He's here!! Cooper William DeArmond was born at 1:18PM on Monday October 17th. You guys Cooper's birth story is a testament to the power of prayer! Little brother arrived at 35 weeks and 2 days yet he weighed 8lbs 9oz and was 21 3/4 in long. I was talking with the neonatologist a few days after his birth and she was telling me that he was just meant to be big (I did not have any gestational diabetes so he is literally just our big preemie!) How incredible is that?! Thanks to some crazy genetics and Such an answer to prayer!
On the morning of Cooper's birth, Blake arrived early to the hospital to be with me as I prepared and awaited our surgery time. I had a cesarean with Beau so Cooper would be delivered via cesarean as well. The surgery time was a bit up in the air as we awaited news of any other cancellations that morning, however we knew we would meet our little guy by lunch time. My mother in law drove over to our house early that morning to be with Beau so a Blake could be with me. We kept everyone posted as we waited to go down to pre op. I had already been in the hospital for over 4 weeks so I was anxious to get the party started. My mom arrived at the hospital mid morning and around 11AM they wheeled me down to pre op. We sent out messages letting everyone know it was almost go time so that they could head over to the hospital and around 12:15 Blake and I sent final messages that I was about to walk in to surgery. Since this was not my first cesarean I mostly knew what to expect and with that came the memories of the extreme nausea I had during and after Beau's delivery. So I begged this anesthesiologist to give me ALL the anti nausea meds. I walked in and climbed up onto the cold steel table ready for my spinal and SO excited to meet the little man that had been keeping me company for all those months and long days in the hospital. He was my little buddy and I just couldn't wait to officially meet him. I prayed as I layed down and continued to pray as Blake walked in and we were on our way!
The surgery was long as I ended up with severe scar tissue from my first cesarean. An unknown until we were there in surgery. But Cooper came out doing well!! It was an incredibly emotional experience and I was so overjoyed to find out that I would be able to have some time with him before he would have to go to NICU. So while the doctors worked on closing me up etc, Blake went with Cooper to our room to wait on me to be wheeled back to them. These minutes were SO long. All the anti nausea meds did not do their job and I was sick. All the scar tissue meant longer than typical close out and I was very ready to be with my baby. But the time came and at last I got to have some skin to skin time with Cooper and we got to practice nursing. Such an answer to prayer. I had told all doctors and nurses how I truly desired to have this time with our baby before surgery and glory be to God that Cooper came out stable and able to have this time with me.
After our skin to skin time Cooper left to be monitored at NICU. They needed to keep an eye on his blood sugars. His lungs were functioning perfectly and due to his size he was regulating his body temp well! Yay! His first blood sugar reported borderline so he was hooked up to a nasal feeding tube. This meant he would get formula through a tube that went straight to his tummy. Blake stayed with Cooper at the NICU all afternoon while I continued to recover. Unfortunately those first hours after surgery were rough. I was throwing up and my blood pressure had spiked after surgery which meant the nurses would not allow visitors to see me.
The good news is, we overcame those rough recovery hours! We allowed the NICU to give Cooper a bottle which meant his feeding tube came out. And since my milk wasn't in yet, he was still on formula but grew stronger by the day. On Wednesday, 2 days after delivery, Cooper was released to my hospital room for in room care! It was the best day!! No more hobbling over to the NICU for feedings and having to leave him. And goodness my heart goes out to all NICU mommies and daddies. Blake and I both met some of the strongest parents, some who had very sick, very small babies who had spent endless months separated from their babies. What strength it takes to walk that long road and I'm so humbled by each and every individual story.
Thursday afternoon, we were officially released from the hospital!! JOY! It was a sun filled afternoon and we were home bound. There truly is no place like home.
It's been a week and a day since Cooper joined our family and we are so thankful to be recovering at home. What I know after this entire experience is that it truly does take a village. Our family has so much gratitude for all those who have prayed, made meals, helped with Beau, sent cards and other sweet gifts, called, sent messages etc! You all are the best and mean so much to us.
Oh and that village, you continue to support and amaze us! I have been recovering, and Beau came down with a fever before we were even 1 week in to our new normal. But you know what, we got this! Because of that village and because my husband might just be super man 😁 I love him so very much and it's in these mundane, fever filled, milky messy poopy days that God works on us and strengthens our marriage. Once again I find myself more in love than ever.
Shout out to Mimi, Nauni and Papi for EVERYTHING!!
Love,
Casey (Blake, Beau and Cooper)
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Baby's Eve
Tomorrow is the day! I am set for delivery and we will become DeArmond party of 4. We are very excited with the anticipation of meeting our newest addition. Thank you all for praying for us and for being on this crazy journey with us! We will keep everyone updated tomorrow as best we can and welcome all the prayers!!
Love,
Casey, Blake and Big brother Beau
Love,
Casey, Blake and Big brother Beau
Monday, October 10, 2016
Set the Date
Week 34 is here! I am 34 weeks and 2 days today which means the prayers are working, Praise Jesus! After arriving and being admitted at 31 weeks, this milestone is a huge accomplishment and blessing for our sweet baby. Although baby brother will still be delivered prematurely, the doctors consider babies born between 34-36 weeks 'late preterm'. This does not mean that we are out of the woods but it does mean that baby brother has a stronger chance of a shorter NICU stay. We are praying he will be able to go home with us when it is time for me to be discharged. However, there are several variables at play that will determine whether or not this will be possible- all of which we won't know until our little man is born.
At my last update I had mentioned that my BP had elevated a few times leaving some uncertainty about when I would deliver. However, after those few elevated readings, my BP settled back down (i.e. I settled back down and tried very hard to stay relaxed) and remained stable. We made it through the weekend with good to low BP readings. Baby brother continues to do well and as of my ultrasound this morning, he is in the head down position. I had a strong feeling he had flipped again after awaking to some painful movements on Saturday night. This baby is a real mover! He has now flipped from breech to head down, back to breech and now head down all in 3 weeks. Honestly, it amazes me how he still has room to do this (My tummy is crowded!!) but yet its another example of God's incredible design.
Since I am stable and baby brother is thriving, the doctors have agreed to let me wait to deliver until 35 weeks. I only inquired about this EVERY SINGLE DAY of my hospital stay thus far. I wanted to make it as long as possible as I know how each day matters for baby. 35 weeks is still early but the doctors are not comfortable letting my pregnancy progress beyond that point as the likelihood of my health deteriorating increases the farther along I remain pregnant. They can't say for certain that something would or would not happen as we continue to wait to deliver. Blood pressure issues in pregnancy and preeclampsia can go down hill extremely quickly without much warning and therefore the doctors do not want to test the limits. I understand their stance. I also have a strong intuition that everything would be fine if we waited until 36 weeks and remained on my BP meds but am not willing to take that gamble (nor will the doctors allow me to). I put my faith in the doctors and in their abilities after observing me now for several weeks. So unless something unexpected occurs, I will deliver on Monday, 10/17 at 35 weeks & 2 days.
We ask for prayers for a healthy delivery, strong baby- lungs/ breathing, temps, blood sugars etc., short NICU stay (baby will have to go to the NICU as part of the hospital policy- all babies born prior to 36 weeks are required to go to NICU), prayers for peace and release of anxieties as Blake and I prepare to welcome our 2nd baby very soon, prayers for our sweet Beau as he continues to be juggled around while I am in the hospital and for an easy transition to big brother.
We look forward to an exciting week ahead and I am very much looking forward to my last 1.5-2 weeks (1 week until delivery and 4-5 days to recover) of this hospital stay with the greatest gift at the end!
At my last update I had mentioned that my BP had elevated a few times leaving some uncertainty about when I would deliver. However, after those few elevated readings, my BP settled back down (i.e. I settled back down and tried very hard to stay relaxed) and remained stable. We made it through the weekend with good to low BP readings. Baby brother continues to do well and as of my ultrasound this morning, he is in the head down position. I had a strong feeling he had flipped again after awaking to some painful movements on Saturday night. This baby is a real mover! He has now flipped from breech to head down, back to breech and now head down all in 3 weeks. Honestly, it amazes me how he still has room to do this (My tummy is crowded!!) but yet its another example of God's incredible design.
Since I am stable and baby brother is thriving, the doctors have agreed to let me wait to deliver until 35 weeks. I only inquired about this EVERY SINGLE DAY of my hospital stay thus far. I wanted to make it as long as possible as I know how each day matters for baby. 35 weeks is still early but the doctors are not comfortable letting my pregnancy progress beyond that point as the likelihood of my health deteriorating increases the farther along I remain pregnant. They can't say for certain that something would or would not happen as we continue to wait to deliver. Blood pressure issues in pregnancy and preeclampsia can go down hill extremely quickly without much warning and therefore the doctors do not want to test the limits. I understand their stance. I also have a strong intuition that everything would be fine if we waited until 36 weeks and remained on my BP meds but am not willing to take that gamble (nor will the doctors allow me to). I put my faith in the doctors and in their abilities after observing me now for several weeks. So unless something unexpected occurs, I will deliver on Monday, 10/17 at 35 weeks & 2 days.
We ask for prayers for a healthy delivery, strong baby- lungs/ breathing, temps, blood sugars etc., short NICU stay (baby will have to go to the NICU as part of the hospital policy- all babies born prior to 36 weeks are required to go to NICU), prayers for peace and release of anxieties as Blake and I prepare to welcome our 2nd baby very soon, prayers for our sweet Beau as he continues to be juggled around while I am in the hospital and for an easy transition to big brother.
We look forward to an exciting week ahead and I am very much looking forward to my last 1.5-2 weeks (1 week until delivery and 4-5 days to recover) of this hospital stay with the greatest gift at the end!
 |
| Obsessed with garbage cans and throwing anything in sight away! For some reason he doesn't care that mommy thinks it's "yucky, yucky". |
 |
| The theme of his hospital visits...getting into everything...noticing the trend here?! And in case you are wondering, he did pull out EVERY.SINGLE.TISSUE. and then he helped daddy throw them in his favorite trash can LOL. |
 |
| The play house on mommy's hospital floor. It doesn't compare to being outside but it's still fun. |
 |
| Fun in Papi's fire car over the weekend! Papi retired last week after 48 years of service, so Beau had to get some fun in while he still could. |
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Day by Day
As of Monday things were fairly same ol same ol...then Tuesday came along. I was a bit more active on Tuesday, as active as you can be in a hospital room (which is not very active, haha) and ended up with 2-3 elevated BP readings. The readings were not high but simply higher than I have been running on my meds. By the evening I was back to my normal status quo readings and went on without thinking much of it. On Wednesday my high risk doctors came by and voiced their concern about the few readings from the day prior. Due to this, I continue to be monitored closely and if a trend were to continue, the doctors would prefer to go ahead and deliver early next week versus waiting until 35 weeks. And if for some reason things were to go down hill, they could potentially deliver as early as this weekend at exactly 34 weeks. My OB is on call this weekend so she would be the one to deliver me, however she prefers to wait until next week due to staffing in the NICU over the weekend. The high risk doctors seem very serious about wanting to deliver and have expressed concern about the risk associated with staying pregnant longer. They know I am willing to take on that risk for the time being as I am still doing well and am strongly wanting to make it to 35 weeks for the sake of our little man. If I can keep my BP in check then it is looking like they will deliver early during the week of 10/17.
With these developments, we ask for prayers that my BP would remain stable and low and that it would not elevate for at least 1 more week (until 10/15). We pray that baby would continue to thrive, that his lungs grow strong and prayers that after delivery he is able to keep his blood sugars normal therefore bypassing any need to be fed through the feeding tubes. We pray that he will be healthy enough to go home with us after delivery and forgo any extended NICU stay. I also ask that you pray for our sweet Beau as he has picked up a bit of a cold in recent days. With little brother coming soon, we pray Beau will be healed quickly so he is able to meet the newest family member when it comes time.
We are very much in a day by day situation now and the plans could change at any point. I had another ultrasound this morning and our little guy was just the sweetest. We look forward to holding him in our arms in God's perfect timing. And I know and believe that baby brother has an army of angels on his side ready to battle. Thank you to all our prayer warriors, we feel your prayers and have made it far and are almost to our 34 week goal. Now let's beat that date!
With these developments, we ask for prayers that my BP would remain stable and low and that it would not elevate for at least 1 more week (until 10/15). We pray that baby would continue to thrive, that his lungs grow strong and prayers that after delivery he is able to keep his blood sugars normal therefore bypassing any need to be fed through the feeding tubes. We pray that he will be healthy enough to go home with us after delivery and forgo any extended NICU stay. I also ask that you pray for our sweet Beau as he has picked up a bit of a cold in recent days. With little brother coming soon, we pray Beau will be healed quickly so he is able to meet the newest family member when it comes time.
We are very much in a day by day situation now and the plans could change at any point. I had another ultrasound this morning and our little guy was just the sweetest. We look forward to holding him in our arms in God's perfect timing. And I know and believe that baby brother has an army of angels on his side ready to battle. Thank you to all our prayer warriors, we feel your prayers and have made it far and are almost to our 34 week goal. Now let's beat that date!
Monday, October 3, 2016
Pre-Week 34
It's Monday and another weekend in the hospital has passed us by. There is not much to report other than baby and I continue to do well. My BP continues to be stable and the medicine seems to be doing it's job. This morning I had a whole round of labs and another ultrasound. The labs all came back clear and there was no protein in my urine. This is all great news and is an answer to prayer as we target to keep baby brother on the inside and developing for a few more weeks. The ultrasound reported that baby is growing and thriving (and no surprise here, he is measuring big, which my babies always do). He continues to score extremely well which indicates that he is not under duress. In fact, I am continually told how healthy he appears. We continue to monitor him twice daily and each time my nurses laugh at how incredibly active he is. Of course this is no surprise to me, baby brother is constantly on the move and putting pressure all over my belly (he has switched from a breech position, to head down, and back to breech, all in 1 week). I joke with the nurses how he is more active than his older brother was in utero and I am not quite sure what to make of that HA. However, I am thinking that maybe the fact that he is more active in utero will mean he is my chill infant baby upon arrival- reverse psychology is a real thing, right?! No matter what it means, I am so looking forward to seeing my boys together very soon.
My plan of care remains somewhat up in the air, however keeping both baby and I stable until 34 weeks is still our number one goal. I will be 34 weeks this Saturday, so what happens on the days thereafter is fairly unknown. As of this morning, my doctors (OB & high risk doctors) have agreed to delay delivery at 34 weeks if I remain stable. If for some reason my BP elevates, then they will deliver versus increasing my medication. I have strongly requested that we try to make it to 35 weeks and they are willing to allow me to try to make that. The kicker is that I will have to remain in the hospital until delivery, however I would rather remain hospitalized than deliver our little one too prematurely. Giving him more time to grow and develop is my heart's desire. All this being said, I anticipate that baby brother will make his debut either the week of 10/10 or the week of 10/17.
Our continued prayer request is that both myself and baby remain stable and healthy and that baby brother has plenty of time to grow and develop. We pray for a healthy delivery, for strong lungs and strong baby.
Blake, Beau and I are so very thankful for the continued prayers. Beau has been busy maintaining as typical a routine as possible with daddy's help. And all the grandparents have been spoiling him to pieces with some sleep overs and fun outings. He still comes to visit me in the hospital everyday and we do our best to fill the short amount of time with kisses, snuggles, and wheel chair rides. By the end of his visits he is usually into everything- hospital rooms are not the most ideal for 18 mo old toddlers and all the cords and equipment call his name :) However, I cherish every minute.
I was blessed by an ultrasound technician that took a 3D picture of baby brother last week. Below is our little guy and both Blake and I are guessing that he might have more of daddy's good looks than mommy's. I know one daddy who will be very excited if that is the case since Beau takes so much after mommy. But we shall see our sweet blessing and that beautiful face in a few short weeks.
My plan of care remains somewhat up in the air, however keeping both baby and I stable until 34 weeks is still our number one goal. I will be 34 weeks this Saturday, so what happens on the days thereafter is fairly unknown. As of this morning, my doctors (OB & high risk doctors) have agreed to delay delivery at 34 weeks if I remain stable. If for some reason my BP elevates, then they will deliver versus increasing my medication. I have strongly requested that we try to make it to 35 weeks and they are willing to allow me to try to make that. The kicker is that I will have to remain in the hospital until delivery, however I would rather remain hospitalized than deliver our little one too prematurely. Giving him more time to grow and develop is my heart's desire. All this being said, I anticipate that baby brother will make his debut either the week of 10/10 or the week of 10/17.
Our continued prayer request is that both myself and baby remain stable and healthy and that baby brother has plenty of time to grow and develop. We pray for a healthy delivery, for strong lungs and strong baby.
Blake, Beau and I are so very thankful for the continued prayers. Beau has been busy maintaining as typical a routine as possible with daddy's help. And all the grandparents have been spoiling him to pieces with some sleep overs and fun outings. He still comes to visit me in the hospital everyday and we do our best to fill the short amount of time with kisses, snuggles, and wheel chair rides. By the end of his visits he is usually into everything- hospital rooms are not the most ideal for 18 mo old toddlers and all the cords and equipment call his name :) However, I cherish every minute.
I was blessed by an ultrasound technician that took a 3D picture of baby brother last week. Below is our little guy and both Blake and I are guessing that he might have more of daddy's good looks than mommy's. I know one daddy who will be very excited if that is the case since Beau takes so much after mommy. But we shall see our sweet blessing and that beautiful face in a few short weeks.
 |
| Hello Everybody! |
 |
| Profile picture |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)