Bath, chubby belly and progress

Today was a great day for everyone;

Mardee is feeling much better - not running any races or dancing around the house but she is feeling better. She was able to walk all the way to Coopers room today which is quite a distance AND took a shower -  sometimes its the small things things that make you smile...

Cooper had a great day, he is off all blood pressure meds, steroids and heart meds.  His oxygen levels are now at the same level as we breath and the respirator has been turned down to a 10 - at a 7 it comes off.  He also gained a little weight and had a bath - although from the look on his face he definitely didn't enjoy it very much.

Cooper after his bath

Many have said he looks like me, I guess it's the belly

Cooper 3 day's old

Tuesday

Mardee came home today - yeah!!  She is doing very good although pretty sore and weak - good thing we have 5 on-staff nurses at the house to help take care of mom.

Cooper is doing better, BP meds removed, Heart meds turned way down and they are starting to slow the need for the respirator.  Maybe by Thursday he will be done with it for good!  Keep praying for it.

Best news of the day is Mardee and Cooper were back together again.

Cooper - two day's old

Cooper - 8/29/11 - 1 day old

no junk in that trunk

Tucked in for another night.

Progress

Getting ready to crash for the night but wanted to post a quick update.

Mardee is doing great - hopefully she can come home tomorrow.  Thanks for those who have stopped by the hospital to visit.  It really helps as she is getting bored.

Cooper showed some signs of improvement tonight.  I was able to spend some time with him tonight and if I do say so myself he is a cute little guy.  The Dr's did a spinal tap earlier today to check for infection in his brain.  I know it sounds awful and quite frankly it was - even worse to approve of the test being done on our little guy.  However great news is initial tests came back negative so we are hopeful they are treating him correctly for infections.  His heart rate and blood pressure were improved tonight and they are starting to slow his need for the respirator.

The girls are hanging in there - they are concerned for Cooper and Mom but are trying to keep things as normal as possible.

Thanks for your prayers and concerns.

Patrick

5 things to be thankful for.....

Enough said...

About the same...

Cooper has been classified as Critical but Stable, the dr.'s think he has an infection that may be at the root of the early delivery and ultimately his stay at the NICU.  They are treating the infection and he is showing signs of responding to the treatment.  He is still on the respirator and several other meds to help him along.  As I understand his condition it's like having the flu - you don't feel like doing much but laying around.  Since he is so little they are doing more to help him along that I would need.

Mardee is doing well, thanks Melissa and Courtney for the magazine and smuggling in a diet coke!!  Hopefully she can come home tomorrow or Wednesday.

Thanks for the call's and prayers.  We appreciate everyone.

Patrick

Big man on campus

Fresh from the oven:

Tucked in for the night at UVMC:

Cooper is here

Cooper is here!!  Well he is in Provo but he is in great hands.

The backstory:

Friday Mardee started having contractions off and on, by Saturday they were about 20 minutes apart and pretty consistent.  We thought it was simply Mardee's regular pre-labor contractions. Sunday morning brought 10 minute contractions and by 1 I was getting nervous.  By 1:30 I had Mardee in the car trying to get her to the hospital.

Once at the hospital we thought it would be a quick let us check and make sure everything is ok and then send you home.  That quickly changed when we found out Mardee was very far along and Cooper was breach.  The doctors in Heber consulted w/ a team at UVMC who decided it was risky to move Mardee to Provo and we needed to get Cooper here fast.  We quickly went from a routine checkup to a c-section.  A team from the NICU at UVMC was brought in to take care of Cooper and Mardee's doctor performed a quick c-section.

Cooper was born at 5:16pm and weighed in at a whopping 5.14 and is 18" long and was 6 weeks early.  WOW do we know how to grow em...

Since Cooper was quite early after the NICU team had him stabilized they transferred him to UVMC where he is in excellent hands.  He is currently on a ventilator which we hope he can be removed from soon, his vitals are good and he has stabilized and improved over the night.

Mardee is doing great, she is at Heber Valley and has already been up walking around a little.  We hope she can come home sometime Tuesday.

Thanks for all the prayers and support from family and friends.  Check back we will try to keep the updates rolling.