It is November 13th, so I am going to go ahead and write this blog but not post it until later. The closer we get to Cooper's birthday, the more likely I am to cry while writing this. One year ago today was the best day and the best experience I have ever had. It is a day that as often as once a week, I play over in my head so as not to lose any of it. I lay awake some nights and just remember the whole thing and the feelings and the excitement. It has been a rough and wonderful year all in one. And the year has gone to fast. The months have flown by, and I won't say where have they gone, because I have made an effort to soak up and remember and enjoy every bit of it. But time is just fast. My sweet little Cooper that didn't even have the energy to cry or eat for months is now a year old, happy, and playful as can be. At the beginning of this day, just as every other day, I give the glory to God and once again say Thank You Lord Jesus for my Cooper. So, if you have quiet a bit of time on your hands, sit back and enjoy the birth story of my little miracle!! (because I am sparing no details)
Tuesday morning December the 16th, I woke up with contractions at 6:00 am. They felt like light period cramps, but enough to wake me up and make me uncomfortable. I was on the couch (where I had slept for the past 4 months, with the window open, letting the 35 degree air blow in on me). I went into the bedroom and laid in bed with Zac and told him that I was cramping. He was still half asleep and just said "Oh I'm sorry". So I got up that morning and went to work. I got to work and told the girls that I thought I was having contractions. Becky immediately got excited because she just knew that Cooper was on his way. Tracie and Edie were a little worried since I still had over a month until my due date. But they said it was probably braxton hicks. I stayed on the internet all day googling braxton hicks. My symptoms were obviously not what braxton hicks were described as. So I called my Dr and they said take some tylenol. On my lunch break I went to JC Penney even though it hurt to walk and i had to stop ever so often with contractions. But I had to get a lamp for Cooper's room, especially since he might be arriving sooner than expected. I got home after work and the contractions were about 30 minutes apart. Zac was going christmas shopping with his mom. She knew I didn't feel well and brought me Demos' chicken soup and bread (my favorite meal) and I sat on the couch and ate until they got back. Around 8:00 we started timing the contractions because they were getting closer and more severe. Zac went on to bed and at about 10:15 I called Labor and Delivery at Vanderbilt and told them I was in really bad pain and that my conrtactions were 7 minutes apart. They told me that I could come in but that I might get sent back home. I woke Zac up at 10:30 and said I am so sorry but I am in so much pain and need to go to the emergency room. I felt so bad for waking him up since he had to work the next day. I just knew they would send me back home. I had to stop twice before even making it to the car because the contractions were so strong. The car ride was worse because now the contractions were 3 minutes apart. We got to the counter and signed in and filled out papers and they put me in a wheelchair and rolled me up to my room. I passed the desk and all the nurses were waiting. They came in and checked me ( which by the way, when you are contracting and then someone sticks half an arm up you, it kind of made me want to pass out from pain) and I was only dilated to a 1. Obviously I have zero pain tolerance. So they waited a few hours to see if I would dilate anymore, which I did not and so they gave me a shot to try to make the contractions stop. The shot did nothing, and the contractions progressed to about a minute and a half apart. I kept telling Zac that I wanted to cry but could not cry. It was so strange, like the pain would not allow tears to come out. After a very long night of painful contractions, I finally got an iv with pain meds and ambien around 3:00 am. This helped enough to let me sleep. I would sleep for about an hour and then wake up in pain and get more medicine. I still was not dilating any further than a 1. About 6:30 am Zac called to let my mom know that i was in the hospital but we weren't sure what was going to happen yet. A little while after that Dr Garrison came in and said that Cooper's heart rate was dropping with each contraction and that she was going to go ahead and give me pitocin to help progress things along. Yay!! I was going to have Cooper that day. I was so shocked that in just a little while I was going to have my baby when he wasn't even suppose to be here for another month!! Once again Zac called mom, I think this was around 8:30. She panicked, got a sub for her class and rushed to Nashville. I was still so sleepy from the ambien, but pretty soon, the anesthesiologist came in with my epidural. They had me sit on the side of the bed and put my arms around Zac. I kept falling asleep, so Zac just held me straight while they put it in. They gave me a shot to numb the area and it shocked me and hurt a little and I let out a quick scream. I never felt the epidural. It was fabulous. Zac layed me back down on my bed and gave me a sip of water which I immediately threw up on my sheets. But I never was naseuous again, it was just that first little bit of the epidural. I woke up to the sound of our parents coming into the room. Mom still looked worried and could hardly say a word. I was exhausted, so mom and Greg sat in the room while I slept and Zac went home to shower and get my suitcase(which yes, was already packed. Organized Emily always does everything 2 months in advance). So I slept and only woke up when my bloodpressure cuff would tighten or when I would have to push my epidural button. When Zac came back, our parents went to eat at McDonalds. My nurse came in to check me again and I was now at an 8 and my water had broken. ZAc called mom and she chucked her burger and came rushing back upstairs. Hahah. Dad and Gina got there and we all stayed in my room until the nurse came in again and said it was time. I think it was about 10 till 5:00 when I started pushing. I couldn't feel anything, but yet pushing like this was very unfamiliar, so it took some time to get the hang of it. Finally a nurse came and rolled up a towel and had me tug of war with her. That helped a ton. I'm sure I gave her quiet the work out because my arms were on fire the next morning!! Isn't that what is suppose to be sore after birth..your arms?? Ha. Once Cooper started crowning a team of residents came in and waited for his arrival. I didn't care at the time, but looking back it is weird that I am laying there pushing and all my glory is on display and these Dr's are joking and discussing their lives over in the corner. Dr Mioshi predicted that Cooper would be born at 5:54. I looked at her and said, Are you serious, that fast?? I just assumed it would take a lot longer. (My epidural had worn off 20 minutes before his arrival and I never realised it until they put in a stitch and I screamed). Well Cooper came at 6:08pm the first thing I did was look at his eyes and make sure that he had DS. And the first thing I said was Oh he is soo cute!! He never cried or made a noise, he just peeped one eye open at me and then they took him to the table to listen to his heart. Zac grabbed the camera and started taking pictures. Then they wrapped Cooper up and let me hold him and the Dr's took my camera from Zac and started taking pictures of our family. At this moment I felt almost like someone in a movie. It was such an accomplishment and Zac was so proud of me. He kept kissing me and telling me how good I did. It was just an amazing moment. I hate being pregnant but I liked the birth part. I told Zac to go get my mom and she came in and held Cooper. She cried and awwed over him and then they had to take him to the NICU. They rolled him out in a covered incubator looking thing and all my paparazzi were waiting in the hallway to photograph him. The charge nurse stepped back into my room and was crying. She said it was to emotional seeing all the people that showed up and all the love for one baby. Erin said it was funny because they would roll Cooper and the crowd of people just kept walking the same direction. hahah. I would have loved to see it. After this Dad and Gina headed out to see her dad that had just had surgery. And they were going to bring me supper later. I was starving and wanted Arby's and a huge diet coke. We all sat in my room until it was time to move to the other room. Zac was in the NICU with Dr Young doing the echo. I thought it was taking a long time and Brenton went to check. At this point I got nauseous and really scared. Everyone was chattering in my room and all I could think was this echo still has to determine if Cooper's heart is even fixable. I sent Zac a text and he was still waiting. After what seemed like forever, I saw Brenton come around the corner to my room and I guess he saw the look on my face, because I remember he winked and put a thumb up. And that was all I needed. I couldn't even cry, sometimes I think you are so emotional that you can't even produce tears. But that was ok because Erin cried enough for both of us. Then Kristin, Erin and Greg all hugged me. And all I could think was let's pray. Let's voice our thanks. And I asked Brenton if he would say a prayer of thanks. Once everyone had left, Zac rolled me to the NICU to see Cooper. We gowned up so that we could hold him. He made these sweet little grunting noises. He never had the energy to really cry, he just grunted. He was so sweet and had the most perfect little round head. We were exhausted so we took the long walk back to our room. Zac fell asleep on the pullout couch and didn't budge all night. I woke up at 2:00 am thinking it was 8:00 and was waiting for my nurse to come remove my iv so that I could shower. I finally focused in on the clock, saw that it was 2:15 and went back to sleep. The next morning I got up and showered and we walked to the NICU. I walked slowly, but I walked. Tracey and Jerry and Megan and Laura all showed up. Cooper didn't come to floor until later that afternoon.After they brought him up to the nursery we were learning how to change him and feed him and Laura, Megan and Erin were all peeping through to get a look at him. That night Kara and Nathan showed up and Kara got to hold him. After they left we put Cooper back in the nursery and went to sleep. When we went to get him out of the nursery the next morning, he was over in the corner all by himself. I thought it was sad that nobody was paying him any attention. But at this point he didn't cry and all the other newborns were wailing. When I was discharged the next day, I was really sad. Even if you have other kids, you only experience the birth of your first child once. I didn't want it to be over. I just wanted to stay. So I only had like 2 days of pospartum depression. With Christmas a few days away I couldn't stay sad long!! So that is it...that is the day that I would love to be able to do over and over, (except for the good 9 hours of pain).
