Happy 31 weeks and Happy Halloween!

My hubby and I did the pumpkin painting on my belly today! We joked about this being Cooper's first halloween costume :) I didn't wear make-up to be even more terrifying...oh, alright, I just wasn't in the mood...but, it does bring up the fright factor!

Cooper 31 weeks!

31 weeks...we had our weekly u/s this morning and things continue to look stable. We've had several reassuring u/s over the last 7 weeks but I still can't allow myself to relax. What I know for certainty is that life can change in an instant. My prayer is that the next 3 weeks hurry up and are uneventful! Oh yeah, and they say he weighs 4lb 4oz!!! He continues to be a week ahead in growth and continues to do beautifully on ALL of his NST...he amazes me :)

Cooper is playing with his feet in this one! It was so cute to watch his little fingers wiggle and play with his toes...


He's looking right at you in this one~ can you see the chubby cheeks?

We're painting a pumpkin on my stomach tomorrow in celebration of Halloween and for turning 31 weeks! I'll post some pics tomorrow :)

Happy Cat Day~

Dear Delilah,

Today is national cat day! Mommy can't be there to spoil you but I've given daddy orders to give you the "good stuff" for dinner tonight. Thank you for being loving and loyal.

Love, Mommy

**For those of you that missed reading a comment that I had made on Lily's blog regarding my cat's super genius status~ Please, know that one of her talents is that she can read! She reads mommy's blogs everyday. Actually, she's my biggest fan :) ** Oh, and I wish that I could tell you that this craziness is b/c I've in the hospital for 48 days, its not, I just REALLY love my cat**

Delilah taking a nap with Daddy~


Delilah doing what she does best...but, isn't she sweet?

She owns our house actually, we just kinda live with her...

Delilah loves to borrow mommy's scarves...

This is a cat that is used to getting her picture taken...

Boy, is she going to be pissed when we bring a minitature human home with us that is super noisey...Make room for Cooper, Dee! Mommy will be home soon....

Cooper's baby shower...

We had a baby shower for Cooper yesterday in the sunroom in the hospital cafeteria. My sister hosted the shower and did such a great job decorating a hospital cafeteria room! My nieces and nephew did a banner for the wall and it was so cute! I had such a great time being out of the room but was exhausted afterwards! My nurse wanted me to go down to the shower on a stretcher but I refused...I felt almost human and the wheelchair made things much easier to get around the room and visit. It felt great to see my family and friends all in one room and knowing that they are just as excited as we are to meet Cooper means the world to us. My sister found great ways to include Lily in the baby shower and it touches my heart to know that there are others that continue to miss her as much as my hubby and I do...

Here are just a few pictures of the baby shower~

Here are Cooper's goodies...I just can't wait to use all these things with him!


My sis got this frame...An angel looking over a baby...just like Lily is watching over Cooper~

Lily was there at the shower in spirit and we all continue to love her and miss her everyday!

The cake and the little cradles filled with candy that my sis did for our guests~

The banner that my nieces and nephew did for the shower...its kinda hard to read but it has Cooper's name on it with a bunch of artwork from Clayre and RJ (2 y.o. twin bro/sis), Abbi (5), Gracie (8) and Caitlyn (10)...so cute! Hehehe...thats my mom's head in the bottom right of the pic :)

We had a great day but it had its bittersweet moments, too. I just can't wait to meet him and these thoughts consume my daydreams. I just can't wait to have him here safely in my arms...

One month from today~

We'll be meeting a certain little boy :)

I'll be 30 weeks tomorrow! I just cannot believe that we have made it this far! I remember my ob-gyn talking about "if you're still pregnant at 28 weeks..." and here we are at 30 weeks!!!

Everything continues to look stable by the grace of God. They check his fluid level and if there is any fluid behind the placenta (which would indicate that the uterine wall is starting to thin) and both look great. It looks like we'll do a second round of steriods at 32 weeks and they're most likely also going to move me to a room closer to the O.R. I've kinda gotten used to this room and I'll miss (almost) everyone up here but will do whatever they recommend.

Just for kicks I have to add this "package" picture...Cooper is already an exhibitionist :) He'll be so embarassed one day to know that his goods were on the internet...

5 weeks down and 5 weeks to go!

I've been in the hospital for 5 weeks today! Halfway there and I'm hoping that time keeps on trucking away!

We had our weekly ultrasound this morning and my peri wasn't there so we met with another peri in the group. This peri is rather familiar with our case because he's rounded on me several times in the hospital but I just really love in my regular peri...But, he did a very thorough u/s and everything continues to look stable. Cooper looks great! He weighs 3 lb. 2 oz. which is funny because my hubby and I were taking bets on what his weight would be today. I said 3.1 and he said 3.3...so, if we had put money on it than we would both be good :)

They've put me on Glyburide for my gestational diabetes because I just can't seem to key in my fasting blood sugars. I control my blood sugars through the day with diet but my fasting just won't cooperate! I came in here completely medicine free and was just taking prenatals. Since I've been here I've been on Tamiflu for 10 days, on Protonix in the morning because of TERRIBLE heartburn (water was giving me heartburn if that tells you anything!) and now I'm on Glyburide for my gestational diabetes. The only drug that I feel guilty for taking is the Tamiflu because the effects on the baby are unknown and that terrifies me. I almost felt like my arm was twisted in taking it because my ob was telling me all these terrible stories about these pregnant women in the ICU on ventilators and I have to tell you that the scare tactic worked! I've been on a ventilator before and will do almost anything if threatened with the remote possiblity of being on one again.

Otherwise, things are going rather smoothly. My spirits are up and down. Sometimes I feel like I can do anything and other days are spent in private pity-parties. I actually started crying in front of my nurse yesterday which if you know me IRL than you know that my tears are something that are kept private and only truly shared IRL with a very few people. Here I am crying in front of a virtual stranger. I didn't know her before this and chances are that our contact after this will be minimal (I do plan on bringing Cooper to visit after flu season is over) and I'm crying without hesitation. You begin to feel very vulnerable here and vulnerability isn't a quality that I'm in the mood for these days. I'm a rather opinionated and blunt person but find myself being rather weak inside this room.

I don't know if I've mentioned this yet and am too lazy to go through old posts, but the c-section has been scheduled for November 23rd so we'll have our little blessing on the week on Thanksgiving. I can't think of anything more wonderful to happen at a time of the year where people focus on their blessings...and,what a wonderful blessing he will be for our family.

"My name is Cooper!"

I speak a lot to Cooper during the day and always make a point of using his name so that the day that we meet he'll know my voice. I started thinking last night that he may not know exactly what his name is because he's been called either "stinker" or "little rascal" twice a day for the last 4.5 weeks. The nurses try to get him to stay on the NST but he's not always cooperative and the nurses will say "Come on, you little stinker!"....You get the point :)

This was really funny to me...or either I really am losing my mind from being here too long!