Hospital Stay

The hospital stay wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  Everyone was extremely nice!  I would say the worst part was having a nurse come in the first night every couple of hours to check my blood pressure and temperature. I was very glad when our night nurse the second night we were there told me she would just peek in a couple of times, but if we were sleeping she would leave us alone.  I did hear her open the door, but I'm pretty good at pretending to be asleep!  haha

We were there from Thursday-Saturday (March 10th-12th).  While we were there we were able to spend some time with some of our favorite people.  I didn't get a picture of everyone, but here are a few.  Cooper loved meeting everyone for the first time! :)


Nana and Cooper



Pops and Cooper



Papaw and Cooper

JuJu and Cooper

Aunt Tammy and Cooper

Aunt Beth and Cooper

 

"Aunt" Stacey and Cooper



John Thomas, Great Grandma, Spencer, and Cooper



Great Papaw and Cooper  

 

Jaime and Cooper



Natalie and Cooper



McKense and Cooper



*On a little side note, Jaime and Natalie are expecting a little girl (Peyton) at the end of May, and McKense and her husband Chandler are also expecting a little girl (Piper) in the middle of May.  Cooper is looking forward to meeting his first 2 girlfriends very soon! :)

Cooper's Big Arrival

I figured while it's still pretty fresh on my mind, I better go ahead and write about Cooper's big arrival...even if I am 10 days late!

First of all, I must say that I was always and am still so glad I had a scheduled c-section.  It was so nice to get mentally prepared for what would be the biggest day of our lives.  Last Thursday morning (March 10th) started bright and early at 4:15 am.  Brad and I set our alarm, took showers, packed the car, and headed to the hospital at 6:00.  Once we got there the hour and a half we had to wait seems to drag by.  The nurses started my IV first and then hooked me up to the machine to monitor Cooper's heart rate.  Our parents arrived by 6:30 or so, and we all sat around and waited for the big moment.  Of course we had to snap a few before pictures...


Our last picture together before Cooper's big arrival

Finally, at 7:32 the nurses came in to take me to the operating room.  Brad had to go into a waiting room so they could get me all prepped.  From the moment I got into the very cold OR, time seemed to FLY by and everyone seemed like they were moving in fast forward.  The anesthesiologist started my spinal block, and within a couple of minutes, my lower half was completely numb.  After that, it seems like the blue sheet went up, Brad came in, and the c-section had started.  I remember everything so vividly.  I didn't feel any pain, but I felt a lot of pulling and tugging, and I remember my doctor saying what I was feeling was some type of electricity.  I'm still not really sure what that meant, but it felt like someone was constantly pulling on my ab muscles...it was a very weird feeling.  The next thing I knew, the anesthesiologist told me I was going to feel a lot of pressure for about 5-10 seconds, and I remember squeezing Brad's hand as hard as I could.  I didn't feel anything, but before I knew it, I heard everyone start saying that Cooper was here, and then I heard the very loud cries and screams. 


Cooper's first picture
Born at 7:59 am
6 pounds 15 ounces
20 inches long

The nurses took him and cleaned him up a little before bringing him over for me to see. The anesthesiologist captured some of my favorite pictures of the day...



Love at first sight!





First family picture

 I think I got to see him for about 30 seconds before Brad took him out to meet our families.

I love how happy Brad is in this picture!  Such a proud dad!

I stayed in the room for a little while longer while they finished fixing me up, and then they wheeled me off to the recovery room.  The nurse told me I would only be in there for an hour, but it ended up being 2 hours because the nurse that was monitoring me had about 10 patients, and it took her forever to finish my paperwork.  When I did finally get to my room, I had to wait another hour or so for Cooper to come in, but I must say, when I did finally get to see him again, it was love at first sight all over again! 

Seeing this little boy made everything we had been through over the past couple of years completely worth it!  He is absolutely PERFECT!!!

Only the beginning....

Over the past couple of days, it seems like we've referred to everything as "the last..." before Cooper is here.

• Bailey had her LAST haircut Monday.
• I had my LAST doctor's appointment yesterday.
• I also had my LAST haircut yesterday. 
• I gave Brad his LAST haircut yesterday.
• We cleaned the house for the LAST time.
• I did the LAST couple of loads of laundry today.
• We had our LAST supper tonight.
• We had our LAST full day of just the 2 of us.
• We will go to bed tonight one LAST time without being parents.
• Brad, Bailey, and I took our LAST picture together.

It's completely amazing to think that in 24 hours from now Cooper will be coming into the world.  Tomorrow starts a brand new beginning of the next chapter of our lives.  :) 

Ready or Not

I can't tell you how many times in the last week someone has asked me if I'm ready for Thursday.  My first thought is always yes, but I really don't think anyone can ever be all the way ready for such a major thing.  So my reply always seems to be "yes" at first, but then after I think about it for a second, the only thing I can think of is "ready or not".  :) 

The plan for this weekend was to spend one last relaxing weekend together before our little boy comes into this world.  I must say we did A LOT of relaxing, and we also got A LOT of things done.  We spent all day Saturday running a ton of errands, doing laundry, and of course napping.  Today was packed full of more errands, grocery shopping, UK basketball, and more napping. 

Brad asked me today if I was nervous, and I really don't think I am right now.  I know once Thursday gets here the nerves will start to set in since I don't really like hospitals, and I have never had to go through anything like a c-section before, but I am not worried about it because I know that it will be all worth it once we see Cooper's face.

So, as I really start to think about how ready I am for Thursday to get here, I keep seeing a to-do list in my head....

1. Cooper's room- CHECK
2. My bag packed- CHECK
3. Cooper's bag packed- HALF-WAY CHECK
4. Car seat installed- CHECK

As for Bailey, I think she's slowly starting to get used to the idea of having a little brother.  We put together his bouncy seat last weekend, and we turned our back for a second to look at the directions, and this is where she was...

The seat has been sitting in our living room since this day, and she hasn't paid anymore attention to it.  Thank goodness!  

The more I think about it, the more I know we're ready. It seems like we've waited so long for this, and I can't believe the time is already here. In 4 days we will be holding our little boy!!!! How can we NOT be ready for that?!