Life: Day 4

Prognosis: Life is Good! :-)

Today we dressed Claire in this cute giraffe onesie. I think it's adorable! And it's a "newborn" size, so it fits for now, but I'm not counting on it fitting much longer. She already fills it up completely!



Today she also tried out the swing for the first time. She liked it! And Jordan has now taken off the tray that goes across it. - I don't really think she'll be needing a cup holder in there any time soon!

And here we have the three Cooper's!


Claire is doing well in so many ways! Feeding is going well. Jordan and I were both able to get some sleep last night/this morning. And we are just as happy as can be! Life is good!

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

She's here!!! Our adorable, beautiful, perfect, sweet, gorgeous little girl is here with us now!!! Her name is Claire Lois Cooper. (Lois is my grandmother's name). She was born March 25th at 2:40pm, and she weighed 9 pounds and was 21 inches long. - She's a big baby!!! And I sure felt it!! But thanks to the epidural, I didn't really feel much until the very end. - I TOTALLY loved - and recommend - an epidural!!!!!

Here's Jordan before she was born. He had just eaten lunch, so he had lots of energy!


And here's our beautiful Claire right after she was born. She's being assessed by her nurse from the nursery.


The new and improved Cooper Family! And yes, I really was as tired as I look!
Here's a proud dad with our new little girl!

Jordan went out to get the family, and they all jumped up immediately when they saw him.
One set of proud grandparents!

Many more pictures were taken the day she was born, but we had so many cameras snapping photos that I don't have all of them at this point. As I get more, I'll post them up here.

This morning I actually got ready for the day, and I didn't have to go through labor again, so I look much better, (if I do say so myself!!) It's been wonderful to have lots of visitors from our family. Here are some of them.

Aunt Laura
Uncle Peter
Aunt Rebecca, Uncle Chris, and Grandpa
A four-generation photo! Grandmom, Julia, Claire, and GG (Great-Grandmom Griffin)

This afternoon, after Claire ate, she decided to collapse right on me. She slept here for about 2 and a half hours. It was so sweet!

We're so excited to have Claire with us!!! And I'm so grateful for Jordan. He is taking EXCELLENT care of me at the hospital. One of the nurses, who didn't know that he's a nurse, said, "You've got your own personal nurse here!" And I said, "Yes, I do!" He's so great! And so is Claire! We're looking forward to taking her home tomorrow!

One more day

I was supposed to be induced this morning at 5:30am, but that didn't work out. Last night the hospital called and told me to call this morning before I came in because they had so many people scheduled, I guess. So I called at 5:00am, and they said they didn't have any rooms available. They told me to call back at 8:00am. But then they called me a little after 7:00am and said that they still didn't have any open rooms, and there was a long line in the waiting room, so my doctor's decision was to have me come in tomorrow. The hospital said I will NOT be canceled tomorrow; I'm guaranteed a room at 5:30am. So we'll try again then!

A Little Time...

...can make a big difference!

That's definitely how I feel right now. Here are a few pictures of me pregnant.

First, here I am on October 27, 2009.


Second, here I am on January 31, 2010.


And third, here I am yesterday - March 14, 2010. I'm wearing Jordan's shirt in this one because it's comfortable and big enough!


Today the doctor told me she doesn't know if I'll make it to next Wednesday, and she asked me if my bag is packed. It is, and I am definitely feeling more and more ready for this little girl to come out!!! But we also have just a few more things we need to do before she arrives, (hopefully!!) So I'll keep working on those, and we'll see what happens!

Surprise at School

Last week at school the kids threw me a surprise shower. It was so cute! It was a shower complete with food, (including 3 homemade cakes), baby shower games, (smell what kind of "surprise" is in the diaper, and write down potential baby names), and presents. Each choir collected money and got something for me, and then individual kids got me things, too. It was so sweet!

We now have this sign taped up in the baby's room! I think it's funny!


Here are two of the cakes.


And here's the third one. - They know that watermelon is my favorite fruit, so a student of mine made this watermelon cake! - It's a cake! I think it's awesome! And it tasted great, too!

And here I am opening some presents.


It was so sweet of the kids to do all of this. They really did all of it. Parents were not at the shower. The kids did all of it. It was fun! :-)

Big Baby

The baby is still a big baby, according to the ultrasound tech! On Monday, (36 weeks and 2 days), she was weighing in at 7.74 pounds. The doctor said in two weeks, she'll be 8.5 pounds, and by my due date, she'd probably be 10 pounds. Then she said, "And you're not delivering a 10 pound baby," to which I replied, "THANK YOU!!!!"

So, if this baby doesn't come within the next two weeks, then I'm being induced on March 24th! It's pretty exciting to have a date - when we know she'll be here by then, (one way or another!) Knowing that date also helped me decide to make tomorrow my last day of work. Next week is spring break, so I'll have some more time to get things ready.

We're excited!!!

Showered with Love!

I have experienced a wonderful outpouring of love with the showers that have been given in honor of our sweet baby. - Thank you all so much! :-) I so appreciate it! Here are some snapshots from the showers. I had a great time at all of them!

In Dallas I had a book shower. Everything looked beautiful, thanks to Susan's eye for details!


Julia, Kenneye, and Laura

Ronnie, Patty, Susan, Jenny
Mom and her dear friend Kenneye!

Susan and Julia

Mom, Julia, Laura, Jennifer


Kim organized a shower at school. I couldn't believe how many people were there! And so many people made homemade gifts. - They are so thoughtful!




Cheryl made me this diaper bag!!! I absolutely LOVE it! It's adorable! And she had a lot of input from her three daughters, who suggested different widths for and sizes of pockets - for specific items. It's awesome!

My aunts also gave me a shower. (What a pile of presents, huh?!!)

This gift (addressed to "Banda") was from Rebecca.

And here's the petti-skirt that she made! Isn't it cute?!


Rebecca, Lou, Julia, and Paige

Mom, Julia, Laura, and Jennifer

Jenn and Laura

Grandmom, Julia, Mom

Aunt Debbie, Julia, Aunt Carol
Julia and Laura

Thanks everyone!