Sean Not John: Jamie's Birth Day

My daughter Jamie Jasperson was born on November 30, 1992. Jamie is my first child. This entry is the story of how Jamie joined our family.

In the six months or so after our first wedding anniversary, Annette and I began to talk about when we should have children. In our discussions, we talked about President Ezra Taft Benson's counsel regarding the role of mothers and fathers in the church. We talked about counsel given by various church leaders regarding the timing of children in a young married couple's plans. We felt strongly that the counsel from the church at the time was to not delay bringing children into our family due to money, education, work, personal preference, etc.

New Addition to the Family
Welcome Jamie!

After much discussion and prayerful consideration, we decided the time was right. We were excited to learn in May 1992 (shortly after our second wedding anniversary) that we were pregnant! Our due date was January 5, 1993.

Because Annette worked full time in the MBA office at BYU, we had insurance coverage to pay for all prenatal care as well as labor and delivery. We created a cool chart using a spreadsheet application (Quattro Pro) that tracked each week of prenatal development.

I remember how fun it was during one of our prenatal visits to the doctor to hear the baby's heartbeat. To this day, I get chills thinking of the wonder of hearing the baby heartbeat for the first time during each of our pregnancies.

We decided that we did not want to find out the baby's sex during our first ultrasound. We wanted to be surprised.

Annette and I traveled to the ranch in Star Valley for Thanksgiving 1992. On Saturday after Thanksgiving, Mom, Dad, Keri (my sister), Annette, and I drove in the pickup truck up the canyon to get a Christmas tree. Dad had plowed the field in Idaho that year before snowfall. So, when we drove across that field it was a very bouncy ride. We did not know it at the time, but we are quite sure the rough ride is what induced labor.

We returned to Provo on Sunday (November 29, 1992). We arrived at our apartment after dark and went to bed. Annette woke me up around 4:30 a.m. and said that she thought she was in labor. She had awakened around 1:30 a.m. with rather strong, regular contractions. We went to the hospital around 6:00 a.m.

The placard from Jamie's bed in the hospital

After we arrived at the hospital, the nurses told us it was likely a false alarm. They were not overly concerned about delivery. However, after checking, they found that we were in labor and things started rolling. They admitted us to a birthing room and called the doctor.

The baby was born at 10:54 a.m. It was a girl! She weighed 5 lbs 13 oz. She was 18.5 inches long. She was five weeks early.

The doctor and nurses allowed a couple of short minutes for us to see the baby. Then they whisked her off to the nursery. They placed her in a bed with an oxygen hood and began multiple evaluations and tests to determine if she had any immediate medical issues because she was born early.

Many monitors, needles, and tubes

Fortunately, Jamie only had to stay in the hospital for one week. She had a little trouble breathing at first, but her lungs quickly began functioning properly. She also had a bit of jaundiced skin so, they kept her under the "bili lights" for most of the week.

Like most parents, we had discussed several potential names after we learned that we were pregnant. We had selected both a girl's name and a boy's name as our "chosen" names. However, when Annette and I had a few minutes alone after the nurses had taken the baby to the nursery for evaluation, we both agreed that the girl's name we chose did not fit the baby. We also both agreed that we should name the baby Jamie.

Jamie has been such a wonderful blessing in my life. I am so glad she is part of our family. She has always been a "perfect" child. I am so proud of the woman she has become.