Jason's Birthday

Jason's birthday came and went, and I failed to post about it, like I did everyone else's. March gets a little crazy around here with four birthdays! Anyway, we didn't have a party for Jason yet. It looks like it is going to be the beginning of May before that happens due to my lack of planning. We did take him out for dinner on his birthday and then to purchase his birthday present. He put all his birthday money together and had enough money to buy a digital camera, so we ordered one. Unfortunately, it wasn't in stock at the time.

I thought at one point that I should blog about my children's births, but I haven't, so maybe I will start with him. Of all my kids, Jason's delivery was my easiest. He was eight days late - UGHHH!!! But when it happened, it was pretty easy. I woke up early in the morning with what I thought were contractions. I went back to sleep and woke up again later. I decided to take a shower and get ready for the day. I continued to have contractions, so when I was all ready, we called the hospital. They did not have an available bed, so they asked if I could wait a little while longer. We got James around and took him over to Brent's sister's house. We called the hospital again. My contractions were now about three minutes apart. They said to go ahead and come on in to the hospital. But when we got there, they still did not have a bed, so they put our stuff in an extra room and asked us to go walk around. We did.

Before this next part, you must know that my small group members, as well as about every other person who knew me, were well aware of my desperation to not be pregnant anymore. For those of you who do not run late, it is miserable, or so it seems at the time. Anyway, as we were walking, we ran into Ann and Cindy. Ann teased us that coming to the hospital would not cause the baby to be born. I said I was in labor, and she didn't seem to believe me, so she just teased and talked to us, while I was having contractions. At one point, Cindy said to her, something like, "She's telling the truth - she's having a contraction." It was so funny! I love Ann - she's absolutely the best! She did finally decide that I must have known what I was talking about.

The hospital finally had a bed available for me - I don't remember how much longer, but we were maybe at the hospital an hour before we got a room. I went in, decided to have an epidural, got one and delivered Jason after just three pushes at 5:00 in the evening. I had no idea that having a baby could be so simple. I pushed James for something like three hours and he had a LOT of problems with his heart (as did David and Sarah), and it was scary and stressful. Jason did scare me a bit when he cried and cried for the next several hours. I was so afraid of what I was up against, but I guess he got it out of his system because he was a pretty good baby after that night.

He did actually have some heart issues, but his were after birth. We were awoken by the on call pediatrician at about 5:00 a.m. the next morning teling us that he was puttng him on a heart monitor for observation as there had been some concerns about his heart rate, but after he was monitored for a while, all was well!

The other thing about Jason's birth is that the day I arrived home from the hospital, I broke out in hives. They were covering my body, from my scalp to the bottom of my feet. It was the most miserable experience of my life. It felt terrible. It looked terrible. It lasted forever - off and on for 6 weeks - even with a bunch of steroids. It began a long process of trying to determine what I am allergic to - the decision - who knows? Even after a lot of testing and eliminating things - I broke out after both David and Sarah, too. I will hit those stories at a later date!

I think the coolest thing about giving birth to Jason was having a child put in my arms who was not going to need immediate ongoing medical treatment. James had a cleft lip - it was very minor and not a difficult fix, but we did not know that when he was first delivered. All through my pregnancy with James I prayed for a healthy baby. I was excited when we had an ultrasound and saw ten fingers and ten toes, but I don't think I ever really believed that anything could possibly be wrong with my baby. I was completely shocked when he was born with a cleft. God is good and He provided amazing people to walk us through the situation, and in the end, it was very minor, but I suddenly knew what it was to give birth to a baby who was not "perfect." It was a reality. I knew when I was pregnant with Jason, that anything could happen. Even though doctor's were pretty certain he was healthy, they could make no guarantees. I remember holding him and having such a great feeling knowing that there were no surgeries in our future. It was a very peaceful feeling - not to have to run home and start researching about medical conditions or for the best doctors.

Jason has grown to be such a charming little boy. He is a good friend to others most of the time. He is sensitive and includes everyone. We were able to be up at his school this week for his track meet. I am up there regularly, but he is always in the classroom, and I don't really watch him socially, like at the track meet. It was fun! A little scary at times - girls really like him - but fun! Luckily, he doesn't seem to care much about girls. He likes them but no differently than he likes the boys! They're just all chums!

Anyway, here are a couple pics of Jason and some of his school friends. These are the ones he spends the most time with at school. I am proud to be his mother!