Tuesday, August 25th Update

Cooper is 7 weeks old! Today he gained 20 grams, and now weighs 3 lbs 12 oz. Getting closer to 4 pounds! Unfortunately his stool output today was well over the preferred amount, so they will decrease the amount of milk he's receiving and see if he can regulate his stool better tomorrow. Cooper met his Great grandpa White and Uncle Brenton today, which was so sweet. He even showed off a little for them and did some great stretching while they visited. :)

This afternoon Cooper was dropping a little low on his oxygen, and the nurse couldn't figure out what was making him do that. She suctioned his nose, turned up the amount he was receiving, re-positioned him, but he still did it a few more times, however, always coming back up on his own. A few hours later, she traced the tubing and realized that it hadn't been plugged in, and he was on room air! (Just receiving the slightest whiff of air to remind him to breathe.) We were amazed that he was breathing so well. She turned it back on, and for the rest of the afternoon Cooper was high-satting. (At one point he was high-satting, and I checked on him and realized the cannulas were in his mouth :) he was breathing on his own!)

The nurse turned him to the lowest amount of oxygen he could receive, and he continued to high sat. There is a range Cooper's oxygen saturation levels should be in. When it's too low, obviously he's not receiving enough oxygen. When it's too high, it can damage his eyes. When Taylor and I walked back into the room after dinner, we were told that they had completely turned off his oxygen, and Coop was breathing on his own! It made me pretty nervous at first, but we spent another three hours with Cooper and he didn't drop his levels once! They removed the oxygen cannulas from his nose, but left the dots on his face that hold the cannulas in place. It's pretty likely that at some point he'll need oxygen again, but we're amazed that today he decided he was ready to breath on his own.

As I was driving home from the hospital tonight I felt so much gratitude. Seven weeks ago Cooper was so tiny and in critical condition. While the last seven weeks have been far from easy, he has made so much progress and received blessing after blessing from a loving Heavenly Father. Cooper is a testament of God's love and the power of prayer.