Thursday, August 28, 2014

Cooper meets Dr. Sponenberg

Cooper had a check up yesterday with his pediatrician, the first visit post-hospital. He goes to the same doc as big brother, Dr. Sponenberg. This man has been practicing since they used chisel and rock slabs to write, I'm sure of it. He seems to know what he's doing, so we really like him. He is quite old though, so at Griffin's last appointment when he started asking me when I was due, I tried to confirm with him (as nicely as I could) that he would be around long enough to take on baby #2 as a patient. He smiled and said, "I will be practicing for a long time". Fair enough.

The appointment solidified what we already knew. Cooper is perfect. Dr. Sponenberg told us we were doing a very good job. We will go back in a couple weeks. 

Griffin is getting quite comfortable at certain places outside his normal daily life, coming out of his shell if you will! The doctor's office is one of those places. He talks to the nurses, other kids, anyone. At his 3 year check up, he asked Dr. Sponenberg repeatedly, "is my mouth okay?" Very funny when he's saying silly things to such a serious old man (Really, you should go back to the link in his name above and watch the video--second time I've ever seen him smile). Yesterday, when the doctor walked in the room, Griffin waited about 5 seconds before saying, "don't hurt my baby brother!" 

Drew and I almost lost it. 

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Baby brother has arrived!!!

We had a pleasant surprise this weekend, introducing..........Cooper Joseph Honeycutt!




August 23, 2014
4:48 a.m.
6 lbs 15 oz
19" long


We had no plans, and I couldn't wait to relax all weekend and do as little as possible. I really had my heart set on a September delivery and we have been so busy lately, I knew I wouldn't make it if I didn't take a break and rest. 

At 8:30ish Friday evening, plans changed when I had my first inclination that my water may have broke. That's the exact same time it happened with Griffin and both times caused moments of wondering, "did I just pee my pants a little?" At least this time we were at home and not in Wamart. It soon became clear that was the case but we took our time packing bags, showering, and preparing Griffin for what was to come. 

Griffin kissed us goodbye and was very happy to be staying the night with Uncle Brent, Aunt Cole, and cousin Briley. I was glad we didn't wait much longer since my contractions got closer together all the way to Springfield and ended up being about every 5 mins by the time we got to the hospital. We were admitted around 12:30am and finally settled into labor & delivery around 2:30 am. At this point all paperwork was done, IV was in, monitors hooked up, and we turned the lights off to get our last little bit of sleep before the C section that was scheduled for 4:30am. The surgery time was based off my last meal, and therefore there wasn't any convincing them to change it. I was doing fine until about 3:30am when my contractions started getting pretty painful and down to about 3 minutes apart. Thankfully, before we knew it we were getting prepped for surgery. 

I will forever be indebted to the super nice, young nurse in triage who offered (if they weren't busy) to come back to the operating room and take photos for us. Knowing Drew probably wouldn't deliver the kind of photos I was looking for, this was my dream come true!

WARNING: SOME BLOOD, NO GUTS! Some of you may find these disturbing. 








the money shot with Dr. Stancyzk!



this guy and Drew played ball against each other in high school
he took care of the anesthesia and explained everything to us as it happened
 





she did great to avoid any inappropriate shots!

After they had cleaned him up, we left the operating room and headed back to L&D for a minimum 2 hour stay. Cooper never left our sight. We sat there in disbelief of what had just happened, all without any family or friends knowing a thing! So of course Drew started making calls and sending texts while we let it sink in.

Once back in the room, Griffin got a bath and before long our first visitors started trickling in. 


not a fan of the first bath as expected




I will also forever be indebted to one of my best friends in the world who made sure she could come to meet Cooper and take photos for us. Nicole, you are the best! Griffin meeting his new brother was something we were anxious about but couldn't have gone better. 



































 

  


We had many visitors and enjoyed seeing everyone. The c section recovery has been quite different. I'm struggling with it a little because I'm not one to constantly sit around and not be able to do anything. Even worse, I naturally go to get up and move about like normal and painfully realize that I can't do that right now. It's a pain like nothing I've ever felt, but should be getting better each day. 

We owe Brent and Nichole big time. They took care of Griffin the entire time we were in the hospital and even brought him both Saturday and Sunday to see us. He was not missing us a bit. How could you be sad when you get to see fire trucks, swim, get new toys, and hang out with your cool big cousin that you love?

Also, a huge thank you to my parents who came to get Duke so he could stay at their house and not be lonely. If you know us, you know that Duke is one of our top concerns. They even delivered him home tonight.

A c section usually warrants a 3 day stay, but since I was doing so well (and because we were anixous) we were able to get discharged a day early. Our trip home was uneventful. Not a peep out of Cooper so hopefully he will like the carseat as much as Griffin did. Drew has been a trooper taking care of things around the house and I've enjoyed the 4 of us getting quality time together. 

Griffin is so sweet that it makes my emotionally unstable self want to tear up all the time. Here's an example: