This is kind of our brief acceptance speech, as well as a brief update of how Cooper is doing. First and foremost, we are so thankful to God for blessing us with Cooper, being by our side and his through everything so far, and giving us the strength through him to to walk alongside Cooper on this uncertain road. The prayer and emotional support we've received from friends and family thus far has been quite overwhelming, and always uplifting. We want to thank everyone for keeping our family in your prayers. Please pass on our thanks to those including us in their prayers that we may not even know. It means so much to us as we believe in and can feel the power of prayer.
Cooper is doing very well at Spectrum NICU. He is now off the ventilator, and they have removed his IV as well. He is starting to make a dent in the supply of milk that Kalani has been tirelessly providing since his birth. While most of his feeding it done through a feeding tube still, we're encouraged by his progress at oral feeding. At this point, he still lacks the strength and stamina to effectively take a complete bottle, although he tries hard. We're told his suck will strengthen with time and oral therapy. Cooper now has tiny splints that were made for his hands. Although he gets frustrated with having them on (currently 8 hours a day, with 2 hours off between), the goal is to stretch his ligaments and straighten his hands to be in line with his forearm. Lacking the radius bone in each arm, his wrist doesn't have the base it needs to be centralized on his arm. In the future, orthopedic surgery will help correct this to an extent. An MRI of his head also indicated a large mass in his brain. The neurosurgeons believe this to be cycstic at this point, but will continue to monitor his progress and will followup with a ultrasound and MRI within 3 months. We're uncertain if this will affect his function or development at this time. As has been the case with many of the findings, "some people live normal lives with it, and some don't." His hearing is also still questionable at this point, as is his acute vision. We will learn more with time and additional followup testing.
The plan is to work up Cooper's tolerance to regular feedings of milk before we can bring him home. Most likely, he will remain on the feeding tube while at home. We will continue to work with him to strengthen his oral feeding abilities. Please pray with us for his continued development toward feeding 100% orally. Although we honestly don't feel completely prepared to have him home, we're all excited and anxious to have him join Mom, Dad and sisters soon. Leila talks endlessly of being "two big sisters" and is ready to shower Cooper with love and everything she can do to help him. Her unabashed love and affection toward him is a lesson for us all. She wants more than anything to hold her baby brother, but was satisfied last night to assist the nurse with taking his temperature, blood pressure and listening to his heart through a stethoscope. Oh, and she asked today if he'll show up in the mailbox soon.
We thank you for your prayers and will continue to keep everyone posted on Coop.
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