The Hutchings New Adventure: September 2011

So it has been awhile since I updated and it has been a crazy month + a little in the Hutchings house…..

Let’s start from the beginning. On Friday August 5^th I had a crazy headache that I couldn’t get rid of so I was monitoring my blood pressure. Through my 1^st pregnancy and this one so far I had great blood pressure but it was up a little. Nothing to worry about…. I called the Dr and they said if it got any higher to come in just to be sure. I worked a half day and then went to a baby shower that the wonderful ladies at the office had for Cooper and I. Then went home to rest and put my feet up and hopefully my blood pressure would come down. No Luck!!! So Jon and I went to get monitored at the hospital for a little while. Of course when we got there my blood pressure was fine and they just wanted to monitor the baby for a little. Jon and I were planning where we would go to dinner thinking we would be leaving in about an hour or so. All of a sudden I had a 4 minute contraction and Cooper’s heart rate dropped but no one came into check so I mentioned it the next time the Dr came in. NO BIG DEAL!! Jon left to go to the car and charge the cell phones since they were both dead……

So I am sitting there all by my lonesome and all of a sudden about 20 Dr and nurses came in and were freaking out about Coopers heart rate. They stated telling me that they couldn’t find it and they would have to put me immediately to sleep and take the baby….. I said oh well we have to wait till my husband comes back but they so NO we will let him know where you are. I started freaking out…. Is Cooper ok? Will he be ok? Jon doesn’t handle surprises well and I don’t want him to freak out….

Cooper’s heart rate came back up about the same time Jon came back in the room. So we still were going to have Cooper that night but I could be awake for the C-section and Jon could be in the room. We were sooooo not planning on that to happen but whatever we needed to do to keep Cooper safe and sound. So I was wheeled into the OR and given a spinal block and then they pulled Cooper out. He weighed 5 pounds and 6 ounces and was doing OK.

I recovered much quicker this time and Cooper had a little trouble regulating his temp so he stayed in the NICU for a week. We had so many concerns and worries about his health but considering he was and is perfect!!!!! I have to say that both Cooper and I had the best care at UAB and could not ask for better Dr and nurses taking care of us.

Now to jump ahead, Cooper is now 6 weeks old and growing like a weed! He has some extra Dr appointments to go to but so far they are to just “make sure” everything is working properly. He is attending the Bell Center, which is an early intervention school, and is doing great. We go twice a week and he gets a little workout. Plus the states early intervention service is coming to the house about 3 times a month to help us with the in home “workouts”. Everyone and every service that has helped us have been just wonderful. The support from these programs plus friends and family has been overwhelming and great to receive.

Cooper’s health is great! He has a little acid reflux that we are trying to work out and have an upper GI exam on Tuesday, “just to make sure”. He has to go to the geneticist for a follow up because of the extra chromosome. We have to go to a check up with the cardiologist because he has a little hole in his heart and an extra vessel that they don’t know where it leads. It made me giggle that he has a medically insignificant vessel because he came with all kinds of extra partsJ He has an undecended testicle that we are watching and hoping he doesn’t need surgery to pull it down. And one of the days he has to get circumcised but we are waiting to see what that testicle does. I didn’t know this but apparently they don’t circumcise in the hospital if they are in the NICU. So all and all he is pretty good!

Cole loves his little brother and is always asking to “help”. Two is a handful though and it has been an adjustment. Cole is into everything!!! And always wanting the attention but I think that is normal for an almost 2 year old. It has been a big adjustment for him to go from being an only child and going to full time daycare to being at home with me and sharing attention with his little brother. I recently was cleaning and paying somewhat attention to him and looked over and he was standing in the toilet…. I think I get mommy of the year for that one.

It has been an absolute joy to be home with both boys and a challenge at the same time. I am nervous about how all this extra stuff is going to work out when I have to go back to work but I’m sure we will figure something out. I just don’t want to think about that right now, I just want to enjoy every second of being a full time Mommy because I know it will go quick and I will miss it so much when I go back to work.

I still have concerns about the future and don’t know how things will work out. I have question like: how long will it take Cooper to reach his different milestones like crawling and walking and talking? What will he look like as he grows up and how will this extra chromosome affect him? How will I react the 1^st time someone says something rude or because they just don’t know? How will we handle the teenage years? Will they be so different for Cole and Cooper? How will Cole be as an older brother to this special little one? I guess I have time to worry about all this later and I should just take it a day at a time but I can’t help but wonder and worry. I AM A WORRIER!

I also wanted to say thank you to all our friends and family who have shown us so much support and love through this time. For all of you who have done things to help out and most importantly all the LOVE that you have given Cooper. I honestly used to worry about how he would be received into my world but that worry with the great people around me has disappeared. So THANKS AGAIN!!!