Christmas in the Mountains!

Every December, my family celebrates Christmas with a weekend in Gatlinburg! We always have such a good time! This year I was SO excited to take Cooper with us! Kevin decided to go up a day early and have a "Family Day" with just us three! We had so much fun!! We toured the Titanic Museum, did a little shopping, and ate dinner at The Smoky Mountain Brewery (delicious pretzels and cheese!) I LOVE MY BOYS!!

My grandmother took all the grandkids and great-grandkids to the aquarium on Saturday. Cooper had a blast! Well, kind of!! He was interested in some things and not in others....but he was very good!! I have some cute pictures, but we have lost our cord to upload them and haven't replaced it yet.....stay tuned!!

On the way home Sunday, it actually started snowing! It was so pretty! We stopped at The Christmas Village and had Cooper's picture taken with the most adorable Santa Claus! He even sang songs! Once again, Cooper could take it or leave it. He is too funny!! The picture is precious regardless!!

Operation Fat Baby is well underway!! Cooper gained 1 pound in less than 2 weeks!! He is having a little
trouble getting in all the calories we need to get in, but we are trying!! He now weighs over 16 pounds!! Stay tuned!! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Our first sickness

Well it was bound to happen........Cooper got sick. Toward the end of his birthday party I could tell he was not feeling good. I was hoping he was just tired, but my fears were confirmed with a fever.

I took Cooper to the doctor on Monday morning to see what was going on with my boy. He still had a bit of a fever and was snotty, but most troubling was this cough. His oxygen saturation was still fabulous, so I knew he was breathing just fine. The doctor could hear a little "crackling" in his lower left lung...NOT GOOD! I remember those crackling days of the NICU and it always meant trouble! She sent us in for an x-ray and it was confirmed that he was in the beginning stages of pneumonia.....YIKES!! They put him on some pretty tough antibiotics and we were told to keep an eye on him for signs of breathing distress.

It just so happened that I had Cooper's 1 year old well visit scheduled for Wednesday, so we went back in. His lungs sounded a little better, but his ears looked bad. He had an infection in one ear and the other ear was starting to get infected on antibiotics.....Poor guy! They switched antibiotics and gave him his 1 year shots; Fun stuff!!

We are still working on "Operation Fat Baby". We were told we could switch to whole milk and load up on the solids! They also gave us this pediasure extra calorie shake to give him once a day. This should put weight on him!! He already looks fatter to me after 1 shake! LOL!! His breathing is still great without oxygen!! God is so good!!!

Cooper's 1st Birthday

Cooper is 1!!!!

Cooper and his NICU buddy Johannah!! She is so beautiful!

We decided to do cake anyway.....

Cooper's presents!

What a wonderful day!! Cooper had a blast hanging with family and a few friends! We were showered with gifts for this sweet miracle!! We debated and debated about the cake and I kept changing my mind...He barely eats solids and definitely has not had sugar yet. When the time came, we gave it to him and he licked his fingers a few times and was done! He got very messy, so everyone got the pictures they wanted!! After a short bath he rejoined the party and opened his gifts...Note to self: Save money; give wrapping paper and boxes!! What a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is Cooper 1 year ago!! We truly have A LOT to be thankful for!!

I am counting my blessings today:

1. My husband, Kevin, who works very hard and is a very "frugal" with money! I am thankful for his frugalness~it has allowed me to stay home with Cooper this last year!!
2. My son Cooper! He is a fighter!! He is stubborn!! He is loving! He is funny!! I am blessed!
3. Our friends and family! They have prayed us through this LONG year!
4. Doctors and nurses who really care!!
5. Military who fight for our freedom and sacrifice being away from their family!
6. Our Early Intervention teacher, Mrs. Sandy!
7. Our wonderful church family!
8. We have a warm home with all the comforts!
9. We have food in the pantry!
10. Too many to count!!

Most importantly, We are thankful to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He died on the cross for our sins, even though we are grossly undeserving! Thank you Lord for our many, MANY blessings!!

Can it really be this easy??

Cooper and I with our glasses! He is too cute!! He has his Daddy's "serious" face! LOL

Cooper has been off oxygen during the day now for 2 weeks!! I cannot believe he is doing so well! He keeps his oxygen saturation anywhere from 97-99%; which is pretty fantastic! I am very much enjoying taking him places without the extra equipment! He is enjoying no nasal cannula attached to his face!!

I did have a moment of doubt and had to ask our pediatrician if he was really ok....It's kind of funny now! The monitor was saying that his saturation was good, heart rate steady, he was in good spirits, and was not breathing too hard. My thought "what if he is working too hard and won't gain weight". I had to ask:  if everything says he is ok...is he really ok?? Can it be this easy to FINALLY come off oxygen. His answer was yes! When they are ready, they are ready. DUH! I should have remembered this from the NICU, but I've had some time away and forgot! :) He reminded me to trust my instincts! Dr Bill  is WONDERFUL!

We have also found AWESOME child care for Cooper! I am going back to work in January and have been praying for the right person to come along....enter Mrs. Amy! She is wonderful! She has a 9 month old son and the boys get along so well! I am excited for her son to teach Cooper a few things! We have already done a trial run, and Cooper didn't even cry....not going to say the same for me! I feel very confident that we have found the perfect fit for Cooper, so I can focus on going back to teaching in January!! God is good!

NO oxygen and New glasses!!!





Our pediatrician told us to do room air trials for a few hours to see how Cooper does without oxygen. Armed with this knowledge, we visited the BPD clinic at Vandy on Friday. I told them what his oxygen saturation is without oxygen for 3 hours (he stays around 97% or better). They were impressed and agreed that if he continued to do well, we could have him off oxygen during the day. He still gets oxygen at night.

It's day 5 off oxygen during the day and he is doing great!! I am very proud of our guy! His saturation remains high and he is not showing any signs of working too hard. I even asked my pediatrician if we were doing ok...it just seemed a little easy...

His glasses came in on Friday and he looks so cute. He doesn't pull at them too much unless he is tired or just happens to find them with his hands. We are working on what the word "NO" means...He still laughs when I say it...Boy am I in trouble!!

God is so good!!!

Cooper's 1st Halloween!

Ok....So I'm a little behind. We have been busy busy busy!! The Fall season and Halloween are my favorite time of year! I love the cool, crisp air and the changing colors of the leaves! Oh yeah and the pumpkins!! I was looking forward to having Cooper pose with pumpkins and getting lots of smiling pictures... Let's just say THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN!!

He was NOT HAPPY and kept throwing himself backward refusing to sit up and pose for a picture. I couldn't help but laugh!! We bought 3 pumpkins and decided to try again at home where we could control the situation a bit better...

This is so NOT what I had imagined...But they made for a funny story!!

I found the CUTEST spider costume for Cooper for Halloween and despite the fact that I have an irrational fear of spiders; he was the cutest spider I have ever seen!!

We took him to our church's Trunk or Treat on Halloween night and then around to the grandparents. He was such a cutie and had so much fun looking at all the costumes!! Needless to say, he was a big hit at the Trunk or Treat!

We decided to pose for a few more pictures at home....

 Enjoying some candy...

 Posing with the Jack-o-lantern...

And posing with another spider.

Happy Halloween everyone!!

11 Months!!

Cooper is 11 months old!! I cannot belive how fast this year has gone by! He is such a sweet and happy baby! I love making him laugh and smile! I cherish these moments!!

Cooper now weighs 14 pounds and 12 ounces! He is gaining weight again! YAY!! He is sitting up some, but not consistently. He is so busy that he is always moving from object to object that he will not concentrate long enough to sit still! We are still working on that!!

He is very close to being off oxygen! We have done several "room air" trials over the last few days! Mainly because Cooper has pulled his cannula completely off his face! He has kept his oxygen saturation 96-97% or during these trials. We go to the BPD clinic on Friday, Nov. 5th so we will see what they say!!

He has been crossing his eyes recently when focusing on objects, so I took him to the eye doctor and it turns out he is farsighted and needs glasses. We looked several places for glasses that were cute and inexpensive! I didn't want to pay too much because he is growing. The pair that his insurance would pay for were not cute at all! I finally found some at Wal-Mart and I only had to pay $28!!! I rarely say this, but Thanks Wal-Mart!!

Next month Cooper will be a year old! WoW!!!

A great week!

Cooper is finally 14 pounds!! We had 2 doctor appointments last week. Wednesday we went to the BPD clinic. They did another room air trial and he did fabulous!!! He stayed off oxygen for about 30 minutes and his oxygen saturation stayed above 97% the WHOLE time!!! So I was hoping for a big drop, but they dropped him from .3 to .2......The reason we were given was they didn't want him working too hard and burning too many calories... She said we can take him off for bath time and if he stays above 98-99% at home, we can turn him to .1, so we will see!!

On Friday Cooper had a renal ultrasound to re-evaluate his kidneys. The ultrasound showed that his kidneys are growing normally and looked great!! Praise God!! They took him off the preventative amoxicillin so we will see how that goes!!

Cooper is growing so fast! He is such a happy baby! He smiles at everyone he meets now and is talking away! He is such a blessing! We are still working on sitting up!! My favorite thing he has recently discovered is his screaming voice! He will now scream just to scream! It is too funny!

What's going on...

We have had a busy week!! Cooper had a pediatrician check up on Tuesday and a swallow study on Wednesday. That meant we had to get up early both mornings to fight rush hour traffic so we could be downtown by 8:30. I have a new found respect for those that fight traffic going to work every day! Whew! I don't like it AT ALL!!

At the pediatrician's office, Cooper weighed 13 lbs and 11 oz!! He gained just over a pound in a month. Much better, but I will be honest, I was hoping for more....We decided to try an appetite stimulation for a month to see what happens...Stay tuned!! :)

The swallow study was a breeze! It took longer to get there than the whole study! He sat in a chair in between x-ray panels and ate. He had to keep looking forward so they could get the images they wanted, and he did great!! He ate the berrium flavored applesauce and formula like a champ. They said he has no swallowing issues! (I could have told them that, but...) He was such a good patient. They even said that his age group is the hardest, but he was so good! He gets that from me!

We are still working on sitting up and rolling over from back to tummy. He is doing great. I try very hard NOT to compare Cooper with other babies his age or adjusted age. It is tricky because the world has these expectations for him and he is on his own timeline :) He is such a wonderful baby and he is doing great! The pediatrician is proud of his accomplishments and told me to cut him some slack, Cooper is pretty much on target. So we just keep practicing!! As I am typing, he is sitting beside me on the couch throwing his passie and laughing. I love him so much!! We are going to play now! Stay tuned...

Thank you Lord for my many blessings!! God is so good!! Trust in that!!

10 months already???

Cooper is 10 months old today!! I am feeling a bit sentimental as I think back over these last 10 months. What a journey we have been on! We have had some incredible highs and some crazy lows; more highs than lows thankfully! We have met some of the best people of the face of the earth! I know we would not have made it through without them.




I can't help but wonder what the journey is all about. I have a feeling that God brought us through this for a reason. I only hope our story can bless others and bring Glory to Him! At my Wednesday night bible study, Beth Moore's Daniel, 1 Peter 1:6-7 was presented. WOW!! What a great verse! Let me put it here for you:

6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. (New Living Translation)

I was blown away by this verse! Kevin and I have been through the loss of our son, Grady, and 2 miscarriages before being blessed with Cooper. Our hearts have been broken in pieces and put back together. I am convinced that this pain was not for nothing! God has a plan!! I think that we have enough distance from our fire or trial, that we can truly appreciate this verse. Yes, we will have trouble, pain, and trials, BUT these trials will prove our faith is real and it will bring God's glory to the world! WOW!! Now that I am seeing parts of His plan, I would not change one second of my life. God is good! His timing is perfect! I am so incredibly blessed! I will sing His praises every day! Thank you Lord for all life's blessings!

What's new????

So, what's new with Cooper??? He is doing great! He has been eating SO MUCH better! I feel like he is gaining weight. He goes to the doctor next Tuesday, so we will have to wait on the official answer!! His clothes are getting tighter and shorter, so we are moving up from 3-6 month to some 6 month (mainly due to his length!) He is working on sitting up and can sit in the tripod position quite well. He loves being read to and as you can see in the last picture, he likes to read to Mommy. What a cutie! He loves supporting his Titans and even watches some of the game!

As I said earlier, he is eating better! He finishes at least 4 of his 5 six ounce bottles. He is enjoying cereal with bananas (or another fruit) each morning, and finishing all of it!! We are now to add 1/2 tsp of oil to his vegetables to add calories. He has been eating a jar a day and we are going to see if he can tolerate more! Hopefully he will not notice the oil...

We have our swallow study next Wednesday, so I will keep you posted!!

BPD clinic

We had another doctor appointment Friday. This time it was at the BPD clinic(Bronchopulmonary dysplasia also called chronic lung disease) at Vanderbilt Children's hospital. This clinic handles Cooper's oxygen requirements and some of his nutrition.


We have visited this clinic every month since Cooper came home in March. They have turned him down twice, from 0.8 liters of oxygen to 0.3 now .We were told that we were going to wean him slowly. They always put him on a pulse oximeter to check his oxygen saturation and heart rate. On Friday he was sating 99 so we decided to do a "room air" test. We turned his oxygen tank off and took the prongs out of his nose. He remained on the monitor and we watched to see what he would do. He did fantastic!! A "normal" person should be somewhere from 97-100%. Anything over 92% for Cooper is considered good. He remained above 90 the whole time with his average at 93%. That is a little low so she decided to put him on 0.1 liters and watched. He hung out around 95%, which is pretty good! He was up and down a bit so she decided on 0.2 liters, just to be safe...Until the doctor came in.

Cooper has been having trouble finishing bottles. He is fluid restricted because BPD babies tend to hold fluid in and it makes breathing harder. Due to this restriction, we are on a tight feeding schedule. I have asked to have it changed, but was told no because of the restriction. Cooper sleeps all night!! He refuses to eat in the middle of the night. I spent many nights fighting him for an hour to an hour and a half trying to get him to eat at 2:00 in the morning! NO FUN! Because of this bottle being removed from the schedule, we had to get the required amount in while he was awake. This made us feed him every 3 hours from 7am-10pm. When his fluid was increased, he was too full from the previous feed to finish the bottles, not to mention barely eating the solids. After terrible weight gain last week, 6 ounces in a month, we were allowed to bump up his feeding and spread out over 4 hours! Finally!! Because of this new schedule, he gained 5 ounces in a week!! Not bad, but not great!


In May, Cooper was in the 50th percentile for weight and height proportion. (We are not on the chart for weight or height...but we are close!) Friday we were down to the 1st percentile. :(
The doctors want to rule out any feeding issues, so they ordered a swallow study for later this month. The doctor didn't want to turn him down until after the study was done, so we are still on 0.3 liters. I am pretty confident that the issue was the schedule not the way he eats, but time will tell!! I am also confident we will get turned down next visit!

Doctor visit

Friday we went to the pediatrician's office for a checkup. We were hoping for a nice weight gain, but we were realistic because Cooper had a few days where he wouldn't finish his bottle or take solids. We put him on the scale and hoped for the best...At his last visit, just over a month ago, he weighed 12 lbs 4 oz. Friday he weighed 12 lbs 10 oz...... Bummer!

A six ounce gain in 30+days is not very good. I was a little bummed. BUT he grew over an inch and a half!! He is now 25 and 1/4 inches long, so that is a good thing! :) Now we have devised a plan to help maximize his weight gain. We are upping his formula and stretching out the time between bottles. This may seem like a "no brainer" to many of you, but Cooper is on a restricted diet. He is only allowed to get a certain amount of fluid each day. He also loves his night sleep (Thank God!!) and refuses to eat in the middle of the night which forces me to get all the liquid in during the day! I have been asking to stretch the time between feeds, but was told not to by the nutritionist. So, we carried on, feeding him 5 ounces every 3 hours for him to eat between 3-5 ounces and maybe a few bites of his vegetable or cereal. We are hoping that this new plan, which will give him 6 ounces every 4 hours will be better AND so far so good!!! He has been finishing 5-6 ounces each bottle! We will add back solids tomorrow (I didn't want to stretch his tummy too far!) Thank you Dr. Bill for listening!! We love you! :)

We basically have a week to see if this new plan works. There is another option if he doesn't do well with this schedule, but it involves medication, so we are praying this works!! Here goes nothing!!

9 months old!!

Cooper is 9 months old!! I cannot believe that we have survived these 9 months! He is such a blessing to us! He can roll from his tummy to his back, but he is content on his back, so he won't roll from back to tummy~yet!! He is laughing out loud and has a smile that melts our hearts! He is growing like a weed! He is over 12 lbs (we go Friday and I will update his exact weight then), and is 24 inches long! He is now wearing 3-6 month size and 6 month sleepers! He is eating solids and loves his green beans! He is still sleeping through the night (YAY!), and wakes up happy every morning! He is trying very hard to sit up, but his head is still too heavy for him! He is chewing on everything, so we think teeth are going to make an appearance soon!! He is such a good baby but is a little spoiled....OK~A LOT spoiled! But I was told that you "spoil apples, not children". I beg to differ!! :) He is such a miracle baby and we thank God every day for him!

It has been a while!!

Cooper is growing by leaps and bounds!! (I'm not real sure what that saying means!!LOL) Since our last post, Cooper has gained some weight, tried new foods, dropped medications, and even dropped his oxygen requirements!!

Cooper now weighs 12 lbs 6 oz! He is over 8 months old and is 24 inches long! We are so in love with this precious angel!! He is such a happy baby! He is very well behaved and likes to watch everyone and everything! He is quite the little observer! He has even started laughing out loud!!

He is still on oxygen 24 hours a day but is on .3 liters (down from .5 earlier this year and .8 from NICU). He is still on the monitors which help us know how he is doing.

He loves solid food!! His favorite vegetable is green beans! We start a new one every week. He has tried green beans, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, sweet peas, apple sauce, and we are starting pears this week! Of course I have pictures of each of these!! The poor thing has 6 FULL photo albums and he is just over 8 months old!

He is doing great with his therapy. Tennessee Early Intervention has a teacher, Ms. Sandy, that comes out once a week to help with things like tummy time, reaching for objects, and rolling over. Cooper HATES tummy time and now rolls over every time he is on his tummy! It is so cute! Unfortunately he is quite content on his back, so no rolling over from back to tummy...YET!! Ms. Sandy has given me so many ideas and pointers to keep Cooper on track. It is so wonderful having her here to help! She just loves Cooper and he loves her too!!

It has been a crazy few months! I LOVE every minute of being a mommy!!

Cooper is 6 months old!!

This is Cooper Dale Jones shortly after his birth on November 23rd, 2009. He weighed a whopping 1 pound 11 ounces!!

Here he is recently (I had to look for a full body shot, closest I could find!) weighing in at a hefty 9 pounds 11 ounces just 6 LONG months later!!

What a half a year it has been!! It now seems like a dream and not real; except that I know it was real and we survived it! That sounds a bit dramatic, but it was a LONG, emotional road but it was worth every second!! I cannot look at that sweet face without praising God. He is the only reason we are doing as great as we are. We have experienced loss in the worst ways, but had to come to a place where we completely trusted God for our lives and relied on His plan. I am not a patient person. Ask anyone. I want what I want when I want it!! LOL! I had to wait on God and His perfect timing...Waiting, my favorite! After losing Grady, we waited for over a year to get pregnant, and waited through 2 miscarriages. Finally we got pregnant for real with Cooper...and he came early??? Seriously??!! God has the BEST sense of humor. But then we waited for him to get better and come home!! AHHHHHH! Waiting!!

I must admit that I had some AMAZING help. My best friend Erica who always points me to Him, my girls at bible study Wednesday nights (love you ALL!!), my small group on Monday nights (I MISS YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!!), my wonderful church family and of course my wonderful family!! While in the NICU we met some incredible families~especially the Jacksons and the Greens~ and had some wonderful nurses and doctors. God put all these people in our path and we wouldn't have made it through as well without them. And we can't forget all the people praying for us and keeping up with us on facebook and this blog. I love you all!

God is so good! I am looking forward to the next 6 months and all the wonderful years ahead!

Mother's Day

I had my first Mother's Day this year...well officially. Thanks to Hollywood, I had some pretty high expectations!! I was thinking flowers, breakfast in bed, jewelry, clean house, my praises being sung loudly for all to hear.....Well, lets just say those expectations were not all met! I am laughing right now at the thought of all this and thought you might share in my laughter. Kevin did a great job! I got my phone upgraded, an adorable picture collage of Cooper and the sweetest card! Oh and most of all, that PRECIOUS ONE in the picture above!!!

Cooper is starting to show his personality more and more each day! He smiles at everyone and is cooing more. He is such a snuggler!! He loves to play "patty cake", peek-a-boo, and being read to. He loves it when I am silly and he even loves when I sing to him .(NO one love that!!) My favorite time of day is when he wakes up. He starts making noise and I lean over him and say "Good morning punkinhead" and he smiles at me so big that I am like melted butter!

I cannot believe how blessed I am! I am so thankful that God chose me to be Cooper's mommy! I praise God every day just looking at that sweet face! I am looking forward to so much we will share and all the Mother's Days in the future! I will try to have more realistic expectations!!

One month at home!!

We have been home 1 month!! What a month it has been!! You have already read about our first outing. We have improved GREATLY on each outing since! Cooper has been to the doctor every 2 weeks since we have been home and had 3 our first week, so we have been busy.

He is growing well!.He now weighs close to 9 pounds and is almost 21 inches long! He is 5 months old as of the 23rd, but his adjusted age is more like a 2 month old. He is doing great!

Here are some things Cooper is doing:

• he can hold his head up (most of the time),
• he is smiling at everyone
• he can watch and track objects
• he has almost outgrown his newborn clothes!! He wears mostly 0-3, which are a little big, but the newborn are too short!! YAY!
• he eats every 4 hours; even in the middle of the night. He is on a restricted diet for fluid intake, so he eats almost 3 ounces each feeding.
• he is a cuddle bunny!! I LOVE THAT!! We waited SO LONG to hold him, so we don't mind the extra cuddle time!!
• he is starting to coo! That is so much fun! I love when he coo's at me!!
• he loves his passie....I didn't want to be a passie mom, BUT oh well!!
• he sleeps quite a bit, but when he is not sleeping, we are playing. He has a playmat that we use to engage him. He still won't reach out for objects, but he watches them and doesn't put up too much of a fight during tummy time!
• he has the tiniest belly button! It is too cute!!
• he is still on some oxygen.

I have waited so long to be a mommy, and I am loving every minute of it!! I am so grateful for getting to stay home with him during these months. We are getting a little stir crazy, but we do get visitors at times. The doctors feel that it is best to keep him isolated to prevent illness, so we are staying in. We can get out to get some fresh air once this pollen count gets under control and the air quality is better. I am looking forward to taking Cooper on a walk down our street!!

This has been a wonderful month with LOTS of learning for all and little sleep!! Thanks for all your prayers!! God is so good to us and we are praising Him every time we look into that sweet face!!

Our first outing...

Cooper came home on Monday, March 29th. We had our first "outing" on Thursday, April 1st. We were heading to the pediatrician. I started getting ready for our outing at 6pm the night before. I packed his diaper bag, figured out the stroller, picked out his outfit, and got the last minute items ready to pack. We had to be there at 9:45am. I thought, "No problem! We got this!" WRONG!!!!!!!

The morning started out at 6am. I got him up and fed and got myself ready. The last thing we did was dress him and we were ready to head out the door. Kevin takes Cooper out to the car and says he is going to load the extra oxygen tanks. I get everything else to the car. It is like we are leaving for weeks!! How much stuff does 1 baby need for a few hours out of the house??? LOL!! Anyway, we are running a bit late, GO FIGURE! We are just past the airport on I-40 when the traffic starts slowing down...We also have to be there in 20 minutes.... Then Kevin says "CRAP!" He tells me that when he took Cooper out to the car, it was cold in the garage, so he came back in the house for a blanket and did not pack the extra oxygen. That is right; NO extra OXYGEN!!! I contemplate cancelling the appointment, but we are hoping the doctors office has wall oxygen so this tank can be conserved. We have small portable tanks that last about 2 hours and 40 minutes. We are 40ish minutes from home to doctor's office and then 40 minutes home; not counting the time there. So, we push on and get there at 9:40.

My good friend's mother is the office manager and she let me wait in her office instead of the waiting room. The first visit means A LOT of paperwork. So we walk into Mrs. Trevino's office and Cooper spits up. YAY! He also begins making gas noises. YAY!! We inform her of our oxygen delima and she gets everyone on the move. Everyone was so nice, they were trying to make us feel better. One nurse said, "Hey, You are here and you are dressed. You've done great!" I am thinking, "Yeah we are here, but we have NO EXTRA OXYGEN AND OUT SON NEEDS OXYGEN!!"

They decide to see us right away. Cooper's nurse, Tara, takes him to be weighed, and I follow her with the oxygen tank. She goes to take his diaper off and he has pooped! YAY! So, I go to get wipes and a clean diaper and take off with the oxygen tank, nearly pulling it off Cooper. I am thinking, "Nice! They are not going to let me leave with him. They are going to keep him because we are such a TRAIN WRECK!!" I bring back the clean diaper and the rest of the visit goes relatively well. I change his clothes and we head home. We get home just as the oxygen tank is heading into the red. WE MADE IT!!

We take him inside and celebrate surviving our first outing. I go to unpack his dirty clothes from the diaper bag and can't find them...YES, I left them at the office!!!!! TRAIN WRECK!!! I felt so bad!! It was typical me!! Get the smallest details and forget the important stuff!!!

Hope this made you laugh!! It almost made me cry!!

Could it be????

Cooper is doing so great!! They took him off the vapotherm Friday and put him on 1 liter of oxygen. He did so great all day Friday! I was almost expecting a bit of a setback Saturday, but he did great!! The nurses have even turned him down a bit, so he is currently on less than 1 liter! Today he was anywhere from .5-.7 liters. We are so proud of him!!!

The doctors have even began having the "home" conversation!! Originally we were told he could be home this weekend, but they have had to move it back some. He is having a test tomorrow where they insert a catheter and some dye to make sure his kidneys are not refluxing urine into his bladder. This condition has a LONG name (which I forgot!), is quite common, his case is mild, and most heal on their own. They are just doing this test to rule out any issues. He also has to be circumcised this week. He also got his 4 month shots today. This will be a LONG week for Cooper! They want to make sure he comes through all these "steps" doing well!! Then we will get to room in with him and bring him home!! Of course, as we have learned about life in the NICU, things can change! He is doing so great!! We are praising God for our 7 pound blessing!! We love you all and thank you for all your prayers and support!!

So far so good!!!

Cooper was moved to oxygen Friday around noon. They took him off vapotherm with a flow of 2 and put him on oxygen with a flow of 1. We have been praying for this moment for days and here we go........... Immediately after the change he was doing well!! We realized there is a period of adjustment, so we watched and waited. He did great!! His oxygen saturation stayed in the 90s most of the day!!

I was exhausted from the excitement so I went home. I knew he had a blood gas the next morning to test his CO2, oxygen, and ph levels and this will show how well he is doing. I called several times during the night to make sure he was still doing great, and he was!!! His test was not bad either. His CO2 levels were around where he always is, so we are staying where we are. I am so proud and thankful!! God is so good!!

Could it be that we are close to home??? We will have to wait and see! The doctors are calling the clinic about meds on Monday and he has shots on Tuesday. They usually want to keep them for a day or 2 after the shots to make sure there is no reaction. So, after that???????????? We will see..............

A lot of pressure!!

Our sweet boy will get to try out a nasal cannula tomorrow!! The doctors are going to take him off the vapotherm and put him on oxygen and see how he does! I am excited because we are moving forward. To put this in perspective: if he does well, he can come home very soon. If he does not do well, they will put him back on the vapotherm and we wait some more... I am so excited and proud of our little guy! We have prayed so hard for this day. I feel like he is ready. I will be by his side cheering him the whole day! I will let you know how he does!! Stay tuned..... Our lives can change pretty quickly depending on how tomorrow goes. (You would think we would be used to that!!)

BTW~Cooper weighs 6lbs 12 oz. (2 more ounces and we have a 7 pound baby!!) LOL

What a difference a day makes!

Well I had a bad day yesterday. What I needed was a dose of perspective! God is so good!! We spent the day looking at all the amazing and wonderful things in my life! I realized that I was focused on all the wrong things. So this is my change of perspective blog....

Cooper is an amazing miracle baby! He was born at 26 weeks. He was only 1 pound 11 ounces and 12 1/2 inches long. He has avoided many issues faced by being born premature such as brain bleeds, digestive issues (NEC), and eye development issues (ROP). He has consistently put on weight. He takes a bottle like a champ! He survived heart surgery at a month old. He kicked the ventilator after 6 weeks. He only had to be on cpap for a few days. He went from 6 liters to 2 liters on the vapotherm in 7 days! He is still fighting! He is incredibly patient. He loves to be held. He can flirt like a pro! He makes the cutest faces! He melts my heart! He weighs 6 pounds and 6 ounces!

There are some amazing things about NICU life. I have a tremendous amount of medical knowledge, especially about lungs!! I have met some amazing families that are going through the same things! I love talking with them, encouraging them, and being encouraged by them. We cry together and celebrate the little and BIG accomplishments together! The doctors know us and we know them! They greet us like friends and always make sure they stay to answer any and all questions we have. I have also made some wonderful friendships with some AMAZING nurses (Both at Baptist and Vandy!) They work so very hard and take time getting to know us. I have had some of the best conversations at Cooper's bedside with our nurses. They always greet me and ask how I am doing. I feel like they genuinely care about my family! We laugh and share about our lives! They are wonderful! There is a lady named Joyce who works in the booth at the parking garage. She is so sweet and thoughful! She is always remembers me and is so friendly and asks about Cooper! I always meet someone in the elevator in the garage and say hi and smile! (There are people who actually think I work there and ask for directions! LOL!) These have been some of the best experiences I have had!

Yesterday I complained about the drive. It is long, but I get to listen to and be encouraged by WayFM. This is one way I try to stay focused. There are a few songs out there that have helped me, especially today: Hope Now by Addison Road, Let the Waters Rise by Mike's Chair, and Safe by Phil Wickham. These songs really speak to my heart and what I am going through. God is so good to me! When I am in a funk, he gently pulls me out and focuses my attention on all the blessings I have. Once again, I have been able to hold, touch, kiss, and love my son all before he was supposed to be here! What an amazing miracle!

Thanks for letting me share both perspectives with you! Keep the prayers coming! They are talking about starting steroids Sunday! God is so good!! ALL THE TIME!

A little truth...

Cooper is now 6 pounds 3 ounces. He has not changed much since the blood transfusion, so we are bummed. The doctors came by today to talk to me about the plan. I am a planner, so this was very nice!! He is currently on Viagra (ok, insert joke here!). There have been several studies that show it can be useful in treating pulmonary hypertension and chronic lung disease. Cooper does not have pulmonary hypertension, but we were hoping it would improve his chronic lung disease. The doctors have not been impressed with the results. We are going to up the dose and give it a few days. If he does not show improvement, we are going to try steroids again. Again my prayer is for God to give the doctors the solution to Cooper's lung issues.

I am growing so tired of driving to Baptist hospital! Don't get me wrong, Baptist is a great place, but I have experienced all I need to. Cooper is now 110 days old and we have driven to Nashville all but 4 days of his life. I am not good at balance and I am very aware that I can have control issues. In the beginning, Cooper was unstable and I wanted to be with him every minute to soak up all I could, just in case. Now that he is stable, I want to be with him to take care of him and get to know him. I have to travel for 40 minutes to see him. If I am not there, I feel like a HORRIBLE mother and I worry about him. If I am there, I am not getting anything else done and when I get home I am exhausted. (As I am typing, I am ignoring the laundry I need to move over! WOW! Irony...) My "normal" day is to be there before his 11am feeding and I stay until the 6pm break. I try to go back at 8pm for bottle and bath, but lately I am coming home to spend some time with Kevin. Since he got moved to 3rd shift, we are seeing each other for about an hour a day. He has only been on 3rd for a week, so I need to figure out my new schedule...

I am so ready to have Cooper at home with us! I wonder if we will ever be able to have a "normal" life. We have been told that he will most likely come home on some form of oxygen. That coupled with his lung issues, we will be home for a while! I am sure we will find our "normal" soon...I hope :-)

Please don't get me wrong; I love having Cooper here! I feel like the luckiest woman on the face of the earth every time I see him! God knew that pregnancy was stressing me out, so I believe he brought Cooper early to let me watch him grow. I got to see him, touch him, hold him, kiss him, read to him, and worry about him all before he was "supposed" to be here! I would not change anything about his life! I am just ready to have him all to myself (ok and Kevin too)!! I am excited for the things to come!! Thanks for letting me share a little honesty! Thank you God for our precious miracle!

Blood Transfusions

Every Monday the doctors in the NICU check blood counts. Last Monday his hematocrit was 33. This Monday it was 26...This means that Cooper gets a blood transfusion. He has been requiring more oxygen in the last few days and Monday morning he was looking quite pale and acting tired. All are symptoms of low blood count. Within a few minutes of getting blood, he was acting a little better! After the transfusion was complete, his color was much better and he was acting like he felt better!! He got another transfusion today. He got 30 mls of blood over 4 hours. While he was getting his blood, they withheld his feedings to prevent stomach issues. They also held the next 2 feedings. They did give him pedialyte so he would have something. Fat boys don't like to miss meals!! He was quite hungry, but was surprisingly not irritable! He is such a good baby!!

Thank you for your continued prayers!! God is so good and will see us through this little bump in the road! We are still waiting on the new meds to kick in. It is more of a long term drug instead of a quick fix, so we will have to wait and see. Love you all!!