Blood and Guts

it finally came down to the appointed hour. Laura of course didn’t sleep much more than a few 15 minute bursts during the night. she stayed up late and was up before 4:00am. i was rolling out of bed shortly after 4:30am. here is a picture of Laura on our way out the door to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

our hospital check-in at 5:30am was quick and soon enough the nurse was taking Laura’s vitals and Laura was getting prepped for the birth. the wait wasn’t exactly short, but the hospital staff was busy enough that we didn’t have much time to get antsy. Laura said that 7:30am is the first hour that the hospital schedules an operating room, and Laura was rolling down the hallway shortly after 7:15am.

all of the doctors and nurses were ready to go. i was wearing my nice white paper suit, booties over my shoes, a super-sized elastic-bound cap that must have been made for someone with two heads, and a face mask. white must be the choice to indicate that i was the one useless person with no medical knowledge in the OR: don’t ask me for help.

i wasn’t sure how i’d be during Laura’s c-section. i don’t think i’m particularly squeamish, but i wasn’t sure if i could handle seeing that it was Laura who was getting cut open. i held her hand until the first incision started and then i moved to the foot of the table to watch the operation. i kept checking with myself to make sure i could get a head start back to the chair stationed at the head of the operating table before i passed out, but i watched right on up to Maggie’s complete exit.

the early cutting involved an electric scalpel that cauterized some of the veins on their way in. Laura only had an epidural so she was alert for the whole birth. i wondered if the smell of burning flesh bothered her at all, knowing that it was her that was burning.

there wasn’t much blood all the way down to the uterus. i couldn’t really distinguish much between the different layers they were cutting through until they got down to the uterus. the nurse standing next to me told me that it was the uterus, but it was easy to tell that there was a solid, rounded surface that had been uncovered.

most of the c-section was uneventful. i did wonder how much Laura could feel when each of the two doctors grabbed a corner of the incision with both hands and leaned back with their body weight. it turns out Laura had no idea what was going on. she didn’t even know when Dr. Savage had both hands with a straight-armed-press onto Laura’s stomach to help force Maggie’s head out in the end.

Laura really liked the anesthesiologist because he gave the play-by-play and kept Laura updated on each of the steps of the operation and Maggie’s progress out of the womb. Laura wasn’t completely secluded behind the blue curtain hung across her chest.

with the uterus laid bare, the real action started. once they cut into the uterus there was enough blood flowing that they finally had to use suction. THEN they broke Laura’s water. Laura gushed. with all of the recent ultrasounds, you could see plenty of space around Maggie. The doctors with the ultrasound were looking for that sign of sufficient amniotic fluid when they wanted to try and turn Maggie so she could be born naturally. there was plenty of amniotic fluid, the suction was working over time and Laura still spilt out onto the floor.

there was so much to see in the remainder of the c-section that it is hard to remember exactly how it all happened. Maggie’s right foot came out first, and all alone. Maggie’s skin was gray and messy with a hint of purple, but what can you expect for someone living in those conditions. her little leg didn’t seem substantial enough to hang on to. she seemed so soft and squishy. the doctors used her leg and hip to help maneuver her bum, and finally her other leg out into the air. this was followed by more tugging and pulling to get the torso and arms of this rubbery mass out of Laura. i could see all of our baby except for the head.

at this point the surgical doctor, Doctor Jones, said that the umbilical cord was around Maggie’s neck. i think that ever since Laura heard that my mom lost a baby to a tangle with the umbilical cord, Laura has been nervous that our baby would risk the same danger. i can’t really remember much, but i do know that i saw the umbilical cord pulled flat against Maggie’s tummy and tightly tucked into the womb. it was just a few quick steps and the cord was cut and i was exiting the OR with a nurse carrying Maggie in her arms. the ICU call button had been pressed on our way out and before Maggie was fully settled in to the bassinette an ICU doctor and nurse were standing on either side of our baby.

i was nervous for our baby, but added to that i was worried that Laura was freaking out back in the OR. fortunately Maggie started to cry as she was laid down and pink flowed quickly under her skin from her head and chest down to her feet. Laura’s other fear about the birth was that Maggie wouldn’t be breathing when she was born and that we wouldn’t hear her cry. Laura even had nightmares about this. Maggie was crying, but on the other side of the OR door, so i was sure that Laura was in a panic not hearing her baby announcing her self to the world.

i almost told one of the nurses to go back into the OR to tell Laura that Maggie was crying. Laura had been wondering if Maggie was okay because the OR was so quiet. Laura had no idea that we had left the room. the anesthesiologist told her to listen carefully and Laura tuned in to the faint sound of Maggie’s screams. i was enjoying the unobstructed performance at full volume.

Maggie’s birth was a little bit of a scare for a moment, but it was easy to tell that she was going to be alright. Doctor Savage said that with the umbilical cord the way it was, a natural birth would have been a disaster. Maggie knew what she was doing when she wouldn’t budge when they tried to turn her a week ago.

Thanks to Drs. Jones, Groesbeck (the anesthesiologist) and Savage (Laura and Maggie’s Family Doctor) and the nursing staff at UVRMC. To the right is a picture of Maggie with Dr. Savage after she cleared Laura and Maggie to check out of the hospital.

She's my girl

i sent out some pictures of our Maggie in the evening after she was born. for one of my friends, Maggie's picture apparently cleared up the question as to whether or not this new baby belonged to me. he's only joking when he makes those comments about the questionable paternity, and i know he jokes because he's not quite sure why Laura puts up with me.

Laura is sure that Maggie looks like me. other family members, even on Laura's side, have made similar comments here and there on the pictures i've posted. i'm not so sure if she looks like me. if she were similar to my baby pictures, i'd think she'd look a lot more Downs Syndrome-y.

i'm not sure who she looks like. she doesn't have attached earlobes like her mother, but she doesn't have four earlobes worth like me. it'll be a while before we find out if she's got more of my blue or her mother's hazel. her fingers and toes look like they'll be long and slender like her mother's. newborn baby-noses are almost all the same little button just above the mouth, but she's got a fair amount of lip which Laura claims to be from me.

probably the most salient characteristic Maggie has is her dimpled chin, which is a Tanner trait. Laura has a slight dimple in her chin, as does Laura's mother. Laura's Uncle Jim and her Aunt Linda have more promenant dimples than Laura or Grandma Phyllis.

as for how i feel about this baby, i think that she feels like my little girl. we've all been in the hospital for two days, so this separation from our home might not let the fact that our girl is ours settle all the way in. nevertheless, Laura is so happy to hold her and take care of her, and i can't help but cuddle this child again and again. i think we've got a fair understanding that she belongs to us.

In Mamma's Arms

Laura is very happy with her new baby (and i am too).­ Laura seems to be recovering quite well.­ some of the nurses seem impressed at how well Laura is doing.­ once she was unhooked from the IV and other junk, Laur was immediately out of bed on her own to stretch her legs and back.­

Laura's pain levels have been really low.­ she's only been uncomfortable a couple of times and she has been taking low doses of pain medication.

Maggie knows how to let EVERYONE know that she's not content, but it doesn't take long for her mom to calm her back down.­ it's fun to see Laura take care of our little girl.­

Maggie's first visitors

With no immediate family closer than an hour away, and all of Laura's family in Canada, any visitor on the first day is an exceptional event. Grandma Betts left her after-work meeting early to make sure that she got her time in with little Maggie. Grandma was happy to hold her newest grandchild.

This picture of Maggie and Grandma is important because it shows you how much hair Laura had when she was... oh, let's say FIVE. Maggie has most of her cousins beat on the Evanson side when it comes to the hair that they were born with, but on the Betts side she might be on the low side of average.

Grandpa Betts knew his duties as soon as he came into the hospital room. He greeted everyone quickly and then got right to taking pictures of Grandma and Maggie together, and a few of Maggie and her parents.

Grandpa did get his turn with Maggie, but gave Maggie up early so Grandma could have one more cuddle from Maggie before her grandparents left. (Grandpa knows his place.)

Maggie's first visit went well. We know she's got plenty of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins eager to meet her.

Happy Birthday Maggie!

Maggie Phyllis Betts
7 lbs 6 oz
19 in.
March 25, 2008; 8:00am
mom and baby appear to be doing just fine.

Maggie was born at 8:00am, via cesarean section. she wouldn't budge from her "heads-up" position even after an attempted turning the week before. she arrived one week early to the day. (i was hoping that she was going to be an April Fool's arrival, but i'm happy to have her here.)

i watched basically all of the delivery. laura had several ultrasounds over the last week and a half, so it was no suprise that all of Maggie's limbs were tucked up over her head. each one was a little struggle to pull out. she was out soon enough and crying well.

Happy Birthday Maggie!

The Cheese Stands Alone

¿Tired of watching the paint dry?
¿Don't want to be accused of being a tree-hugger because your watching the grass grow?

To fulfill your observational cravings, ¿why not watch cheese age?
http://cheddarvision.tv/

thanks NPR.

just found out

this morning we found out that we've got a little girl on the way. laura's just short of the halfway mark on her pregnancy and the baby will probably be born at the end of the first week of april or into the second week.

the baby looks healthy and laura and i are excited for all that is to come. having the ultrasound done makes this whole baby thing a little more tangible, even more so than hearing the heart beat for the first time.

i'm sure laura will inform me tonight of the name she has picked out. i may wait a bit before i pass on that news.

Little Things

on my way up to campus today, i stopped by the botany pond on the south end of campus. for my Wetland Ecology class we're supposed to be putting together a PowerPoint presentation on some of the terminology and concepts from the curriculum. i was looking for Daphnia (water fleas).


Daphnia are little planktonic crustaceans that feed on the bits of algae and other junk floating in the water column. these little critters aren't much longer than a milimeter (although some make it up to 2mm and others as small as 0.5mm) and they swim around in little jumps by swishing their antennae with rapid little twitches.

to catch them, i just went to the edge of the pond and dipped in a 25mL vial close to the edge where i could see these guys swimming. the vial filled up with water and only a couple of Daphnia, but the water surface tension had temporarily affixed dozens of these arthropods to my skin as my hand passed through the water. i scrapped the Daphnia into the vial to take them too their photo shoot; one more slide for my assignment.

---

i also collected a leaf from a bunch of cattails in my neighborhood. who ever heard of someone growing cattails as an ornamental plant? this set of apartments thought it was a good idea, and i get to take a good picture of the lacunar spaces inside the leaf. the spaces help move oxygen down to the roots so the cattails can grow in wetland soils. Below are pictures of the torn edge of the leaf, and then i cleaned up a small section for a cross-section photo.

Someone needs to think first: one more dumb idea

With the start of new school year, the BYU Bookstore is doing the usual fall cleaning of it's shelves. They're having their annual sale out on the sidewalks between the Wilkinson Student Center and the Library, trying to get rid of all of those extra copies of stuff that just isn't selling inside the bookstore. Sometimes there is a hidden gem at a fair price. More often there is a lot of stuff that is easy to overlook even with the hyped-up discount price tags.

Walking by the tables i noticed what just might be the best example of a dumb idea; a small book titled "How to Download Music From the Iternet". i should have stopped to take a real good look at the book, to see who was dumb enough to publish this book. the only person dumber than the publisher was the person who decided to purchase a copy for a college bookstore.

Even at BYU there were considerations to shut down Napster just because of the ammount of bandwidth that was being used by students pirating music. Here we are a good 6 years+ past the height of Napster and a good few years into the reign of the iTunes Music store, and someone thinks that downloading music needs to be explained, to college students. The book wasn't even much bigger than the original 30GB iPods, and i'm guessing that there was plenty of white space on the pages. How much novel information could they give anyone in such a small book? in any book? maybe the book was just a hard copy of the results from googling "download music". i can't even find the book in Amazon or with a Google search, to show how pathetic the little waste of paper looked.

Maybe i should have stopped and bought the book for a quarter or whatever fool price the book was marked down to. i'm always on the lookout for a lame selection to give away as a gag gift.

Rex Lee Run with the Family

this was my fifth year running in the Rex Lee Run 5k. the run is sponsored by an on campus cancer research group, in honor of a former president of BYU who was president when i started college. this year, i got members of my family to run too. we don't really have a connection to cancer, but the Rex Lee Run has all kinds of runners of all ages and abilities. no one will look at you funny if you're not a record breaking runner. supporting a good cause is probably a big reason for the mix of runners. i always seem to run in to a few people who have since left Utah Valley, but make it back for the race.

The race results have been posted, but i'll try and make things easier for you all. i've collected a few of the stats for you, so you won't have to go and dig for all of the info. but i'm sure that at least some of you might like to check your age group just to see your name posted online.

Laura observed that the race day weather was the best she's seen for the rexleerun. one of the years Laura and i ran the race included a little bit of rain, a wet finish line and too much wind. this year, the race was on a great day; just cool enough to run and plenty of sun. with nine of us showing up for the race (Jonah is the ninth and should get SOME credit for his good behaviour on race day), six of the eight runners posted their BEST TIME EVER. (this is one of the great characteristics of your first official race - a guaranteed personal record.)

Jonah was the first to cross the finish line with Justin quickly in tow. Justin posted an excellent time of 34:30.72, which included time to feed Jonah some snacks on they way up the opening hill in the race. apparently the Ochre training program and long legs both combined for a great time. even if Justin hadn't had a stroller, 34:30 is a great time for a first time 5k.

next in line to cross the finish line were the Peterson's, Laura and i coming in just after the 40minute mark. the Peterson's definitely have plenty to be proud of. Rebecca and i were running well together for the whole race, only walking occasionally. "¿can we run to the light?... the next corner?" etc. was always followed by a response of "that's not far" from Rebecca. Laura made a great effort to catch up to Rebecca and i just before the mile 2 marker and we were all right together as we finished the last legs of the race.

the race ends with one lap on the outdoor track to the finish line. i looked back to see what i could do to spur Rebecca on to the finish and caught quite a sight. Katie and holly were catching up with Laura, Rebecca and i and by the look on their faces they were quite pleased with their extraordinary accomplishment. i wasn't expecting to see them so close behind, and i think that Holly and Katie knew they were about to pull off their own victories. Katie was smiling as she whipped around the corner and past everyone and across the finish line. i was sure that i could still see the smile on her face from the back of her head, as her little legs sped in a whir across the finish line. holly, Rebecca and i with Laura in step behind were soon to follow Katie's lead. apparently holly and Katie are quite the team to contend with. Katie definitely had a spark inside her for the whole race and she and holly kept making little deals with each other to the tune of "let's run past 5 more cones" or "run to the next corner" which combined for a great time for both.

not far behind at the 43min mark came mom and pop. adding to the great scores so far, mom came in at 43:14.41 AND in SECOND PLACE in her age group. the first place for the women 60 to 69 came in close to 39:30 and i think that mom has intentions to keep training to see if she can change that silver to gold next year. hopefully we can get at least as many people out for next year's race.

here are the official results.

Name	Time	Overall Place	Men/Women	Age Group
Justin	34:30.7	1168/1548	516/593	112th
Rebecca	40:08.5	1391/1548	830/954	13th
Dave	40:09.7	1392/1548	562/593	30th
Holly	40:09.8	1393/1548	831/954	35th
Katie	40:09.9	1394/1548	832/954	14th
Laura	40:16.4	1399/1548	837/954	36th
Joan	43:14.4	1453/1548	881/954	*!* 2nd *!*
Weldon	43:14.7	1454/1548	573/593	4th

if you're a little confused how rebecca and i beat katie and holly in our times, it's because of the electronic race timers. there's an electronic marker at the beginning of the race that registers the computer chip strapped to your ankle which is followed by corresponding markers at the end of the race. katie and holly crossed the finish line first, but they also crossed the starting line before rebecca and i, giving the difference of a few seconds added to their time.

you can go to http://rexleerun.byu.edu/ to look at the race results for yourself.

Beware the Longboard: i damaged my wife

i thought she was doing so well. Laura was so good to put up with following me around on my longboard. Lesson 1 wasn't a catastrophe. Lesson 2 was quite good. Laura was comfortable enough that she let me buy a 2nd longboard for my birthday so that i wouldn't have to ride my little skateboard around as i tried to teach her. i had such high hopes for Lesson 3.

i got my first skate board in 1995, and used it to ride around Provo for a number of years. then i got a long board in 2004 and rode EVERYWHERE: lots of days to work, on all kinds of errands, and just for fun. i'm not a real down-hiller, but i've made my runs down the Provo Canyon Trail. i was sure that i was going to get Laura to learn to ride.

we bought my new longboard on the morning of St. Patrick's Day, and Laur and i were out and about by mid-day. Laura was doing quite well. we lived only a few blocks from a slight hill; most of the neighborhoods surrounding our house are flat and flatter. i thought that the hill would give Laura some confidence in her balance and her skills. she was looking like she was getting comfortable with riding.

we pedalled our way to the bottom of this incline, and then i went a few houses up from the level. a little bit of a hill should let Laura know how it feels to coast for a while and she'll get to see how it feels to move with the board. then i decided that one or two houses higher might give her more of that feeling, and then a couple more. finally, i was sure i had picked the best way to end the day with a large boost of confidence for Laura.

Laura was so brave. she didn't question me. she believed i knew what i was up to.

we had barely started and apparently it was too long since i was a beginning boarder. Laura felt like she was going too fast and froze in her stance on the board. the board moved with her static lean and she was heading into the curb. Laura decided to run off the board.

running off of your board is a perfectly good safety measure when longboarding. knowing how to do so can save your skin when you miss seeing a rock or other small obstacle in your path. the technique doesn't work so well when you're already leaning your upper body too far in front of your hips. Nor does it work so well when you're wearing sandals. i know that Laur was wearing Chacos which are more athletic in nature than most sandals, but i let her get away with wearing Chacos. (i thought that if i made her change shoes before we left, she might decide that the commitment to boarding was too much for her that Saturday.)

i heard Laura blurt out her distress, and i looked over to see her running and trying to catch her feet up with her shoulders. Laura said she was just trying to make it to the side of the road and on to the lawn of a house for a softer landing. a poor shoe choice combined with a change in the terrain ended Laura's efforts. the downhill slope of the road changed into a slight uphill as Laura reached the entrance of a driveway. this angle slowed her feet down even more and Laura was full on falling forward.

Laura said that as she prepared to go down that she knew she would break a wrist if she put out her arms, so she crossed her arms in front of her for a roll. unfortunately, she landed hard on her right forearm to start that roll. i heard the air just squeeze out of her lungs. i had seen nearly the whole thing and was absolutely sick about it.

i had let Laura down. i went one block too far, with her in the wrong shoes, and she had trusted that i knew what i was doing. when i got to Laura, her forearm was a ginormous bruise, even though the skin wasn't even broken. i felt like garbage.


Laura didn't even let herself cry. we walked the few blocks back to our house. i had a longboard under each arm. Laura was hurting and i couldn't stop feeling sick about it.

i think Laura's going to be okay. she is the first to admit that she bruises like a peach, and those bruises love to linger. i feel bad because i'm pretty sure that i've lost Laura as a longboarding partner. most of all, i feel really bad because i wasn't watching out for Laura like i should. i felt like i had completely let her down. we didn't get married for me to just neglect her safety. horrible.


i won't ever not feel bad about this mistake. (yeah, there was a double negative there, somewhere, but it should make sense.)

this last picture is a couple of days after the accident, when the blood that was in the big bruise has had a chance to settle into the rest of Laura's forearm.

The Subaru was supposed to last a little longer

Laura and i had been back in Utah for 16 days. Except for the week that we had in Utah in December for our Bountiful wedding reception and to find an apartment, I'd been with Laura in Canada since the second week of November.

We got back to Provo and were on our way to getting settled into that stage of life. Laura went back to work for Dr. Donaldson, and I was looking for work before I headed back to school in September. Laura had quit her job in Cardston towards the end of November so we could get married and because of all of the interruptions we'd have due to the holidays and moving back to Provo. We knew we weren't going to be rich, but we didn't' have any debt and we both could work. My Subaru was long paid off, and with help from friends and family we made it through a December with neither of us working.

In that third week of January two of Laura's old roommates, Cindy and Megan, were volunteers up at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, and they had invited us to come up and stay over night and to see a film or two while we were there. Neither Cindy or Megan were living in Utah anymore. We had seen Megan for only a short time the day of our wedding, but we hadn't seen Cindy in a long time. Cindy couldn't get off enough work to make it worth while to come up to Canada from Colorado. Laura and i were looking forward to seeing both of them and the chance to play in Park City.
Of course i was being cautious and a safe driver. We were in no hurry to get to Park City. Even though it was Dark, it was barely 7:00pm and we had plenty of time to get to the Festival and find Megan and Cindy. i moved out of the fast lane once we got started up the canyon, so i could drive at a safe speed in the dark without being tailgated by the cars that wanted to go faster. The canyon was full of traffic, and i wanted a cushion of space around the car. Being married has made me a lot more worried about traffic safety, not that i've been a very aggressive driver in the past.

We were barely on our way up Provo Canyon and suddenly there was a car turning left across our lane to turn up Squaw Peak Road. Laur saw the car first and shouted for me to watch out. As soon as i saw the car moving, i knew there was no way out of a collision. There was so much traffic around us that i was worried that i'd get plowed into from behind if i slammed the brake pedal into the floor. I did have most of my weight into the pedal, but we still hit the trespassing car just behind the rear axle.

i wish i knew what that other driver was thinking. there was so much traffic, there was no clear way to get across the street. the wreck was a series of instances:
Laur shouted.
i saw the car coming into our lane.
i jumped onto the break pedal.
!!!CRASH!!!
All was dark in the car as Laur and i choked in the dust of the expended airbags.
i barely remember half a moment where i had some limited control of the car as it drifted in darkness to the edge of the road.
Cars were pulled over in front of us and behind us and coming up to our car to see if we were okay.
i apologized to Laura for getting in the accident.
We checked ourselves over to make sure we were okay and we got out of the car to survey the damage.
It was dark, but i could tell that the Subaru was done in.

Apparently there was a Ward activity up the canyon, so a lot of people stopped to make sure it wasn't any of their friends in the accident. i was a little bothered at how quickly they wanted to leave when we weren't in their Ward, but we did have some people stay to make sure the police got a witness report to the accident.

Laur and i had a small moment alone together where we just hugged each other and just let go of a little emotion. neither of us really knew what to do. That wasn't the way the weekend was supposed to go. i kept thinking about how we just inherited a car payment.

The other driver was in small Volkswagen Passat, and the collision gave him a solid sideways jolt. He was still in his car when i went back to see what we hit. I saw some people open the door of the other car and say, "He's not responding." The other driver took a few moments, but got out of the car just in time to walk to the ambulance and that was as much as i saw of the other driver.

We made our police report and borrowed the police officer's cellfone to call my old roommate Randall for a ride home. It was a weird night.

The Final Resolution:
Our Subaru was totaled - it lasted three and a half years for me.
The other driver only had a minor concussion, but we never found out why he decided to pull out in front of traffic. (He said he didn't really mean to. ¿?)
The rental company gave us a crappy car. i will never buy a Ford Focus - or rent one either.
We made it up to Park City the next weekend, but we saw a stupid film.
Laura and i are fans of airbags.
Laur's bruises were minimal; a miracle in its own right.
We ended up with a Kia Sportage - i think it was in part for the fact that there are three more air-bags in the Kia than in our Subaru.