Jordan's Birthday Part 1: His Strong Willed Birth Story

Jordan's birthday was on Saturday, so it is my honor to write his sweet birth story.  He loves to read my blog, so this is my gift to him.

We were living in Missouri right across the street from my parents and a house away from my Gragran.

Jackson and Tyson were both admitted into the NICU (Newborn ICU) after their births for unrelated problems, so I was a little nervous about my upcoming experience.  I called the local hospitals to investigate their medical capabilities.  I called one from a nearby town and asked them if they had a NICU there just in case the need arose.  The nurse said she wasn't sure and then yelled out to the other nurses with the thickest country twang, "Hey! We got a NICU here?"

In shock I said, "You don't know if you have a NICU or not?"  She said she thought they didn't, but she wasn't sure what a NICU was.  I explained to her what it was, thanked her, and hung up the phone with a firm decision that we would be driving all the way to Springfield (a bigger city an hour away) for our delivery.

The Delivery

Since my first two childbirths became high-risk, I couldn't give birth to them without an epidural, so I was determined to deliver baby Jordan without any drugs.  I did fantastic... for a while!  I was so calm and did my breathing so well that the nurses even thought that I was asleep during my heaviest contractions.

For several hours I worked hard relaxing my body through the contractions.  However, I hadn't been properly trained on what happens at the "transition" period- which is right as the baby is about to come out- so I panicked when my entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.  I called for the epidural.

The doctor came and put the needle in my back WHILE I was sitting up getting ready to push baby Jordan out!!

I turned to him and said, "Maybe I don't need it now!"

He responded, "It's too late; I'm here now!"

I didn't have the energy to debate the issue with him.  Baby Jordan was on his way out for goodness sakes... but OH MY GOSH that was the wrong time to have to sit still and have a giant needle placed in my back!  Less than 10 minutes later, baby Jordan was born.  The epidural only had time to take the edge off the pain of only one side of my body... and I got numb AFTER he came.  Not cool!

Our doctor was amazing though!  We had laughed about his quirky ways; but when it came time to deliver, he was the best we'd ever seen in action.

Jordan was placed on my chest and was as cute and healthy as can be.  I nursed him and cuddled him all through the night.

My mom came to the hospital with Jackson and Tyson.  They looked so adorable.... but Jackson's pants were high waters and Tyson's pants were dragging on the floor.  I had set out clothes for them to wear.  Jackson was wearing Tyson's clothes and Tyson was wearing Jackson's clothes...  that's what happens when mom is busy having a baby. :-)

On one of the nurse's routine check-ups, they took Jordan away.  I anxiously waited for his return, but they never brought him back.  Finally, I asked one of the nurses where my baby was.

Ever so casually, she said, "Oh he's in the NICU.  He was having trouble breathing."

The Human Side of the NICU

"What?" I exclaimed.  "When were you going to tell me?"  I immediately got up to go check on him.  They discouraged me from leaving my room, but I had already been through this with two other babies.  I knew my baby Jordan needed me.  I went to the window and looked in on my baby in the NICU.  After some time, the NICU doctor finally came out.  I told the doctor I needed to hold my baby.  In a very professional tone she said I could in a while.  I had already waited "a while" when they put him in the NICU without informing me!

Having spent weeks and months in the hospital at Primary Children's Hospital in Utah with both Jackson and Tyson as newborns, I was well-educated on what my struggling child needed.  I very firmly expressed to the doctor that she was forgetting the human side of this situation, and that I needed to see and touch my baby right then....  I explained to her the need for my struggling baby to have his mother's touch.

She let me in.

My poor baby Jordan had developed pneumonia from aspirating fluid at birth.  It took almost 24 hours for the pneumonia to fully develop in his lungs, and his breathing was quite rapid.

Ronald McDonald House

Jordan would have to spend several days in the hospital's NICU, but I would have to be released.  When baby Jackson and Tyson were in the NICU, I was allowed to stay in a room right down the hall from the NICU.  

They didn't have such accommodations at this hospital.

We didn't have enough money to get a hotel nearby, and I refused to go back home and be an hour's drive away from my baby.  I told them I would stay in the lobby and sleep in the chairs.  They said I couldn't.  I told them I wasn't leaving my baby; I would sleep in my car... anywhere.  I guess they saw I was pretty serious, so they told me I could stay at the Ronald McDonald House which was a very short distance from the hospital.  The Ronald McDonald House is a full house set up to help keep families and sick children close to each other at a charitable price.  It's a full house, and each family has their own room and bathroom.  

What a miracle that place was!!  Abe, Jackson, and Tyson slept there while I went back and forth to the hospital all night.  Jordan wasn't able to nurse for a while, so I pumped and fed him his bottle.  That meant I got back up every hour and a half to drive over to my baby Jordan.  

The nurses were all in love with him.  They said they hadn't ever seen a baby with such a strong will... especially a sick baby!  He immediately calmed down the moment I held him.  I cherished those quiet times in the middle of the night.  I stroked his little face and prayed for his health to return.  I could feel that he was a strong one. 

One early morning, I returned to the Ronald McDonald House from the hospital feeling exhausted.  I entered the kitchen and found it full of college-age students bustling around.  They had come with Halloween cupcakes, games, and decorations for the families of the kids who were in the hospital.  I cried and hugged them.  These college kids were such a sight of beauty to a tired mother's eyes.  A mother's heart is deeply touched when others show love to their child.  I cry even now... eight years later thinking about their joyful faces serving our family during our time of worry and stress.

My little Jordan is a special little man.  I thank God for sending me such a beautiful gift.  I will never forget the beautiful day he was born.  He will be baptized in December.  He is continuing to ready himself for that special day.

Bragging about Jordan 

(I apologize for the bragging you are about to read, but I want my sweet little Jordan to always remember how amazing he is!)

*I've always remembered the nurse's claim about Jordan's strong will because that is definitely still the case.  He pushes himself harder than any kid I've seen.  He doesn't see his size or age as an obstacle.  That is a curse as well because he gets very upset when his brothers beat him.  We have a hard time convincing him it's ok... they're 2 & 4 years older than he is!  

*Jordan reads almost a chapter book a day.  We bought him a book-light for his birthday.  Last night, I went into his room late into the night, and he was still reading.  He sweetly looked up and said, "Thank you so much for my light."  He was in heaven.  I didn't have the heart to send him to bed.

*He ran a half-marathon (yes all 13.1 miles) the day after his 7th birthday.  

*He is almost done with 5th grade math... at 8 years old.  Again, because of his strong will.

*He bears his testimony almost every single fast Sunday.

*When he was only 3 years old, he bore his testimony of Jesus Christ and his religion to strangers walking by all over Nauvoo, IL.  (Our family had just performed in the pageant, and many were touched by this young man's testimony.)

*Jordan LOVES to dance.  During the Nauvoo Pageant that year, Jordan danced so vigorously that he fell off the stage during the show!  The man playing Parley P. Pratt, picked him right up and placed Jordan on his shoulders.  Jordan then pulled the actor's hat down over his eyes!  He's a ham for sure!!

*He reads his scriptures every day and loves the Lord with all his heart.

*Jordan runs multiple touchdowns in every football game.  At his last game, the coaches on both teams started yelling out, "We found Barry Sanders!"  When he does score a touchdown, he doesn't even show any expression.  He just throws the ball back and gets ready for his next play... it's all business with this kid.  When he wrestles, he's got the same concentration...  and businesslike attitude.

*We went to Downtown Disney, and there was a really tough "Simon Says" contest with about 50 other kids.  He got second place because his concentration was so intense!

*He LOVES healthy food.  At a buffet, his plate is always filled with fruits and vegetables. :-)

*Jordan is his own man.  There might be 30 kids all choosing their favorite flavor of ice cream, but Jordan isn't afraid to say he likes a different flavor.

*Jordan gives the most gigantic hugs in the world.  Sometimes I have to tell him to take them down a notch because he comes running at us for his hug with such great force.

Jordan is a great buddy to all of us!  

He is my champion in every way!!