Happy Happy Birthday Alex Dear!

So Alex just celebrated his 13th birthday!  He's officially a teenager, but always a kid at heart!  Now, what did he get for his birthday?  He finally has the complete series of Walker, Texas Ranger, capping it off with season 7.  (There are 8 seasons all together.) Yes, Alex received them out of order, but that's the way he wanted them.  He likes that there is more of Syd and Gage in Season 7.  If you are a follower, you know what I'm talking about.  With the money Grandma and Grandpa Stailey sent him, he bought 4 Archie comic books (I don't have a clue where this obsession started) and we went to the thrift shop and found ANOTHER Little People's Bus and several more Little People for his collection.  We have awesome thrift stores.  We tried to get Alex to have a couple of friends over for his birthday, but he wasn't interested.  Of course we had pizza, his favorite food, and cake and ice cream.  He could care less about any of the decorations or singing, he just wanted cake and ice cream and his Walker movies.  He's too funny.

 Alex watching Daddy light the candles!

 Staring at the cake while we sing to him!

 I love his mouth in this picture because he's trying not to smile while we are singing!

 It looks like Alex is thinking, "Oh, I can't wait to eat that cake!"

Trying to blow out the candles!  He had a hard time blowing because he was laughing so hard.  So the other kids helped him blow it out!

Ok, here's Alex's birth story, as I don't think I've ever posted it.  I copied and pasted it from a scrap book I'm making. 

 Alex wasn't due until around the 5th of December.  On the night of November 9th, I started having some different kind of contractions, not like the Braxton-Hicks contractions I was use to.  I had no idea what was happening.  The contractions were about a half hour apart.  I was a bit concerned about this because I still had three weeks to go!  I called the nurse at the hospital and she told us that we shouldn't be too concerned until the contractions were about 5 minutes apart.  Alex's labor was text book.  Contractions started about 30 minutes apart and slowly and gradually they got stronger and closer together.  Of course, I was in denial the whole time that I was actually in labor.  All the next day on the 10th, we just kept waiting and timing the contractions.  I really was in a lot of pain, but I really didn't think I was in labor.  We went over to my parents house and I told my mom what was going on and after she watched me go through a contraction, she told me she thought I was really in labor and maybe should go to the hospital.  So, we went home and finished packing my bags and headed to the hospital, which was only a couple of blocks away from the house.  Still in denial, I told Todd to leave all my stuff in the car because I didn't want to be embarrased if this was a "false alarm".  We got up to the labor and delivery floor, got checked in, and the nurse checked to see how far I was dilated.  We were all shocked when she told us I was already 9 cm dilated!  I was handling the contractions ok, and we'd thought we'd be able to get through the rest of labor and delivery without any pain medications.  The doctor arrived pretty quickly but was a suspicious  that Alex wasn't

facing the right direction, that is, head down.  We did a quick ultrasound, and sure enough, his bumb was wanting to come first.  So, we were advised that a c-section would be the best way for Alex to come.  Since I was already so far dilated, preperations for the c-section were quite hurried.  It is really kind of a blur to me all that went on.  I was prepped with IV's, taken to the surgery floor, given a spinal block, and drapped with all the blue drappings they use!  After I was given the spinal block, it was a relief not to feel the contractions anymore.  I just layed back and waited.  I didn't even know that had started the surgery until I asked a nurse if they had started, and she confirmed that they were will into it already.  When they pulled Alex out, he did not cry.  They took him and begun resucitating him. Of course I didn't know this at the time.  He

must have finally gave out a cry because I remember being reassured about things, but I don't remember exactly.  They wrapped him up and brought him next to me, took a quick picture, and they whisked him off back to the nursery.  After that, they put something in my IV that made me fall asleep as I don't remember anything afterwards until the next morning.  My mom and sisters watched the nurses bathe him from outside the nursery and mom said that was the only time she heard him cry.  Alex slept from them on.  We couldn't get him to wake up or nurse.  They had to put a feeding tube down his nose and had me pump milk to feed him.  Something wasn't right and the doctor was running all sorts of tests to figure out why.  After three days, they let me go home but not Alex.  This was a Friday.  On Saturday they had Todd and I

both come and talk with the doctor about transporting Alex to University of New Mexico Children's Hospital for further testing.  I was so scared that he was going to die, but the doctor and nurses kept saying he was ok in that regards, we just needed to understand why he wasn't wanting to wake up and especially eat!  So, Alex was transported by ambulance to the local airport where he then was flown up to Albuquerque to UNM's Children's Hospital.  I decided not to go with him, as I had no way of getting there, and no place to stay, and still recovering from surgery.  I felt he would be ok.  The following Wednesday, Todd and I drove up to Albuquerque to see Alex and we had the opportunity to speak with one of the doctor's there.  She was a geneticist and specialized in Prader-Willi Syndrome.  She told us she suspected he had PWS, but did

not have the results back yet from a blood test they had done.  She was pretty confident in her assumptions, and a few days later she called to confirm it.  We were glad for a diagnosis, but still sad that he had something wrong.  But more happy that they were going to let Alex be transferred back to the hospital in Alamogordo.  When he got back to Alamogordo, it was decided that Alex didn't need to be in the hospital to monitor his tube feedings as this could be done at home.  Todd and I could tube feed him just as easily.  He was also on a little oxygen, but that was no big deal.  We were so excited to have Alex finally come home!  After three weeks in the hospital, the day after Thanksgiving, Alex got to come home! 

A quick picture after being checked over by the doctors and successful resuscitation.

Another quick picture with Mom before heading to the nursery.