April 4, 2013, 7:54am
7lbs 2oz, 19 inches
7lbs 2oz, 19 inches
My sweet little Jeffrey Jeremy Cooper,
Today, you were born. I did not think you were going to be
born today, but you decided to surprise us! Mommy has been so very careful
about every little thing she puts in her body, testing her blood sugar 5 times
a day and measuring and weighing all her food. In the last two weeks my body
especially has had troubles with any carbohydrates. I have been eating only meat,
cheese, eggs and A LOT of vegetables. I knew you’d be worth every little
sacrifice. The doctor was a little concerned with the gestational diabetes so
he planned for you to come on Monday, April 8th. You were to be
induced at 8am. I was grateful because this way, Daddy and I could go see Lord
of the Dance- tickets we bought months ago, go to Daddy’s mission reunion and
enjoy conference all before you would come to us. Mommy also had a great big
desire to go camping in our new pop-up trailer since we hadn’t used it and we
knew we wouldn’t be using it for some time after you were born. Yesterday Mommy
and Meriden spent the day with Autumn and her family. Daddy got off work and we
arrived at home from SLC at about 7:30pm. By 8:00pm we had the car loaded and
the trailer hooked up to go camping at Lincoln Beach. While Daddy set up the
trailer, Mommy grilled some veggies and chicken on the grill. We enjoyed a
yummy dinner and put Meriden to bed. The weather was great- about 43 degrees.
Daddy and I spent some time outside staring at the stars and talking. We were
so very excited to have you join our family. It seems like so long that we’ve
been waiting for you to get here. We snuggled up in all our blankets and
watched “Red Dawn”. It ended at about 12:30am. Now, for the past week, I’ve
been feeling Braxton Hicks about every hour. There were 2 Sundays that they
were especially bad. With Meriden, I had these a lot. And she was 5 days past
her due date. Your due date wasn’t until April 10th! After the
movie, I really started feeling what I thought were BH. They were so consistent
that I started timing them. Wow, 9 minutes apart. Huh… well, they’ll go away.
12:39…. 12:48…. 12:57… 1:06... these are really hurting…2:04…2:13… 2:22… and
then, a really special experience. I felt Grandma Meriden Burk’s presence with
me. I felt as if she was sitting next to me and in my mind I head, “Cherise,
don’t worry. Everything is going to be all right… I reflected on that a lot
during your birth and I know it was a tender mercy from our Heavenly Father
because he loves us… 3:00…3:09… 3:18… 3:27… Um… Steven, I’ve been having labor
pains the last 3 hours. Can we go home so I can take a shower and relax? Okay
babe… Grab my duffle, camera, purse, laptop and of coarse, Meriden. Unhitch the
trailer and head home. Boy, these really hurt. We got home and I told Dad to go
to bed, being completely certain that these were BH. I took a bath… still
there… walked all around the apartment… still there… rocked on my hands and
knees… tried to fall asleep, they kept waking me up. Finally, around 5 or so,
they hurt so bad that I decided to take another bath. Daddy had turned down the
water heater so I could really get some good hot water. I took the shower head
off and sprayed my tummy with the hot water. For about 15 minutes I didn’t feel
anything. Yes, they’ve finally gone away. Nope… they came back except this time
so painful I could hardly stand it. Oh my I thought, this is real. This is
really real. I got out and woke Daddy up. I had to lay down through the
contraction and now I was starting to moan they hurt so bad. We called Grandma
Cooper and she suggested going to the hospital. We called Aunt Chelsea and said
we’d be bringing Meriden right over. Daddy packed all our bags as I told him
what to pack and then every 4 mintes he’d run over and help me relax through
some extremely painful contractions. Finally, we had the stuff ready and got in
the van. Daddy drove about 90mph and Aunt Chelsea met us outside to take your
sister, Meriden. Daddy drove really fast to the hospital while every few
minutes I would groan with pain. We grabbed a wheelchair and ran up to labor
and delivery. By this time the pain was so bad I could hardly stand it.
Pleeeease, get the anesthesiologist! I need an epideral!! The nurse hadn’t even
checked me in when she checked my dialation. Fully dialated! She could feel the
sack. Now each contraction I feel like I have to push. She told me to keep
breathing, the doctor would be here soon. I couldn’t help it, I HAD to push.
The doctor- Dr. Skinner, who lives in Woodland Hills was about to take a shower
when he got the call. He jumped in his car, sped and ran down the halls. By
this time, your head, through the sack was really showing. I had not had any
vitals taken, any IVs hooked up, any information given. I just pushed with all
my might! Your head came out and then one more push and the rest of your body
was there. I was shaking really really bad. They asked if I wanted to hold you
but I could hardly breathe or think, so I said give me some time. They weighed
your sweet little body. 7 lbs 2 ounces, 19 inches long. You are just a little
guy compared to your sister’s 9lbs 2 oz and 20 inches… but she was almost a
week late and you were about a week early. They said everything looked great
and you were hollering just perfect. You were so beautiful and handsome and
perfect and I was so relieved. The pain was still right in the middle though.
The doctor had to stitch me because I had ripped 1st degree tears
and a little on my euretha. He did give me a shot to numb me. He also put in a
cathader. I felt some of the stitching. He also put 8 pills up my rectum to
help my uterus clamp down. He also pushed as hard as he could on the inside and
outside of my uterus trying to help all the birth to come out and clamp down.
He showed me your placenta and your nice healthy umbilical cord. Finally, he
was done. It took probably an hour of working on me in which I was tensed,
screaming and in as much pain as the peak of birth. I missed the epideral so
bad. The good part is, Daddy and I won’t be paying $1500 more dollars to have
it. The nurse, Marie, was finally able to take my vitals and information. You
were put on my tummy, even during the pain and slept right through my screams.
You were looking for milk. Finally I was able to just nurse you and I finally
was able to feel peace. You latched on just right and did a good job sucking. You
nursed on both sides for about 20 minutes. Daddy and I just relished every
second of you. We admired your long fingers and toes, your super thick dark
curly brown hair, your cute little nose and every other possible detail about
you. We love you so much. Thank you for joining our family. We’re so excited
for Meriden to meet you!
I love you so much!
Love,
Mom
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