Chapman

Well, we took a hit from yesterday. Today his BR count is up by 1.1 at 14.4 compared to yesterday’s count of 13.3

Trevor did an excellent job of doing the play by play of the past two days’ events, but I will sum it up here. It has been quite the experience! So, I was due October 28th. We had a doctor’s appointment last Tuesday and I was just ready to have that baby, so I got stripped at the appointment, hoping that I would have the baby that night or the next night. Trevor and I were fully thinking it would come the next night so we spent the rest of that day and all day the next day (Wednesday) trying to get all the last minute details ready for his arrival. We went to the store and got everything we needed for the hospital, and I made a bunch of meals to go in the freezer so I wouldn’t have to cook later. We cleaned the house and made sure everything was perfect for him to come. I am still a full time student, and this week just happened to be midterms, so I was also working like a maniac trying to get all my papers done so I wouldn’t have to worry about them when Jace got here. I finished 4 papers the next day and only had one more to do.
We were sure the baby would come on Wednesday night so when Wednesday came and went we were more than disappointed. We decided it was because we hadn’t bought a crib yet; so we went to the store and found the perfect crib, brought it home, and assembled it. Right after that, I started going into labor and boy did it hurt like the dickens! So we waited until they were unbearably painful and close together until we went to the hospital so that we could be admitted immediately and stuck on an epidural. The contractions started about 9:00pm; we went to the hospital at 10:40. The Orem hospital is about 20 minutes away, so the drive there was killer. We got there and then they made me just lay there in labor until they could see if I was really in “active labor” or if it was just false labor. After an hour and a half of pain beyond reason, they told me that it was false labor and that I would have to go home– I wanted to die. They gave me a shot of morphine so that I wouldn’t pass out from pain (I kept blacking out and throwing up because I was in so much pain). The morphine worked relatively well and I was able to fall asleep when we got home around 1:30am. Well, at 4:00am I woke up again in excruciating pain. The morphine was supposed to keep me sedated and pain free until about 11:00am the next day. They said that if I could feel pain, then it was active labor and to come back to the hospital. We stayed at home for about an hour to make sure it wasn’t false, and then headed back to the hospital. Trevor was so on top of things—he packed all the bags and had all his equipment ready so he could keep everyone up to date. He had his professional video camera, professional camera, laptop, chargers, transfer cables—the works—to make sure everything was well documented.
We arrived again at the hospital at 5:30am and were admitted since I was at a 4. The pain was unbearable and I kept asking for an epidural, but the anesthesiologist was not at the hospital yet, so they called him to come immediately; he arrived about an hour later. It was so funny (though not at the time) because he finally got there after I had been demanding from every nurse that they get him. I was getting pretty irrational, and then he finally walked in and started setting up the stuff, but then he got a phone call. “Sorry, I have to take this really quick,” he said. Then the conversation went as follows from his end, “Oh hey honey. Oh you left your backpack? Well, sweetie, I am giving an epidural right now so I can bring you your backpack after you get off the bus. Just tell your teacher I am coming…” I was about to kill him! I was dying there right before his eyes and he was negotiating when he would get his 3rd grader her backpack! Oh goodness! Finally he got off the phone, apologized, and went to work. It was cool because he numbed the skin with a local anesthetic and then did the epidural, so the epidural didn’t hurt at all. Trevor was watching and told me later that he stuck this humungous needle into by back and pushed with all his might to get it through the spinal column and then through the other spinal stuff and his hands were just shaking with pressure because it was so hard. Icky. Anyway, once they had that epidural in, I was on cloud nine. Things were a piece of cake! I didn’t feel a thing until Jace was in my arms! I was in labor until 3:15pm. During that time I was just sleeping and having a grand time. So I was in labor from 9:00pm the day before until 3:15pm the next day—18 hours. They broke my water after they gave me an epidural but I didn’t need any pitocin. I started pushing at 3:16 and Jace was in my arms at 4:16—exactly one hour! The whole thing was really easy and a lot of fun.
Jace is the sweetest little thing and never cries. He just loves to sleep and sleep and sleep. We were quite shocked when we saw him for the first time because he was so gray and his head was TOTALLY cone shaped—it looked like an upside down ice cream cone. I looked at Trevor when he saw him for the first time and Trevor was just in shock. After he got some blood flowing he turned into a beautiful olive color and his head is now perfectly spherical—he is an absolutely gorgeous baby. We love him to death!
My parents arrived at the hospital later that day. They were so great and helped out a ton—they got us a mattress for the crib, receiving blankets, towels, and everything else we didn’t have at the house. We stayed at the hospital until Sunday afternoon. We came home to a beautiful roast and a sparkling house—aren’t parents (and especially moms) the best? We have spent the rest of Sunday just being together and enjoying our new little family!
Trevor has been the most WONDERFUL dad—he helps change him every time, gets up with him when I do, and is so attentive to Jace. When we are asleep, I just go completely dead because Trevor is there worrying about every little noise he makes, so I don’t have to worry a bit! It is so sweet to see Trevor interact with Jace, because whenever Jace isn’t in the Bili Rubin lights, Trevor wants to be holding him. And whenever he has to go in the lights, Trevor does it because he is so gentle and careful and patient, and just will sit there for 20 minutes holding him in front of the lamps so he can get used to it before he is laid under it. Trevor is just the best dad ever; I am amazed at how attentive and tender he is with him.
We’re having a great time! Trevor is keeping the Mac website up to date—you can check it out at http://web.mac.com/jtrevorchapman .