Cooper's First Easter

Today was the first Easter Sunday that Cooper was with us. We were not real sure what we were going to do since we had just gotten back from Cook's. Cooper has seriously had his days and nights mixed up, so we have been a little sleep deprived. Amanda and I have swapped feeding times with her going to bed a little early and me staying up to take care of the 2 am feeding.

 Cooper has been like clockwork. He wakes up to eat at 11 pm and stays up until around 4:00 am. It's been crazy. Mimom came over today at 5:30 am so that Amanda and I could get some much needed sleep. When we woke up, we decided that we were going to go to Momma Lou's for Easter. It was a great time. Cooper was the focal point at first and everyone was thrilled to meet him. After that the kids had their egg hunt. It was great times.

The Rodgers Family

Cooper's First Easter Egg

Lukas and Evan broke confetti eggs on Momma Lou.

Here's to Family and Friends!

With all of the things that have been going on with Cooper, I decided that since tonight marks the first time that we have stayed a complete 24 hours at the house with no hospital visits, to put some pics up. The outpouring of love that we have seen over the last couple of weeks has been awesome. We have had so many friends and family visit and come meet Cooper that it is great. Here are some pictures of everyone.

Mommy and Daddy

Reading a book with Daddy

Quality time with Mommy

Our First Family Photo

Mimom and D-Daddy

 Deda and Pawpaw

Doc and Cindy Lou

Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins

Auntie M

Aunt Micah

Aunt Maggie, Uncle Griffin, and Baird

Evan (He wasn't real sure about Cooper at first)

Aunt Hillary

Great Grand-Parents

Mimi

Momma Lou

Disney Has Nothing On This Place!

You always hear that Disney is the Greatest Place on Earth, but that is a ruse!  It is my deepest heartfelt opinion that the "Greatest Place on Earth" is Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. While in the NICU, Cooper was treated amazingly. The nurses and the doctors did a great job of thoroughly describing everything that they were treating and what they were doing, what they were looking for, how we could look for signs, how we could do things a little better, etc.

Initially Cooper was admitted at 6:30 am on Sunday, April 17, 2011. The first difficult decision was that we had to limit the visitor list to six people. Of course, with the way our family is, just grandparents took up all six spots. The difficult part was that that meant that we had to leave all the aunts and uncles off.

Once we were satisfied that we could do nothing more for Cooper on that first day, Amanda and I went to Maggie and Griffin's to get some much needed sleep. The great thing about family is that they will always rearrange whatever they have to accommodate you. Maggie and Griffin allowed us to stay at their house for three nights, and Mimom and D-Daddy, Deda, and Doc and Cindy Lou all came and stayed at the hospital or took us out to eat or did whatever they could comfort us.

Cooper was on monitors for three days and under the jaundice lights for two days. (He did get to wear some nifty goggles while under the lights.) When you entered the NICU the very first thing you had to do was wash your hands up to your elbows and then put on a yellow gown before you could touch Cooper. This got to be so routine that it was second nature. Cooper was in much better shape than most of the other babies there, so we were optimistic. Amanda and I both initially spent more time watching the monitors than we really should have. The thing about it is, you can't help but look at those things. You have no idea what they really say, or what all those things mean, but you stare at them anyway.

After three days, they took Cooper off of all the monitors and moved him to the Progressive Unit. This is the step between NICU and going home so it was very much welcomed. They allowed us to "room in" in this private room with Cooper while in the Progressive Unit. This was something that really allowed us to overcome the anxiety of coming home and doing this all by ourselves. While in the Progressive Unit I decided that Cooper had been such a trooper that I built him a monkey at the Build-A-Bear Workshop. We named him Marty and, of course, he is a baseball player and Rangers fan.

After two nights of little sleep and constant worry, we were finally able to bring Cooper home.

Ok... This isn't right!

After just one night home, Cooper gave us one of the biggest scares of our lives. Amanda had told me when I got home from a baseball game that she had had a difficult time waking Cooper up and felt like he had stopped breathing for a few seconds. At 11:00 pm that night, we were sitting on the couch talking when Cooper had another episode. This time I was home so I was able to see it for myself and the fear that instantly jumped in was unlike any other I had ever experienced. We called 9-1-1 and the paramedics came to the house. They said that everything looked ok and that they couldn't really explain why he stopped breathing, or if he even did. Amanda decided that we were going to Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth so we loaded up and off we went.

When we got to the hospital they took us back and starting examining Cooper right away. The ER exam room was a scary place as new parents. Thank God that D-Daddy, Mimom, Doc, Cindy Lou, and Deda were all there to help. While in the emergency room, they poked and prodded our little boy more than any parent is really comfortable with. They drew blood, inserted a catheter, did a CT scan, and did a spinal tap. It was a really difficult time for Amanda and I as we could do nothing but stand there and watch and try to comfort our little boy. After about 5 hours, that seemed like an eternity, they decided to admit Cooper to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

You're sending us home?!? Alone?!?!

Nobody really prepares you for anything involved with becoming a parent. Sure, they tell you that it is "going to be the best thing that ever happened to you," or "you better sleep while you can" or something of that nature, but it doesn't really sink in until you look up and there is this little person that you are totally responsible for. At least that is how I felt as we started this process.

Cooper was born at 3:09 pm on Wednesday, April 13, 2011. He came into this world as an 8 lbs. 3 oz, 21-3/4 in. ball of blue-ish gray, waxy mess! That was the first thing that you noticed. There is not a word, or words, in the english language that can really describe the way babies initially look. Even now that I have seen it I can't really explain it. However, it doesn't change or effect the way you instantly fall in love with them. The 30-45 minutes in the delivery room before all your family and friends come in is absolutely the best time in the world. All of the doctors and nurses, while they are still in there doing stuff, seem to disappear and it's just the three of you. One family, ready to take on the world.

The three days that we spent in the hospital were crazy. You're exhausted, excited, confused, delirious, happy all at once. Did I mention exhausted? The way as a parent that you can instantly require significantly less sleep amazes me. I think that in the three days we were in the hospital we slept a total of 12 hours. You spend so much time just looking at your little boy thinking "I am responsible for that. If I screw this up, it could really screw HIM up!"

On day 3 they come in, take the baby to the nursery, and leave you there... wondering how that dreaded circumcision is going. Then, they bring him back to you and basically say, "Ok, it's time for you to leave. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here!" So, that's exactly what you do. You get in the car, strap the baby down, put Mommy in the backseat to supervise and then you drive like Chris Farley and David Spade drove the stolen cop car in "Black Sheep." I really had to make a conscious effort NOT to drive too SLOW!

When you get home, there is this sense of "what do I do when ____________ happens?" It doesn't matter what ___________ is, you don't really know what to do for anything! You just kind of figure it out as you go.

There is an immediate sense of pride in your child as soon as he is born that is just unreal. You know that you would do anything for them and that they will, someday, have to hear stories about it while they just wish you would hurry up and let them get on with what they are doing. Bottom line... I never imagined that I could feel quite the way that I do.

The Adventures of Mr. Cooper

Apparently EVERYone has a blog now days... I guess since I am starting one that is definitely true. The plan for my blog "Adventures of Mr. Cooper" is to make it easy for me to write down what is going on and , hopefully, allow for Cooper to read over these as he gets older to see what all happened and get things from our perspective. So... here we go!