Happy Birthday Paul!

Today was Paul's birthday.  It was a fun day.  Paul was at work and then when he got home we had his favorite candy waiting and the kids had made cards for them.  We had dinner and then we ate the chocolate cake that the kids and I had made. 

New Job ;)

Today was a wonderful day for our family.  Paul started a new job that would have him be home at night and on the weekends.  Paul started his last job 7 1/2 years ago and have been patiently waiting for another job.  He is working for a company called Vivint here in Provo, Ut as the corporate security manager.  It is a blessing for us, because we will feel like we have a normal life.  Paul will now be able to be home at nights and will be able to go to church every Sunday.  We are grateful to Heavenly Father for opening this path for us and know that we would not have gotten it without a lot of prayer and faith.  We are so excited to start this new venture and see what the future holds for us with this new company. 

Marcus Baptism

Today was a very special day for Marcus, Hans cousin.  We all went out as a family to see Marcus get baptized here in American Fork.  I was so grateful that we were all able to go to share this special moment with him.  He seemed so happy and ready to become a member of the Church.  After we had the baptism, we went to Yvonne's house (my sister) and had a light lunch.  It was great to visit with family and also eat good food. 

Bringing Baby Ky home

Today Paul and I woke up at the hospital with hopes that we would be discharged and we could take Ky home.  The last three days he was improving and gradually was taken off medications.  This morning we met with dr's where they determined that he was doing great and that he could be off the machines.  We were so grateful that he could because that meant he had the right amount of oxygen.  Today was a pretty long day as we met with the nursing doctors to make sure we would be able to nurse, and the endocronologist for Ky's hypothyrodism.  They showed us how to administer the medicine that Ky would have to take everyday probably for the rest of his life.  We are so grateful that things have all worked out well, we are thankful for our families who took our kids these last three days, and we are thankful to the lord for the protection that he had for our other children while we were away, for Paul and I and for baby Ky.  We took Ky home and picked up our other children at Lito and Lita's house and just enjoyed spending time with each other.  What a holiday, but now we move on and enjoy the new year together. 

Primary Children's Hospital Trip-Happy New Year

Our new year didn't start out the way that we had wanted to this year.  New Years Eve, we were enjoying our day until our pediatrician called to let us know that Ky had Hypothyrodism.  Paul and I knew nothing about this so of course we had a lot of questions and were a little worried.  Because he had jaundice and a bad cough the dr. asked us to bring him to the hospital so they could take care of everything he had and that way I wouldn't have to take care of all my kids and be stressed about all Ky was going through.  Luckily Paul was home so he took Ky to American Fork hospital where they emitted Ky.  I was kindof bummed that I was not going to be spending New Years Eve with Paul and Ky but I know it needed to be done.  Right before midnight I get the most dreaded call that a mother doesn't want to get from Paul.  He calmly lets me know that they are going to Life flight Ky to Primary Childrens hospital because his oxygen levels are low and he had stopped breathing for a little bit.  I was so sad and nervous and knew this was not going to be a short trip.  I quickly had a  million things run through my brain, like where do we have our kids go? what is going on? and was my little Ky going to die?  I asked Paul if he thought that he was because I wanted our whole family to be together, but he reassured me that Ky would be fine.  It was snowing pretty heavily New Years morning, so they life light people decided not to fly and took him by ambulance.  Paul picked me and the kids up and we dropped them off at families house and went up to Salt Lake.  By the time we got there Ky was there in the PICU.  As I walked in to see my baby, I couldn't help but tear up seeing him hooked up to the oxygen machine.  They let us know that they needed to do a spinal tap on him and that we needed to sign some papers.  I couldn't believe that they would do that procedure on a 7 day old baby, but Paul and I would do anything to make Ky healthier.  They had a room for us to sleep in so we went in there to try to get some sleep, but it was hard for the both of us knowing that Ky was not well.  But we knew he was well taken care of.  He had a nurse watching him the whole time and we knew that we were in the best Children's hospital in the state.  Our stay at primary children's was a three day stay where we worked with nurses and doctors to get Ky healthy.  It was a good time for Paul and I because we had a lot of time to spend together and talk which we do not get to do very ofter.  We ate a lot at the cafeteria where we talked.  Not the best holiday for our family, but we are grateful that things are o.k. 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was spent at the hospital for Ky and I.  I was so sad that I was not able to watch the kids in the morning when they found the gifts that Santa had left them, or watch them open the gifts from family and us, but I was so grateful for the Christmas gift that we were given.  Ky was unexpected, but we are so grateful that he is here and that we can start the new year as a family of 6.  That morning, Paul did Christmas with the kids and then they came to the hospital to spend it with me and Ky.  It was the sweetest thing, they brought my stocking from Santa and some gifts that I could open.  They pretty much spent all day there with me, the kids were getting stir crazy, but it was fun to have them there. 

An unexpected surprise ;)

Today was going to be a normal day in the Otte home getting ready for Santa to come to our house, when my water broke.  Yes you heard me right, my water broke.  After all that it really was a blur, but this is how it went.  My water broke, Paul and I both frantic and trying to get everyone dressed and ready to go spend the day with my sister and her family, and my parents.  Got to the hospital where they hooked me up to IV's and gave me patossin (i do not know how to spell it) to start the contractions.  Luckily the anesthesiologist was close by so I got the epidural immediately.  From that time on it was a wait for this baby to come out.  The longest I have waited was 6 hours for my babies, so when we were going over the 6 hours I couldn't believe that this baby was not here yet.  Especially with the Pitocin.  After a little bit the nurse realized that all of my water had not broken so that was not allowing the baby to come, so they broke the rest and within 30 min the baby was coming.  Unfortunately the epidural had worn off just enough for me to feel the baby, but it went fast.

Waiting for the baby to come

Ky and mommy meeting for the first time

Getting cleaned off by the nurses

Ky Dietrick Otte was born on December 24th, 2012- 6 pds 15 ounces and 19 inches long.  He was 3 weeks early but that is OK, because that was the best Christmas gift we could have ever gotten.  After I delivered him he had to go and get put on oxygen because his little lungs were not functioning properly.  I am so glad that I was other wise detained, because I don't know if I could have been o.k. with him on oxygen.  He spent most of the day and night under supervision with the nurses, so I got a lot of rest while at the hospital.

Ky shortly after coming into this work, on oxygen