Jace Christopher

We welcomed our little boy, Jace Christopher, into the world on March 1, 2011 at 4:22 pm. Warning- Long post and lots of pictures to follow!

Leading up to Jace's birth, I had a big decision to make. Remember how I wanted to go overdue in the beginning so that we could get our extra hospital policy insurance money? Well, I said ask me in 9 months how I am feeling to see if that is still true. I had had a few hard weeks at the end of the pregnancy. My body is weird I have decided. I had constant contractions from 36 weeks on and was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced at 36 weeks, then dilated to a 4 from 37 weeks on (sorry if that is TMI for some). I knew my body was getting ready for "labor", but it felt like I was in labor already for 3 weeks.

Devin and I weighed the options carefully- to induce or not to induce. My doctor was fine inducing me at 39 weeks and each day that seemed better and better. The only thing is- I felt guilty that we would miss out on the insurance money. But in the end, there are a lot of reasons I chose to be induced on the 1st (right on the 39 week mark): I dilated from a 5-10 with Hallie in about a half hour and the thought of doing that with a 20 minute drive to the hospital just did not sound appealing, my doctor was going out of town for a bit after the first and someone else would have to deliver me, I wasn't sleeping at night because of the contractions and pelvic pain, and I was just done with the constant limbo game. I couldn't concentrate on anything other than "should I pay attention to these contractions, or should I pretend nothing is happening?" It was maddening, I tell you. Also, for the induction, we could plan for childcare for Hallie instead of possibly trying to find someone in the night or whenever I went into labor. Ultimately, it came down to the fact that I didn't think I would make it to the 11th anyway, so either way we would be missing out on the insurance money. So- we decided the Thursday before that I would be induced on the 1st. We called the doctor and everything was set.

39 week picture. Right before we left for the hospital.

39 week picture- when we arrived at the hospital.

JACE'S BIRTH STORY:
This may be too much information for some- but I like hearing other's birth stories and this is good for recording purposes for me, too. So here are all the gory details. Proceed at your own risk.

The doctor wanted me to come into the hospital about noon on Tuesday. His practice is in Pleasant Grove and the hospital is in Orem (I delivered at Timpanogos this time...which I LOVED. I had Hallie at American Fork and it wasn't as good of an experience). So because of the distance, he wanted me later in the day, I think hoping that I would deliver after hours so he could still see his patient load for the day. So, Devin and I arrived at noon, ready to go. Things proceeded kind of slowly at first- we had to wait to get the pitocin going because my nurse was in an emergency C-Section. I started the pit around 1 and the nurse checked me for the first time. I was at 5 cm. She told me if I wanted an epidural to get it right away since I was at a risk to go pretty fast once they got the pit going. I agreed that the epidural was a great idea and got it right away.

The epidural was the most painful part for me- I am not sure why, but I don't remember it hurting with Hallie at all, but this time I felt it for sure. It was probably because with Hallie I was feeling really painful contractions and this time I was not. Anyway- the epidural was really "dense" as my doctor put it. I couldn't feel a thing! With Hallie, I remember the unmistakable urge to PUSH when the time came. This time, not a thing.

Getting ahead of myself. The doctor came and broke my water around 2:30 and I was at 7 cm. The nurse kept saying that she thought things were going to go really fast once my water was broken because with each contraction, she could see his head pushing down really far. The doctor decided to hang around so that he wouldn't miss anything. I felt really bad when I was still at a 7 an hour later. Oh well...makes up for Hallie's birth (says Devin) when he ran in for the last push.

After being told I was at a 7 for the 3rd time, I started to get really worried that I was going to be in labor forever, after all. About five minutes after the nurse told me I was a 7, the doctor came in to check me and said I was at a 9. I told him that couldn't be because the nurse just checked and I was at a 7. He said "It's all relative!" Ha! What does that mean? Right after that, the nurse came back in and said "He says you are at a 9. I want to check myself!" So she checked me and said, "oh wow...you are complete. He is right there and you are ready to push." Wahoo.

The first few pushes, I started laughing hysterically because I couldn't feel a thing. I am not sure why I thought that was funny, but I thought it was funny and therefore, those pushes were not the most productive. The nurse kept telling me that I was not supposed to be laughing. Finally, I buckled down and gave a few hard pushes. I pushed for maybe five minutes and Jace was delivered at 4:22 pm. He came out with the cord wrapped around his neck, so even before they delivered his body, Devin cut the cord and then they pulled the rest of him out. That was scary for a few minutes as he was not breathing as well as he should have been. They cleared him out quickly though and he was fine.

He weighed in at 8 pounds even (which is totally what I was predicting) and was 20.5 inches long. I looked at him and said to Devin right away, "He looks like Hallie!" He has the same round face, big cheeks, and lack of hair. :) Today, I think he looks a little bit more like Devin, but we will see how he changes as he gets older.






This picture, above, particularly looks like Hallie to me. Look at my sidebar for a picture of her right after birth and see what I mean. I was totally surprised to see him look like her, because I expected a darker baby with dark hair for some reason. He has very blonde, peach fuzz hair. He is blonder than Hallie- she had dark hair at birth.

Che and Landon are such champs. They had Hallie the whole day- see the other post for info on that- and then came to see us at the hospital. They are so supportive of us and we love them.
They brought their baby Hudson along- who is 10 weeks old- and we had a great time comparing he and Jace. They are nearly the same size! But, Hudson was 6 weeks early, so ya know. They are going to be best buddies, we are just sure.

I stayed in the hospital over night and all day Wednesday. I was supposed to go home Thursday morning (today), but by Wednesday night I had had enough of that place and asked the doctor to discharge us. He was happy to comply. What a good doctor we have. We really do love him.
All dressed and ready to go home!
Someone else's turn in that awful bed...I am telling you, I cannot sleep for the life of me in those beds. I think I slept from 5 am to 8 am the night I was there, that's it. ROUGH!
Today has been a great day. Devin has been home with me all day and has been awesome to help with everything. He has kept Hallie entertained for the most part, which is nice. Jace is a pretty good baby so far. He sleeps a ton (what newborn doesn't!) and LOVES the binky. This is totally weird for us as Hallie never did take a binky very well. He has to be sucking on it at all times or else he gets mad. Heaven help us. I wonder what we are going to do when we have a 3 year old who still wants a binky? Just kidding- we won't let it get to that!
We gave Jace his first bath today. Hallie loved helping by dumping water on him. He didn't like it so much.
See his cute blonde peach fuzz? I think he looks more like Devin today, or at least Devin as a baby.
These are the gorgeous flowers Devin brought me in the hospital. What a sweet husband I have. I think I scared him Wednesday morning after that horrible night. I called him (he had a test so was in class) and told him that I woke up bawling. I was kind of weepy after I had Hallie and I did the same thing with Jace. I just was crying for no reason that I could pin point. The new nurse for the day came in and her student who was shadowing her- a male- and there I sat just bawling for no reason. The poor student looked rather alarmed. I told him I would make a good case study to write about. Crazy women after child birth. ha ha.
Devin and his kiddos. I am so grateful for him. He is such a great husband and father and I love how much he is involved and dotes on me and his babies.
We had a few more visitors today- Devin's sister Kirston and her kids came and brought us the most DELISH dinner. Kirston is a saint. Not only is she pregnant herself, but she has 3 kids to take care of. That didn't stop her from taking Hallie over night for us on Tuesday and then bringing us a four course meal today. She is so amazing. This is Ryder (Hallie's age) holding Jace. He was so cute with him.
Well, there you have it. Way more details than you ever wanted to know! We are grateful for our healthy baby and for the happiness he brings us already. He is so cute and such a joy to have. I love just sitting and holding him. I can sense his sweet spirit and am excited to see what his future holds.

We named Jace after my brother-in-law Chris, who you all know passed away from a brain tumor two years ago this April. Chris and Jace share a birthday as well, so that makes it extra special. Though Jace won't know Chris in this life, we hope that he emulates some of the same characteristics that Chris had that made him a courageous and incredibly strong individual.

More to come!