December 8, 2009

We're feeling much relieved tonight. They ran a brain scan today to see if little Cooper has had any brain bleeds which are common in low birth weight babies. The results showed none. It was so hard to sleep last night wondering what they would find. We're so thankful. They also performed a spinal tap to see if there was any infection present, and that too was negative. Our little guy seems to be a real fighter. The nurse practitioner said she never would have believed he would be doing so well since he was really shaky when he was born. Next we have to see if a problem with an unclosed valve in his heart has been solved by medication, and, if not, another round of the meds. He's still on the light for his bilirubin levels, but they were lower today so maybe he'll be off that soon. I've been able to hold him yesterday and today for about 20 minutes , but I wish I could hold him longer. He still has some problems regulating his body temp, so we can keep him out of the isolette for so long. I guess as time passes all his bodily processes will mature and these things will clear up. Please don't forget us in your prayers.

December 5, 2009

Saturday, December 5--It's been an eventful couple of days. I got to hold my sweet tiny little baby for the first time yesterday. I couldn't believe the feeling--there's nothing like it. Cooper is doing better with his bilirubin levels and seems to be doing pretty well regulating his body temp. Today the doctors inserted a picc line which is a port for his iv's. Now he won't have to be stuck every time they need to give him something. He turns toward our voices when we talk to him. He loves it when they place him on his tummy. The doctors say he is doing very well, but we can expect setbacks. Since there was so much drama during my pregnancy, I'd love for there to be no drama with him. We'll see.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Well, I'm at home and it's tough leaving little Cooper at the hospital. It's a whirlwind of activity there in the NICU--as of today 58 babies in some state of crisis or another. Cooper is doing fine so far. He lost about an ounce which is normal for all newborns, but he's made great strides in other areas. Today they removed him from the CPAP (which helped him breathe) to a Vaportherm, a small tube in his nostrils. I was allowed to change his diaper, pick him up while his nurse changed his bedding, take his temperature, and for the first time, see his face and head minus all the equipment. I see a lot of Matt in him, except for his nose. He has a good bit of hair and is well proportioned even though he's small. He was fed breast milk through a tiny tube that goes down his throat into his tummy. He's on a light for his bilirubin levels (liver function). He still has a long way to go, but it's a good start. Keep him in your prayers.

Cooper is here

He is here, he was born at exactly 26 weeks, on Thanksgiving day, I started bleeding, it went away, they started me on magnesium friday morning, by that night, I refused the mag, the side effects were just too much, I thought I was having a heart attack, my face was burned, i had a racing heart, chest pains, headaches, nausea, and light headed. Contractions started at 4 am on sunday morning, which we didn't think were contractions, they weren't picking up on the monitor, so we thought just gas pains, until about 4 that afternoon when i got up to go to the restroom, and I couldn't get off the bathroom floor, the pain was uncontrollable. They drug me back to the bed, and rushed me to l&d, I was in such pain, i begged for pain meds, and you know it was bad if I was begging for meds. They got the iv started, got the dr in there to talk to me, not sure what he said, they did and ultrasound and he was breech. I said I have to push, and the dr finally checked me, I was at a 10 and figured I had been that way for 20 mins. So I was rushed in for an emergency c-section. I was in the OR for 2 mins before I was out. He was born at 4:35, weighing in at 2lbs 1.5 ozs., 13 3/4 inches long. They took him straight to the nicu and he was placed on the ventilator with 50/50. He was taken off the ventilator about 8 this morning and placed on the c-pap machine breathing 77% on his own. Hes doing really well and weighed more than they expected of a baby born at 26 weeks. So we are trucking along, praying a lot, and going to see him a lot. They said I'd be released on Wednesday. We can't touch him for 72 hrs, although they let my husband touch his foot today.

day who knows....

I know I'm behind on my blog. I'll probably update every week or so from now on. I got moved to another room which is now at the end of the hallway and much quieter. Its been a rough week for me. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I was kinda sad that we couldn't do our regular Thanksgiving traditions. But it was a rough day for me, I had the nurse come in around 10 to hook Cooper up on the monitor and I always get up to use the restroom before they hook me up. And I had major bleeding. I just knew that Cooper was going to be born that day. The nurse called the Dr and Dr Hill came in and did an examination and told me everything was ok, that Cooper was ok and he wasn't going to be born that day. I was so relieved. But I just broke down. It was so stressful. This pregnancy has been eventful to say the least. They put me on magnesium on Friday morning, and for the nurses trying to find a vein to put the iv was a task. My hands look like pin cusions. I felt ok during the day with the magnesium, just really tired until around 5. And after 5 I have never had this kind of reaction with any kind of drug. My heart was beating fast, I felt like I could crawl out of my skin, my chest hurt, my face was on fire, it looked like I had been in the sun for days. And around 10 Friday night, I was begging to be taken off of the magnesium. The nurse called the Dr to ask what else she could do before I was taken off, but it took the Dr so long to call back, I finally refused the magnesium. They took it off and I immediately felt better with the exception of my chest hurting. It hurt all night, and this morning they finally did an EKG to make sure my heart was beating right. I felt completely better around 10 this morning. Mom stayed with me last night and I'm so glad she did. I found out today that I'm RH Negative, so I had to get a shot today which wasn't bad. But I'm so tired of being stuck with needles.

Day 9

Mom and Carson came by today for a little bit. I'm always happy to see Carson, he always makes me feel so good. He told me today that he wanted Cooper to be here.

My noisy neighbor was quiet all day until around 7 tonight when there were about 20 people in her room with a screaming baby. The nurses finally told them to leave. I'm still praying that she is here for a short stay!

Day 8

Today was pretty uneventful. Pretty much the daily routine, wake up at 5:15 to talk to the resident Dr, fall back asleep and wake back up at 6 for the tech to take my vitals, and then wait for the nurse to come in and give me my antibiotics. Then I sleep until 8 then wake up again for breakfast. My mom usually comes around 9:30 and we just hang out all day. I get my 30 minute escape which I look forward to everyday. But around 7 I got some new neighbors, some lady who doesn't speak English. She had around 15 visitors last night and they were so loud. And stayed loud until after 12. The walls here paper thin. I'm hoping shes only here for the weekend, otherwise its going to be an extra long 10 weeks.