Goodbye Stump!

The nurses at the hospital, Cooper's pediatrician, all the books, Rosie Pope on Pregnant in Heels....everyone says that a baby will lose their umbilical cord within the first 1-3 weeks.  This little fact is NOT true, and Cooper proved that.  After 5 long weeks of cleaning his little stump once or twice a day with alcohol, rolling down his diapers in the front, and giving sponge baths (which he hated) Cooper finally lost his stump!  I didn't think the kid was ever going to get a real bath, but the day the stump fell off, Cooper got his first real bath in his little tub. I finally feel like we have a clean, sweet smelling little boy! :)

Oh, and if you didn't notice, I'm a couple of weeks behind at posting this! :) One of these days I'll make sure to post things as they happen and not 2 weeks later. 

Changes

It's amazing how quickly your life changes once you have a baby.  Sleeping and eating schedules change, a shower may or may not be on the daily agenda, the house gets a little more messy, yard work gets pushed back, and it's no longer easy to run to the grocery to pick up a few things.  On top of all of these things, Brad and I decided that we definitely needed a bigger car to haul around our new addition and all of the things that he requires (car seat, stroller, etc,).  So...we sold my Saturn Ion and bought our first "family" vehicle...a Buick Rendeveous.



Brad says we are officially old now because we drive a Buick.  :)  Old or not, we are LOVING all the space! 

We have a 1 month old?!?

I can't even begin to think of how many times people have told us to enjoy every second of parenthood because it flies by, but I think the past month has made us realize how true that is.  I was telling someone the other day that it seems like Cooper has been in our lives forever, but then again it definitely does not seem like he should already be a month old.  Actually, he's 5 weeks old today!

Our little man is definitely growing and changing every day.  I think he had his first "real" smile on Saturday.  He was laying on his little mat, and Bailey went up and sniffed him, and he got a huge grin on his face, and then I said something to him and he smiled again. Ever since then, he's been doing it a lot when you talk to him.  I finally captured a picture of one of these cute, toothless grins yesterday.

He's also making A LOT more cooing noises.  Tuesday morning Brad was getting ready for work and Cooper wanted to get up, so he closed the door and let me sleep a few more minutes, and he got him up.  His little cry didn't wake me up, but it did wake me up when I heard him in the living room making some of the loudest little noises he's ever made.  Of course I had to get up and go see my little boy.  What a great way to wake up in the morning!  :)  And to make it even better, my sweet husband had made my coffee for me. 

I'm not really sure how much Cooper weighs now (he doesn't go back to the doctor until May 31st for his 2 month check-up) but I do know that he is growing quickly!  He's in between sizes in his clothes.  Most of his newborn clothes finally fit him around the waist, but the legs and arms are too short.  He has been wearing a lot more 0-3 month clothes, but they are still kind of baggy on him.  I hate to see him grow out of his newborn clothes, but I must admit it has been kind of fun to dress him in different clothes (other than footed PJs).  :) 

This was Cooper's first time wearing a 0-3 month outfit.  Doesn't he look cute? 

Well, I think I've spent enough time on the blog for now...I've been working on this one post for 2 days.  :)   I'm getting behind in my daily chores of washing and making bottles.  I better get back to the usual routine before the little guy wakes up!

4 weeks

Once again, I've gotten behind on blogging, but I definitely have a good excuse this time.  The excuse...

Cooper is 4 weeks old today!  It feels like he's been in our lives forever, but I really can't believe that he's already 4 weeks old.  It seems like we were just at the hospital and spending our first few days with him.  We have definitely gotten into a routine around here.  My life pretty much consists of changing Cooper, feeding Cooper, playing with Cooper, washing bottles, making bottles...and then it seems to start all over again!  I am definitely not complaining though!  I'm enjoying every second of it.

A couple of weeks ago Cooper went to the doctor for his 2 week check-up.  He did great!  When he was born he weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and was 20 inches long.  At his check-up he was 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long.  The doctor said he was PERFECT (which we already knew). 

Waiting to see the doctor

Our little man is growing and changing everyday.  He has always been a very alert newborn, but over the past week or two, he has really started to look at things.  Right now, his favorite thing to stare at is the ceiling fan (and it's not even on).  Yesterday he was in his swing, and I noticed that he was staring at the TV so I put in a Baby Einstein video, and he sat there and watched it for a good 30 minutes. 

For now, Cooper is eating about 3 1/4 ounces every 4 hours or so.  The boy LOVES to eat!  I really need to get a video of him eating and burping.  Brad and I always joke and call him a little monster because he makes the funniest noises, and he hates to stop eating to burp. 

At night, he sleeps about 3 1/2-4 hours at a time before he wakes up needing to be changed and fed.  Last night we started using the swaddle blanket again.  He moves his arms around constantly, and it wakes him up, so I thought the blanket would be a good idea.  We haven't used it since the first night we were home (which wasn't a great night) so we were a little nervous about trying it again.  I really think it works though because he slept great last night!  Depending on what time he eats at night (last night it was 8:15) he usually gets up twice a night.  Last night Brad got up with him at 12:45, and then I got up at 4:45.  After a couple of nights at home, we decided that Brad does better on first shift and I do better really early in the morning.  It works out great, and I have a GREAT husband who wants to get up and help out as much as he can.  :) 



Last Friday, I took Cooper to get his newborn pictures made.  They turned out great!  Here are a couple of my favorites...

Isn't he the cutest?  :)  I guess the million ultrasounds we had prepared this little guy for all of the pictures that would be taken once he got here.  I definitely won't post them all on here because I'm sure most of you have seen then on Facebook, but here are a few of my favorites that I've taken over the past couple of weeks.

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.  :)