeks. Of course, just when it's finally gotten bad enough to be a concern, it's dumping snow and making travel difficult. But Shelly is hopefully going to get their with some help from her mom and dad and Sharice. We will let you know how they do.

With out further ado:

Bonues video: More kitty cats!

Another Daddy Video

Hi everyone. I just had to make another video for the boys to watch. Shelly told me they were glued to the computer yesterday and kept making her play my last video over and over. They even waved bye bye to the screen! Well, I couldn't let them down (besides, this should buy Shelly about 15 more minutes of easy entertainment) so I made a sequel. Other family and friends: you are by no means obligated to watch this. But you probably will anyway just to see me embarassing myself in front of the camera. Enjoy!

Daddy says Hi!

Well Family, I was dissapointed that we couldn't connect on Skype today, so I decided to make a recording of myself for you. Love you!!!

(Early) Thanksgiving in Tennessee

Above: Benjamin and Jeffrey play around the Christmas tree

Brian, Jeff, Grandma Osborne, and Megan pose together on the couch

Grandma Osborne and Megan

Uncle Jeff and Megan

Uncle Jeff hanging out

Above: Ben jumping on packing bubbles

Brian playing "toro" with Jeffrey

Grandma Osborne and Megan

Megan

Grandpa Mike and Megan crashed out together

Above: Benjamin being silly with Grandma Osborne's glasses

Grandpa Osborne with "Chica", the parateel

Grandma Osborne with Megan

Jeffrey reads with Daddy while Megan snoozes on the couch

Shelly looking beautiful as always

Above: Happy Mommy. Megan? Not so much.

Thanksgiving in Utah

Cousins Emma, Sarah, Becca, and Jake

Grandpa Heaton meets Megan Nyberg

Grandma Heaton meets Megan

Uncle Jon and Benjamin

Aunt Janice and Megan

Surprising Jon and Janice

Allright folks, here it is. The much anticipated, highly valuable, ultra-secret footage of our family's arrival at Jon and Janice's house for Thanksgiving. For those of you who don't know, Jon had casually mentioned to Shelly online earlier that week that she'd be crazy to come across the country again. BUT, if she did, she could bring a Twinkie as her contribution to the meal. Well, as it happens, Shelly will do just about anything on a dare....

Enjoy!

Ben Helps Jeffrey eat Thanksgiving dinner

Self-explanatory.

Cousin Train

Yay! I found the cable and can now post tons of cute videos and pictures.

Love,

Brian

A Brief Update

This is just a short update to let everyone know that we haven't fallen off the face of the planet. Right now we are a family divided by a country. We decided to drive across the country two days before Thanks Giving with 3 children under the age of 3 and that was interesting to say the least! It was great to surprise everyone in my family for Thanks Giving. No one had a clue we were coming except my mom and dad who have been so gracious as to board us. We sent Brian back to Tennessee to finish out his finals with a little less stress and a little more sleep the Sunday after Thanks Giving. He will be flying back on Saturday the 20th of December to meet back up with us to stay a few days longer and then start the long journey back home with 3 kids under 3 again with a short stop at Grandma Osborne's on the way back. Unfortunately Brian can't find the cord he needs to upload the pictures from the camera and I don't have the camera with me so we don't really have any pictures except the ones I've stolen from other family blogs. Here are a couple pictures from the Thanks Giving fun.



All 12 Heaton grandchildren (two more are on the way in June!)



All of my brothers and sisters plus spouses (the red heads are all Heaton kids)

All Hail Princess Megan!

We have had our little Princess home from the hospital since Saturday night. Shelly is resting up and the boys are in love with their little sister. Here's a sequel to the cutest video we've ever taken, this time starring Jeffrey and Megan. Mom, brace yourself:

A Baby! A Baby!

Here meeting Megan for the first time is big brother Benjamin. Jeffrey got to meet her too, but he was kind of busy playing with the T.V.

And now, the most adorable video I have ever shot of my kids. Grandparents, prepare to melt:

As many of you have already heard, Shelly had some bleeding after her C-section yesterday that caused her to lose a lot of blood. However, the doctor was able to stop the bleeding and she didn't lose enough to warrant a blood transfusion. So she's just a little weak and is taking vitamins, resting, and eating her way back to a full recovery.

Apparently, the bleeding may have been due to a failure of her lower uterine segment. Dr. Gebka described a "paper-thin" area of Shelly's lower uterus, almost like a potential "window". It was so thin, Shelly could feel Megan's hand and wrist through it in great detail in the days before she was born.

We are certainly grateful that Shelly trusted her instincts and came in to the hospital yesterday. Had she progressed to active labor and more forceful contractions, it seems almost certain that she would have ruptured her uterus, causing catastrophic blood loss and an emergency cesarean section + hysterectomy. We consider ourselves truly blessed for the marvels of modern medical technology and the skill of good doctors that have allowed us to get all of our beautiful children here, safe and sound. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers for us. Shout out to Grandma Sapp, who just got back from the hospital today. We love you Grandma and wish you as speedy a recovery as possible.

Much love,

Brian.

Surprise! Megan Kimberly Nyberg is born!

Megan Kimberly Nyberg was delivered by cesarean section on Wednesday, November 5th at 1:20 pm EST. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 12 oz, about 20" long and got an 8/9 Apgar score. She was pink and cried well and looked big and healthy. We're so happy to have our beautiful baby girl with us and can't wait to introduce the boys to their new baby sister!

Shelly did really well through the surgery (which I recorded in all its gory details for posterity) and made it through the recovery just fine, although she was cold and shivering from the effects of the spinal and had some heartburn and abdominal pain. Once she warmed up and got some pain medication, she was doing a lot better, although she did have some hemorrhaging and required some meds for the bleeding too.

For those of you who haven't heard yet, this wasn't the expected due date. We had the C-section scheduled for Tuesday Nov 11th, but Shelly was having lots of painful contractions and went into the hospital today to get checked out. Once they found she was dilated to 1 &1/2 cms, 50% effaced, and having pretty regular strong contractions, our doctor decided to proceed with the surgery and we were only too happy to oblige!

Some of you have asked if we are done having kids. Although we do make beautiful babies, I must admit, we think 3 C-sections is enough for poor Shell's body. She had a tubal ligation done as part of the C-section today.

Wanted to let you all know and get the word out. We are doing well; we have a few Church members volunteering to help watch Benjamin and Jeffrey in the mornings and wonderful medical students who are helping watch them in the afternoons and bring meals over. This is great because it means I can still go to class and study for my exam on Monday. Then next week on Monday, we have hired someone to watch the boys during class time until Shelly has recovered. So that's the scoop!

We love and miss you all. Hope you will get a chance to meet our beautiful Megan in person very soon. We'll keep you posteed!

Love, Brian.

PS: Here is the gory birth video. Watch at you're own peril!

I got adopted by a kitty cat

Now I'm not usually a softie for cats, but this one was just persistent. He kept coming by our house and playing really nicely with the kids. Obviously, someone is missing their cat and we need to post some signs around the neighborhood. Not a typical stray cat; had a flea collar on too.

When we didn't see or hear from the kitty for a few days, we didn't think anything of it. But when I opened up our van last night to finish putting the car seats back inside, the kitty jumped out of the passenger seat! Apparently, he had been trapped inside for about 24 hours when I closed the trunk of the van and I didn't realize he was inside! Of course, he had pooped all over inside, which I had to clean up. But I felt bad for him and, against my better judgment, set out some cat food and a dish of water on the porch. He ate like it was Thanksgiving and spent the remainder of the evening purring and trying to climb up into my lap.

Then I decided that I would fix the outdoor GFCI outlet on the porch so I could plug in an electric mat. While I was trying to work, he kept getting in the way and finally succeeded in jumping up on my shoulders. I eventually gave up on the outlet (had the wrong kind of GFCI to replace it, I think) but set up a little covered area with a blanket for him to sleep on. I know, I know, I pretty much just got myself a new pet. But I'm going to try to find his owner, nonetheless. Still toying with names, though.... Peanut? Norman? Shire Kahn?