Great First Night!

Our first night home was great! Everyone was a huge help and the kids were so excited to have their baby brother home at last. Cooper did really well. He was awake and alert quite a bit, and slept well last night.
I'm still trying to get used to the bottle making and making sure I get him all his meds on time. But we're getting there.

Welcome Home, Super Cooper

Preston's Gift

A friend of mine sent this to me, and it is so, so fitting.... grab a tissue.


Preston's Gift

By Kevin J. Shay

You came into our world
Struggling for air,
With courage and heart
You survived a scare.

Your will to live
And be with us,
Inspires and touches us
So very much.

It must have been hard
To go from warmth to thin air,
With a tube down your throat
It didn’t seem fair.

But you fought for your life
It wasn’t much fun,
Making our problems
So small by comparison.

We hope that you know
We’d do anything for you,
You’re worth any sacrifice
That we can go through.

With God’s help above
We’ll conquer any sea,
You’ve reminded us of the way
That life needs to be.

Long long time!

I know I need to update, and I promise to soon! Things are going so well and Cooper is getting big. He is now 6 pounds!

We are gearing up for some things, and I promise to post new pics soon!

Happy Mother's Day!

5 pounds, 9 ounces of awesome looks like this:



Cooper is now on all bottle feeds, which means no more feeding tube! They removed it yesterday. He is on a very very low setting for oxygen, which is only being used because he "thinks" he needs it...it's like a security blanket.






He is on almost 2 ounces of formula, which is being thickened to help his reflux.

All the preemie outfits are getting too small!






We were able to take all the kids to the hospital last night and get some pictures for Mother's Day.






The Drs have started mentioning him coming home! Nothing definite, but we are hoping it's soon. We miss our little super hero!

Big Boy!

Wow... I haven't updated in a week. Mainly because Cooper has been doing so well, and they haven't made many changes to him. He is now 4 pounds, 11 ounces...on our way to 5 pounds! Oxygen is being lowered daily, and is up to 40ml of milk!
Speaking of milk, Cooper took a bottle for the first time last night. And he did so well.





He drank 30ml from the bottle, then passed out!



He is growing and getting bigger. The Doctors are so thrilled with his progress.

My friend Marian came with me to see him Saturday night. He looked up at her like he was saying "I don't know your face!" lol



He loves getting a bath. He never cries!




Grandma Barbara sent presents! A beautiful quilt she made. She sewed all the footballs on it. And a cute outfit and robe! Thanks Grandma!

4 Pounds, 3 ounces, AND....

Look who's in a "big bed".... Cooper has graduated!!




This was a big day for Cooper. Not only did he move up to an open crib, he was moved to the "outside" of the NICU, where the more stable babies are. They are the babies that don't need to be monitored as much because they are getting bigger! Very exciting!

Cooper has been doing great. He's 4 pounds 3 ounces. He's gaining about an ounce a day. The nurses mentioned that they may try to start bottle feeding next week. Last night, Jared also let us know that he was ready to go see Cooper. He had been really nervous about going to see him, with monitors and wires attached to him. But he told us he was ready. He asked the nurse lots of questions, and was very excited to hold Cooper.






Remember the puppy outfit?
He's almost outgrown it!











Tucker also has been asking to hold Cooper. Everytime we take him out of his bed, he said "let me hold him". So we let him...