A Post for Elizabeth!

Hey Liz, we heard that you were a little disappointed that we hadn't put up a new post yet. Well here is a new one, just for you. Sarah and I have been pretty tired and busy with Alex for the past few days, so my photographic exploits have been kept to a minimum, and I haven't had much time to get into work to upload anything. I did take a whole bunch more photos on film, so they will be ready next week somtime.

We were able to get out of the house yesterday (Saturday) for a swimming fundraiser at a local pool for some missionaries from our church in Cambodia. I swam 10 laps, and Sarah and Alex cheered me on.

Here's the sleepy little guy enjoying a nice Sunday morning in the backyard:

For more photos look here.

Still Alive

Alexander was a very nice little guy last night and went five hours in between feeds twice, which allowed Sarah to get a couple chunks of sleep almost four hours long each.

We are really enjoying being parents despite the exhaustion.

In about two weeks Sarah's parents are coming to stay with us for a little while, and we're excited for them to get here! It doesn't seem like it, but it's been about three months since we've seen them.

We're hoping to make it back to the States this fall, sometime before my brother Tom is deployed to Iraq, and after our friend Alec comes to visit at the beginning of August, and sometime other than when our friend Calum comes from Japan.

On Our Own

Well, so far so good. Sarah is taking to motherhood like a fish to water. She is fantastic. I'm not sure if I'm any good at it, but I sure am loving fatherhood. I feel things when I look at my son that I never could have felt or even understood before. It's incredible.

Here's a couple pictures of the wonderful mother and son. Check out Flickr for more.

The Cooper Family is Home

We arrived home as a family today Shortly after 9 AM. We are all doing well. Thanks for your flowers, visits, gifts, comments and prayers. We appreciate you all very much!

Big Yawn and Open Eyes

Here's our little baby burrito. Thank you all for your love and prayers, God has blessed us more than we ever could have imagined.



You can see more photos, if you wish, here.

The Day After

Mother and child are both well, and father got plenty of sleep due to mother's excessive kindness. The pediatrician came in today, did the complete baby assessement, and said "Perfect". The OBGYN came in too and said Sarah is doing well. The midwives come in frequently and say lots of things, mostly about breastfeeding. They helped me give Alex his first bath today. Please check out Flickr for some new photos.

The Birth of Alexander James Cooper

Sarah gave birth to our son Alexander James Cooper at 1:55 PM today, Wednesday, March 21, 2007. He weighs 6 lbs 15 oz and is 20.1 inches tall/long. Both Sarah and Alex are doing well.

About 7:30 PM last (Tuesday) night, Sarah started feeling small contractions at irregular intervals. We went to bed at 10 PM hoping to get some rest and go into the hospital in the morning. Those plans were dashed when Sarah woke me up at 11:30 PM and told me the contractions were getting more frequent, regular and intense. At about 12:30 PM we called our parents and then set out for the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital we got set up in a labor room. The doctor arrived shortly thereafter and decided to break the water to get things moving.

After a restless night with only a few hours sleep between the both of us Sarah got an epidural and a drip to increase the contractions. After a few more hours of hard labor the doctor had Sarah start pushing shortly before 1 PM. Push she did, like a champion, but after 14 hours of labor and an hour of hard pushing she didn't have enough left to get the baby out on her own. The doctor pulled out the suction cup and five minutes later, with tears in my eyes, I saw my son emerge into the world. Praise the Lord and Thank You Jesus. It was a beautiful thing.

We want to give a huge thank you to our friend Carrol who joined us at the hospital and was a real friend in deed to Sarah and I throughout the whole process.

My amazing and incredible wife Sarah and Alexander, my perfect son, were resting in our room when I left them to put this post up. I'm going to wrap this up now so I can get back to them.

Just in case you are still wondering...

The child has decided to remain in the womb for the time being. No contractions. No signs of imminent childbirthing.

Yes, we have tried many different things on the advice of many different people. We have concluded that these people all assumed that whatever they did just before the contractions started was "the cause". Well, neither sex nor long walks have done the trick. Very hot curry is next on the list (although that was in the meal plan for the week anyway).

If you've had a child, please do tell what "made you go into labor". We'll try it. We'll try just about anything to get people to stop saying "Oh, you're still here!" or "No baby yet?!". It's just about all we hear anymore.

My Birthday!

God bless South Australia for having the day off for having the Adelaide Cup as a holiday! Why?? Because that meant that Brian and I got to celebrate my birthday by spending the whole day (well day before) together. It was an awesome day. First off we slept in - well Brian did. I usually don't get up that early since I sleep better after 7am. We decided to go the National Wine Center, which we have always liked the look of but have never gone in. The outside structure resembles Noah's Ark a bit. Since it's Fringe07 is this month the center was having a photography/art display. It was an interesting assortment of amateur work. The wine center was pretty cool and a very chic set-up. We headed over to Rundle (main shopping street through the center of town) and got some lunch. It was a nice time to talk, just the two of us. We headed across the street to see what Fringe events were on, but nothing too exciting so we headed home.
We had been out for several hours by now, so I of course was due for a nap. After my nap I got to open my present! Brian got me a wonderful rice cooker, which also allows you to steam vegetables on the top. It is beautiful. I also got a Curry recipe book and one of Agatha Christie's books made into a movie - one of the Poirot series made in England.
That evening we went to dinner at Fortuna Court (Chinese)! It was great! I couldn't believe how much I ate. I did manage, somehow, to fit in some gellati afterwards. There is a beautiful gellati shop down the street (The Parade) from the restaurant and I could tell Brian really wanted to go there. :) We came home stuffed and watched the movie.

I've already used my rice cooker and tried out a curry recipe. It was great! I added a little too much cinnamon to the recipe since I forgot to get a cinnamon stick and just guessed how much ground cin. I should put in. But it was still good.

On my actual birthday cards arrived in the mail :) and friends from church called me! It was such a wonderful birthday and I feel so blessed. I thought I would just share it with you.

And just in case you were wondering...

THE BABY IS NOT OUT YET!

A Jumble of Recent Photographs

Verity took this wonderful shot of Sarah and I at the Broman's house on Sunday. Sarah seems to be letting out a little steam.

This cute kid stole one of the croquet balls! He did give it back very nicely when asked though.

My dream car, once again.

This is part of the large and fabulous stained glass window at church.

I wiped out while mountain biking on Saturday and scraped up my leg pretty good. It's healing well.

This is a lorikeet. They have been eating the grapes we were too lazy to pick. Usually there are about a dozen of them out on the vine gobbling away. When we walk out into the backyard they all start screeching in a most unseemly manner and fly off in a huff.

This is the "tree" in front of our house by the road. The city planted it and waters it regularly. It produced a total of three leaves this year. They are all gone now. I am not really sure if it is dead or alive. What I am sure of is that it is pitiful.

Due to the drought going on I have been letting the grass grow as it will, since it survives the dryness better that way. It does make for an untidy looking establishment though.

This is a frangipani. They are nice.

This is a sunset. It was nice. I wish you all could have been there.

This is Sarah. Although she looks a little funny through the fisheye lens, I assure you that she is very nice too.

Here're my friends from work mountain biking. Not at the moment I took the photo, but before and after. You know how it goes.

This is for Mom

Well here you go mom, a more recent photo of my belly! It is getting huge. Notice this is one of the 2 shirts I have that completely covers my belly. We're hanging in there, waiting for the little guy to come out. We are getting excited! We miss you all.

The List

I find this rather humorous, but then again you may not. Yes I have been anxious for the baby to come, but I don't tend to worry about the pain of childbirth. I've been thinking about the things I can do again once my body has started to recover from pregnancy & childbirth. So I thought I would make you a little list. :)

First, things I can do that I think are still pretty amazing being 39wks pregnant:
1. Lift my leg over the bathroom sink so I can wash my feet at night. Brian often washes my feet for me but I still think it's pretty cool to do it myself.
2. Ok, well maybe that's it.

Things I can't do but soon will be able to:
1. Sleep on my tummy & with only 1 pillow
2. Wear socks & shoes
3. Brush my teeth without puking and/or stuffing a cracker in my mouth immediately afterwards
4. Brush my tongue
5. Fit into my clothes - thanks to my mom I still have 2 shirts that actually cover my belly (US sizes are bigger than Aussie sizes)!
6. Go for a run/bike ride/roller blade with my husband
7. Go for a walk and not lose sight of my husband - I'm obviously the slow one
8. Crouch down and look under the couch when cleaning!
9. See my feet!
10. Desire to cook & enjoy my food

Ok, so I could probably go on & on. Sometimes I think it's rather hilarious that people say 'hey you look smaller in that shirt'. Why...because it is the only one that actually completely covers my belly! When I'm on the beach people wonder who let that woman out and why is she in a bathing suit - I get plenty of stares. I love the beach & the water for an obvious reason - buoyancy.
So I much more of a waddler these days. Brian often finds himself stopping and looking back only to realize that I'm still 5 -10steps behind him. So he waits for me & then starts all over again, as it is impossible for anyone to walk as slow as me! It used to be me slowing down for him!

Well the weather has been a lot cooler, so I've lost about 2lbs (all due to swelling I'm sure). We went to the beach last week Thursday and enjoyed the cool water and beautiful sunset. Adelaide has been pretty busy since we just finished the Clipsal500 annual car race which takes up most of the Eastern suburbs/park lands. It's nice not to hear a constant wurring sound from the cars racing around the track. Brian and I parked near the course yesterday afternoon and got to see one of the airshows. Brian took some great photos - which are on his flickr site. The Fringe is on now - which is a great mix of arts & music during March. Lots of people in the city! Hopefully we can partake in some of the events.

Swelling

Most people have problems with swelling near the end of their pregnancy. For the past couple weeks my feet and hands have been swollen after a rather horrible weekend of 44C(115F). I have always had wider feet, but this is big. I have been wearing only my flip flops for the past month or so and they have left permanent lines in my feet because they are often tight near the end of the day when the swelling increases. So enjoy a pic of my feet!

BEFORE:
AFTER: