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!!