Cooper

Cooper's cousins haven't been able to meet him yet, because the doctors say he's still too weak to be around kids. Jessi and Paige made him these colorful drawings today. Cooper will love all five of his great, girl cousins.

 Like father; like son. It has been great to have Cooper home with us this week. Here is a little picture of the boys hanging out at home. Don't they look relaxed. Happy 4 weeks old, Cooper!

A BIG THANKS!

 

Thank You "Beary" Much!!!

We want to thank everyone that helped our family at Methodist Hospital and Park Nicollet Clinic. We had been planning to have a baby for a long time. It was quite a process getting my health in order, and then the craziness of Cooper's birth and first few weeks. There are so many people that have helped us through this journey. Our family and friends have been amazing, but we also want to thank the medical staff that have been a huge part in this. 

There have been many people that made an impact in our lives, and I know I won't remember everyone, but I want to send a special thanks to medical staff members Sara, Deb, Rosemary, Mary, Paula, Holly, Linda, Joan, Tammy, Cheryl, Cherrie, Kim, Dr. Pratt, Dr. Swartout, Dr. Strathy, Dr. LaFave, Dr. Myers, Dr. Schned, Dr. Stesin, Dr. Chen, Dr. Williams, Dr. Pepper, and Dr. Sutton.You have helped us with this miracle, Cooper.

Bath Time Fun!

We gave Cooper his first bath at home today. He screamed and screamed! But it was quick, and we got him clean. Here are some cute pictures of our clean baby in his towel.

Going Home!

Don't I look excited to go home?

Getting ready to go home.

I'm all ready to face the Minnesota cold.

All wrapped up!

Finally home!

Yesterday, after 3 weeks, we finally left the hospital. It was a day full of firsts. Cooper had his first ride in an elevator, his first breath of fresh air, his first car ride, his first meeting with Cabo and Abby, his first look at his room. He was awake a lot during the afternoon, which meant he was sleepy and had a hard time eating over night. We are enjoying having Cooper home. Thank you to all the people who helped us get to here.

Tomorrow

Cooper comes home tomorrow!

Recipe for Success?

 No more feeding tube!  No more feeding tube! 
 No more machine pumping food into his stomach. They have decided to pull the plug on the feeding tube/NG/gavage feedings. Hopefully, Cooper will never need it again.   

 No more feeding tube!

Cooper's nose is now tube free. Yay! Look at what a cute little nose it is. Tom Sr. is convinced that he couldn't possibly be any better looking, and we agree.

Will it be a recipe for success?

Cooper is drinking 60mL per feeding consistently (remember they wanted him to get 90mL), and he is gaining a little weight. The staff here is convinced that Cooper still needs more calories, so they are now adding a little powdered formula to the breast milk to add in more calories. Now each oz. (30mL) will have 22 calories instead of 20. We call this Cooper's "special recipe". We hope it will be a recipe for success, and Cooper will be out of here soon.

Groundhog Day

GROUNDHOG DAY

For the 18^th day in a row, our alarm clock woke us up with Sunny and Chare’s “I got you Babe.”  Ok, so maybe that was in the movie "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray, but that is kind of what it has felt like for us.  Everyday feels like March 3^rd, 2011 over and over again but with small changes or milestones each day. Cooper, like Bill Murray, learns something new each day and applies it to the next day. One of these days he will put it all together for that one perfect day.  Instead of Bill Murray finally getting the girl, for us it will be the day when Cooper will get to come home. We can’t wait for that day to come, when we finally get to bring the little man home and put him in the nursery room that we spent so much time getting ready for him. We are so excited for him to meet the rest of the family (Cabo & Abby) and be home with us at last.

At the hospital, Cooper has been getting more consistent with his feedings. He is averaging about 60mL and is gaining a little weight. The doctors and nurses are sure that he still needs more calories, but they say we should be getting out of here soon (although no real date has been set).  Everyday Cooper is becoming a little more alert and in control of his body. We're also seeing his eyes open more. Here are a few pictures of our cutie from today...

Good Night

 

I love to sleep! Good Night. Sweet Dreams.
I have been working Hard eating and Sleeping. 
(My mom will Post More Later, But Our internet has been slow tonight.)

Eating

How are things going? Well…. It’s been a little frustrating the last few days. We are overjoyed at the progress Cooper has made since he was born. And although his doctors and nurses want to follow up on a few things, medically he is doing pretty well. His biggest struggle continues to be eating. Yesterday he bottled between 13 and 60 mL.His numbers are up and down; he has good feedings and then not-so-good feedings, good days and then not-so-good days. We just want to bring our baby home.   

People keep telling us that we have to remember he’s still a preemie in a big kid body. Apparently, his eating habits are not that uncommon for a child born so early, and he went through a very stressful first few days. We continue to work on the feeding and hope that Cooper will come home soon.  Love you!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

3-16-11

 Some pictures from today:
-Tom, Tim, and Diane stopped by over lunch
-Chelsea fed Cooper this morning
-Someone is turning into a leprechaun (wait until St. Patrick's day tomorrow)

 So the experiment yesterday didn’t really work out the way we had hoped. Cooper wasn’t drinking as much as they wanted, and he lost weight. They have put him back on the 90mL diet, and whatever he won’t take in the bottle is fed through his feeding tube. Here is what he’s been doing so far this week…

Day	Range per 30 min. feeding (mL)
Monday	20-30
Tuesday	40-55
Wednesday	50-80
Thursday	?
Friday	?

Experiment

 

EXPERIMENT

The doctors and nurses decided today that we could try a little experiment with Cooper. They have been making him eat (or be tube-fed) 90 mL of milk per feeding, and he has been gaining weight (2 oz. yesterday.) Today we started a 12 hr. experiment called "Cooper Can Eat What He Wants." They let him eat for 30-40 minutes, and then instead of putting the rest in his feeding tube, they just let him stop eating. As one nurse commented, "We may just be making him eat a Thanksgiving meal every three hours." They'll weigh him again, and if he keeps maintaining or gaining weight he may just not need as much food as they thought. We will let you know the results of the experiment.

FAMILY

Here are a couple of pictures of family that have come this week to visit. Cooper loves his family and can't wait to meet everyone.