Tired Tracey and Sleepy Stacey

So, this first week has been an amazing one with little Jacob in our lives. It has been a week of adjusting to fit the schedule of a little 7 pound bundle of boy. Between having to wake up at night frequently to feed and change him, and stay awake all night to make sure his face mask did not fall off under the bili light, this week has been an adventure. In the end, one picture kind of sums up how we all feel.

However, it has all been worth it.

Free at last

So, as was previously reported, Jacob had jaundice. But, as of a couple days ago, he is jaundice free. No longer will he have to chill all night (or bake all night) in a little suitcase (but he sure was cute when he did.)

A message for Grandpa

As I was chatting with Jacob tonight as I was tending him, he mentioned something he would like to convey to his grandfathers. So, instead of interrpreting the boy, I just let him speak his mind as only he knows how.

An important picture

I neglected to post this picture before, and it is of extreme importance in the life of Jacob. Within an hour of his birth, he was bathed, and right after than, he got his hair combed. Here is a picture of his first little part.

Bilirubin Boy and Innie or Outie?

I am up late with Jacob while he hangs out under his Ultra Bili Light. In the end after 3 bilirubin tests, he decided to be more jaundiced so they brought this light to our house this afternoon so we can do the phototherapy at home. It would be easier on mom if Phototherapy just meant taking pictures of Jacob, but I've decided that if this helps then it will be worth it. The eye mask is worth noting, since he doesn't really like it but it of course looks so cute on him. We'll post an update on his bilirubin count tomorrow or thereabouts when we get the results. Now for a poll...will our son have an innie or an outie?

Jacob once again

So, we are home from the hospital, and life is going well. I find myself wanting so much to make more and more blog entries about what happened there, and since, with all the pictures I took. Indeed, posting picutre of my posterity is preferrable to my post-secondary education, at least at this point. So, rather than distract myself, I am just posting every picture I took while at the hospital. The pictures of our arrival home, and that fun that happened since, are forthcoming.

The Story-From Eye Witnesses

Here is the story of the birth from two eye witnesses. First, Stacey tells it about a half hour after it happened. Remember, she finished giving birth not too long before this was filmed. Then, Jacob tells the story a few hours later.

Jacob Lamro Hoopes

So, we had a baby. This is the full report of what happened to bring little Jacob Lamro Hoopes into the world. I have titled sections, so if you get tired of reading this lengthy document, you can just skip the sections that don’t interest you.

Pre-Hospital Thursday morning at about 2:00 AM, Stacey got up and was experiencing some discomfort and was feeling very hot. She waited around for about an hour, reading and thinking, and then got me up at about 3:00, and said she thought she might be having contractions. She was not sure, and was unsure about whether to go to the hospital. So, we decided to go, just on the off chance that she was indeed having a baby. We were still 11 days until our due date, and since everyone told us that first babies are usually late, we had not even finished packing the bag to be ready to go. So, we put some stuff in a bag, and we got in the car. The radio was on, and I instinctively started to turn it off, when Stacey told me stop, as the radio was playing Memories of Us, the song from our wedding, and the ending song to our last two anniversary videos. It is what one would call “our song.” For me, it was special, a small tender mercy reminding me that whatever happened, it would be alright. We drove the 12 blocks to the hospital, and were here. There was a parking spot right next to the door, and we strolled right in. (At this point, I would like to put in a plug for Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. We have many friends that are opting to deliver elsewhere, and I think that is just silly. Not only did we get world class care from a top baby delivering hospital, but when we decided it was time to come, we were here and parked in 4 minutes. I cant imagine having to drive 15 minutes to Orem, especially if the baby came at 5:30 PM and the 15 minutes turned to 45 minutes in silly Provo/Orem traffic. But, more on UVRMC later.)

Really in Labor? So, I parked, and we walked in. A friendly security guard asked us if we were headed to labor and delivery (I don’t know how he may have known), we went up the elevators, were sent through the security doors, and checked in. They took Stacey to a delivery room, had her put on a gown, and laid her on the table. At this point, I was still pretty sure we were going to get sent home, so I asked how long it took them to determine that the baby is not really coming. She said they observed for an hour. So, I got prepared for an hour wait, and a return to the house. They laid Stacey on the table, and checked her dilation. She was a five. This means she was pretty far along, and that the baby really was coming. They called in the anesthesiologist, and Stacey was given an epidural. It took effect, and Stacey mellowed out, becoming peaceful and tranquil.

Hanging Out We say and waited for perhaps a half an hour, and the nurse came in again and checked Stacey. She was at an 8. She was progressing very quickly. We waited around for a little while longer. I found it very interesting to watch the baby monitor, to see how its heart beat was doing, and how the contractions were coming. For some reason, I was very fascinated about this data being collected on my son, and starting thinking about all sorts of things researchers in obstetrics might look into. Would the variation in heart rate prior to birth accurately predict APGAR scores, as a more robust child would fare better hear-rate wise as well as APGAR wise? How much correlation in there between Stacey’s increased heart rate as she feels a contraction, and the baby’s heart rate? Does the O2 that they gave Stacey smooth the variation in heart rate for the baby, make it more resilient to change, or what? I became so interested, I actually asked the doctor when he came in if the data were saved, and if I could get it. He was not to interested in pursing that, and told me that I did not have the program to open the data (although I think I could have done something with it, with the connections I have in the medical field.) Anyways.

At some point, the nurses switched shifts, and we got a different nurse than we started with. The new nurses name was Linda, and she was very nice. She was accompanied by Jenie, a BYU nursing major doing her rotations. They were both very helpful and friendly, and knew a lot. By this time, we had also called several people, and news was spreading of the pending birth. I had had my mom e-mail my class at UVSC to tell them that we would not be holding class today, and so everything was set.

So, we finished sitting around, the nurse came again, and checked Stacey, and she was at a 9. Somewhere in there the nurse also showed me to the mysterious room of food prepared for staff and fathers to be. I looked around, and selected the following for my breakfast: 1 chocolate pudding, 2 strawberry yogurts, 1 container raisin bran, 1 box of chocolate milk, 1 box of skim milk, 1 container of vanilla ice cream, and several packages of Oreos cookies. So, that was breakfast. Stacey was not allowed to eat.

So, things kept going along. We got a little bored at one point, and I managed to fall asleep for about 5 minutes, but we were woken up by someone coming in to check on us. As some point, they checked Stacey again, and she was a 10, so they decided to have her start pushing.

Pushing So, there I was, holding up one leg of my pregnant, anesthetized, and very tired wife, supporting her head with my other hand, and counting to ten, three times for each contraction. The nurse was loosening things up down in the baby region, and so I got periodic peeks at the top of Jacob’s head. Stacey did some championship quality laboring/pushing for about an hour, at which point they called in Dr. Gamette.

Dr. Gamette is an interesting fellow. We had seen him two times before, and of all the people I saw at the clinic, he is the one I would have preferred to deliver my child. Amy had also seen him at the clinic before, and before we ever saw him, she warned us that he always comes in the room and starts with the phrase “Let’s talk about your weight.” Now, Dr Gamette is a little heavy, and Amy said that she always wanted to retort with, “lets talk about YOUR weight, Doctor.” However, despite his fixation with weight (and his famous advice “What got you into this pregnancy will help you get out”), Dr. Gamette was a great doctor. He is approaching the delivery of his 12,000th baby, so he has seen a lot of action. I have not even been alive 12,000 days, and he has delivered that many babies. Wow. So, we felt like we were in good hands.

So, we did a little bit more pushing. The doctor changed around the table Stacey was laying on so he could sit right between her stirruped legs, and he a big apron on, and a big bucket was underneat there. He was doing what the nurse had been doing, helping the baby out, and Stacey was pushing. The epidural was wearing off, so Stacey was feeling more and more pain, and had been pushing for a while, so she was tired.

Jacob Slides Out With every push I would look down and see how Jacob was progressing out of Stacey. With the nurse, I could see only a small little dot of his head, but as things were progressing, I could see more and more head, and it was apparent he really was planning on emerging. There was a good sized chunk of Jacob’s head showing, and the doctor told Stacey this would be the last push. She pushed, I counted, and the baby was pretty much out. Then, we waited a few seconds for another contraction, the doctor told Stacey exactly how and when to push, and the baby emerged, all yellowish whitish. Dr. Gamet held it there, and was suctioning out all sorts of liquids, and Jacob started to pee. It had been a few seconds, and Jacob had still not breathed, and Dr. Gamet, in his talking, was saying something like “Come on, breath” and that was a little disconcerting. In those 7 or 8 seconds it took Jacob to breath, it was amazing the rush of emotion that fell over me. But, before I could completely fathom him not breathing, he breathed, his umbilical cord was cut and clamped, and the nurses spirited him off to clean him, on the other side of the room. They also did the APGAR test, and Jacob scored an amazing 8-9, we great performance for someone so small an inexperienced with the things of life.

Post Partum Party Jacob was here. It was amazing. For almost 9 months, we have been anticipating the arrival of our child, and he finally made his expected arrival, on a very convenient and practical date. I have classes on Thursday mornings, but after that, I don’t really have anything until Monday. His quick arrival, before his due date, following a short and easy labor, on the most perfect and convenient day for everyone are all considered a blessing by us. What followed was all really fast, and so my order may not be correct, but, Jacob had a pretty exciting first hours of life. After a few minutes of cleaning, Jacob was weighted and measured (7 pounds, 12 oz, and 18 inches long). After that, they stuck a diaper on him, and for some reason, that made me a little sad. He was not 8 minutes into life, and we were already imposing this fall-induced punishment—clothing—on him. He was cute naked.

In any event, after diapering Jacob, I held him, and was amazed by what I was holding. I had participated in creating another human being, and now I was holding him in my arms. Although I am well aware of the fact that there will be dozens of babies born in this hospital today, and that there are millions being born all over the world, and that many think that there is a sever world over-population problem, I knew that the addition of Jacob to the world will be a net benefit to the world. He will be an amazing person—how can he not be with such an amazing mother?

So, I then gave Jacob over to his mother, who had just finished expelling the placenta, and was getting all cleaned up. She held Jacob for a bit, then it was time for her to finish getting cleaned up and for Jacob to get a real cleaning.

On our Own: inoculations, checkings, cooking, and cleaning I followed Jacob, and we went into the nursery. He was placed in a little heater, and his body heat was checked and regulated for a little while. At some point in there, they checked to see if he had all the parts he needs in his eyes, checked to make sure all his joints were properly put together, and generally made sure he cooked properly.

Then, after that excitement, it was time for Jacobs first little bath. The nurse filled a container with cotton balls, and put some sort of cleaning fluid on them, and then came over, and through squeezing the liquid over Jacob, and swabbing him, he got cleaned. They rinsed him off under a sink, using a little spong to take the soapy stuff. Then, he got his first little hair-do, a traditional comb over, with a little part on the right side. He was pretty slick looking.

After that, they put a little sticker on his chest to identify him. At some point, they had put a bond on each of his legs, and a matching one on Stacey and on me, but apparently these leg bands come off, so they sticker was put on. The leg bands ended up falling off, so I guess they knew what they were talking about. Also, before we got out of the nursery, they took some pictures of him. At this point, I had probably already taken 7 minutes of film and 10 pictures, all in his first 45 minutes of life, but they had to take a “security” picture, and they also try to sell you copies of it.

After that, we had to wait for a room to go to. Rather then send me up to be with Stacey, they just had me wait in the nursery, and so I held Jacob for a while as I rocked him in a little rocker. I told him the story of his birth.

They then told me that Stacey needed my help in moving, so I went up, and we wheeled her down to the “mother and baby” part of the hospital. It was fun.

So, here we are, a day and a half later, in the same room. We have since had many exciting things happen to us. Listed are a few highlights:

Unexpected Visitor When we first got to the room, we got a call telling us that a Mr. Hubbard was here to see us. To even come into the floor we are on, you have to be brought in by a security person, who asks for a little code. If you do not have a code, they call the room you say you are here to visit and ask the person you are visiting if you can come visit. They asked if Mr. Hubbard could come visit me, and I asked them to tell me how I am supposed to know Mr. Hubbard. They told me that Mr. Hubbard claimed to be my grandfather. I told them Mr. Hubbard was not my grandfather. In the end, it was just an elderly fellow who was lost.

However, it was interesting to think about my reaction. I thought, “What if there is someone out there trying to abduct my child.” I instantly came to the conclusion that I would not have any problem severely damaging someone who wanted to harm Jacob. From the shotgun in my room to the machete in my truck, to my bare hands, I have both the means and knowledge to cause sever damage to most people on this earth, and would do so if the situation required it to protect my child. There is a ratio of 90 to 1 mass ratio of protector to protectee, and the protector side of that is taking his job seriously.

The Best Restaurant in Town Stacey got to try her hand at breast feeding, several times. While she tried once before Jacob and I left her for the first time, she was unsuccessful. The first many attempts were also not too terribly successful, as Jacob had more interest in sleeping than eating (as opposed to his father, who would rather eat, and then a close second would be sleeping.) We would pinch his feet and make him really awake and really mad, but the second I would stop, he would fall back asleep. And, when I say “we,” I mean the nurse and I, as Stacey’s only method for waking Jacob is whispering softly “wake up,” in a melodic and calming voice. Anyways, so breastfeeding is still a work in progress. Mother seems to have things figured out pretty well (except waking Jacob up) but Jacob has not quiet got the hang of things. But, we will cut him some slack. At the writing of this document, he is only 32 hours old.

The First Night The first night in the hospital, Stacey elected to have Jacob in the room with her. While everyone, including me, counseled her against this, it turned out very well, with Jacob only waking up when they woke him to attempt to feed him. Stacey got a good nights sleep, and was very pleased with her decision. At about 11:30, I left for the night, sleeping at home. I got a few things that we needed there, and was able to get a decent rest.

Circumcision I was almost ready to leave for the hospital in the morning, when I went and unplugged my phone from charging. I had 8 missed calls, all from Amy. Stacey had called Amy from a hospital phone (as my phone number is a long distance number), so Amy was in charge of getting a hold of me. We had not settled whether to circumcise Jacob, and the pediatrician came in the morning, and was ready to do it, but Stacey needed to call me and ask what we wanted to do. This is an interesting question for me. On one had, there is little or no medical reason to be circumcised. It is claimed that intercourse is less pleasant for the circumcised. Here in Utah, most new babies born here are circumcised. In other states, they are not. New people coming into this country are often not circumcised. Wealthy, evangelical/ protestant types often are circumcised. Medicaid does not pay for it, making it less common among the poor. It is a very dividing socioeconomic decision, and so I have been thinking about it a lot. We shall see what happens.

Hearing Test Friday night, little Jacob went in for a hearing test. This has been the thing of biggest concerns for us, as Stacey has some hearing loss. And, unfortunately, Jacob failed his first hearing test. While he had performed in a stellar fashion on the APGAR, he had to retest. However, Saturday morning, we retested, and did alright. I went in and talked to the nurse, and told her we needed to pass this test, and it took many tried, but we passed it. Apparently, if you get a pass on any of the tried, it is valid. So, Jacob can hear. Yipeeeeeeee.

Visitors We have had several people come visit and see little Jacob. Listed in order of arrival, Jamie, Erin, Amy, Taylor, Dallin, Anna, Rachel, Myrna, and Camber have come to see the baby. We have received many phone calls and e-mails, and have been well supported in this whole ordeal. However, it was interesting to be in the labor and delivery room for the “hanging out” portion of the birth. It was just Stacey and I. While the Hollywood depiction of a birth makes it look all traumatic and eventful (which it is), they don’t often show the parts where it is just mother and father alone, waiting for something to happen.

The Transient

So, we used to live in the ghettos of south Provo. But, as you well know, we recently moved. We now live not in the ghettos of Provo, but rather in downtown Provo, as evidenced by the City Center Motel being on our same block. Given our recent move, we have had a wonderful experience we would like to share with you. On Tuesday, I was taking the trash can back in from the street. I noticed a small hole in the wall, as in the picture, and some stuff strewn about in the hole. I noticed a Social Security Card on the ground, so I moved closer to investigate. I also found a birth certificate, from a different person, and a whole bunch of papers talking about drug rehab. So, I thought that curious. I called up the police, thinking it was a stash for some ID thief. An officer came, and saw the names, and said he knew all the people whose stuff was involved—they were all local vagrants well known to the police. He said that often when the homeless are going away, or know they are going to go to jail for a while, they will give their ID to someone else, and then get it back after they get out. Interesting. So, apparently, this was someone’s stash, but he didn’t get a chance to pass it off before getting picked up for something (probably something like public urination or loitering). So, that is fun. We have a hole where homeless people hang out near our home. So, this predicament raises several important questions, which I will list, and then discuss. If you have comments on any of them, let me know. 1. What should my relationship be with the residents of the hole? When they get back, should I bring them banana bread and welcome them to the neighborhood? 2. I think I probably would feel better if they were not around here too much, so, how can I keep them from coming back to the hole. Would it be bad to make the hole an inhospitable place to spend the night, by doing something like throwing some fish or rotten eggs in there? Since I would also have to smell those things, should I alternatively use “something spikey” to put in there, as has been suggested by a colleague of mine? 3. Would it be wrong to take all the junk that is in there and throw it away? The stuff does belong to someone, but they do not have a legal right to keep it there, and it is on property which I am renting. Do I have some moral obligation to not damage goods stored unlawfully on property which I have a legal right to control? 4. I asked the police officer if something could be done to seal the hole off, and he said that since there was a meter for gas in there, nothing could be done. However, would it be wrong for me to press the owners of the building the hole is attached to, the City Center Motel, to put a lockable door on it? Could I find legal ground to file suit to have something like a lockable door installed? 5. Would it be wrong if I got some deal with the local Pawn Shops, Payday loan stores, and Bail Bond Lenders to start advertising in the hole? At least then I could extract economic rents from the hole situation, and thus mitigate the inherent risk involved in the situation. 6. I think merely calling this little hideaway “the hole” is not terribly enduring, so, I would appreciate suggestions of what to call the place. Harry’s Hole, HHHH (the Homeless Hole by Hoopes’ Home), or, alternatively, H^4, the Drifters Dungeon, are a couple things we have thought up, but, seeing as neither Stacey or I are terribly creative, we cant think of something great. Let us know what we should call it. Anyways, these are the things that are on my mind. In the end, it really is something to worry about, because while unsavory characters can certainly come around anywhere (my truck was broken into twice at Villa Rose, and someone else had their car stolen from the parking lot), it certainly is something to consider that it seems like we have a more permanent of residence for transients. But, in the end, it will all work out. We have several neighbors with big dogs, we have a motion detecting light, and we have a several apartments in front of us that are filled with several single UVSC male students who are coming and going at all hours of the night. Those things, combined with out wit and marksmanships, should keep us safe. In addition, the officer said that everyone once in a while, because of our downtown location, we might have some people hang around, but that it is usually not a problem, we just need to call them up and let them know to come deal with the problem. So, that is that.

A whirlwind couple of weeks!

Well, it has been an exciting couple of weeks since I last posted. Of course I think the highlight was that we moved into our new place. My sisters were over for a bit Sunday night and they asked how Jeff liked it and he said, more or less, “It’s alright. I wanted a swimming pool. Or a ball gym.” Despite it lacking those two things, we ARE pleased with the place and are excited that this will be where we bring our baby after he is born! Yay. I will busy myself on Monday with setting up the nursery corner some more and I am also concerning myself with what outfit to pack in the hospital bag for the baby to come home in. Thanks to kind gifts and hand me downs, I have lots to choose from. I realize this isn’t that important of a decision to make, but it is certainly something to be EXCITED about. ☺ This past week we started the new semester, as many of you are aware already, and I really wish I were already done with my master’s. It has taken a lot of time to settle down with a project topic and I honestly finally feel comfortable, totally comfortable, with what I am going to do. I never would have guessed that I would, in some ways, become so passionate about literacy after coming from a social science background. Anyways, I wish I could have finished already but feel like the issue of this taking so long will be a blessing in the end because I will be able to be a better mother (I think) with the knowledge I gain doing literacy research related to reading aloud to children. I hope all of you that are mothers and fathers read to your kids. So does Jim Trelease. One minor highlight of the week was our Instructional Psychology & Technology graduate department’s opening seminar for Fall semester, at which they serve lunch each year. I went for the food; I won’t lie. For the third year in a row it was the exact same meal layout, with its components perhaps known by all who enjoyed the Cannon Center fare of 6 years ago (or more recently if you are like me and occasionally have returned!): - Rocky Mountain Ribs - Little sandwiches - Éclairs - Cream puffs - Rotini pasta salad - Fruit/vegetable tray Okay, well the only thing that was usually served in the CANC were the Rocky Mountain ribs. I still like them and was excited that the department secretary was not given permission to change the menu this year. The department chair told her she couldn’t, even though she wanted to. I always knew I liked Dr. Gibbons.

Accounting 2010 Students Beware!

So, I have in my signature for my Gmail account the URL of this blog. Thus, when I have e-mailed students in my Accounting 2010 class, they get the URL. Several of them have commented on the blog. However, I am awaiting the first brave 2010 student to comment here. It will be interesting. I bet I know who it will be. Yep. It will be YOU.

The last two weeks

So, you may have noticed a lack of new posts in the last two weeks (and by that, I am obviously talking introspectively, since I am pretty much the only person who reads this, and indeed, I have noticed a lack of new posts). Well, it is because we have been busy. A week and two days ago I took the GMAT, the test that influences where I will end up going to get a PhD, and subsequently, where I end up teaching, what kind of career I have, and how the rest of my life goes. So, I got that over with. It went very well, although not as well as some of my practice tests had gone. In the end, I was happy, but having imagined being able to be even more happy, was a little bit sad. Oh well. I came straight home and started packing, as we had to be out of our apartment the next day at 2. So, we packed all evening and morning, and were out by 2. We put all of our stuff in several places, but since we could not move into our new apartment until Saturday, none of those places included our new apartment. I had class to prepare for and teach at 5:30, then a pregnancy class to attend at 6:30. The next day, we were homeless until about 3, when I got a call saying we were free to move into our new apartment. I started moving a few things. Saturday, we continued moving everything again, and started arranging our house. Sunday, I had a busy day at church, as we had a lot of new people move into the ward that had to be dealt with. Monday, we continued arranging the house all day. Tuesday was the first day of school, and so I had to deal with that, as well as all the other things that comes with school starting. So, I am done with the first week of school, and so am now writing this post. It didn't really say anything, besides providing excuses for not writing. But, as I said in the beginning, since I am the only one reading, I am basically excusing myself, so, I guess I must also say to myself, "You're excused." Soon, we may have exciting videos of our new house. Get excited. PS. The babys coming.