An Update on Cooper: 15 Months

I have lots to do for A&P and I have been procrastinating by doing things for other classes. Now I'm out of things to do for other classes for the moment! Heather suggested that I blog! Its a great way to procrastinate! *wink*

So here is my past due update on Cooper:

He turned 15 months old on the 12th of this month! I can't believe how fast the time has gone! Last week was his 15 month well-check. He weighed 23 lbs. and was 31 inches long. He has been communicating wonderfully! He is still saying boob when he wants to nurse, which I'm not thrilled about. Also, now it sounds like boob instead of boo so everyone definately knows what he is saying when he screams boob at me in the middle of church. I'll have to thank his daddy for that... Speaking of screaming, he has got a temper on him! He tells me no when he doesn't want to give me something he shouldn't have. (We are working on that) Besides his defiant moments, he is usually a very happy little boy. He loves to give kisses and definately is a snuggler! Mommy loves that! He is still nursing atleast 2 or 3 times a day and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Other eating is touch and go. Sometimes he will eat all day and some days he won't eat at all. He loves spaghetti though. And smoothies are definately a favorite. I make smoothies for us with frozen fruit, juice, and plain yogurt. Even when he won't eat anything, he will drink a smoothie. When I go to Smoothie King now, I have to order a big one because a certain small person drinks half of it! He loves them!

Yesterday, I noticed he felt warm so I took his temperature. Sure enough, it was 102 degrees. I gave him Motrin and waited. It just didn't want to come down. So off to the doctor we went this morning. He has an ear infection :( Wasn't this why we did the tubes?? I'm disappointed right now. I thought this was behind us. We will just have to wait and see I guess...

An Update on Cooper

Cooper's surgery to put tubes in his ears was today. I was a nervous wreck, but everything went great! (Except him not being allowed to nurse after midnight.) I tried to get him to sleep


before he had to stop nursing, but it didnt happen. At about 1 AM, Jerry and I took him down the road in the car, and he feel asleep. We came back and I took him to bed. At about 3 AM, he woke up screaming for boob. It killed me to hold him and rock him while he screamed and pulled at my shirt, and I had to tell him no. It was awful. He stopped screaming just a couple minutes before we left at 5 AM. He wasn't asleep when we got to Hardees so I wouldn't let Jerry stop to get anything to eat. So I had about an hour and a half of sleep and an empty stomach.

This is in our room. The nurses brought him some toys.

This is after he had some medicine to make him loopy. It makes the separation easier. Atleast for him.

This is in the pre-op room. His medicine had really kicked in.

This is in recovery. They gave him a bottle :/

Mommy was so happy to see her little man!

He was so medicated, he didn't care about the bottle!

When the doctor called to let me know it was over, he said that everything went great. His ears were clear, which is the best time to do tubes. He didn't have to do his adnoids, which is what I was most worried about. He also told me he was waving at everyone as he feel asleep. That is just like Cooper :)

He slept the whole way home, and then we layed down together. He woke up at 6 PM, and then feel back asleep just a little while ago. He doesn't act like he is in any pain though! I just hope this works and stops his ear infections.

Tomorrow is the Day...

Cooper's ear surgery is tomorrow. He will be having tubes put in. They called this morning and we are to be ate the hospital at 6:45 AM. After midnight tonight, he cannot nurse. That will probably be the hardest part on him. Until 5 AM, he can have clear liquids, but that won't be what he wants! Maybe I will get lucky and he will stay asleep tonight...

I'm a nervous wreck right now. I'm dreading it, but I know its for the best. I will try to update tomorrow to tell you how it goes, but I make no promises because I don't know how he will be feeling. We would really appreciate your prayers :)

Surgery Looms

We saw the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor last Thursday. He did a pressure test, check Cooper's ears, tried to look in his mouth, made him scream, etc. He recommended putting tubes in his ears. I have scheduled the surgery for March 23.

I have mixed feelings about the surgery. On one hand, I know it will probably help Cooper and result in less trips to the doctor and help him not have to use antibiotics as much. I also know there is very little risk involved in this procedure. On the other hand, Cooper is my baby and they will be taking him from me. He will have to be put to sleep, and I really don't like that. He won't be allowed to nurse the night before. We are both going to hate that. How will I get him to sleep?? And even with routine procedures there is always some risk. What if he is in the .000001% that something goes wrong with??

Then there is the adenoids. The doctor also mentioned maybe removing his adenoids. He won't know if he recommends that or not until Cooper is already asleep and he can get a good look at the back of his throat. The tubes I think I can handle but removing something?? I don't know about that. Dr. L said there is very little risk of bleeding with it. But there is cutting involved so there is risk, right?? Plus I'm sure there is risk of infection like with any surgery.

Maybe I'm just worried because he is my baby and I am his mommy and that's my job. But either way, we would really appreciate your prayers about this.

Another Ear Infection...

Last night, Cooper developed a runny nose that escalated into a stuffy nose. By 2 AM he could barely breathe. He couldn't go to sleep because he couldn't breathe through his nose. He couldn't nurse because, again, he couldn't breathe through his nose.



This morning, when we got up, his stuffy, runny nose was even worse. I noticed he felt a little warm so I took his temperature. It was 101.2 degrees. I called his doctor and brought him in. They were behind so it took forever. He was unbelievably fussy, screaming the entire time we were waiting in the room.



When we finally got to see the doctor, the diagnosis was just as I thought, ear infection. Not only an ear infection, but a double ear infection. This is his 8th or 9th ear infection, so now we are talking about tubes. We will be seeing an ENT probably sometime next week and go from there.

Tubes make me nervous. I don't want my baby put to sleep, but I know this is the best thing for him. Sick babies are just no fun. He is miserable. I want my baby better and if we have to get tubes to do it I guess that's what we'll do...

Just an Update

This will be just a small update on some happenings of the past week or so.

This is what happens when you let a one year old play with your Blackberry.

We ended up turning Cooper around in his car seat last weekend. It is the only way it would fit in Jerry's Jeep and he insisted on taking Cooper for a ride. After facing forward in the Jeep, Cooper refused to face the rear when he moved back to my car. As you can see, he loved getting to see everything!

Jerry ordered Cooper and himself matching TapOut shirts. They look pretty darn cute in them if I do say so myself! Cooper is just waking up and Jerry squints alot in pictures. Oh well, this is the best one I got.

This has been my life for the past couple nights. As I tried to study for my Anatomy exam last night, my son turned into the whiniest child on the planet. I mentioned to a friend I thought maybe he was getting sick. And sure enough, a runny nose started this evening...

...along with this lovely fit. But, yes he is still cute Olga :)

A Stuffy Nose and a Watchful Mommy

Last night was no fun at all. Cooper is getting a cold so he can't breathe through his nose. Even after using saline and a bulb suction thing several times a day he's still stuffy. My nana bought him a Nap Nanny. Its a very expensive sleeping device that keeps baby elevated helping with stuffy noses, ear infections, GERD, etc. When I tried to put Cooper in it last night I discovered he is too tall for it now. So on to Plan B! I had a pregnancy wedge pillow made by Boppy that was a god-send in the last couple months of my pregnancy. I laid Cooper on it, and it worked perfectly! The wedge plus the humidifier kept him breathing comfortably! The only problem was I couldn't sleep because I was so nervous about him sleeping on a pillow! Therefore I stayed awake watching him for the first sign of smothering! I finally convinced myself he would be ok and fell asleep sometime after 5:30 AM. Needless to say it was a rough night and got even more rough when he decided to wake up at 7:00 AM when Daddy got home! Thankfully my wonderful husband kept him for a couple hours so I could get a little sleep. By that time Cooper was ready for a nap so I got to sleep a couple more hours! So thankful for my wonderful husband that worked all night and came home and watched the baby so I could sleep!