Day Four

 

We let Jadyn "hold" Jaxon. It's all she wants to do now.

Missa+ Jadyn= total BFFs

Day Three: Released!

We were going home! They needed us to stay until 4pm, so we were ready to go at 4 on the dot. Jace especially was chompin at the bit to bring our little boy home and jump back into reality. It was good to leave that room and inhale some fresh air again.

Day Two: Our Incubator

I was tested positive for GPS. It's a bacteria that can be very harmful to the baby if not treated with antibiotics ahead of time. This is a pretty standard thing, so they had my antibiotics ready when I got to the hospital. The catch is that they have to be in for at least 4 hours before baby arrives. I wasn't even in the hospital for 4 hours before Jaxon made his debut. So we were forced to wait out 48 hours in the hospital so he could be monitored.

It was hard not to be able to go home. I wanted to be with Jadyn. But I also appreciated the alone time I had with my little guy. Jace spent the day working in the yard with my family. So it was just him and I. The nurse watched him while I took a shower. We relaxed and snuggled and stared at each other. It was wonderful. 

Day One: A Birth Story

 One day overdue and I had literally tried everything reasonable to convince the boy to come...and I mean everything. That morning, I finally caved on the one thing I had promised myself never to do again--Castor Oil. It's like drinking a bottle of shower gel...not to mention the purpose of Castor Oil is really quite awful. But I relented and chugged that sucker before we headed out to walk me around for the day.

We went to breakfast and I began feeling pretty sick. I thought scarfing down some food would do the trick. It didn't do much, but we continued with our day. We headed to a car dealership to see what Jace's options were for a more "practical" car (a story for another day. Moral of it: My husband is just wonderful and always willing to adjust and let go). At this point I was so sick I had to sit in the car with Jadyn for about a half hour. Finally, Jadyn and I walked over and I handed her to the grandmas while we test drove some cars. I had been getting sporadic contractions for days now, but they were finally getting a stitch painful. As we were leaving, we joked with the salesman that we would be back that night unless I had a baby. The car ride home brought more intense, regularly spaced contractions. I laid on the couch when we got home and we counted the minutes. 4-5 minutes apart. So we put Jadyn down for a nap with the Grandmas and headed to the hospital.

I was still pretty calm when we got to the hospital. I just casually walked up to the desk and said "Hey, I'm having a baby." So they put me in a waiting bed and took their time asking me questions and filling out paperwork. I got a little nervous that they were just going to send me home. My contractions seemed to be slowing down. And then my water broke. The nurses were just as shocked as me. They rushed me to the delivery room...then calmed down again, assuming I still had hours. By this time, the contractions were painful. I was experiencing back labor. I'm not really sure why, but he was facing some position for me to feel it. REALLY feel it. I didn't go through this with Jadyn. I was so relaxed. They got my epidural in before any extreme pain came. But this time hurt. Jace said I still seemed pretty composed, but I felt like I was thrashing and screaming. He was my rock. Jadyn, my mom and mother-in-law arrived. When I heard my mom's voice out in the hall, I started to cry. I guess no matter how old you get, you still think your mom can take the pain away.  All three of them came in, but once I got another contraction I had my mother-in-law rush Jadyn out. I didn't want her to see me like this.

The anesthesiologist came in and gave me the whole schpeal. I didn't hear much. I didn't care. I just wanted to be relieved. There was barely a break between contractions and they just kept getting more intense and longer. Because of my scoliosis, it was a trick to get it in just right. The second I felt my feet tingle on my left side, I got a little loopy with euphoria.  That picture of me above gives a little taste of just how happy I was. My right side still felt most of it, but the edge was gone.  The doctor tried repositioning it a few times, but it still was lopsided. It was good enough for me. Maybe 5 minutes after I got my epidural, I told my mom that it felt like something was falling out of me. The nurses turned and an uproar of commotion happened. One ran out and grabbed a doctor in the hall to stand in until my doctor got there. They told me not to push, but I couldn't figure out how to do that! Because I could still feel on my right side, I felt that "urge to push". Two pushes later, he was out. I collapsed  and cried happy tears. They asked me what his name was and before I even looked at him (as we had planned on before officially settling on a name) I said Jaxon.

Altogether it was 4 hours of active labor. Half the time Jadyn took.

Jaxon Clyde was born at 5:35 pm, 8lbs 1 oz, 21.25 inches long.

The Name

Jadyn's name was picked long before she came, but the boy was much harder. We finally settled on calling him "Fred" while in my belly and then we would wait till we could get a good look at him. Just days before, we went through our list again and thought of what the middle name would be if we named him Jaxon. Jace was named after his uncle, James Clyde. He passed away in a river rafting accident when he was just my age. No one ever called him James. His initials "JC" became "Jacey". Hence, Jace was named after what his uncle was really known as.

Both of us aren't too keen on the idea of having two people with the same name in the house, so junior was never really an option. But Jaxon Clyde honored both Jace and his uncle. So I suppose it does mean we have two Jacey's in the house now.

Easter.

 It went something like this...

 

...and ended with this.

25.

Jace turned 25 this year. That's a quarter of a century! The middle of the middle of a life! It's some sort of important anniversary! (Golden?)

I really wanted it to be special. But special seemed quite the farfetched thought considering the day his birthday was on. He would go to work around 6:30 and then straight to school until 10...not much time to give him attention. So I thought and thought about what Jace really wanted that could carry on throughout the day. Time is always a gift I wish I could give him. He has none. But the next thing would be memories. In his "old age" Jace's memory continue to fade more and more. I have to tell him our story now, remind him of friend's names, important dates...it's only a matter of time before I will have to wear a name tag. This completely crushes him that he has seemingly lost a great deal of his past.

So one quick trip to Pinterest got my wheels turning. I thought of giving him 25 memories I had...but I have only known him 7 out of 25 years of his life. So I went to Facebook. Curse social networking all you want, but it certainly has its charms. I got nearly 25 memories from his friends and family. I added some of mine to complete the number. And this is what came about...

To put it simply: I nailed it. This is the first gift I've given Jace that made him cry. I thought maybe he could take a stack to work with him and read them throughout the day, but he couldn't help but read every single one that morning.

As a bonus, it really was a gift for me to be able to read these memories of a Jace before I ever knew him. Even as a wayward teenager, he had the same beautiful countenance he has now. He did things as a child that most grown men wouldn't be willing to do. He has always been incredible.

 

Jadyn and I surprised him later at work with an ice cream cake. 

He came home late that night to his favorite dinner: Shepard's Pie (doesn't take much to please him).

I love his birthday almost as much as mine. It allows me to reflect on just how darn lucky I am!

These are a few of our Favorite things.

#1 Breakfast.

For as long as I can remember in my childhood, my mother got up in the morning and made each of us a beautiful, full breakfast. I carried the tradition through college, making myself an omelet virtually every morning. When I lived with my parents again, my mom went right back to making me breakfast every morning (I pitched in). And now, Jadyn and I enjoy a smoothie and eggs every morning. Breakfast is a long, relaxing ritual with us. We think of every breakfast food we can fill ourselves up with and savor it for about an hour. Only then can we start our day. Breakfast is a definite favorite.

 

# 2: The Car.

Anyone's really. It doesn't matter...she thinks she owns them all. This must be a toddler thing. She claims ownership over everything by screaming "Mine!" Oh child, if only it were that simple. She can

spend hours in the car, fully entertained. Her ultimate favorite is Daddy's car (I wonder why).

 

 

#3 Breath of Fresh Air.

 

 

I didn't have even the slightest clue how intensely I could feel cabin fever until I was cooped up with a toddler all day. Every morning we would look out the window and hope for sun. I am so happy it has been showing its bright face lately. Jace had his spring break from school two weeks ago. Every evening he came home from work, we scarfed down some dinner and played outside till the sun went down. It was such a blast. There's a golf course right across the street from our house, so hitting a bucket of balls was an obvious activity one night. Jadyn LOVED it...of course.

 

Impressive form.

 

But alas, a fail.

 

Oh ya, I'm so preggo...and grungy this day. I didn't even try to hide my ridiculous belly button.

 

 I'm 32 weeks here. Gettin Close!