Another picture...

Well here is Cooper and his beautiful nose right before he came home last Wednesday. We were able to take advantage of a "rooming in" option at the hospital, so for 3 days we stayed in a hospital room with him to give him some consistency. Before, he had many different nurses; therefore, he had many different opinions, different levels of patience, and different ways of doing things. So we finally got a doctor who had some "parent sense" about him and gave us the go ahead to go home! What an exciting day! Since then he's been doing great! He's eating very well and has actually gained 7 oz. in less than a week. He gets more and more beautiful every day. I have some great pictures of him with his eyes open, but I don't have the cable to load them onto the computer so you'll have to wait for those. Thanks again for the prayers and support through all of this. We love you all.

He's Here...a wee bit early

Well, Cooper decided to make his grand entrance early on October 31st at 3:25 pm. He was 6 pounds 6 oz and was 21 inches long. I must say that he in fact does have the longest legs ever and for his age at birth (36 weeks) he measured off the charts! I knew it! He also has very long feet and fingers! Absolutely adorable. He came into the world by pushing through only 5 contractions...pretty fast. But, he is so long and skinny. He stayed in the room for most of the first night, but was having problems feeding and his glucose levels were very low, so they had to put him in the NICU the next morning. He is still there and will remain there until he is able to eat well. He also got a little yellow, so he's been under the blue lights for 2 days now. His levels are going down so that's great and hopefully they'll be able to take the lights off soon. We can't hold him right now and that makes things a lot harder.

He opened his eyes yesterday and it was the first time we were able to see them! Absolutely beautiful! That made things a lot better too. I will say that he is doing a lot better today and his feedings are improving. I just pray that he will be able to come home sooner rather than later. Please keep our family in your prayers. We love you and thank you for your support.

Cooper's Nursery, Stage 5 - Almost Finished!

Here are a few pictures of Cooper's Nursery! I just love the way it is coming together...

Here is Cooper's Crib and his adorable bedding

(made by my mother-in-law!)...

Just another shot of his crib and wall decor...

Here is Cooper's Changing Station/Hutch...

This is a close up of Cooper's bedding...

Here's Cooper's Diaper Bag...

We could still use a couple of things, but for the most part it's pretty situated! We got a new vacuum cleaner on Saturday too, so his room is super clean!

Baby Check-up, 34 Weeks

I have had a couple of ultrasounds in the past couple of weeks to check on the size of Cooper. On the 5th he was 4 pounds 11 oz., and this Monday he was 5 pounds 13 oz.! He gained a tad over a pound in 11 days, which is a little more than "normal" babies, but not a problem. The ultrasound tech said that he is in the 6oth percentile, where "normal" babies are in the 50th percentile at this point of the pregnancy. Again, not bad. She said that a lot of mothers with gestational diabetes will come in at this point and be at the 90th percentile; so we're good.

Everything looked great during the ultrasound. He was actually sleeping through most of it and his hands weren't covering his face. He gave us a full view of his face, but the equipment at my OB's office isn't as high tech as the equipment at the Fetal Medicine doctor's office, so it was hard to see any good characteristics. His heart and brain and legs and feet and all that looked good she said. And there is a good amount of amniotic fluid and he is moving very well. So things look great! Thank you Lord! I have to have an ultrasound every week from here on out, so hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures. But before too long you'll have real baby pictures to look at!!!! YEA! My next appointment with my OB is Monday (I have to go every week now) and hopefully she'll get an idea of how far away we are. And then I go to the Fetal Medicine doctor next Thursday for another ultrasound.

I am sick...I think I'm trying to get a sinus infection or something. Whatever it is, I feel like crap and would rather be home with my "cankles" propped up resting. I truly am swelling a lot lately...hands and feet. Can't wear any rings now. I have so much to do too! The nursery is still not what I would call "ready." I really wonder how it will all get done.

I'll keep y'all posted. Hopefully I can get some updated pictures of the nursery posted soon. My awesome mother-in-law finished the bedding for Cooper and it's beautiful! Everyone must see.

Diaper Shower!

Our sweet Community Group threw a Diaper Shower for us and this was the "cake!" How cute! We love y'all! Thank you so much!

Cooper's Nursery, Stage 4

Here are a few pictures of Cooper's room! We almost have all of his furniture put together. I just wanted to give y'all a visual update.

Gestational Diabetes

And so, I found out yesterday that I have gestational diabetes. I had to go in for a 3 hour glucose tolerance test last Friday where they took my blood four times over that period. The first test, which was my "fasting test," came back normal. After they took that, I had to drink 100 grams of a pure sugar drink and they drew my blood on the hour for the next three. The results from the first and second hour came back high, and the third came back normal. They consider you to be a gestational diabetic if 2 or more of the tests come back abnormal. The good thing about this is that my fasting levels (the most critical) were normal, so that gives me some relief.

I will be going to see a dietitian and nutritionist tomorrow to get on a diet plan to keep my blood sugar stable, and to learn how to check my levels (prick my finger) four times a day. And then next Thursday I will be going to see a fetal medicine doctor to have an extensive ultrasound to check out Cooper. They are going to be monitoring him very closely until the delivery. So far what they've told me is that the concern is that he could get too big, which could lead to other health problems. That is usually only an issue when the levels are not under control.

I just wanted to give that update. I let myself worry when I shouldn't, so any prayers would be nice. I just don't want to hurt Cooper. And right now I feel like I can't eat because I don't know what's good and what's not. Be assured that I will eat; it just scares me.

I'll keep y'all updated. Thank you again for your prayers and support.

Cooper's Nursery, Stage 3

Here is the verse and the white trim...







She will be back today to finish up - all she has are touch ups. Yea! I'm so excited! Soon we will have some furniture in the room!

Cooper's Nursery, Stage 2

Stage 2: Some of the "fancy" stuff. If you click on the picture you may be able to see the glazed stripes going throughout the purple. Maybe not though because it's kinda hard to make out. It's cute though.

She is going to come tomorrow to write a verse at the top of of the wall around the room. By Thursday, everything should be done and I'll post a final picture! Woo Hoo!

Cooper's Nursery, Stage 1

I've decided to keep y'all posted with the gradual progress being made on Cooper's Nursery. Stage 1 - Base Coat of paint on the walls.

Stage 2 soon to come...









Oh, and here is one of my favorite gifts thus far from our friends Ernie and Ashley...

Baby Check-up, 29 Weeks

So I had another check-up yesterday. Everything went very well...

Weight at 26 weeks: 145 pounds
Weight at 29 Weeks: 150 pounds
Belly Measurement: 29 cm (still on track)
Baby's Heart Rate: 153 bpm

Other news...

I went to the cardiologist to have a precautionary check-up. I've been having some pounding in my chest when I lay down, and Dr. Harris wanted to clear everything with my cardiologist. He said that everything seems to be just fine. My EKG was good, my blood pressure was good. He said that everything should be okay as long as I am not experiencing the same racing that I had when I had SVT, which I am not. He diagnosed me as "normal" and said that I should be okay through delivery. He said that a lot of pregnant women experience the same symptoms due to the increase in blood and blood flow, and the fact that everything is just smushed up in there.

My back has been feeling A LOT better this week. I don't really know what happened. I literally woke up last Saturday and could walk just fine, sit just fine, lay down, etc. It's been nice and a blessing. We went to Natchez last weekend for an early anniversary get away, and I felt great the entire time. In fact, T took this picture of my belly while we were in Natchez waiting on a house tour. It's kinda funny looking I think.

I had my glucose test yesterday as well. I will probably not have any results on that for about a week. I'll let you know when I find out. The drink wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It really did taste a lot like Fanta.

T and I are scheduled to go to a labor and delivery class on the 19th and 20th. I'm really excited about it. Mainly because I have no clue what to expect. The only knowledge I have comes from A Baby Story on TLC.

I am now on the 2-week check-up rotation! That is crazy to me because it means we are very close!!! Goodness. Our nursery isn't even finished being painted yet! (I am learning a lot on patience and chilling out with all of this. It will be okay...) The paint should be done next week, so I'll post some pictures when it is.

Well, that's about it for now. Thank you for your prayers and support. I'm so excited!!! I can't wait to meet this little man!!!

Something New

I just wanted to say that Cooper's kicks have become jabs! It happened for the first time Sunday night after a little fried chicken from Canes. On our way home, out of nowhere, he just dug some sharp part of his body into my side. Whooo! It hurt! I was so surprised. I really didn't ever imagine that feeling him move would hurt. Until now I had just been feeling some rolling, and softer movements. But goodness gracious - he either doesn't like Canes, or was completely satisfied and stretching out for his nap. It's kinda shocking when he does that out of no where. Amazing, but shocking. He's just getting so big! I can't wait to meet this little man. I kinda think that as we get closer to November 25th, we may be able to see some hand/footprints pushing on my belly. That will be cool!

I just wanted to give an update. Like I said, he'll do what becomes the norm, and then out of nowhere he'll surprise me with a new little trick. What a joy!

Some Belly Pictures

These are from Friday, August 18th - 26 weeks pregnant.

"A Good Hurt"

Well here is another picture of our precious little baby boy. We had the 4D ultrasound done on Friday and came away with several pictures and a DVD video of the session. In case you can't tell, this is Cooper's face. You can see his eyes, nose, mouth and little chubby cheeks. (The tech said they were really chubby.) I think he looks to have T's nose! Yea!

Anyway, I just wanted to share this picture with y'all. It's amazing that this little baby is growing in my belly with only a few more months before he will be introduced to the world.

I wanted to make one more comment. The title of this blog is "A Good Hurt" and I can thank our worship leader for this. Last night at church I evidently had a look of "I'm in pain" when Cody walked in the door. He laughed at my posture and facial expression and I said, "I hurt." He directly followed with, "It's a good hurt though." For some reason that really made me stop and think. It's not just a good hurt; it's an amazing, wonderful, exciting, blessing of a hurt. I am thankful for these pregnancy pains because it means that we have a baby on the way. A baby that the Lord has graciously blessed us with. A baby that He is knitting daily. A baby only He knows everything about. Even if I have to endure some irritating back pain and what not, it's all worth it. The Lord is teaching me and growing me through this and that makes me excited and honored. I'm just excited about the three months to come and I'm so ready for November to be here so we can meet our long-legged son. The Lord is amazing and I am so incredibly thankful for how He works and for what he's doing in our lives and within our family.

Baby Check-up, Month 6

I had my 6 month check up yesterday! Everything went very well. I'll post the stats like last month.

Weight at 5 months: 142 lbs.
Weight at 6 months: 145 lbs.
Belly Measurement: 26.5 cm (right on track)
Baby's Heart Rate: 133 bpm (a lot lower than last month, but she said it was just fine. I also had been watching my sugar intake for a couple of days because I thought I was going to have to have my gestational diabetes test and I didn't want anything to "skew" it.)

Other updates would be...

I am having my gestational diabetes test in 3 weeks, so pray that goes well. I have to drink a really big sugar loaded drink - yuck!

I stopped going to the physical therapist because it's just too expensive. Goodness! The back problems I was having then have gotten a lot better, but I have since acquired a nice sciatica pinch that is managing to impair my every move. I'm going to go have a cheaper prenatal massage to see if it helps.

I will be going to the cardiologist next week on the 24th...so no news on that yet.

Other than that everything has been absolutely wonderful. I'm enjoying every kick and movement. It amazes me how stinkin' active he is throughout most of the day. He was on a "move around like crazy for a couple of days, take a day off, move around like crazy for a couple of days, take a day off" routine, but now he just moves around like crazy. It makes me happy.

Y'all, I may be the only one who gets a kick out of it, but I seriously can't wait to see the legs on this child. My mom and grandma are here visiting and we watched the ultrasound video again and there is a point where the tech just sat in one spot on my belly and we watched him for a bit. My mom even says that those are some long legs. I told T that the doctors are going to say, "Good grief! Look at those legs!" when he comes out.

Amazing

I just want to say that it really does amaze me how this baby is changing. He will go along for a week or two just doing the normal stuff - kicking at the predicted times, rollin' around when he and I are both hungry, etc. And then, literally, one day I will wake up and he's decided to do something new. Until now, little Cooper has stayed very low in my belly. I hadn't felt his body or felt him kick anywhere above my belly button. But for the past couple of days I've been noticing him kick in completely different spots. I just knew that he had obviously changed positions and didn't think too much of it. But last night, right before we went to sleep, I was laying on my side and I felt him completely shift his body forward, so I rolled over on my back and goodness! There was an enormous lump where he was on the left side of my belly, pretty high up, above my belly button. It really was amazing - and slightly uncomfortable; not bad, just felt strange. I grabbed T to show him and he, of course, was in awe. He started talking to him and rubbed my belly and Cooper slowly moved back. It was pretty cool how the baby responded to him.

Anyway, all that to say that the baby has totally moved up in my belly! He's obviously growing and definitely getting stronger (he's a wiggle worm through most of the day now). I keep telling T that he's going to come out with the longest legs ever! He thinks I'm silly because I also keep insisting that you can totally tell on the ultrasound video that he's got looooong legs. I mean, think about it. Does this child have any other option since his parents are both 80% legs? I don't think so.

Baby Check-up, month 5

Well, I spent a good 15 minutes typing a post earlier, and my computer decided to become unresponsive and my post is now lost in cyber space. So, I'm just going to quickly give you the stats:

Beginning Weight: 120 pounds (10 pounds underweight. That's what the doctor said!)
Weight at 5 months: 142 pounds
Weight gained: Depends on how you look at it. The doctor said my body had to "catch up" so she said I've only really gained 12 pounds. But on the other hand, 142-120=22 pounds. You can decide. People are saying that it's all belly (unless they are biting their lips). So for everyone in AR, I promise I'm not just fat. :)
Belly Measurement: 22 cm - right on track
Baby's Heart Rate: 160 bpm - a little higher that day because I had had a little too much sugar I suppose.

I had to go have an ultrasound on my gall bladder because I was having a "twinge" in the 'vicinity of my gall bladder.' Everything looked clear, so she said it is probably intestinal, but I really don't know what that means. She didn't seem too concerned.

My heart's been racing/beating irregularly a lot lately, so she wants me to go see my cardiologist to check that out.

And I'm going to physical therapy to learn some strengthening exercises for my back.

Evidently I'm a baby myself. I'll try to remember to give an update on all that when I find out.

Baby Blue...and Purple & Gold

So on Friday I took back all the pink I had previously purchased, and attempted to buy blue. However, this was much harder than I thought it would be. First of all, there are just more girl clothes to choose from than boy clothes. And then there's that question of, "Do we want him to look 'preppie' or 'jocky' or 'all in to bugs'?" I mean, there are mainly dinosaurs, bugs, and boats on the boy clothes I saw the other day. Not a whole lot of "just blue" or "just red." I ended up buying Cooper a cute little light blue jump suit with some socks to match, a GAP beanie, some white pants, and a couple of bundlers for when he first comes home. I left feeling like I had cheated him out of something. I have a pretty good idea that once he out grows all the initial clothes he gets, thrift stores will be the shopping trip of choice - only because I envision that child being into everything. A lot like his dad maybe. :)

We decided on an LSU nursery. (I believe I mentioned this little desire of my husbands earlier.) Now, for all you people from my native sate yes, I did say, "Well what about the Razorbacks? Why do we have to do purple and gold and not red?" Unfortunately that did not hold up in his court. (I wouldn't say that I've gone to the other side, but I do own a couple of LSU shirts, so I had no defense. Shhhhh.) T did give me the back of the door to Razorback up though. :)

No, I really do think this is going to be good. I think we will put a chair rail up and paint the bottom a really deep purple broken up with a lighter purple in wide stripes; and then paint the top a pale yellow. I want to make sure it's not too intense so the poor baby won't be crying out of terror every day when he opens his eyes and sees nothing but screaming purple and gold and tigers everywhere.

It's a BOY!!!!

Allow me to introduce you to Andrew Cooper Lusk, our beautiful baby boy!

Well wouldn't you know...it is a boy after all. How exciting and hilarious at the same time! T was trying to bum $15 off his parents in the ultrasound room once she made the declaration. Everything went very well. The tech said that brain, spine, heart, legs, neck, bladder, stomach, face, etc. all looked very good. PRAISE THE LORD! He was wigglin' around everywhere! It was pretty cool to be able to see him kicking me while I was feeling it.

I am very thankful for all of this! A boy! I've got a lot to learn about what to do with a boy. Heehee. It still hasn't completely sunk in yet. YEA! I'm so excited! I can't wait to truly meet this little child of ours. God is so good!

$15/154

Yesterday T and I had another monthly check up for the baby. Everything went really well. She said my tummy is growing at a good rate and that I'm gaining the proper amount of weight. They did come in to check the baby's heart rate before we left...she quickly found it, and this time she let us listen for a while. Now, let me say that when we had our first ultrasound when I was 10 weeks along, the baby's heart rate was 189. Nice and high. EVERYONE we told how high the heart rate was immediately said, "It's a girl! Girls have higher heart rates than boys." Now, I've had in my head for some time (probably since before I even got pregnant) that we would have a girl. I mean, that's all I know about. It was just me and my sister growing up...no boys. "I have no idea how to handle a boy," has been my thought process. And it didn't take long for T to get on the Girl Bandwagon either; and he's been soooo positive. I've always trusted his intuition and "positivism" in everything else, so I've been pretty sure we are having a girl. (I will admit, and as most of you know, pink has been purchased.) So to continue - the heart rate yesterday was 154! That is in no way a bad thing...it is still very strong and doesn't warrant concern. However, it sure ain't 189=GIRL. It's more 154=BOY. Now, I totally know that in the end, the heart rate does not matter in determining the sex of the baby...but a bandwagon sure is hard to get off of.

Please don't hear me say that "I WANT a girl." I will be completely full of joy and happiness no matter what the baby is. I just pray for a healthy baby. It all really just makes me laugh because my sweet, sweet husband was shocked yesterday to hear 154 bpm. I mean, he has $15 riding on this and all. :) Seriously, I just can't stop giggling about it. But for all of you who know my husband, you know that he will have to be completely proven wrong before he'll let up on his "opinion." And that is one of the reasons I love him, one of the reasons I laugh most days with him, and one of the reasons he irritates me to the extreme.

So to conclude, the "temporary proof" is scheduled to occur July 6th. So I'll definitely let you know the call...pink or blue. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement through this process. We love you all very much.

OH! Big P.S. T and I felt the baby kick for the first time Sunday night, and then again last night! How amazing! This whole "knitting" thing is cool.

Here's the baby!!!

So here is our baby!!!!! (If you click on the second picture, you can see the little nose!) The quality might not be too good, but how exciting! We are 10 weeks along and everything looks good they say! We'll be able to find out what the gender is in about 8 more weeks...

We were able to see and hear the baby's heart beating, and we saw the little thing moving around everywhere! It was so funny! She/he was just wiggling everywhere!

What a relief! I'm just so thankful that everything went so well. What a joy and and honor! A huge blessing! I can't wait!

(PS-They changed my due date to November 25th, so the picture below is updated.)