Ben's Family Home From NY; Baby Levi Robert Thomas Is Born 5 Weeks Early

 After Ben and Haley's extended stay in New York with her family, they arrived safely back in Utah.

Because Ben was working for Amazon in Philadelphia three of the weeks they were gone, he didn't get in nearly enough time playing (meaning time on the boat at the lake). But, the times they were able to go were very enjoyable for them.

Haley's youngest brother Cole has received his mission call and was doing his home MTC while they were there. Ben and Haley were so happy they were able to extend their vacation time by a week so they could go to the temple with Cole when he received his own endowment. That was special!

We brought Ben's family to our home straight from the airport and fed them Sunday dinner. Kade then walked over to the cupboard, pulled out the popcorn popper and looked up at us with his great big expectant eyes. How could we resist??!!??

Of course Kade got to hear his grandpa's rendition of the "Popcorn Popping" song while waiting for the kernels to start popping up and out of the machine and into the bowl.

Haley had expressed her concerns several times in the past wondering how Kade will react when his baby brother enters the scene.

As the due date was getting closer, she was wondering about it once again.

For nearly two years Kade has been the center of his parents' attention.

Little did any of us know, but that was going to change sooner than we expected...

Ben and Haley arrived home from New York on Sunday, September 27th. Unbeknownst to us, they went to the hospital two days later.

We received the following text from Ben on Wednesday morning, September 30th.

The problem with this is their baby was not due until November 5th. This was definitely concerning thinking of the baby being born way too early. 

The conversation proceeded throughout the day via our family's direct chat on Instagram.

 

It was such great news to learn Haley was able to deliver this baby without the need for a C-section as she did with Kade. He was such a huge baby, weighing nearly 10 lbs. So their second son is about half the size of their first son.

Seeing the photos of their teeny preemie baby couldn't help but bring back a flood of memories of Ben's birth. We had just moved into our home in Georgia and had gotten most of the house unpacked and organized. Then I was going to work on getting the baby stuff out and organized. 

Ben had other ideas. He ended up being born 5 weeks premature weighing 5 lbs. 12 1/2 ozs. and because he was coming bottom first, I had to have a C-section. 

They rushed him right to the NICU because he was having trouble breathing. I didn't even get to see him. It was so scary! This was the first look I had of the little guy. I cried and cried and worried so much about him. 

Thankfully, after Glen gave him a priesthood blessing, our little baby Ben was taken off oxygen and was doing very well. 

I had developed a fever which caused me to have to stay in the hospital an extra day. Four days after birth, we were both released to go home together. 

Ben was a scrawny little baby hardly growing at all the first 6 weeks of his life. Like Ben and Haley, my baby previous to my preemie was Sarah who was nearly a 10-pounder. It was so sweet to cuddle and take care of such a teeny little baby after having such a big baby.

Haley gave an evening report and then we were all happy to hear such a great morning report.

I really enjoyed seeing Ben's Instagram post announcing the birth of his second son. He sounds like a very proud papa. 

Our last child might have been a preemie to begin with, but he has sure grown into a fine man and it will be fun to watch his little preemie grow big and strong. We are feeling so very blessed that this new little guy has been doing so well.