Rock Star

I haven't updated since Sunday because life has been hectic since then.  I did get an ultrasound on Sunday morning at about 11am and Dr K was able to sit in and watch.  The first few measurements are looking similar to Saturdays but then all of a sudden they looked bad, very bad.  He said that he did not want to deliver until it appeared that the baby was in distress and during that ultrasound he decided it looked that way.

Just before noon he decided to go prep for surgery. My friend Rachel was here for me during the ultrasound and I wanted her to come in to the surgery with me. We got a hold of Jake and he decided he wanted to come home so we got the doctor to contact the Red Cross before the operation to get Jake on his way. I got to meet the neonatal doctor (a different Dr K) and a NICU nurse, Nurse C. At 1:15 I was walking into the operating room and Baby Cooper was delivered via c-section at 1:33. As soon as he was out, they held him over the curtain barrier so I could see him and he opened his eyes. The most beautiful thing I have ever seen! They whisked him down to the NICU (Rachel got to go with him) and they stapled me up and sent me to recovery.

A few minutes later the doctor came in the recovery room and told me that he and the nurse took a close look at the umbilical cord and placenta. There is supposed to be something called Wharton's jelly that adds some support to the umbilical cord,  but where my placenta meet the cord,  the jelly was not there. He is quite sure this caused the cord to fold in on itself and ultimately led to the high pressure. He felt certain that the choice to deliver Cooper at 29 weeks saved his life.

Sunday evening I was able to ride down to the NICU to visit Cooper. I even got to take his temperature and change his poopy diaper!  Everyone commented that he was doing everything they hoped he would. I heard him called a "rock star" by multiple people.

My mom arrived that evening and Jake arrived home Monday evening. The past few days I have just been hanging out at the hospital, recovering from the surgery, working on getting my milk to come in, and visiting Cooper's room. Today I was discharged from the hospital. I'll be honest,  I was ready to get out and be independent again,  but signing the papers it hit me that Cooper wouldn't be just down the elevator anymore. I know the next few months are going to be incredibly hard, but I know that in the long run we will all be home together.

Cooper will probably be in the NICU until close to his due date (the end of September) but our house is only 13 minutes away so I know I will be at the NICU a lot of that time. Cooper is still doing amazing. They say most preemies have a honeymoon period where they do great, then they may have a few not so good days. Cooper has had good days so far. I know there will be scares and I know it will be a rollercoaster of emotion,  but it will just take time and he will eventually be ready to come home.

Since I will have lots of time at the NICU, I plan to keep the updates coming on this blog,  so stay tuned to follow my boy on his journey home.