A whole year and a half!

This past Friday, Cooper was 18 months! Can you believe it? He has come leaps and bounds from where he started. 

He’s your normal 1 ½ year old toddler. He loves to be outside, play with his cousins, eat, play… you name it! He hasn’t caught up 100% to his peers in all developmental categories, but he’s not that far behind anymore. They say that most preemies are caught up by 2 and he’s well on his way! He is hitting a few of the 18 month marks and is diligently working on the rest. 

Despite the mop on his head, he has had a couple of haircuts; I just can’t bring myself to cut it off. He has such pretty hair.

Statistics that Cooper has overcome

·        Extremely premature babies are born between 24 and 28 weeks, also called Micro-Preemie

·        Extremely low birth weight babies weigh less than 1,000 g (2.2 lbs)

·        Babies born at 24 weeks have a 39% chance of survival

·       1 in 10 premature babies will develop a permanent disability such as lung disease, cerebral palsy, blindness, or deafness

• 50% of premature babies born before the 26th week of gestation are disabled, a quarter severely disabled
• Of children born before 26 weeks gestation, results at six years indicate a high level of disability as follows:
• 22% severe disability (defined as cerebral palsy but not walking, low cognitive scores, blindness, profound deafness)
• 24% moderate disability (defined as cerebral palsy but walking, IQ/cognitive scores in the special needs range, lesser degree of visual or hearing impairment)
• 34% mild disability (defined as low IQ/cognitive score, squint, requiring glasses)
• 20% no problems
• This study also showed a greater risk of severe disability and lower cognitive function results for boys compared with girls. This supports the theory that the male sex is an important risk factor in extremely preterm infants
• Cognitive and neurological impairment is common at school age amongst extremely preterm children

Enjoy the pictures! 

This was about the day 2.

This was today.

One Year

It was May 30, 2011. A little before 7 am when I got the text from my mom. "Pray for KK - headed to hospital. Having contractions". My heart stopped for a second, but thinking it was just braxton hicks or something, I didn't worry to much right then. Not long after, I got another text. "Pray hard, Karen is in labor and they are trying to stop it."
I jumped up and got ready to head up to the hospital. At that point I started to get worried and continually said a prayer. She was only 24 weeks along....
I remember everything about that day. From the second I got to the hospital to the second I left. I remember where I was when I got another text that said "COME QUICK" from my mom. Karen's water had just broke and we all got the news that Cooper would make his appearance into the world that day - three and a half months early. I remember every phone call I made. Every face I saw there that day.
I remember being in Karen's room with several friends and family. We were all talking, thinking of names (ALL the names we came up with...) and all of a sudden the monitor tracking Cooper's heartbeat went silent. Everyone in the room froze as the nurse ran in and tried to find it again. She kindly asked us all to step out of the room. Not 10 minutes after that we heard the news that Cooper was here...and he was breathing! That was the first miracle. A baby born at 24 weeks. 16 weeks early. He was breathing and alive! It was a very happy time, but also very scary.
I remember standing out in the hallway outside of her room... Just waiting to hear what was happening. Then all of a sudden...just like in the movies, Cooper was wheeled out in his incubator. There were at least 6 doctors and nurses around him. There was a lot of talking and yelling, and people pumping and directing... They went by as fast as they could to get him into the NICU. We could not even see him in there because he was so small.
I remember seeing him for the first time. About 2 am the next morning. It was amazing. It was incredible.... He was such a tiny little thing. So fragile, his skin was red, and almost see through. He would have fit in the palm of your hand. At 1 pound and 5 ounces, he was a miracle of God. The journey had only begun.... but you know the story. {and if you don't...start HERE}...
There were ups and downs, but with your prayers, support, the fabulous nurses and doctors and the simple miracle that our amazing God performed... Cooper Grayson is turning ONE today. He is healthy, happy...crawling and doing amazing!
Happy First Birthday, Cooper Grayson. You are LOVED!

Prayers for Baby M

As most of you remember, Cooper's first friend and neighbor in the NICU was Baby M. We've been thinking a lot about Baby M lately and I wanted to share.
Baby M left the NICU/TCU about 2 months after Cooper, because she had a trach put in and Mom and Dad needed to learn to care for a baby with a trach and that just took some time. Well, the doctors decided that now was a good time to try to widen her airway so that she could breathe on her own and not need the trach anymore. That surgery was done last week and Baby M has been under sedation so that she wouldn't pull out the tubes and compromise the results. They have now started to wean her of the sedatives and will soon pull out the tubes to let her breathe on her own. If she can do this for 3 days, she's pretty much home free.

Please pray for Baby M and her family - these next few days are going to be very critical for her and very nerve-racking for everyone else.

We got the chance to see Baby M and her parents last week and even though she was sedated she looked  so beautiful. She has grown so much since we last saw her and has a ton more hair. Not like Cooper's, but for Baby M it's a lot!

Tomorrow is Cooper's 11 month mark!! Stay tuned for an update and picture...

Thanks for following!

Cooper needs some votes!

This is the first of 2 contests Cooper is in. He would really appreciate if you all would vote for him - afterall, he IS the cutest kid!

Click here to vote and enjoy a cute picture, http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/1259561?esrc=nwphotofaves_pmcover12, you can vote once a day, too, if you have a chance!!

Thanks!!

Long Time...

My sister kindly reminded me yesterday that my last post was in DECEMBER!
SO, with that I felt the need to update you all on Coop. Many many apologies for the lack of updates. Life has taken over and been busy for all.

Anyway... Cooper is doing just great! He is 16 pounds and almost 10 months old. I can not believe he is about to turn ONE!!!

As a preemie, he is behind on all of his milestones. He does not do what a 10 month old would normally do... but based on his due date (September) he is pretty much right on que.
He is rolling all over the place and wants to crawl really bad. You can tell that he is trying but just cant quite figure it out yet. He holds his head up like a pro and is REALLLLLLY close to sitting up.
He LOVES to smile and laugh. (especially for his favorite aunt) and he is just so darn cute. His birthday in May will be just amazing. It'll be something else to celebrate this little Boy's amazing miracle life! (He's gonna have a fireman birthday party)

Here is a picture timeline for ya, since I've missed SO much!

 Cooper Day ONE

Coop, 2 Months Old.

 Cooper, 5 Months

 Cooper, 6 months

 Coop, 8 Months

Cooper, 9 months

Cooper today. Because he looked really cute. :-)

Giggles...

GOOD NEWS!

Remember Cooper's long time friend and neighbor, Baby M? Well.... SHE WENT HOME YESTERDAY!!! After 6 1/2 months in the NICU (some spent at Cooks), several surgeries and lots of prayers, M is home with her family... and they could not be happier!!!

Coop is doing great too! A little under the weather with a cold, but cute as can be!!!