Happy 1st Birthday, my sweet lil boy!

WOW!! I can not believe that a yr has gone by! I was really excited about this milestone about 3 mo. ago but I find myself VERY emotional about it today. So...Since I have been sitting at home just reminiscing about the events that occurred a yr ago at this time...I figured I will let you all in on my flashback. :)

On May 7, 2008, I woke up and went to take my last final for the semester at UNT. It was gonna be an easy one, Psychology, so I was not too worried about it. My mind was more focused on the Dr. appt I had afterwards. Seeing how I was two days away from my due date and been having small (I thought at the time they were a big deal but later realized they were SMALL) contractions here and there. I just wanted to know what was goin on down there! HA! So I went to take the final and during the final I could not concentrate at all!! I had to keep reading questions over and over! After 2 hours, which should have only taken 1, I called Logan and told him I was not gonna be able to meet him at the house and ride together cause it took me so long and to just meet me there.

My appt was at 10am and while sitting in the waiting room I started feeling even weirder. Not only could I not concentrate but I started getting very dizzy and my hands kept on shaking. Logan's cousin, Candice, was there cause she was prego too and we just happened to have our appts at the same time there for a while. She was certain today must be the day. I had my doubts. So when I went back they took my blood pressure and it was through the roof. 164/92 So they went ahead and checked everything else. I was at a 0 and only 50% effaced so I was pretty bummed. They took my blood pressure again and no change. Since I was also having SMALL contractions and my blood pressure was so high, Dr. C went ahead and sent me to labor and deliver so they could monitor me for a while.

At 11:30am they got me all hooked up and told me that my contractions were very consistent, every 2min, but they weren't strong enough and that if my blood pressure went down they would probably send me home. I was a lil bummed out. But...my blood pressure never went down so they admitted me....it was for real now!!!! So Dr. C gives me 1/2 of some pill that is supposed to strengthen my contractions and Logan goes and gets our bags! I am laughing/crying while I write this...I can remember the look on Logan's face when he left the hospital. He was shocked it was actually happening/nervous about leaving/excited to begin the adventure! I love him so much!!

So Logan gets back and my contractions are starting to get stronger. Family also started to arrive and it was goin good. UNTIL...I really went into LABOR! I was laying there and Logan was sitting on the chair beside the bed and all of a sudden we hear this loud POP. Cause they were monitoring Cooper's heart beat, It echoed in the room. Logan just looked at me and goes "What was that!" I knew immediately that my water broke. It was kinda cool till the pain started getting much worse!! It was painful before but wow this was PAIN! I wasn't a screamer. I remember the nurse having to teach me how to breathe...sounds funny but at that point you forget everything! I was told to move from side to side to help me progress. I just grabbed that bar and closed my eyes and prayed for it to be over...and then 2min later there was another one RUTHLESS! I was only a 3 when my water broke so I had a ways to go. It was now about 2pm and I stuck it out without an epidural for about 8 more hours. It was HARD! I remember telling everyone in the room to STOP TALKING. It was taking all my energy and concentration to get through the contractions. I didn't need any noise to distract me :) Logan tells me that at one point he rubbed my arm and was being all sweet and I said very sternly, " DO NOT TOUCH ME!" I guess I couldn't handle anymore stimulus! :)

So like I said I waited 8hrs and then decided enough is enough I need relief! So I tell Logan to call in the nurse. Of course about 5min later I asked him again to call in the nurse and realizing the urgency, he obeyed! So in she comes, by the way she was the BEST! She tells me that I can go ahead and get an epidural BUT that I would have to pump two bags of fluid through my IV first! WHAT!!?? So she helps me out by applying pressure to the bag to help it go faster, did I mention that she was the BEST! :)

Two bags later, the anesthesiologist comes in WhooHoo! Logan says she looked as if she had come in off the street and so he was a little nervous! She tells me to sit on the edge of the bed- What! How can I sit right now? and to hunch my back like a cat and be very still- excuse me! So I look at Logan, he is holding my shoulders so I can lean forward, and say, "Please pray for me, I don't think I can do this" Logan says that my legs were sticking straight out and stiff as can be, lets just say that having to sit, hunched forward, very still, during a contraction is TOUGH! I never felt it though, too busy concentrating on being still!

Then the worst happens, or what I thought was the worst. I only felt it on one side. I immediately pipe up and the anesthesiologist states verbatim, "I thought it was a good one" Logan- You thought! What do you mean you THOUGHT! You should know!! Thankfully it worked its way to that side by just rotating back and forth! WHEW!

At at about 10pm I was a a new women! I was now smiling and talking, yes, everyone was allowed to talk now! :) At this point my sweet nurse strongly suggested that I get some rest. I was about a 6 now and decided to listen, thinking that when I woke up I would be having this baby.
Before falling asleep, Logan thought that since my mood was so great now that he would give me the present he had brought. He hands me a black box and when I opened it I saw a beautiful ring with Coop's birthstone in it! I cried and hugged him and I guess while hugging him I moved the monitor on my belly. In comes 3 nurses and the Dr. thinking the baby's heart rate had dropped! Thankfully it was just picking up mine and my nurse very gently reiterates the need for me to rest....so I heed her advise. :)

About an hour later she comes back in and checks me, I am now at an 8. I then progress about 1cm per hour from then on. So at about 1am they pronounce that I am now at a 10! My sister freaks out! Well, we all did! My sister and Logan stay in the room and they start getting me ready to push. Do to the fact that I could only feel a lil bit of pressure (Thank the Lord for modern medicine), pushing felt very strange. I couldn't tell if what I was doing was productive or not. I wont get into details here but...funny story- Brynea and Logan were told to hold my legs seriously like behind my head...I am NOT flexible by the way, so at one point, after a push, the nurse told them both to relax my legs. Logan listened and dropped my legs some, Brynea DID NOT! So I immediately told her to EASE UP! She just nervously laughed and said sorry I am just so nervous! Also at one point I got upset cause they had stopped counting at 4..they were all distracted by the head. Well I was needing to hear the counts and I sure let them know it!! 45 min of pushing and my sweet baby boy was here!

He arrived May 8, 2008 at 1:43 am weighing 8lbs 5oz and 19in long...our lil fatty!! LOVE IT!

He hardly cried at all when he came. It scared me and Logan to death, the nurse quickly told us, after I yelled out Why is he not crying! that he had great color, he just isn't a screamer..wish that was still the case!
I am sitting here in a puddle of tears now! I just love my Lil Guy so much and can not believe that a yr has gone by. Cherish every moment you have with your babies cause it goes by fast and before you know it they are throwin tantrums and getting into everything!
Thank you Lord for blessing Logan and I with Cooper, his amazing health and loving, warm. happy, outgoing, charming, funny, strong willed, active spirit! We look forward to watching him become the man you created him to be!

We love you so much Cooper and are so blessed to have you!

~Mommy and Daddy