Baby Silas Picturepalooza

Finally a Silas update!  I've been getting a lot of comments, questions, and hints that I needed to update my blog.  I've even had a few people say "UPDATE YOUR BLOG!!!"  I am finally doing just that but let me just say that I feel a little overwhelmed with all that I need to tell you and show you.

First off, let me say that Silas is doing great.  The home health nurse weighed him today and he weighed six pounds, six ounces.  His head and chest circumferences all grew by a whole centimeter since he was last measured on Wednesday of last week.  He gave me a scare yesterday when he woke up at 7 a.m. with a bunch of frothy snotty spit-up in his mouth and nose.  I suctioned it out and became immediately paranoid that he was getting sick.  He's fine.  I overreacted and he had only spit up some milk and had just been gargling it around in his mouth I think.  He is fine today and has been since.  I might have been this paranoid with Maleah as an infant.  I was much more laid-back with Carissa, my full term baby but now I'm back to being a bit panicky.  I think because of all I have seen and heard in the nicu.  Preemie babies sometimes do get very sick and I am determined (and very prayerful) that Silas won't.  I will relax more as time goes by.

He is a good baby and pretty much sticks to his four hour schedule.  He sleeps a lot.  Some nights he does great and wakes up every four hours to eat and goes right back to sleep.  Some nights he doesn't do as great and he wants to visit with me instead of going back to sleep.  That's okay.  He doesn't scream or cry hardly ever.  He squeaks like a mouse or neighs like a horse when he wants something.  I told him I'd much rather have a squeaker than a screamer.  I've had a screamer (a certain soon-to-be seven year old who shall remain nameless) and that can make your ears ring. 

He has been on at-home oxygen since he came home. The home medical people delivered a boat-load of oxygen bottles to the house, along with a big red and white Notice Oxygen In Use sign that was taped to my front door. It was ugly and stood out like a sore thumb. I took it down. Jason informed me that I was supposed to have it there by law. So now, I'm breaking the law. I am so bad. I am not going to let anyone in with an open flame, regardless of whether or not there are oxygen bottles in the house. Please don't turn me in, my children need me. The pulmonologist (lung doctor) said that Silas would probably need the oxygen for 2 weeks. I took it off today, but it will be two weeks tomorrow since he came home. Silas kept pulling at it all night and no matter how I adjusted it and taped it, he would grab a hold of it and get it loose. He is small but mighty. Six pounds of muscle, he is! I was a little worried that he might strangle himself with it. I took it off and so far he is doing just fine without it. I have two different monitors from the home medical company that help me monitor his stats. For those people out there who understand medical terminology he is satting at 100 and is hr and rr is great too. No bradys, no apnea. For the rest of you, he is doing fine. His nursery looks a little bit more hospital-y than your average baby nursery. He has one large oxygen bottle next to his bed, one medium one on wheels in case I want to pull it behind me, six or seven small ones that I can put in a bag and carry over my shoulder, a pulse oximeter machine, a heartrate and respiratory rate monitor, a thermometer next to the crib, and a stethoscope (thanks Casey!). I will be so ready for almost all of it to go! I want to keep the heart and respiratory monitor until he's old enough to refuse to wear it though. That thing really gives me some peace of mind.

Here are some pictures of our last days in the nicu:  The first one is of Silas hanging out in his cute new guitar sleeper from Aunt Patty.  It is a size newborn and is still a wee bit big on him here.  The next one is of the bulletin board in Silas' room.  As the weeks went by, the nurses took more pictures of him until it was pretty full. 

This one and the next one are of his room.

This is the outside view of Room 92.  This is where we lived. 

Our night nurse Karen is sitting in her seat right outside our door.

Here is Silas hanging out in his carseat, getting ready

for his long trip home.

Here is one of Karen saying goodbye to "the best primary she ever had."  The following pictures are of the Parent's Lounge in the Nicu.  This was only for Nicu parents and could not be accessed by anyone else.  It had everything I needed and was just down the hall from Silas' room.  It had a dining area, laundry area, shower area, kitchen, tv, etc.

This is the scrub-in area of the Yellow Nicu.

We had to scrub for two minutes before we could enter.

Me and Mr. Silas on the day before he came home.

Here are some pictures of the day Silas came home.  It was such a happy day!!

Carissa getting an up close and personal look at her new brother.

Great-Grandma Zelda holding Silas.  So glad she came over

when she did because she fell a few days later and broke

both of her ankles, a bone in one of her legs, and her hand.

She is now in a nursing home for a few weeks getting some

therapy so she can come back home.  Prayers for her would

be appreciated!

Silas trying out his new bouncer.  He likes it!

Maleah is a pro at this.  She wasn't nervous,

just excited!  She could NOT wait to hold him!

All smiles!

The first picture of all three of our kids.

I love this!

"Aunt Penny" came by to hold him that evening too.

Our adopted family member Calli holding Silas.

Grandpa David holding his first grandson.

Daddy doing a great job of feeding Silas for the

first time.  He is doing it exactly like they showed

us in the hospital - hold Silas on his side facing away

from you, that way the milk pools in the side

of his mouth, not the back.  This makes it easier

for him to control the suck/swallow/breathe issue.

Stacey Earleywine stopped by and got to hold Silas too.

I love Silas socks in this picture.

I tried to get a picture of every visitor in the first week but now, looking back, I've realized that I missed a lot! That, or I'm just not finding them on my camera. Hmmm.  These following pictures are ones that Dawn Cox took of us.  She did an amazing job and I love these pictures!!!

The next picture was taken at Dairy Queen on Sunday night.  We walked/rode bikes up there and ran into our friends Kari and Evan Thackrey and their girls.  This picture is of their beautiful little Abigail, born on December 30 and Silas born on December 11.  They looked so cute next to each other!!

This is of the pretty (and fresh!) door wreath that a group

of my out-of-state friends sent to me.  They also sent a

cute little stuffed puppy for Silas and a super soft

blanket with his name on it.  So sweet!

Okay, I think that wraps it up with the pictures that I have.  I probably forgot something but oh well.  The bottom line is that we are doing great!  We are gearing up for the girls' birthdays this week.  Maleah's is the Thursday, the 22nd (Silas' due date) and Carissa's is Monday, the 26th.  It is going to be a fun week here at the Coopers!!!

I've been a bit busy...

I've been a bit busy and haven't updated the blog.  I am so sorry!  I promise lots of pictures and updates soon.  I'm working on it!  Everything is going well and Silas now weighs 6 pounds, 6.5 ounces and he is 3 1/2 months old now!  He is the sweetest thing ever.  I just want to show him off to the world but we are still trying to lay low until cold and flu season is over. 

In the meantime, I have entered a contest to win this really awesome double stroller that I have wanted for ages.  If I blog about it, I can get entered again.  So I am.  It is called the Joovy Ergo and it is awesome.  Carissa and Silas could both ride in it. It has excellent reviews and would make this mama pretty happy.  You can also enter to win at babygizmo.com.  If you win, then you can give it to me.  :)

Stay tuned and I promise Silas pictures soon!!!

There Is No Place Like Home

Home at last, home at last, thank God Almighty he is home at last.  (Insert "At Last" by Etta James here.  It can play in the back of your head while you read the rest of this.)

Okay, so sorry for the delay in getting this posted but I've been busy (and a little bit sleep deprived.)  Silas Aaron Cooper came home to live in his yellow house on Wednesday afternoon.  It was a fantastic day!

I drove him home all by myself on Wednesday.  Jason and Carissa were at home ready and waiting to see us.  However, the first stop we made was the Flora Dairy Queen.  I really wanted a coke!  Silas did so well on the way home.  He slept the whole entire way and was still sleeping soundly when we got to town, so I decided to go ahead and get my Coke while I could.

Here is a short little video of us arriving home:

There is a nice shot of Carissa's black eye in this too.  It is still black today and she is still talking about how she fell off of Grandma's coffee table. 

I have a ton of photos to share but honestly I just don't have time tonight to upload them all.  I promise I will blog more soon.

He Is Coming Home!!! (March 6)

HE IS COMING HOME!!!  Tomorrow is the big day and Mr. Silas will be headed to Flora.  I am so excited to finally be able to bring our baby home and for all of us to be under one roof together.  The girls are super excited and so are Jason and I.  Everything looks good for tomorrow's discharge and hopefully nothing happens between now and then to change it.

Silas is doing awesome and eating a ton.  He eats a little over 2 ounces now and is getting into a 4 hour schedule instead of a 3 hour schedule.  He has made a lot of progress with his eating over the last 48 hours.  The oxygen made all of the difference in the world.  These nurses and doctors really know what they're doing.  Tonight's weight was holding steady at 5 pounds, 10 ounces.

There's a side of me that is a little sad about leaving.  Please don't take that wrong though.  I want Silas home more than anything but this place has been a huge part of my life for the past three months.  I have become friends with some of the nurses.  I love the doctors, the janitors, the receptionists, the cuddlers (retired folks who volunteer their time to rock the babies who need rockin'), and everybody else!  I love the fact that I know my way around this huge hospital like the back of my hand.  I know where the good food is and where the bad food is.  I know how to get around the heart hospital, the children's hospital, and the main hospital.  I know shortcuts and which elevators are slow.  I know which bathrooms are cleaned at what time of day and when to hit them at their cleanest.  I know where to find the best parking.  I know how many towels it takes to completely cover the shower room floor so that I don't have to touch it with my bare feet.  I guess my point is that it is just going to be weird to NOT be coming here anymore.  It's going to feel strange to leave and walk away from all of it.  Strange but good.  Very good.

Tonight I am going to try to get a good night's rest.  It's probably the last one I will have for awhile.  I will try to post homecoming pictures tomorrow night if I'm not too tired.  Oh and I know many of you want to come and see Silas but we are going to be living in a bubble for awhile so you might want to wait until cold and flu is season is over.  We also aren't going to be taking him out much either so if you are lucky you might see him this summer.  haha!  Just kidding, we will have him out and about before that.  I promise to take lots of pictures of him though!!!!

Monday (March 5)

Okay, so a lot has changed since I last blogged.  There are two reasons I haven't written a blog post in the past five days.  1.) I was too busy getting everything ready for Silas to come home.  And 2.) I was bummed out because Silas wasn't coming home yet.  Here's what happened:

Last Thursday, the doctor said that it would be at least Tuesday before he went home.  Silas was doing great on Saturday.  Jason and I spent the day with him.  We packed up almost everything from his room and took it home.  We took home a huge cooler full of my breast milk from the nicu freezer.  We were very excited because the doctor who was there over the weekend said that Silas could come home on Monday, instead of Tuesday.  We left on Saturday night and planned to come back early on Monday to take our monitor training and then bring him home. 

On Sunday we decided to take the girls out to lunch for the last time before Silas came home and turned us into a "table for five."  I also needed to go to Kohl's to pick up a few things while I actually had the time.  While we were eating lunch the doctor called.  I hate that feeling I get when I see that number on caller id.  He said that Silas had not been eating well and was very tired.  The nurses all agreed that his eating habits had changed over the last day or two days.  The doctor decided to put the oxygen back on him and see if that helped him have enough energy to take his bottles.  The nurse also kept switching nipples on him to see what worked best, got his schedule all messed up that day too, and several other things that totally annoyed me.  For the first time I was really not happy with the nurse.  We had this nurse one other time and although she is very nice I didn't think she was as good at her job as the other nurses.  I was ready for Silas' primary nurses, Karen and Jenn to come back on Monday.  All of the other nurses agreed with this one particular nurse though that Silas was acting differently so I probably shouldn't be frustrated with this nurse after all.  I just wanted to be there and thought I knew Silas better than she does, which I do.  But anyway, the doctor put the oxygen back on Silas and that is what he wanted.  After being on it a little while he started eating better and was awake enough to eat.  His liter flow of oxygen is .1%.  It is practically nothing but if that's what it takes to get him home, so be it. 

So today I had training on home oxygen machines and at-home monitors.  The monitors are nice and I am thankful for them.  The oxygen is going to be a pain in the neck but hopefully we won't have to deal with it for too long.  The home medical guy that delivered them both to me was a hoot.  He cussed about ten times throughout the hour I spent with him.  I was a little shocked but he just kept going.  He reminded me of a sitcom dad but I'm not sure which one.  I think the guy off of King of Queens is probably the closest match. 

I met with the pulmonologist (lung doctor) today and he thought maybe in 2-4 weeks Silas will be done with the oxygen.  I pictured this doctor to be an old man for some reason but was pleasantly surprised to find that he was about my own age and very nice and easy to talk to.  He became a lung doctor because he himself has had asthma his whole life.  His name is Dr. Spivy.  He thought Silas' lungs sounded great though.  He couldn't believe he was a 25 weeker.  He had read through his chart before he met with me and thought he must be missing something because 25 weekers don't usually look or sound as good as Silas.  He wondered if I was aware of how amazing Silas' journey has been.  I told him yes I was and that we have been very very blessed.  He said I was exactly right about that. 

I talked to Silas' regular nicu doctor today as well, Dr. Chao.  He is a great guy.  He explained everything and made me feel better about the way things were going.  He thinks that maybe Silas will go home on Wednesday now.  I refuse to get excited until he is in the car with me.  He did pass his 2 hour, 45 minute carseat challenge test over the weekend so that's good. 

Last night Silas weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces and tonight he weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces!  Can you believe that??  I had to take all of his preemie clothes home as he has outgrown all of them. 

In other Cooper news, I skyped with the girls tonight while they were at Grandma Debby and Grandpa David's house.  They were glad to see me and we had a good little visit, although Carissa was a little too busy playing to talk to me.  Maleah told me all about her day at school.  Shortly after our skype chat, my Mom sent me a picture text.  Carissa had fallen and hit the end table with her face.  She now has a big ol' black eye.  I do believe it is the first one ever in the Cooper household.  It's quite the shiner for my beautiful little blondie. 

That pretty much wraps up our news.  I promise to keep you posted on what the next couple of days hold for us.  Be ready Flora, because an amazing little fighter is headed to town soon!!! 

Thursday (March 1)

Silas is doing great.  They did the blood test to see if it indicated that he would need the oxygen for a while longer or if it looked like he could come off of it soon.  It looked fantastic!  The doctor took him off of the oxygen immediately.  That was on Wednesday morning.  He was doing good so I headed home like usual on Wednesday.  After I left he decided that he was done with his feeding tube as well and pulled it out.  The nurses didn't re-insert it since he was doing so well with his feedings.  He has continued to do well and is taking all of his bottles and not needing any oxygen.  He is a rockstar!

Meanwhile, on Wednesday I started feeling worse and ended up with a full-blown sinus infection again.  So not fair.  I called the doctor and started another round of antibiotics.  I am hoping to feel better very soon because I am getting ready to bring my baby home!

Originally, they had said that Saturday was a possibility.  The doctor has decided though that she doesn't want him to leave until at least Tuesday.  She wants to make sure that he doesn't need to go back on the oxygen and can continue to take his bottles and not get worn out.  He has also lost weight instead of gaining it because he is working so hard with the eating thing.  He is burning more calories than he is taking in.  They have added a little extra something to his bottles to help keep from losing any more weight.  But by it being at least Tuesday before he comes home, that gives me a little extra time to feel better and rest up.  Jason and I are going on Saturday to take another class.  But this time it is a private class with a therapist training us how to use the at-home monitor that they are sending us home with.  He will wear it while he sleeps or if he is just lounging around the house.  It will go off if he has any apnea episodes and I am actually very thankful for that.  I think it will give me enough peace of mind that maybe I can get some sleep. 

Anyway, please say a prayer that our little man continues to do well and that I start feeling better so that I can take care of him and everybody else.  Also pray that I did not give him any germs when I was there.  I am so paranoid that I will make him sick.  Also, please pray for the city of Harrisburg that was hit by an F4 tornado.  I grew up in Harrisburg and that town holds a special place in my heart.  The damage there and in other nearby towns is unbelievable and my heart aches for those who lost loved ones.