2021 History
Jase and Ellen Jensen
We started 2021 out with a trip to Bryce Canyon for Ellen’s birthday. We met up with Sophie (Ellen’s Sister) and Ty while there and had a fun few days hiking in the area. Ellen started the second trimester of her pregnancy in February and we announced our pregnancy to people outside of the family on Valentine’s Day. In March we found out that we were expecting a baby boy! In May we added a new member to the family, our hamster Willa! Sadly Willa died shortly after Evan was born.
In the beginning of June, we watched some of Ellen’s neighbors from up north and then some of Ky’s cousins the following week. It was a busy two weeks of playing parents before Evan arrived! On the 29th of June Ellen went into labor eight weeks early and checked into the hospital. Evan stayed put for two more days, then was born at 8 am on July first via an emergency C-section. He weighed 4 lbs 3 oz, and was 17 inches long. After Evan was born he was whisked away to the NICU, where he stayed for 23 days before we got to bring him home. Evan did great in the NICU and got stronger and stronger every day. He got down to 3 lbs 7 oz, but quickly bounced back up to 4 lbs (one of the requirements to bring him home). He also had to get big enough to regulate his body temperature and eat orally in order to come home. When he came home he was still on oxygen, but we were so thankful to finally have him home with us!
During the time when Evan was in the NICU we both quit our jobs; Ellen as an assistant in the Chrysalis office and Jase as a teller at Deseret First Credit Union. Once Evan got out of the NICU, Jase got a new job at Chrysalis in order to better prepare for applying to med schools during the fall of 2022. Ellen was able to stay home and take care of Evan. School started back up in August and it was the start of the last year of college for both of us. We graduate with our bachelor's degrees in May of 2022! Jase will receive a degree in biochemistry and Ellen will receive a degree in communications.
Fall included Evan and Ellen getting Covid, which caused a very rough 10 days. We had Evan checked out at the local night clinic and the ER to stay on the safe side since he was still so young (less than a month old according to his adjusted age). Luckily he healed quickly and everything was ok! In October we took a trip to Lagoon and Evan got to stay the day with his Grandma and Grandpa Bake. For Halloween Evan was a baby bat and we were vampires. We went to a fun Halloween party where we got to wear our costumes.
In November Jase was awarded student of the semester for chemistry and biochemistry. We got to attend a nice dinner and award ceremony at the college to celebrate. Over Thanksgiving break, we took the time to get away from Evan for a night and stay in a hotel. We spent Thanksgiving with Ellen’s family in South Jordan. We got to celebrate Evan’s first Christmas with both sides of the family and got to enjoy lots of family and friend time during the school break. To end the year we found out that Jase was accepted to participate in an internship at Johns Hopkins University over the summer, so we will be moving to Baltimore, Maryland after we graduate!
Evan has already grown so much and we are so grateful to have him in our lives. Becoming parents has taught us so much and filled our lives with so much happiness! We are so excited to see what 2022 brings for our family!
