HMMMM.....WHY AGAIN ARE WE STILL HERE.........

What a day! We started the morning bright and early. Cooper slept really well last night and Terry and I finally got a little sleep. The doctors rounded early and put in orders for us to move to the 4th but there wasn't a bed ready until after lunch. So we spent most of the morning in the PICU. Cooper started off a little grumpy....

But once they cut his drainage tubes and switched them to bulbs and pulled the central line in his shoulder/neck area I was able to hold him like he wanted. Other than first picking him up and forgetting about the fact that you absolutely cannot pick them up under their arms, he loved this and we finally got some smiles.

After we found that position and did play a little, we did some serious snuggling. We held him all morning and he loved it. Finally around 2 p.m. or so we were moved to the 4th floor or what I call the Hyatt with a built in bed and bathroom. Life is sooooo much better now. Mom, Karli, Chandler and Raelynn came soon after we got to the floor and that is when the real fun started. Coop started by actually sitting up and playing cars with Sissy.

The RT had told us before we left the PICU that if we could get him to stand up a couple times today that would be great. Well once Coop learned there was a play room down the hall from our new room, walking did not seem to be a problem.



The kids played all afternoon and I figured when Mom and the girls got ready to leave, Coop would be exhausted. So we told them goodbye about 6:30 or so.

After that Coop and I decided it was time for him to open the present Aunt Steph had brought him the day of his surgery. So I sat Coop up in bed with the present and let him open it. He was so excited.....He ripped through the tissue paper and then yelled GUN! What????? Yep my sister had broke all my no gun rules and more and bought him this Nerf dart gun. Cooper was way excited but me not so much. :) Never mind the 6+ noted age on the gun. So we called Aunt Steph and let her know Coop's excitement and my disapproval. Cooper was so excited it was all he could talk about. So I let him shoot one round of darts at the wall and then insisted it be put away for now. Just what I need, Coop shooting all the nurses with darts! And let me tell you he would do it, he is not a big fan of anyone around here! So thank you Aunt Steph or should I say Cody, for such a wonderful gift :)

The rest of our evening was spent reading and coloring and playing and eating. They were worried because his sodium levels were low but with the amount of Cheetos he ate tonight, that should not be a problem tomorrow when labs are drawn.

By 9 pm I insisted that he get some sleep and he said, "O'Tay!" He went to sleep and now lies there resting getting ready for another big day.

So again an unbelievably good day. I am hoping they will remove his drainage tubes tomorrow and then really I have no idea what is keeping us here. He is still experiencing some pain but they are staying on top of that. They are also not pleased with his O2 level but I am not convinced it is a problem. Prior to surgery they wanted Cooper to just stay above 75 and now they want him above 92. He is huvering around 89 so they are keeping oxygen on which he dislikes greatly. We will just have to see what they decide on that. Otherwise, he is almost back to his old self and I cannot tell you how good that feels. I was so worried about this surgery and more often than not wondered how I was going to deal with things if we lost him. It was on my mind, and Terry's constantly. Now, just 4 days after surgery, we have our little boy back just a little pinker than before. I don't know how one even grasps that. We are more than overjoyed! We are so thankful! I still have 2 of the most wonderful kids in the entire world and my life is still complete. There is no way to put into words how I feel about that. As I look at Cooper sound asleep as though there was nothing wrong and nothing unusual had happened over the past week, I thank God for listening to all of our prayers!