Are you sitting down?

Well then, here we are! Yesterday (23 July 2008) our lives took a major turn when we found out that Melissa is pregnant with our FIFTH child! Not Really. What actually happened is that the U of U NBICU transferred Jonah to the NICU at Logan Regional Hospital.

It was a surreal experience to say the least. I was at work when I got a call from Melissa (just as I was getting a message to call her back) who told me that Jonah was being transferred in two hours. Well, if any of you know much about my commute schedule you know that even though my job is only 45 miles from SLC it is a 2 1/2 hour commute on mass transit. So we made arrangements for me to find the van at University Hospital and I "quickly" began the commute back to SLC and ultimately back to Logan. With the state holiday traffic factored in I arrived at Logan Regional Medical Center 5 hours later!

The transfer stirs up mixed emotions, at least for me, because we had become so accustomed to the routine of U of U and Ronald McDonald House (RMH) and it is already obvious that LRMC is going to be considerably different. (Not that different is bad mind you.) So in some aspects it feels like starting over. But U of U would not have risked the transfer if Jonah wasn't doing so well (He's over six pounds now!) and they needed to make some changes because they are currently bursting at the seams with 50+ babies in the unit (I belive they like to stay at or below 48).

What this all means for us for now:

• We will no longer have the expense of driving back and forth to Salt Lake nor the expense of RMH.

• We are now condensed to three counties instead of four and after an upcoming visit to Wyoming the other children will come home to Logan and we will be down to a very manageable two counties.
  
• I'm homeless!

Okay I'm not really homeless but commuting Logan to Provo just is not going to be an option for me. You're talking 2 1/2 hours in good traffic one way. So I'd be leaving at 5 or 5:30 every morning and getting home at 8:00 or so every night. I have not ruled it out completely. I'll get a taste of it tomorrow since I have to be to work and I'm picking up the kids in SLC after work for the weekend (Yes we will all be in the same county for about 48 hours). However, given the fact that I like to fall asleep while driving ... I have an option or two in Provo for sleeping arrangements but as many of you know I hate feeling like I'm imposing on anyone and now we're talking a two month imposition at least. Noone should have to deal with me five to six days a week for two months. So we'll see what happens.

Otherwise our plans and situation have not changed much. (our grocery bill is going to go up though since RMH, its volunteers, and it's donors will not be buying our food any more)

Thank you everyone who has helped us over the last three months (yes it has only been three months - it feels like it's been 6) I'd make a list but I would miss probably two dozen people so I won't even try. But Thank you!