The Story of Cooper

I am following in the footsteps of several of my fellow bloggers in writing the story of the day Cooper came. I want to remember as much as possible!
We spent the week before I checked into the hospital doing fun things with Caroline. We knew that we were about to start the beginning of something really wonderful for our family, but we also knew it was the end of our time with just our Sweet Caroline. It was a special time I will always remember. Sher has been such a blessing in our lives and I have been so blessed to be her mother!
We were checking in on Wednesday night at 8, so we decided to get some dinner before we took Caroline to my parents house. We went to eat at Red Lobster. We haven't been to Red Lobster in AGES, but I have been craving lobster my entire pregnancy (a very affordable craving I know!). We enjoyed a great time of cheddar biscuits and melted butter and then headed on to mom and dad's.
Caroline was anxious to play with Nana after not seeing her for several days, so we headed out to the hospital. We stopped by the store to get some flowers for Caroline "from Cooper." She loved the flowers my dad gave her for Valentine's so we knew she would get a thrill from these as well.
We parked and carried in all of our junk (my bag, Chris' bag, Cooper's bag, Caroline's toy bag, pillows, flowers...). As soon as we entered the Maternity Ward, we were surprised to see a familiar face. A friend of ours is a very well respected anesthesiologist and was on call that night. I was so relieved to see someone we knew. It immediately calmed my nerves. I was a little nervous coming in. I have done this once before, but I didn't know if it would be like the second go around. Caroline's delivery was so smooth and I knew I was lucky to have such a good experience even once. Twice would be too much to ask for! I told myself to just hang on until it was time for meds!! I'm not ashamed to say if there is relief, I will take it.
Anyway- we got settled into the room and my nurse (I loved her!!) did all of the paper work and hooked me up to my monitors. I love the monitors! It is so much fun to watch the little heartbeat blip and pray that the contraction peaks would get close and tall. She finished doing that just in time for my parents to arrive with Caroline. I wanted her to get a look at the room and set up so that she wouldn't be freaked out in the morning when she came up and everything was crazy. We had a wonderful time of fellowship before they took her home to bed.
My nurse came back in and got my IV set up and started my fluids and pitocin. They went straight to pitocin, which was different than my last delivery. We were excited thinking that it may go faster than last time! Little did we know...
At that point there was nothing left to do but try and get some sleep. Chris tried to get comfortable on what could only be called a oversized, plastic covered chair. I talked him into going and asking for a sheet. He came back with a huge, queen sized blow up mattress! What a relief! I was so glad to know that he might get some sleep that night! We turned the TV off about 11:30 and tried to get some sleep. They'd come in and check me and tell me that I was still at a 2 (how I came in). My contractions were hurting pretty bad by about 2 o'clock, so they called my friend to give me the epidural. I was nervous because the idea of a little tube staying in my spinal cord is a little icky! It was relatively painless and provided almost immediate relief! Oh the magic of medicine!
Chris and I were able to get some sleep until this woman next door with no pain meds was screaming her head off (she eventually ended up getting an epidural later). I mean this girl was SCREAMING! I laid there in my blissfully painless state saying to myself, "Poor Sucker!"
They continued to come in and check me and told me my contractions were large and regular, but I wasn't dilating. I was in no hurry now that I wasn't in pain and was just fine waiting it out. Morning came and my family arrived with the yummiest looking donuts that I could not eat! The doctor continued to say that I was not progressing very quickly- darn it!
About 10:00 they checked me and I was at a 4 but was still moving very slow. I decided to take a nice nap while I waited. They woke me up in about an hour to check me and I was at a 10!! Where did that come from!?! They asked me to push and then told me to stop because he was coming too quickly. They called in the doctor and nursery and anesthesiologist and got everything ready. Chris and I were looking at each other in shock! Here we go. I pushed for 2 contractions (probably about 3 minutes ) and here he was!! 11:45 a.m.
He was really big! He weighed 8 lbs. 13 oz.- the exact same as Caroline! The doctor commented on how glad she was that we took him 2 weeks early and so was I!
They were a little worried about his glucose, so we were trying to feed him pretty quickly so they could see if it would level out. Well, he decided to projectile vomit everything he ingested, which made them concerned that he may have a milk allergy (God help us!) or he may have reflux (yuck!). Thankfully, they changed his formula and he hasn't thrown up since! Thank you Jesus! What a blessing!
Our time at the hospital was so memorable and wonderful for me. The people I loved were all around me and I received amazing care! We came home from the hospital on Saturday, to a roast in the oven!
My husband, mom and dad have been the most amazing blessing during this time. I pray that I never take for granted what a gift I have been given in an amazing family.
My precious Cooper is here and I am in love with him!