Goodbye

We said goodbye to one of our best friends today.

 

Campbell was a very unique dog and had some pretty tough health problems, but he had a great spirit and was a tough fighter. He was the sweetest little guy and loved to cuddle! He loved squeaky toys and went spastic as soon as he heard the squeak. Campbell didn't have much time to get to know Cooper, but I know he was instantly protective of him. I'll always remember his goofy ear that always flipped the wrong way and made him look so stinkin' cute!

 

Goodbye sweet Cam...we love you!

14 Weeks Old

On Sunday, Cooper was 14 weeks old, but tomorrow marks 1 month past his due date, so his corrected age is 1 month old. I absolutely love being home with him!

I now see that I'm not going to be able to blog as often as I did when he was in the hospital.The is just no free time. When he's awake, I'm busy feeding or cuddling or playing with him. When he sleeps, I do household chores. My new goal is to do an update blog at least once a week.

Last Thursday, the home health nurse weighed Cooper and he was 5lbs 7.5 oz. She came back today and he is 5 lbs 14.5 oz. 7 oz gain in a week! He was also 17.75 inches long. This week, Cooper also transitioned from preemie to newborn clothes and diapers!

An interesting note, Cooper is 14 weeks old and we have yet to buy any diapers! They were supplied while he was in the hospital, and we recieved a few packs at the baby shower.

Another interesting note, Cooper has brown eyes already. We were pretty sure he would develop brown eyes because Jake's are brown and mine were brown when I was a kid. I'm just surprised they changed so fast!

Today, the rest of Jake squadron came home from the deployment, which means Jake's hunting buddy is home. As soon as Jake finishes his online class this weekend, they will head out for a hunting trip. He may be gone about a week, so Cooper and I have big plans to organize the basement.

Jake sold the couches from the basement last month, so now we have a nice empty room. I think that means I should set up the sewing desk and cutting table that used to be in the craft room that is now the guest room. No more sewing at the kitchen table! 

Isn't he so cute in his bear towel!

Home Again/ 3 Months Old

Cooper was discharged from Seattle Children's Hospital on Thursday. We will be going back in November for another bronch, a swallow study, and meeting with a nutritionist. We stayed at the Ronald McDonald House one more night, and left Seattle Friday morning. We stopped in Post Falls Idaho to visit Cabelas and stay the night.

Saturday morning, we got on the interstate and didn't even make it a mile before a tire blew out. The G8 doesn't have a spare tire, just a patch and pump kit, but the tire was completely shredded and not salvageable. We got a tow, bought a new tire and 2 hours later were back on the road.

On the trip home we got a call from a worker at the Ronald McDonald House. A child staying there was diagnosed with chicken pox so there is a chance we may have been exposed. Jake and I had chicken pox as kids, but Cooper is too young for the shot. We are hoping he was not exposed since he only spent one night there. Chicken pox is very dangerous in babies, especially ones as tiny as Coop.

It is great to be home again! I think Cooper is happy too! No one waking him up to unwrap him and listen to his lungs, or squeeze his leg with a blood pressure cuff, or stick his heels for blood, or poke him all over to get an IV in. What a relief!

Yesterday was Cooper's 3 month birthday! I can't believe how fast time is going by. He was 5 lbs 4 oz at the pediatrician's office today. I'm glad he's gaining weight, but I'm sad he's growing up. I just love exactly how he is right now.

I think we are pretty lucky that he is so easy to care for. He falls asleep right away in the car, so the long trip home was pretty smooth. This morning he slept in his bouncer long enough for me to take a shower, fix my hair, and sort laundry before leaving for his ped appointment. The only time he's not so easy is in the middle of the night. He likes to sleep all day and party all night. That's kind of expected with a newborn though. I'm surprisingly not that tired during the day. I guess new moms adjust to bring very little sleep. 

Bronch #2

Cooper has been recovering from his hernia surgery perfectly! In fact, yesterday morning we had plans to get discharged today. We had trained on using the NG tube, lined up a feeding pump rental in Great Falls, and learned how to do a gravity feed through the tube for the ride home. We also set up appointments for the end of the month to come back for another bronchoscopy with ENT and a swallow study with OT/PT. Everything was done and we were ready.

Then yesterday afternoon, ENT decided they wanted to get a second look at Cooper's throat before he goes home. So they scheduled him for his second bronchoscopy this afternoon. When OT/PT found out we were staying a couple more days, they scheduled his swallow study for Friday. We're pretty bummed about staying longer, but hoping that this means we won't have to come back as soon for the follow ups. Maybe next month instead of this month. His bronchoscopy looked pretty good. The scarring is coming back but they did anticipate that and hopefully as he gets bigger the scar will be less significant. He is still breathing great!

Everyone tells us how great this hospital is, but honestly, I would give anything to be back at Benefis right now. I won't use this blog to vent my frustrations, but being at a large "learning" hospital makes me truly appreciate the consistency and empathy we got at Benefis.

Here's our cutie in recovery from his bronch.

12 Weeks

I'm way behind on bogging. I fully intended to blog on Friday, but it was a pretty busy day. Then I intended to blog yesterday but we spent the entire day working on Jake's homework.

No joke... the ENTIRE day! This week he had his usual weekly conference posts due, but also has the midterm paper due this evening. We hadn't even started on the paper until yesterday. We both researched and typed away all day yesterday and most of today, but it's finally done! He probably wouldn't have signed up for an accelerated 8 week online course if he'd known we were going to be away from home. We're halfway done with political science, and once this course is done he will only need to take public speaking to be done with his associates degree!

So on with the Cooper update. Cooper had his hernia surgery Friday morning. He did so well! They did not want to have to intubate him again, so the plan was to give him an epidural. If he was still squirmy, they would give him a sedative to sleep. If he was still moving, they planned to completely put him under with anesthesia, which would mean he would probably need the breathing tube. The surgeon came to talk to us after and told us he was completely surprised that the epidural worked perfectly and Cooper slept on his own, without needing anything extra! He said the entire surgery couldn't have gone any better! Cooper had Tylenol for the pain for the first day, but yesterday at about noon we decided to not give it to him to see how he does and he has been happy without it.

He does still have a feeding tube. OT/PT has been working with him to make sure he is not asperating while eating. Depending on how long this therapy takes, we may be here for another couple of weeks or they may send him home with a feeding tube. I am so ready for him to just be off all support, but if he needs it and it means we can go home sooner, it is worth it. The feeding tube will be more convenient than the oxygen was as the feeding tube can be capped off and disconnected from the pump, so most of the time he will be easily mobile.

Today Cooper is 12 weeks old. I'll try to update as we find out the plans, but as of now they don't really have a plan. They want to set up a feeding plan and make sure he is gaining on his own, then we will go from there. 

It's so great to have Jake in Seattle with us! He got here on Tuesday and I think he's making up for the two weeks they were apart. He always steals him from me to hold him or feed him. He's a good daddy!