COOPER WILLIAM KEEFER

We would like to introduce Cooper William Keefer. He was born November 28, 2007 at 12:18am. He was 5lbs 14.8 oz and 19 in. long. He is adorable!!!!!

What an adventure the last few days have been. Labor and delivery went well. We checked into the hospital a little before 5pm on Tuesday and he was here a little after midnight on Wednesday. Everything after that has been a blur. Right after delivery I was able to hold him for a few seconds before the neonatal team took him to the NIC unit. Terry was able to go and kept me posted with pictures. About 1 1/2 hours later they took me up to see him before he was transported to Children's Mercy. I thought I was prepared for how hard all of this would be but nothing can prepare you for this. They let me hold him for a short while before the put him in the transport unit. It was very hard to see him with all his IVs and to not know how long it would be before I could see him again. After he was transported Terry and my Dad went to Children's Mercy to be with him. I was able to sleep from about 4am to 6am. When my doctor around 7am I was ready to be released and to my surprise he allowed this. We were all shocked. So I was discharged and off to be with Cooper. What I did not know is this would be the longest and hardest day ever! At Children's Mercy things were hectic. It seemed as though we met a thousand people, none of who I was keeping straight. We were not allowed to hold or really touch Cooper because of his IVs and medication he was taking. He was doing very well though considering the situation. Around 8 or 9 pm we checked in to the Ronald McDonald House and this is when I lost it. Not only did I feel like there was no end to all of this but now I was sleeping in a cold room with neither of my babies and I had never felt so overwhelmed in my life. Terry was amazing, assuring me that it would all be ok we just needed rest. (Terry had not yet slept at all). I felt completely helpless and missed Raelynn terribly. The worst part was I could not figure out in my mind how we were going to deal with all of this for the length of time it seems we would be there. The next morning things were not much better. We went back to the hospital met several more doctors and nurses and then we met Megan. She was our nurse and she let me hold my baby! I had to hold him in all his bedding and didn't really get to touch him, but I held him all the same. Then she let me help change his diaper and take his temp. Since then things have gotten much better! Cooper has now had both IVs in his arms removed and one in his belly button removed also. Last night he got to eat for the first time. He was not too sure about it but I think he will catch on. He is Terry's son after all! He is schedule for an exploratory procedure on Monday where they will go inside him and take pictures of the heart. After that they will schedule his first surgery which will probably be another 7-10 days. Then there will be recovery time which they say is usually about 2 weeks and then maybe we will be able to go home. Awe....light at the end of the tunnel. We have been spending days with Cooper and nights with Raelynn. This balancing act is taking some time to get use to for all of us. Raelynn feels the change but I am hoping will fall into the routine soon.

We owe many thanks out there for all the prayers, gifts and thoughts we have received. You are all amazing.