Thursday, July 15, 2010

Proof that he is my son

Just because people always insist that Gavin is a "little Barry." I thought I would post these two pictures that showed up on my camera last month. I would assume Gavin took the one of me judging by the odd angle. See, he DOES look like me!


Cooper - 6 Weeks


It's hard to believe that Cooper is just over 6 weeks now. He has grown & changed so much and of course I have been so busy enjoying him that I have fallen off the blogging bandwagon, so now to quickly sum up how the last 6 weeks have been....

* The c-section went as planned. I went in to surgery at 7:30, and he was out at 7:39 without any complications. The worst part of the whole ordeal was the 5 attempts it took to get the IV in my arm. Also, have to say having a catheter put in is sooo much worse when you can actually feel it.

* Cooper was 7 lbs. 8 oz. & 19 3/4 in. long. His face looked so much like Gavin's right from the get-go that I was really having a hard time not calling him Gavin (still happens every now & then.) There wasn't much debate about his name, it was the name we had picked for Gavin, but then Barry changed our mind (yes, that's how I meant to word that) and he became Gavin. So, I finally have my Cooper. Gavin calls him Bubba or CJ, but Daddy is trying to make Coop stick, so we'll see...

* My recovery wasn't too bad, but the first 2 days home from the hospital were the worst part, just did soooo much more moving at home than I was doing at the hospital. I was so thankful to have my sister & her kids staying with Gavin. He was so busy having fun with them that he didn't feel abandoned by me or Barry. Boy, did I miss him that week though, it was nice to be home so I could have more time with him.

* Cooper had his one-month checkup (which actually ended up being at 5 weeks 5 days, and is now 9 lbs. 4 oz. & 23.5 in. long. He's 80% for height & 20% for head size & weight. Kind of the opposite of Gavin, at least in regards to his weight. Gavin put on weight soo fast & his head always seemed to big for his body. The biggest indicator that Cooper is really long: We had to move the straps on his carseat up to the second set of holes cause he sits so tall in the seat. I also noticed that the seat only goes up to 29 in. & he is already over 23! If he grows another 4 in. in the next 6 weeks, he'll be out of this carrier way earlier than Gavin was!

* About week 3, we all came down with colds that were pretty nasty. Gavin's only lasted a few days, but Barry was sick for almost 2 full weeks. We'll all saw the dr. during that time & probably dropped $200 on medicines (I know at one point I was taking 4 different things everyday & several of them more than once a day.) What a relief it was to get past that time.

* We spent week 5 in Indy with my family, so Gavin got more time to play with Addie & Avery. He enjoyed fishing, swimming, papa's boat, the big playground, the rock climbing wall, fireworks on the 4th, and probably the highlight of the week: Seeing Toy Story 3 at "the big movie place." He is still talking about how we can see Toy Story 3 again next time we go to gramaw & papa's house. We were also able to get some good pictures of the whole family & take the kids to get cousin pictures together for the first time.

* I started back to work this week & actually survived my first few days without any tears. It was rough trying to settle down to sleep the first night, with my mind racing about everything I needed to take to day care & remember to talk to her about. I was anxious but it helped that I feel really comfortable with our day care situation now. Nikie has been so good with Gavin & really understanding of how tough it is to head back to work. I'm surprised how easy the transition really was. It helped that Cooper gave me & Barry his first real smile the weekend right before he started at day care. I knew it would be any day now, and was nervous about him having some of his "firsts" at day care when I wasn't around. Now, if I can just get him to save his first laugh & his first steps for me that will be great!

* On a sort of unrelated note, we've been making trips to Peoria every weekend that we are free as Barry's stepmom has been in ICU at a special hospital there. She had bulging discs in her neck that required surgery the week that Cooper was born, and was left partially paralyzed. Since that time, she has made tremendous progress in regaining mobility but is still on a ventilator & unable to see the kids until she gets out of ICU. Prayers for her continued recovery would be appreciated. How hard it must be to not be able to see the boys, when I know she really wants to. We've discovered that we can hold them up outside her window, but she won't be able to hold them for quite awhile still.

Here are some pictures of the past 6 weeks!