4 Months Old!

WOW-ZA! Can you believe it has been 4 months? I probably say this with every monthly post... but in a way it seems like tie has creeped by... but it also seems like "WOW! 4 months, ALREADY??!"

Anyhow, Cooper is still chillin' with his peeps at the NICU. No official word on when he will be home, but we are really hoping it will be within the week.- Looks promising!

He is 9 pounds 4 ounces and 20.5 inches long.... To recap, 4 months ago he was 1 pound 5 ounces and 12 inches long. THAT is amazing!

Will update as things develop! PRAYERS for a homecoming!

Cooper @ 1 day old

1 Month Old 

 2 Months Old

 3 Months Old

 Cooper @ 4 months old!

117 Days.

Today marks the 117th day of Coop in this world. 117 days of Cooper being in the NICU and 117 days of visiting the NICU.

I keep holding off to post a blog in hopes that I could post "He's HOME!" update... BUT that hasn't happened... YET.

There is certainly talk of Cooper going home! Soon. No set date yet - and if he has brady's it could set him back more.... But there is talk, and THAT is always a good sign! Yesterday was day 5 for his last brady... and he had one in his swing. SO, the Dr. has said he wanted to keep an eye on him over the weekend, and they'll talk Monday.

Coop has already passed his car seat test, an so now all he needs is the A-OK to head home.

Cooper is still doing great. 9 pounds 2 ounces!
Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures of Coop's nursery soon.

PRAYER REQUEST:

Prayers for his homecoming are VERY MUCH appreciated, needed, wanted...

K&J - patience and understanding while they wait for that AMAZING and much awaited day to arrive!

Cooper's overall health when he comes home. Flu season is approaching, and we just want Coop to be happy and healthy when he gets home!

Late Night Update...

Seriously ya'll it's past 9:30... This girl is tired and usually in bed by now... At least on school nights!

Here's the deal... Coop is the man! I mean, really...he is. He's been breathing on his own for well over a week...maybe even two... He's got ALL of his feeding down now, all from a bottle! {GREAT NEWS!}.. I mean he is almost NINE POUNDS NOW! {WOW-ZA} and he is just plain ready to be home...

BUT.... {there's ALWAYS a but...}

He keeps having brady's - {a drop in his heart rate....see glossary, here...} He has to go 5 days without having any A's and B's {apneas and brady's}. If he has one, his 5 days has to start over again.
He's ready to go home, but he seems to want to stick to the NICU a few more days... {maybe it's the fantastic nurses}

Pray for this little guy to get that heart rate under control and maintain it - like the trooper he is!

PRAYER REQUEST:

Of course as mentioned above pray for Cooper and his HR. Pray BIG that the next 5-6-7-8-9------- days he doesn't have any drops and he is home ASAP!

KEEP K&J in your prayers for continued patience, comfort and His love. They can't wait to get this little guy home.

Baby M is recovering well from her surgery. Keep her and her family in your prayers as she continues to recover and they get her back on a schedule - and settled into her new NICU room.

What's Karen thinking?

Karen sent me this for the blog... Today, September 16th is Cooper's actual due date... Here's how Karen feels.

___________________________________________________________

Today was my due date. There are a lot of different things going through my head, so much that I can’t even separate one from another. There’s also a flood of emotion as I realize that we should have a brand new little, perfect baby. But instead we have a perfect, big 3 month old. Today Cooper is 3 months 2 ½ weeks old and weighs over 8lb. That may not seem like a lot for a 3 month old, but considering where he started, it’s such a big change. As much as we’ve gone through these past 3 ½ months, I wouldn’t change or give them up for anything. God’s timing is perfect and he knew what he was doing when we were all so scared for Cooper to come so early. Cooper is truly one of God’s little miracles and has touched so many lives; and I pray that he continues to do just that.
Being at the hospital with Cooper has just become our way of life. Since May 30, we have known no different. It’s been a long road and we’ve been tired and maybe have had to change some plans, but there’s nothing I love more than sitting with him. I think back to the first time we got to touch him or the first time he wore clothes, or I look back at pictures from when he was not even 2 lbs, and I had no idea what we had coming. I can’t say we’ve loved every minute of it, but I still wouldn’t give up those things.
Cooper has been a fighter since day 1. And still is. We’ve been so blessed with his progress. Being in the NICU and around the other babies that have come and gone (or come and stayed) we’ve seen a lot of things and not all of them have been as fortunate as we have. And it’s all because of our Faith and the prayers and support we’ve gotten. Some of these babies don’t have anyone, but Cooper has truly been raised by an army of God.

On a side note – please continue to pray for a speedy recovery for Baby M. Her surgery went well and they aren’t expecting any complications. Pray also for her parents. They aren’t able to hold her for a few days during recovery and that will probably be the hardest part.

Prayers for Baby M.

A quick request to keep Coops friend, M in your prayers. She was having breathing problems a couple of days ago and is back on the vent. It looks like she might have to have a trachea placed because of narrowing in her airway.
If this happens, she will have surgery to have the trachea in, and will be moved to Cooks where she will have around the clock care, and her own private room. Once she is able to take bottles she will go home with the trachea in place.

Say lots of prayers for her and her family that God will work miracles for her and her airway will widen for easy breathing and she can go home soon!

Can't say this enough, but THANK YOU for your continued prayer. PLEASE KEEP them coming!

DAY 102.

I have to put the day in the title because I am running out of catchy phrases to use.... But can you believe that it has been over 100 days? I remember baby Cooper's BIRTHday like it was yesterday. Everything from the very first text message at 7 in the morning to leaving the hospital at 2 AM the next morning. It was a day I don't think I'll ever forget.

As for an update on Coop... he is still doing great! He has reached 8 pounds and has been breathing TOTALLY on his on for the past 3 days!

He is currently taking 2 bottles a day... when that gets up to ALL bottles, sweet Cooper will be ready to go home! His nursery is almost ready for him! {although, I'm sure he'll be sleeping in mom and dads room for a while!}.

OH! And if you're not a "fan" of Cooper's on facebook...
"Swallow test went really well. He didn't aspirate any of it. They are feeding him now with a slow flow nipple and they thickened the milk. He's tired from the test so it's going slow, but it's going. They will start with 3 times a day and go from there. "

A FEW PICS for your viewing pleasure...

PRAYERS REQUEST:

PRAY BIG that Cooper will catch on to the bottles QUICKLY! As soon as he does this, HE GETS TO GO HOME!!!

Pray that J&K continue to have patience while they are waiting to take Coop home, and that they are well rested each day.

Day 98.

Again, I'm sorry for the lack of post... If at any time you all feel like I am neglecting the blog feel free to email me at katyanne@sbcglobal.net and say "GET TO IT!" - I won't be offended... I promise.

Well, Cooper the Trooper is doing great! He is so very close to going home, yet still has one huge hurdle to get over.

They have not been feeding him from a bottle lately so they could give him more time to grow and mature. Tomorrow at 2:30 they will be doing a swallow test. They will feed him under an X-Ray and this will show if he is swallowing or aspirating the milk. We want him to be swallowing, of course.

If the test does not go as well as hoped, the option of a G-button will arise. A g-button {or a gastric feeding tube or button}  is a tube inserted through a small incision in the abdomen into the stomach and is used for long-term nutrition.... This is an option that J&K would rather not do... Of course they want Coop to be able to eat, drink and be happy.... THIS IS A HUGE PRAYER REQUEST!

In GREAT NEWS... Cooper has been off of all forms of oxygen since 12 am this morning... {midnight}. He is going on almost 21 hours of breathing 100% BY HIMSELF! AMAZING!!!

SO... what I'm getting at is... he really needs to be able to eat, so he can go home!

He weighs 7 pounds 10.8 ounces...not so much fitting into those tiny preemie clothes anymore.

And of course, he gets cuter everyday!

A few pictures of the cutie pie...

 I mean, SERIOUSLY! He's cute.

 Sweet little family.

I didn't purposely cut my sister's face out of this picture..... I promise.

Baby M is doing great! She is on the CPAP and doing well! They are going to give her a little bit more time before they try to take her off of it. AS far as I know, she is eating well and disposing...well. :-) Keep the prayers for baby M coming!

PRAYER REQUEST:

A HUGE HUGE HUGE Prayer request tonight {and tomorrow} is that Coop passes his test with flying colors! I mean really... Pray that he swallows well and that all that yummy milk {well...to him, its yummy} goes strait to his big 'ol belly!

Keep K&J always in your prayers... As the days go on {98 days} they are getting anxious and are ready to take Coop home.