Splish Splash!

A few nights ago Logan and I experienced one of those parenting moments where all you can do is laugh.  

We were were having a nice night at home and it was almost bedtime for the kiddos. Beckham had been bathed and had a clean diaper and pajamas on, and I was in the kitchen warming up some milk for his nighttime snack. Logan was helping me out by getting Emmie's pajamas on and we were really looking forward to some peace and quiet in the house once the kids were asleep. That's when we heard a puzzling noise.... 

SPLASH!!! 

Apparently I had forgotten to drain the bathtub and Beckham thought it would be a good idea to hop back in! At first we didn't know how to react but then we looked at each other and laughed. This will be one of those moments we will look back on to remember that we can't always be in control! 

Hooray for the joys of parenthood!

NICU pictures

Emmie has been home with us for over a month now and she has made our home such a special place. But not a day goes by that I don't think about where we all were almost 7 weeks ago. As you all know Emmie has had a bit of a rough start and she spent the first 15 days of her life in the NICU. Those were the longest days I can remember and I'm so glad they are over. Here are a ton of pictures that chronicle her NICU journey. 

Vapotherm/oxygen and Feeding tube.
She was so swollen! Her hands and face were so puffy from the delivery and her IV fluids.

So tiny!

Finally getting to touch my sweet baby

The syringe you see by her head was attached to the tube in her stomach and was used to suck large amounts of air out of her stomach. Her poor little stomach would be huge and round and the nurses would pull the air out for her to make her feel better.

Tiny feet!

Snuggle time

Holding Mimi's hand

Daddy time

Mimi's (Grandma) turn!

Bop's (Grandpa) turn!

Tiny hands and teeny feet

The wonderful nurses made Emmie's cute name tag for her room, and this is the board where all of Emmie's information was posted everyday.

IV and oxygen monitor on her feet.
Emmie kept ripping her IV's out so the nurses had to keep changing them from her hands to her feet all the time!

I love my girl!

Emmie has her daddy wrapped around her teeny finger!

Emmie's tanning bed. AKA Bili lights.

We all called these her "Movie star shades"
(She HATED them!)

Bop snuggled her while she took a feeding through her feeding tube.

I brought her some cute clothes to wear instead of the hospital clothes.

So pretty! This was a few days before she got to come home.
You can really see how much healthier she looks.

Daddy's girl. He is seriously smitten with her!

So sweet!

Car seat test.
She passed with flying colors!

Finally got the news that she could come home!
I was so tired but so so so happy I wouldn't have to spend another night away  from her!

Now that Emmie is home she has been doing so well. We go to lots of doctor's appointments and it seems like I am always worrying about her little heart, but I know that she is getting better every day. More pictures of this pretty girl and her big brother are on the way.

We are so blessed!

Samoa Brownies

A few days ago Logan and I went grocery shopping with the kids and some sweet girls were sitting in front of the grocery store selling Girl Scout Cookies. Usually I am a sucker for Thin Mints and Samoa's but I was feeling strong and told them "No thanks" when they asked if I would like to buy some. I'm working on trying to lose this baby weight and I was so proud of my self for saying no. 

The whole time we were shopping I was feeling good about refusing those delicious cookies until it was time to leave. I didn't realize that I had used up large amounts of my will power the first time I said "No". I practically had to run away from the sweet little Girl Scouts in front of the store yelling "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!"

When we arrived home I was ruined. I couldn't stop thinking about how I just ran away from my favorite cookies! As soon as the groceries were put away I logged onto Pinterest to try and find something to curb my craving. 

Whoops.

I found these delicious morsels that I whipped up and consumed as soon as they were ready!

Samoa Brownies

So much for my diet... my butt didn't appreciate them but I sure did!

Make them tonight... you will thank me for it!

Emmie's Story

 This handsome little guy would like to introduce you all to his 

new baby sister!

Little miss Emmie Marie Cooper!

Born January 6th, 2012

at 11:07pm

5lbs 15oz

18in. long

On Tuesday January 3rd I went to the doctor for my normal belly check appointment around 3:00pm. Everything was measuring and looking normal until the doctor went to listen to Emmie's heartbeat on the doppler. I could tell that something was up because the doctor was spending a lot longer than usual listening, and even I could hear that something didn't sound quite right. The doctor explained a few minutes later that she could hear an arrhythmia in the baby's heartbeat and she would like me to get an ultrasound to make sure everything was alright with the baby. I was scheduled for my ultrasound later that week on Thursday at a hospital across town because it was the only radiology clinic with an opening that week.

Thursday rolled around and I dropped Beckham off with my sister-in-law and headed to my appointment.  Logan had a long break from class that morning so he was able to meet me for the ultrasound. To save some time I'll jump to the end of the ultrasound where we were told that the baby's heart was beating WAY too fast  and they thought that the top part of her heart was beating differently than the bottom half of her heart. I was sent immediately over to labor and delivery for observation and to be seen by a high-risk doctor. They just confirmed what we had seen in the ultrasound and sent me to a different hospital to be seen by a pediatric cardiologist. 

The cardiologist did another ultrasound and diagnosed the baby with an Atrial Flutter. The upper left quadrant of the baby's heart was beating up to 500 beats per minute and the rest of her heart was trying to keep up at around 220-270 beats per minute. I was admitted to the hospital to be monitored and for the doctors to decide what the next step would be. The doctors were considering 2 options. 

1. Begin administering medication through me to slow the baby's heart

or

2. Deliver the baby and treat her heart condition directly

After about 12 hours of observation the doctors were very worried that the baby's heart wasn't slowing down on it's own. They weren't sure how long she could sustain that high of a heart rate and were worried that she may go into heart failure at any point. Because I was almost 36 weeks along we all decided that it would be best to deliver her and deal with her premature lungs at the same time as her heart condition. 

A few hours later I was all numbed up and ready for a c-section. With Logan by my side Emmie was delivered a few minutes later and we got to hear that wonderful first cry of a newborn. Logan got to cut the cord, I was able to see her cute face for a few seconds and then she was taken to the NICU.  I sat in the recovery room for the next couple hours while Logan came back and forth from the NICU to give me updates. Emmie was stable for the moment so the nurse brought her in to see me and it was the best surprise ever! She couldn't stay with me long but it was so wonderful to see her beautiful face for those few precious minutes, and to give her as many kisses as I could before they took her back to the NICU.

Emmie was placed on a medicine called Digoxin to slow down her heart. She spent the next 15 days in the NICU battling irregular heart rates, eating problems, and the side effects of the Digoxin. It was a very hard and emotional time for all of us. We were so blessed that my parents were able to fly down the day Emmie was born to help us with Beckham and to help me recover from the C-section. I cried the day they left but we were blessed yet again that Logan's mom was able to come stay to continue to help us.

Emmie came home on January 21st and she has been such a wonderful addition to our family. She is the sweetest baby and she sleeps and eats like a champ. She loves to breastfeed which is awesome until we have to give her a bottle. She has to have extra calories added to my breast milk at least 3 times a day so I have to pump, and she has to eat from a bottle which she is NOT fond of! We have a long road ahead of us with her and her fast little heart but we are so lucky to be living here in Phoenix where the are so many wonderful pediatric cardiologists and specialists.

Logan getting to cut the cord

Her first EKG minutes after delivery

 A special few minutes together before she headed back to the NICU

Emmie loved the heaters in her incubator!

Skin to skin time... my favorite!

(UPDATE: Since writing this post Emmie has been to the cardiologist again and has been diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. She has an extra little electrical pathway in her heart that is pushing the blood through her heart the wrong way. Her medications were changed  and upped to 3 times a day, and we also monitor her heartbeat several times a day. She is doing really well on her new meds and we take her back to the cardiologist next week.)

A kink in the plans

I know it has been way too long since you all have heard from me, but I can explain. We have been so busy! Between weddings, Beckham's first birthday, vacations and Christmas in Idaho we haven't had time for much else. This isn't going to be a long update... I just dont have the time for that right now. Tomorrow I will be 36 weeks pregnant and there is a good chance that this little girl will be making her debut sooner rather than later. I was admitted to the hospital yesterday because of an issue with the baby's heartbeat. After hours of testing we discovered that our baby has a condition called Atrial Flutter. Basically her little heart is beating around 220-270 beats per minute and that is way to fast. More testing will be done today and the doctors will decide soon whether to deliver her today to be able to treat her condition directly, or if they will postpone delivery and try to medicate her through me. We have a lot of questions right now and not a lot of answers. We appreciate the support from our friends and family, and we will try very hard to keep you all updated as soon as we get more information.

A little story about the craziest day of our lives.

Are you ready for a crazy story?

(Warning: this post contains some "personal details" about me. If you don't care to read them, then just skip to the end of this post and I'm sure you can figure the whole story out without the gory details.)

Almost 2 weeks ago I made an appointment to go to the doctor to treat what I thought was a bladder infection. I thought I had nailed all of my symptoms and it was going to be a quick appointment. Get in there, get some pee drugs, and get out. Easy right? Not even close...

After an hour of filling out what felt like a million health history forms and waiting another 20 minutes I was escorted to a bathroom to leave a "sample" and then taken back to a room to wait. I had never met the doctor before and was pleasantly surprised when very nice looking woman came in and greeted me. (As a woman, it is always a little more comfortable to have a female doctor when you have personal issues to take care of!)  After she introduced herself she asked me to describe my symptoms... I started rattling off my symptoms and was just waiting for her to confirm my own diagnosis until she stopped me mid-sentence and said:

"Stop right there. You're pregnant."

WHAT!?!?!?!

I was speechless. I was positive that she had to be wrong! 

After she reassured me that they tested my urine and I was most definitely pregnant, I started to cry. I was so overwhelmed thinking about my 9 month old son at home and my husband who had just started medical school. I had no idea how it had happened. I am a religious birth control taker... why didn't the pills work? I want a refund!!!! As soon as I calmed down enough to talk, I called Logan. 

Me: (crying) Logan, you have to come meet me at the doctor office. NOW!"

Logan: What's wrong?? Is everything ok? 

Me: (still crying) Just come down here.

Logan: Is it cancer???

Me: (bawling now) No. Not even close! I'm Pregnant!!!!

Logan: *Silence*

Me: Logan??

Logan: I'll be there in 5 minutes.... *click*

While I waited for Logan, the nurse drew my blood and then called next door to the Radiology and Ultrasound clinic to get me in for an emergency ultrasound to check the baby. The doctor wanted to check the baby right away because I had been taking birth control, dieting, and definitely not taking any prenatal vitamins due to the fact that I had NO idea that I was prego.

Logan showed up a few minutes later and we sat in the waiting room in silence as we waited to be called back to get our ultrasound. We were thinking that I had to be only a few weeks pregnant because I wasn't showing at all and I had not been feeling anything close to morning sickness. Waiting to be called back felt like an eternity.

After waiting about 40 minutes, we go back to a dark little room. I pulled my shirt up enough to expose my belly, and the ultrasound tech squeezed a big glob of goo onto my belly, and the craziness began.

If you have ever been pregnant before, or seen what a baby looks like at the first ultrasound, you know that it looks kind of like a jelly bean and has very little definition. The image we saw was not of a cute little jelly bean swimming around in my stomach. It was an image of a fully formed, almost 18 week old fetus! Ten fingers, ten toes, the whole shebang!!!! We were blown away! Impossible!! I wasn't even showing!!! Someone had to be playing a prank on us! This would make Beckham and his new little sibling only 14 and 1/2 months apart! 

I can't do this!!!!!

The ultrasound tech probably thought we were the weirdest couple ever because we were almost completely silent and had blank/stunned looks on our faces. At least until she said... "Would you like to know the gender?"  I was blown away yet again that not only did I just find out that I was pregnant an hour ago but now I get to know the sex?! This day could not get any crazier! Seconds later she uttered three words that almost made it all better. 

"It's a girl!"

Logan and I both teared up and couldn't believe our eyes. It was a beautiful and healthy baby girl!

The rest of the day was a blur... We were in shock and didn't have much to say. We were terrified, shocked, scared, and a little excited. But mostly terrified. How were we going to raise such young babies? Holy crap.

Every day since, we have gotten more comfortable with the idea. We feel like this baby girl is definitely supposed to be here for some reason because we took all the precautions we could to not get pregnant. Heavenly Father has a plan for us that is a lot different than the plan we had in mind for ourselves. We are just trusting in our Heavenly Father that we will be able to handle this change of plans and continue to be the best parents we can be to Beckham and his new little sister. 

Here is a picture of me taken today at 19 weeks and 2 days pregnant. I'm starting to get a little bit of a belly that definitely wasn't there 2 weeks ago!

The official due date of this baby girl is February 4th, 2012!

Logan and I would love to hear ANY advise you have on raising 2 children. Words of encouragement are greatly appreciated as well... we will take anything we can get! Oh, and we need some help thinking of a name too!! We don't have any name ideas yet! Help! 

Welcome to the family baby girl! We love you like crazy and are so excited to meet you!

Lucky.

Today I am a busy lady.

It is 3:00pm and I still need to:

-get ready

-finish the laundry

-do the dishes

-clean the kitchen

-get some chicken defrosted for dinner

-dust

I haven't been lazy all morning and afternoon, I have just been enjoying my time playing with Beckham. 

No matter how much I have to do around the house or how many days I don't have any time to take a shower, it is all worth it for my little Beck.

I am SO lucky to be a stay at home mom!

I really enjoyed my job in Idaho as a dental assistant, but nothing compares to my new job. I get to be a loving wife and mother and devote all my time to the two most important people in my life, Logan and Beckham. I had no idea that I would ever be so blessed!