Happy 9th Birthday, Boys!

On July 1st, 2000, I gave birth to two tiny baby boys! What an adventure it was to get these sweet babies here safely and healthy "enough".

Chad and I had been married for 3 months when we finally found out we were going to have a baby! We were so anxious and excited. The day we found out we were having 2 babies was one of my favorite memories. Then the nausea hit me and didn't let go for the first 5 months. Just when I got this amazing medicine that helped me keep food down, I found that I was in premature labor and hospitalized. After 10 long weeks it was determined that is was safe enough to let our babies come into the world.

On July 1st, Carson and Jackson were delivered cesarean at 34 weeks. Carson was "born" first, weighing in at 4lbs 11oz. and Jackson came in at 3lbs 10oz. It was such a relief to hear them cry out and see their little faces! Our adventure was far from over, but it was a great milestone!

Carson had a rough time at first. He could not breathe on his own very well so they had to put him on a ventilator. After a few days he improved and soon was breathing on his own. In two weeks he was moved out of NICU and started to eat without a tube. Three weeks after he was born, we were able to bring Carson home! We were so happy that he was well enough to bring home, but the feeling was bittersweet. Jackson was not ready yet, so we would continue to travel back and forth from Good Samaritan Hospital for 3 more weeks to see him.


Jackson seemed to be stronger than Carson, at first. He was breathing on his own, so we assumed that he would fair a little better. But soon, Jackson started to struggle and here is our little guy on the ventilator. Look how he is almost the size of Chad's hand! For 6 LONG weeks, the doctors struggled to figure out why he was not getting stronger. He had a few problems that they thought pointed to a much bigger problem and succeeded in scary us do death! Long story short, after 6 weeks in NICU, Jackson was able to come home. We took him to the cardiologist, urologist, and ENT specialist and each one gave him a clean bill of health and sent us on our way in wonder! Needless to say, the whole experience gave us a greater testimony and appreciation of the power of the priesthood.

Here are our birthday boys on their 9th birthday. You don't have to make any comments on how they don't look much different weight-wise. I am well aware. This year we celebrated their special day up in Washington State at their Grandma & Granpa Perrins house on the lake.

Even more special was sharing their birthday celebration with their Great Grandma Pruitt who turned 89 years old! Jackson LOVES his great grandma so much and is amazed that someone can live to be that old! Carson, we can see your ribs just fine without sucking in, thanks!

I sure love these boys. I think I would like to freeze them at this age. They have gotten along with each other ever since they were babies. How lucky they are to always have a buddy to play with!

Here are some more random pictures of the boys when they were little.