It's a BOY!!!

Well, my mother's intuition proved to be wrong this time, and already I can't imagine our family any other way, but on October 11th at 10:04 AM, we welcomed a beautiful little boy into the world.  Cooper Steven Keyes has made us a party of five now, and we couldn't be happier!

Enjoying our first moments with our little Cooper! 

Finally, on our 3rd baby we got a picture of all 3 of us together.  Ha!

 

We had a scheduled C-section that morning.  We arrived at the hospital at 7:30AM, got checked in, were shown to our room, and began the prep of getting ready.  Side note:  This is when I began realizing I'm getting old!!  My nurse looked like she was still in high school.  After we began talking and getting to know her, we discovered she's friends with one of Mat's students.  She had to barely be out of school herself! It seemed like several of my nurses seemed so incredibly young, and I wondered when I became "the old one"?! 

 

In typical Keli fashion, they had trouble getting an IV started on me.  It took two different nurses and several attempts, but they finally got it in.  I swear, I always breathe a sigh of relief once that part is over!  Put in a spinal block and cut me open?  Sure, no problem!  Just get the IV over with!!!  Once I was all prepped, they gave Mat his scrubs, and he got changed while I walked to the operating room.  There they administered the spinal block and began getting set up for the c-section.  The baby had previously been breech, and based by my very odd shaped belly, my doctor was certain the baby still was breech and didn't even bother double checking with another ultrasound.  Due to this, the operating room was quite full with extra hands.  There were two NICU nurses on hand as well as the neonatologist.  This was in addition of course to my doctor, the anesthesiologist, my nurse, and the various surgical nurses.  It seemed like quite a full house, but I was just focused on welcoming a healthy baby into the world.  While they were finishing up prepping me, my parents arrived with MJ and Charlotte, and Mat was able to see them quickly before coming back to join me in surgery.  Apparently Charlotte wasn't quite sure what to think of her daddy in scrubs. 

 



Loaded in the van and ready to go meet their new baby brother or sister!

 

From the time the actual surgery began, it seemed like it was just a matter of moments before our sweet baby was born.  There was no pain really, but LOTS of pressure, and what seemed like a lot of people pushing to get him out.  My nurse said it was one of the roughest C-sections she'd seen in the fact of how hard they were pushing and maneuvering to get him out.  He ended up being head down after all, but was kind of folded in half and had his feet up by his head as well.  The cord was also wrapped around his neck once.  My ribs and oblique muscles are still rather sensitive, but the important part is that he did indeed come out safe and sound, and Mat even stood up and watched the whole thing.  This was a first for him, but he seemed pretty amazed by it all.  He said he even saw the placenta as well as them stitching up my uterus, which was pulled out.  Eww, I'm glad I missed the part.  He was able to announce to us all that it was a boy!  We cried tears of joy, and the pediatric team began assessing him.  It occurred to me, once we were already home from the hospital, that I never did hear his Apgar scores.  It seemed like they were working on him for quite awhile.  We could hear him crying and see them within our sight though, and they were great about communicating with us.  We knew he was okay overall, but it was just taking a while for him to "pink up" as they called it.  Finally we got to hold him and spend a few minutes with him! 

Then, they took him off to the nursery and Mat went along with him while they finished up with me.

 

Mat took all of these pics as they were completing Cooper's assessment while in the nursery.  They came to the OR to report to me that he weighed 9lbs. even and was 20 inches long and doing well. The doctor was making small talk with me as he was finishing closing me up.  I got a bit nauseous during this time, but nothing in comparison to how I felt during Charlotte's C-section.  Before I knew it, they were wheeling me back to my room, the same room I began in, for recovery.  I was in there alone with the nurse for awhile as she was monitoring me.  During all this time, Mat was with Cooper in the nursery still, while my parents and the kiddos were watching through the glass window.  It wasn't long until Cooper was brought to my room by the two pediatric nurses and Mat. 

Here were my first cuddles with my beautiful new baby...

There's nothing like those first moments just holding and examining the face of your newborn child!  It's something that I do not take for granted at all! I tried nursing him, but he just wasn't interested at all, and he was making some strange little grunting noises that the nurses seemed a bit concerned by.  Our cuddle session didn't last long, because they took him back and were on the phone with the neonatologist.  Mom and MJ came in the room briefly during this time and got a quick glimpse of Cooper, but then it was decided that he'd be going to the NICU for a bit for them to keep an eye on him. 

Dr. Scott, who happens to be our pediatrician, the only neonatologist in town, and was on call the day of Cooper's delivery ended up coming back to the hospital a bit later to check on Cooper and order some tests.  The end result was what they called "wet lung", which apparently is rather common in C-section babies who don't have the opportunity to squeeze all the extra fluid out of their lungs by going through the birth canal.  The good news was that there didn't appear to be any signs of infection, namely pneumonia, but she wanted to keep him in the NICU to keep an eye on his stats and just let him rest.  Parents and grandparents were allowed in the NICU anytime.  Of course I was still bedridden, but that evening a wonderful nurse helped get me into a wheelchair and took me to see Cooper.  I was able to hold him and love on him.  Mat had also went down to visit him a few times and report back to me. 

Cooper's 1st day of life in the NICU

 

He was in an incubator and on a very low level oxygen just through a nasal cannula.  They inserted an IV in order to give him sugar water and keep him hydrated.  We weren't allowed to try nursing anymore for those first two days as his body just needed to rest and recover. 

 

Overall, Cooper was doing well and improving each day.  It was just a bit slower process than we'd originally hoped, and I think our doctor was playing it quite cautious, but we were thankful for the wonderful care he was receiving.  We knew he was in good hands and would be a-okay and just needed a little extra time to build his strength.  It was certainly an odd feeling again not having a baby in the room with us, but it was such a blessing to have him in the same hospital just down the hallway and around the corner.  In fact, Mat stayed with me in the hospital the first night, but once I was able to get up out of bed, I suggested he stay at home and get some good rest the following nights.  I think we both slept better this way, and I had the nurses to help me in the night if need be.  There wasn't a baby to get up to take care of in the middle of the night, so it didn't make much sense for him to be there.  Once I could start trying to nurse again, I was setting my alarm to wake up and go down to the NICU throughout the night. 

 PopPop holding Cooper Steven, his namesake, in the NICU.

 

After a few days, Cooper was continuing to improve.  He was maintaining his body temperature, beginning to breastfeed, and completely breathing on his own without any extra oxygen.  His IV was removed, and he was moved to a bassinet and out of the incubator.  It was great to see him like this and even more reassurance that our little Cooper was going to be just fine! 

As much as I would have preferred Cooper to be rooming in with us, I must admit that I think it made my recovery easier this time around.  It's the most peace and quiet I've had in quite some time to be honest.  Ha!  I was able to rest in between feedings, not be hopping up and down as much to tend to a crying newborn, etc.  I was discharged on Monday, but they allowed me to continue to stay in my room while Cooper remained in the NICU.  Dare I say it almost felt like a hotel at that point?!....a quiet room without the interruption of nurses constantly checking on me!  Ha!  Of course between nursing Cooper and pumping, the time passes quickly, but I definitely came home feeling quite well rested and like I'd been well taken care of for a few days. 

The following day, on Tuesday, Cooper got the A-Okay and was discharged from the NICU.  He'd proved that he could tolerate feedings very well while maintaining his oxygen levels.  Blood work continued to come back normal, and he had now completed all the normal new baby things like having a hearing screening, being circumcised, etc.  It was time to bring our baby boy home!

Peace out, hospital!  We're headed home.  This pic was taken at MJ's station in the NICU.

 

As wonderful of nurses as we'd had that cared for Cooper, we were so happy to be taking him home!  Our departure was nice and calm and laid back.  Just the three of us made the short car ride (seriously, only a mile or so) home.  My dad had left the day before to return to St. Louis, so mom was at home with the kiddos anxiously awaiting our arrival. One of the hardest things about Cooper being in the NICU was that the kids hadn't really gotten to see him, touch him, etc.  It was hard for them to comprehend that they really did have a new baby in the family.  Seeing them greet him and examine him closely when we brought him home was adorable.  It felt great to be home!

 

 Homeward bound-Cooper's first car ride!

 

 Getting an up close look at baby brother finally

 

 Lots of smiles!

 

 They were so proud and just kept staring at Cooper.

 

 MJ had been asking to hold Cooper since the day he was born.  Finally, he was able to hold his little brother, and I must say that MJ was SO happy to have a brother join our family.

 



Cuddles at home with Gigi.  It's good to be home!

 

Well, I must admit that it's taken me three nights of writing to finally complete this blog post.  It's probably full of typos or me confusing myself with calling my kids by the wrong names....you know, the typical sleep deprived new mama stuff.  The wonderful part though is that my blogging will probably continue to be slacking because I'm busy loving on three beautiful children, and of course sleeping any extra minute I can!  ;)  More to come soon on Cooper's first days at home....