Cooper's New Face



Enjoying each other's company before the big day



It was an early morning for us Monday as we embarked on our 2 hour journey to UC Davis Children's Hospital. I waited until last minute to wake Cooper up since he usually sleeps in til 7:30am and we had to be out of the house by 6:30. To say the least he wasn't a happy boy. We met with his doctor for his pre-op appointment where we got the overview of the lip repair procedure. After that, we had hours to spare in Sac before we could check in to the Ronald McDonald House. Imagine, Coop was up since 6:00 am and refuses to sleep in the car, so he did not take one nap all day. It was one long day.



Flirting with Dad at Ronald House

 

Just Woke Up

 I have to say, The Ronald McDonald house exceeded our expectations. We were expecting a room in a common house, but were treated with a private 2 bedroom apartment. The apt was fully stocked with everything you could possibly need and there was a free shuttle available from 5:30am-midnight to and from the hospital. Once we were all settled in, Coop was out cold for 4 hours. When he woke, he was greeted by his Auntie, Uncle, and baby Cousin.

The next morning, I procrastinated waking Coop once again until last minute since I knew the first thing he'd want would be a bottle (he wasn't allowed any food after 1 AM.) After check-in at 7am, we waited until 9  when we would be separated from our little boy. It was a rough 2 hours waiting with a starving boy who only fusses when he's hungry. Once the doctors arrived, it was time to part ways and that was the last we'd see our little guy with his wide-smile. It was a very bittersweet moment handing him over to the anesthesiologist.

Last Family Pic with Our Wide Smile

Joel and I waited anxiously in the main lobby until noon when I just had a feeling it was time to see our "new" boy. Sure enough, the doctors had just finished, and we were taken back to see him. I swear it was like I was holding someone else's baby. He weighed a ton being completely dead weight. Everything was swollen and puffy, and his face just looked SO different. It was hard seeing him so out-of-it but I knew he needed me the most. Joel held him for a few minutes, but the sight of all the blood literally made him almost pass out cold. He had to toss Coop off and get fresh air. We had prepared ourselves for this moment by viewing pictures of babies right out of surgery so it wouldn't be as horrific, but since it was our child, it was.

Just out of the operating room

 The rest of that day and night, Cooper didn't sleep in any longer than 5 min stretches. It was odd knowing he'd only slept 3 hours that day (during surgery) and he still would NOT go to sleep. Joel went back to the Ronald House that evening and I stayed with Coop in the hospital. Worst night ever! Neither of us got any sleep due to our little neighbor boy, and the fact that the monitors kept malfunctioning and beeping like crazy.
Our nurse was so helpful and made bottles for him every hour it seemed. Thankfully Coop didn't loose his appetite at all after surgery. He started off with 6 bottles of Pedialyte, then formula every hour or so. We are currently feeding him through a syringe which I can not wait to throw away. (I think my hand will permanently be broken after this is over with.)

Wednesday Morning

Coop is doing much better, he's sleeping a little more now that we're home. I can't put him in his crib because he rolls onto his stomach and rubs his face, so I've been putting him down in his boppy so I can sleep with him and keep an eye on him.  It's hard keeping him occupied during the day since he can't really do anything with his no no's on (arm restraints.) He is a very active baby and you can tell he's going crazy not being able to crawl and put things in his mouth. Poor guy has another 2 weeks of complete boredom and mommy has another 2 weeks of a very needy baby to entertain.                                 

The only toy he can play in

Two Days Post-Op

3 Days Post-Op

Well since I've written a book, I might as well stop.
Coop's post-op is the day before Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to the traffic on 99 :) WooHoo
I'll keep everyone posted on anything new