Jace William De Witt 7/20/09, 6 lbs 11oz, 19 in

Jace William De Witt was born on Monday, July 20, 2009 at 4:57pm at the UC Davis Medical Center by an emergency c-section. The doctors tried turning him to be in the head-down position; however, his heart rate dropped and we were rushed off to get him out quickly. It was probably the scariest moment of my life. During the delivery, they measured 4 liters of fluid and I became a legend at UC Davis for having the most fluid anyone had ever seen. When they got him out he wasn't breathing, so he was rushed out of the room before I could even see him. It felt like an eternity lying in the OR while the doctors finished stitching me up and I waited to hear a cry or something and finally I heard him and they brought him back in for me to look at him for a minute before they took him up to the NICU. I was in a lot of pain and on a lot of drugs, so I couldn't go see my baby until the next morning when I forced Bryce to push me in a wheelchair so I could hold my son for the first time and it was magical! He was so beautiful! It was determined that Jace did indeed have esophogeal atresia, which had to be surgically fixed ASAP. He had his surgery on Thurs. July 23, 2009, which went amazingly well, which was a huge relief. The time after the surgery was very difficult for us, because Jace had to be on so much medication and the hospital staff failed time after time to get a pic-line in (which is like a do-it-all IV), so our poor little boy became a human pin cushion, we counted over 50 needle pokes in just his arms! :( So the doctors decided to put one in surgically in his neck called a broviac line so he wouldn't have to be poked any more. Jace is now doing pretty well and is actually getting to eat! However, since he didn't get to eat until he was already a few weeks old the learning process is very difficult and slow for him. Also, the doctors discovered that in addition to the esophogeal atresia, he also has a coanal atresia on his right nostril, so he will undergo yet another surgery next week to open up his nasal passage. However, this surgery will be a lot less intense as the last one and the recovery time is very short, also this will help in his efforts to eat, because he'll be able to breath much better. Jace is such a sweet little boy whom we absolutely adore! He is very strong and definitely has his own little personality already. He hates having dirty pants, so we're hoping that he's going to be the easiest potty trainer ever! He also loves being held and cuddled, which I'm sure that he'll never run out of. I am pretty much fully healed now and I have lost about 35 of the 50 lbs I gained with the pregnancy in the past 3 weeks and I'm hoping to continue to lose the rest in the next little while. Bryce and I are staying at the Ronald McDonald House close to the hospital so we can be close to Jace, but we are hoping that we will all get to go home in a couple more weeks. :) Thank you all so much for your loving thoughts and prayers, they have been truly appreciated!