Damn you Diaper Genie

Dear Gabriel Michael Cooper-

Wow, you are finally here. What can I say? You are more then I could have hoped for. More than I ever expected. My love for you is deeper than I thought possible.

You won’t remember this, but you came into the world on Saturday, October 14, 2006 at 4:07 a.m. Me and you mom were there, of course, and your grammy and grampy Weyrick were present, plus granpa Tom and your grandma Cooper. The doctor’s name was Aimee Paul.

For most of the last four months of your mom’s pregnancy, you had low fluid levels, so she was on modified bed-rest. Basically this meant that she had to lay around in bed for two hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon and two hours in the evening. On the Friday before your birth, the doctor told us the fluid levels were extremely low, and it was time for you to come out, ready or not. That’s fine, your due date was October 15, so you were only a day early.

We went to the hospital around noon on Friday and they hooked your mom up to a monitor to watch your heart-rate and movement. After about an hour, the doctor decided to induce your mom’s labor and started her on Petocin, a type of medicine that make the uterus contract and babies come out. Her labor started easy enough with minor contractions lasting about two hours. Around 4 pm the doctor broke your mom’s water, which helped speed up the contractions. About two hours after that, they gave her an epidural because she was in intense pain. She labored through most of the night, which was good because we really didn’t want your birthday to be on Friday the 13th (I know, it sounds silly, but still).

Around 2:15 Saturday morning, the nurse told your mom to start pushing while we waited for the doctor to arrive. I was able to see you head right away and it was obvious you were ready to come out. Your mom pushed for about an hour and a half and then your head popped out. They quickly suctioned your mouth and nose so you could start breathing, and then the rest of you came out—wet, screaming and naked.

The three of us stayed in the hospital for three days and then were finally able to come home and meet the rest of the family (Kesey, Franklin and Millie). So far you’re keeping us at night, pooping a lot and crying some of the time, but you are the most beautiful little boy I’ve ever seen and I can’t believe how much are already changing every day.

Love,
Dad