Cooper Update: 4 weeks old

Cooper is now 4 weeks old! It's hard to believe he has been in the NICU that long. He is now 38 weeks gestational age. I am thankful that he is doing great! He weighs 6 lbs 8 oz and is still eating like a champ. He has not had an oxygen de-saturation in 3 days! Yay! So, we have started another countdown to come home. Please keep praying that he does not have any more de-sats! The little outfit the nurse dressed him today say's "little trooper". Yes you are Cooper!

______________________________________________

I have had some good one-on-one time with Bob this week. We went to the park every day and he has loved the attention... I am looking forward to having Annie back home with us this evening!

Cooper Update Day 26

Well, Cooper just can't seem to stop having oxygen de-saturations. They are fewer and farther between, but he had one Sunday and one Monday. So, now it looks like he won't be coming home on Friday either. Very disappointing! It is the only thing keeping him in the NICU. Please pray that he will stop having de-sats! It is so tough to see our "neighbors" going home all around us. I am ready to have him home!

I know I am biased, but isn't he beautiful?

 Enjoying some sweet snuggle time.

___________________________________________________

Now I am off to enjoy some one-on-one time with this little monkey below. 

This is his new "pout" face. Hysterical. He is such a mess!

Cooper Update Day 25

Cooper was set to come home tomorrow. He passed his car seat test and his hearing test and had not had an oxygen de-saturation in several days. But last night, on day 3 of 5 countdown to come home, he had a small de-sat (a blip as the nurses call it). So, now the countdown starts over! Very frustrating. They gave us the option to take him home on the heart & oxygen monitor. This would require us go be trained in using the equipment and CPR. We opted to keep him at the NICU. I would be obsessed with watching the monitor non-stop and with Anne and Bob here too - that's just more than I can handle. As much as we want him home - we want him home healthy! So, now we wait 5 more days... 

I am trying to remind myself that he is only 37 weeks gestational age. He shouldn't be here until June 12th! Patience, patience... 

Will's parents came through town yesterday and got to visit with Cooper

Then they took Anne with them down to Point Clear to meet up with Will's sister and her girls. Anne was very excited to go see her cousins!

and I am excited to have some one-on-one time with Bob.

Cooper Update Day 23

Cooper continues to do great. He now weighs 6 pounds! He is eating good and keeping his body temperature up. The rice cereal we give him at each feeding seems to be helping his reflux and therefore helping him not have any oxygen de-saturations. Yay!

Here he is getting in a good stretch before eating...

and listening to the news that he is finally on countdown to go home! We are on day 2 of 5, so if he continues to not have any blips then he will go home Tuesday!!! Please say a prayer that he will not have any set backs.

He was very excited about the news!

The smiles continued all day :-)

Cooper Update: 3 Weeks Old

Cooper is 3 weeks old today! He is now 5 lbs 14 oz and is doing great. (I love that little grin!)

He is getting rice cereal in a bottle before I nurse him each feeding to help with the reflux which they think is causing the de-sats. Since we started giving it to him two days ago he has not had any de-sats!!!

The doctor has taken him off the nasal cannula to see how he does on his own. Yay for progress! Pray that he will continue to not have any de-sats. And pray his poor little face will heal quickly where they have had that awful tape holding in the nasal cannula. It is just raw. Poor C...

I love seeing his oxygen level at a perfect 100 without the nasal cannula in!

Here I am getting in some sweet snuggles before heading home for the night... I am very thankful today for how good Cooper is doing (and my other two healthy children)! 

The NICU at STV has several different "pods" with space for 8 babies each. Each baby's bed can be divided off to a little room with curtains, so there is no real privacy (you can hear everything). There were two other babies who had the same tests done with Cooper this week and both got bad results. One was transferred to Children's Hospital NICU this afternoon. So sad. I am so ready to have Cooper home and hate he is still in the NICU, but it makes having a diagnosis of Reflux seem like great news when those around you are hearing that there child has a heart defect and the other a cyst in her brain that will probably cause blindness. My heart is heavy for them. Please say a prayer for these families.

Cooper Update Day 19 (plus Anne & Bob)

I just returned home from playing bunco with friends. It was a nice "break" from what has become my daily routine. We meet once a month to play and it is hard to believe that I was admitted to the hospital and put on bed rest the morning after bunco last month. I was at St. Vincent's for 11 days and Cooper has now been there 19 days. What a month...

We are still waiting on the results from the EKG and the EEG they did today, but (as expected) the Upper GI test showed that Cooper has reflux. We have started giving him rice cereal in a bottle before I nurse him.

We think the oxygen de-saturations are being caused by a combination of his prematurity and reflux.

I am hopeful that with the addition of the rice cereal he will stop having them!

________________________________________________

This afternoon, between Cooper's feedings, I took Anne to have her first mani/pedi. She was so excited and did great. She now has hot pink nails with white polka dots :-) 

This little guy is proud of his new hat and is all ready for football season to get here!

Cooper Update Day 18

After two days without any de-sats Cooper has had several clusters of them in the last 24 hours. Because of this his doctor has decided that he is close enough to full term (two days away) to go ahead and do a full work up to see if anything else could be causing the oxygen de-saturations besides prematurity. One of the tests will be a GI and everyone expects it to show he has reflux. All the nurses have said he has reflux from the first week, but because all preemies have some level of reflux they will not test or treat it until they are full term. The treatment for reflux could be as simple as giving him rice cereal in a bottle... They did a cardiac ultrasound today which showed his heart was normal (yay!) and along with the GI test they will also do an EKG and an EEG tomorrow. Say a prayer that nothing major is revealed!

Cooper Update Day 16

Cooper had a good day today. His body temperature remains at a good level and his weight is up to 5 lbs 5 oz. He also has not had a de-saturation in over 24 hours!!! Go Coop!

A sweet milk coma smile

With Jannie

With Daddy

Cooper Update Day 15

Well, as the nurses told us might happen, Cooper had several de-sats in his oxygen level today. It is very disappointing to see him taking a step back, but I know it is normal for preemies to do this and I am trying to be patient. :-) Everything else continues to look good. He now weighs 5lbs 4 oz and his temp got as high as 99 degrees today. They had to remove some of his blankets! Please continue to pray for him to grow and his "floppy airway" to mature so he will stop having these de-saturations. 

Here is Cooper saying "no more pictures Mom"!

Two weeks old

Last weekend for Mother's day the Footprints Ministry had a photographer come to the NICU and take pictures of all the babies and gave us each a disc with the pictures. So sweet! Here are the shots they took of Cooper. He was still under the heating lamp at this point...

It is hard to believe Cooper is already two weeks old today. I never thought he would still be in the NICU at this point when he was born. They originally told us he would probably be there one week, maybe two. When he came out breathing on his own I was very optimistic and thought he would be there just 3 or 4 days... 1 week tops... Now I am hoping he is out of there in two more weeks! Nothing is quick or simple. Thankfully, he is doing great. It has been 3 days since his last oxygen de-saturation. They increased the airflow on his nasal cannula from 1 to 2 liters four days ago when he was having the clusters of de-sats and that seems to be working to keep his floppy airway open. If he keeps it up, I am hopeful they will start to wean him off the nasal cannula next week. He has to be off of it for 5 days before he can come home. His body temperature was up to 98.3 today which is the highest it has been. Also, he now weighs 5 lbs 2 oz. It is such a relief to see him headed in the right direction! I am reminded as I see very sick babies around us in the NICU how fortunate we are that the only thing wrong with Cooper is that he is premature. It makes waiting on him to grow before he comes home much easier!

Here he is in his bassinet all bundled up. This is my view from the rocking chair where I sit...

Wide-eyed and ready to eat!

Sleepy smiles

________________________________________________

Bob is such a mess these days. He discovered the basket of apples we had on the breakfast table and has been helping himself to them. I found him having an afternoon snack today. Sometimes he only takes a bite before putting it back in the basket, but today he ate almost half of it :-)

Cooper Update Day 13

Cooper had a great day. He is maintaining his body temperature (just barely, but he is doing it!) which has allowed him to stay in the bassinet. He has not had a de-saturation in his oxygen level in over 24 hours. YAY!!!! Now if he can keep that up for a few days they will start weaning him off the nasal cannula. I'm so excited to see him headed in the right direction. Please pray that he can keep it up! If he does, I am hoping he will be home within two weeks.

He has passed the 5 pound mark!

 Waiting patiently for me to feed him.

_____________________________________________

And not to leave Anne and Bob out...

Bob and his silly grin!

Anne at her school's street party. Her face is painted like a butterfly. Note the flowers painted down her arm too. They are also on her legs. I was told she was the most decked out :-) She was very proud!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! I headed to the hospital in the morning and fed Cooper. Then after a mid-morning nap back at home and a yummy brunch fixed by Will I headed back to the hospital and found this...

Cooper in a crib! He will have to maintain his body temperature on his own to be able to remain in it. Please pray that he can do so! He is in a fleece footed outfit and wrapped in about 5 blankets here. He's just so tiny!

C.C. holding Cooper for the first time. 

My best Mother's day gift this year!

Getting some loving from my other babies!

Anne wearing one of my old dresses today. She was so proud!

A big THANK YOU to my Mom and Mother-in-law. I don't know what we would do without y'all! We are so blessed to have you in our lives.