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.