Coopdate

Just got back from the hospital and Coop's doing really good. Melissa was able to feed him several times today and he opened his eyes a ton and was smiley the whole time Momma was with him. They said that he needs to continue with his antibiotics for four more days so that means he is stuck there for at least that amount of time.

We want to thank everyone for their love and prayers. We've felt the spirit strongly throughout this ordeal and know that the added strength we're getting comes from you guys. Thanks a ton, we'll keep you posted

Below is a video and pic I forgot to post the other day.

1st Day in Special Care

The First Few Hours

Once Cooper was born the doctor basically threw him on top of me while Brett cut the cord. It was one of those moments where I was totally lost. I was in so much pain, yet it was so surreal to see our baby for the first time. My brain had no idea what to think.

As quick as they threw him on me, they took him just as fast. I tried to watch as they wiped him off, wondering if he was ok, but the pain that I thought would lessen once he was out just got worse. I felt like I couldn't enjoy the amazing moment because the pain was all I could think about.

The doctor finally got me stitched up, and Brett was able to hand me the baby. I could only hold him for about 2 or 3 minutes before Brett had to take him back because I was shaking so bad from the pain. I could tell Brett was really worried about me because he had Cooper in his arms, but he couldn't stop looking at me and reassuring me that I was going to be ok. It felt like FOREVER before the nurse brought in some meds that were suppose to help with the pain. I ended up taking an Ibprofen and Percocet and finally, after about an hour I was doing a lot better.

My family and Brett's parents got to the hospital pretty quick, so they were there before Cooper had returned from his first bath and check up. At that point I hadn't really even seen or held him. Once they brought him to my room the nurse said that I needed to try and breast feed him...which ended up not being very successful. He was exhausted and so was I. I was able to hold him skin to skin for about 45 minutes or so, and then I handed him off to my mom and the rest of the family so they could have their turns meeting him. After they all had their time, the nurse said she needed to check his vitals and it was then when she noticed that he was breathing pretty fast, and that she wanted to have him checked out by the nursery just to be safe. When Cooper didn't come back to my room for what felt like an eternity, we began to wonder what was up. The nurse finally came back and it was then that she informed us that Cooper would be needing to stay in the Special Care Unit for the time being because he had some meconium in his lungs from a bowel movement he made in my uterus before being born.

Seeing that Brett and I were pretty worried, our families left in order for us to be able to figure things out with the doctors.

Even though this happened a couple days ago, it is all kind of a blur when it comes to our emotions and what we were feeling and when. I just know that I had a really hard time with not being able to see him or hold him in the first hours of his life. Brett and I were both pretty shaken up by everything that was going on and really felt helpless. We just sat next to each other and waited...praying that everything was going to be ok.

An update finally came and we were told that Cooper was being put on oxygen and iv's to help flush all the junk out of his lungs. At that point it was just a waiting game and we knew we just had to be patient...which is probably the hardest thing to be in this type of situation.

Later that day...

When we were told that we could finally go see him, Brett helped me into a wheel chair and slowly rolled me down the hall to the Special Care Unit. When we got there was had to do a five minute scrub down of our hands and arms. One of the nurses had to do it for me because I couldn't even stand up from the wheel chair. After washing, I was rolled over to his little heated bed where he was hooked up to a bunch of different tubes and monitors. Seeing him like that broke my heart! My emotions were all over the place after that and they have been a roller coaster ever since. Even writing about it makes me a little teary eyes because I hate that he has to be stuck in that bed hour after hour.

That night, Brett and his dad gave Cooper a blessing while his mom and I stayed back in the room. I knew I couldn't handle listening to the blessing because I would have lost it. They came back to the room looking very hopeful and at peace, and I knew everything was going to be ok. Chuck, Brett's dad, told me a little of what Brett had said in the blessing and it was so good to hear that we were being reassured by our Heavenly Father that everything would turn out fine. I was also told that Brett told Cooper to honor his mother and to know that I had been through a lot to bring him into the world. After hearing that I balled. I just imagined Cooper growing up, turning to me for his needs and loving me as I love my own mother.

I love Cooper so much. I can't even explain how I feel when I see him and touch him. I was a part in creating such a beautiful little person. It is incredible to feel this much love for someone. This whole experience has also really brought Brett and I together like never before. We rely solely on each other and our Father in Heaven.

We are a family.

Cooper Vid's

Coop just chillaxing under the heater before his first bath.

This is where Coop will probably spend the next week.

(to watch in HD click here)

Our Beautiful Baby Boy

Here is a cute picture we got of Cooper before the mayhem started. We will be posting more about the situation that is going on soon. He just has to be in the Special Care Unit of the Nursery for lung issues for the next while.

Cooper with Grandma Fotheringham

What an Entrance

On August 14, at 7:43 a.m. Cooper made his dramatic entrance. But before I get to that, let's go back a few days and recap the last week that led up to Coop's dramatic appearance....(cue sparkly flashback effect).

Monday August 9, 2010

The day was Monday and Melissa went in for her 40 week checkup. I decided to go with her because after all, it would be her last visit right? WRONG! That Monday visit was the first of daily visits and daily membrane scrapes that would go on until Friday.

Melissa's family was in town from Oregon and her dad had to leave that Wednesday the 12th, so we pleaded with the doctor's to induce her but all of them repeatedly told us that we had to wait until their definition of "full term" had elapsed (41 weeks). So everyday we prayed that he would come early and on Monday I even gave her a blessings with her father, but as much as I wanted, I couldn't bless him to come early. In fact, I started saying crazy stuff like "be patient" and "prepare yourself emotionally" when he comes and stuff like that. Little did I know that those words were exactly what both Melissa and I would need over the next few days.

At the end of the day we took a long walk to see if that would induce labor and at 11:30 pm the contractions began. Melissa's family and I all got a little anxious and excited so we whipped out our iphones and timers and began to time the contractions. They were about 6-7 minutes apart and continued until about 2 a.m., but by that time we realized they were too far apart and not intense enough for us to justify a hospital trip, so with Melissa still contracting we went to bed and decided to call it a night and see if tomorrow they would intensify.

Tuesday August 10, 2010

On Tuesday we woke up hopeful that today was the day. I stayed home from work and went on a few walks with Melissa. Throughout the day she continued to have contractions and after measuring them for about an hour, they were steady at 5 1/2 minutes apart so we decided to go to the hospital.

We checked into Timpanogos Regional with a sort of spring in our step and a sense of excitement for what we thought was ahead of us. An hour went by and the doctor told us that Melissa was at a "3" and her contractions were too far apart to admit her. They discharged us and told us to come back when the pain intensified and the contractions were between 2-3 minutes. Disappointed, we left and went home and took several walks that day. We hoped that at our doctors appointment the following morning that she would be at a 4-5 and the doctor would send us so we once again anxiously went to bed looking forward to the next day.

Wednesday August 11, 2010

(Melissa's turn to start writing) On Wednesday we had a doctors appointment at 8:30 in the morning. We were hoping that I was dilated more, but it was still a 3. Luckily I had the younger, more aggressive doctor check me that day and he stripped my membranes like nobody's business! If anyone has ever had their membranes stripped, they can imagine how I felt. He got up there and scraped for the longest 5 seconds of my life...or so I thought...

Brett decided to go to work and had his phone on alert incase I had any updates about how my contractions were going. That day I had pretty consistent and somewhat painful contractions for hours after I left the doctors office. Again I thought "today might just be the day", but Cooper tricked us again. I ended up taking a nap that afternoon, exhausted from all the counting and tightening in my uterus, but when I woke up the contractions disappeared. False labor once again left Brett and I frustrated.

Thursday August 12, 2010

When Thursday arrived I was pretty depressed and was giving up on seeing this baby until my scheduled inducement which was the following Monday. I stayed in bed late, I didn't walk around the block at all (which was a daily occurrence before that), I was moping around that house feeling all sorry for myself. What made things worse is that my mom and sisters had to keep themselves occupied and I felt bad that I wasn't bringing their new grandchild/nephew into the world for them to see! I knew I had limited time with them, and as the days went on, that time was fading fast.

Brett came home that evening and he asked what I had done that day to help bring on contractions, and not being in a very good mood, I complained to him that nothing was going to help and that we just had to face reality.

He, being the hopeful one, said "Get up, we are going for a walk". So we walked around that block a couple times.

That night I had a couple contractions, but nothing that alarmed us enough to go to the hospital.

Another thing that happened that day that made my feelings a little more tense was the fact that our friends, the Turleys (who we LOVE and were so excited to hear this news) who were due two weeks after me, were in the hospital having their baby.

Friday August 13, 2010

Then Friday came...it started as any other morning. Brett went into work (mainly because they were serving Donuts like they do every Friday) while I slept in. Lunch time rolled around and we were invited to come see Lydia, the Turley's brand new and adorable baby girl. I loved being able to hold her! It brought back feelings of excitement and happiness, and I knew that even if I had to wait until Monday, It would be so worth it!

Little did we know what was coming for that night.

Brett, having gone back to work for the day, arrived home at 5:30 with a little bottle of GUESS WHAT. If you guessed Death in a Bottle you are correct. Thanks to the advice of the Housleys my husband went out and decided to get me a bottle of Castor Oil. I had done some light reading about drinking castor oil and knew that a lot of people tried it for inducing labor, but that everyone, like with all forms of at home induction methods, had different results. Living with myself for 23 years, I knew that I would be one of those people who would try castor oil and only have the bad side effects take place instead of the wanted labor pains that supposedly it brings. Brett could tell I really didn't want to take it, so he suggested waiting and maybe trying to take it in the morning if I felt up for it. (It wasn't until a little later that I found out that Brett had a golf tournament the following Tuesday, and if we were in the hospital being induced on Monday he would miss it for sure, so he was determined to get this baby out on Saturday...arriving home just in time to go to the tournament. Like I would let him go after just bringing home a new baby! Brett's so cute when he dreams...)

After dinner that night (pizza's on the grill of course), Brett and I went for a long walk. When I got home I noticed contractions that were around 3 minutes apart...some even shorter. They had never really been that short so I was getting a little anxious. I decided I wanted to walk a bunch that night, just to feel like I was doing everything on my end to bring this baby into the world. We ended up going on several long walks, and I even followed my mom and sisters to the Clubhouse gym and walked on the treadmill for quite awhile. Brett was also making fun of me because I had read that when walking it was good to move your hips side to side to push the baby down. I looked pretty ridiculous struttin' my stuff around the neighborhood like I was some hott baby's momma.

At around 11, my sister Liz (who had been my trustworthy little timer for that whole week) started timing my contractions and we noticed them ranging from 1.5-3 minutes apart. Having nothing to lose, but a few hours of sleep, we decided to go to the hospital. I took one last walk around the neighborhood, slow jogging in fact, and then we were off.

Upon arriving, they took us into one of the large rooms at Timp Hospital. I dressed into the fine linens they provided :) and got all hooked up to the monitors. I measured at 4 cm when I got there and we were hoping that was enough to keep us there. After the hour was up, she came and measured me again, but I was still at a 4 even though my contractions were close together. We were pretty bummed when she said that unfortunately we were probably going to have to go home, but then all the sudden she changed her mind and said "you know what, I don't like that the baby isn't moving a ton so I am going to keep you for another hour and see if anything changes". I think she felt sorry for us and was being sympathetic, but her good intentions paid off. At the very last second of the very last part of the hour I had a huge contraction and was starting to feel a ton more pain. She checked me, and I was still at a 4, but she called the Doc and told him that she didn't like how the baby wasn't moving a ton and that I was in a lot of pain. She must have convinced him because they ended up admitting me!

Within an hour they started me on pitocin and gave me the much needed epidural. I thought the pains I was having then were bad...so young, so naive.

I progressed from a 4 to a 9 in about 4 hours. Throughout that progression Brett got some sleep while I laid there, trying not to have an anxiety attack because of the fact that I couldn't move the lower part of my body. It is the craziest feeling! When I reached a 10 however, I could start to feel my foot and I thought I would be fine without pushing the button for any more epidural because at least I would have a little feeling to help with the pushing part of labor. BOY WAS I STUPID. The epidural wore off so fast once I had to start pushing...it was the worst pain I have ever felt. Being a first time mom I heard rumors about labor pain...but when you go through it with no numbing for the pressure that is building up down below, it is indescribable.

The only good outcome was that I got him out pretty fast because I could feel everything. I pushed for about a half hour, feeling every movement and every SNIP SNIP from the doctor's scissors to my ...*ehem*...

Brett was also able to watch everything because he was holding up one of my legs while our AWESOME nurse Cheryl held up my other leg. It was really cool to have Brett down on my right side because I felt very supported by him during the whole process.

7:43 am, Cooper Charles Stewart was born. 8 lbs 9 ounces of pure cuteness came out of me...he was HUGE!

I want to also write on here about my feelings once he came out, but I will do that in my next post. We are still at the hospital and I am in need of major sleep.