Cooper Charles McCord

Welcome Cooper!

Finally on Sunday, September 20th, Cooper decided he was ready to join us. My parents had just gotten in Friday night and were very excited they had not missed the birth. It's pretty interesting that Aurora came the earliest and Cooper the latest. Although knowing Aurora and Connor's personalities it isn't that surprising ;)

I had a few random contractions throughout the evening that had a little more "bite" to them, but nothing I would even describe as early labor. They were more like the contractions I remember having the day before Aurora was born. It did make me think that things were getting closer though!

Around 8pm I decided to go upstairs and take a bath. I had 3 or 4 fairly intense contractions in the tub which were 5 minutes apart. Then I started to feel a little nauseous, so I got out and went to wake Matt up and tell him I was pretty sure Baby was on the way. He had crawled into bed and passed out when I got in the tub. I had a few more before he got up to call the midwives because they were pretty intense and not very far apart.

At 9:00 Matt brought the baby monitor downstairs to my mother and we were off to the birth center. My contractions were pretty intense through the car ride and I could feel them moving deeper into my pelvis so I figured things were probably moving along pretty quickly.

We got to the birth center around 9:20. I got out of the car but couldn't make it across the parking lot before throwing up everywhere... At least it wasn't in the car! Aubre, the midwife, came out and I remember her saying "I know you don't want to walk right now so let's not even think about it let's just get inside"

They checked me inside and said I was completely dilated so at this point they weren't going to bother trying to get my antibiotics started (I have been Beta Strep Positive with all three pregnancies). Then they let me get in the tub. I remember the intensity being so strong I wasn't even sure how to sit down in the tub but felt much better once I did. I think I started pushing right away and Cooper was born in maybe 3 or 4 good pushes. Even though the entire labor was faster than Connor's, I felt more in control for the actual birth.

Proud Big Sister Aurora

It was no surprise to me that out came a boy, but I think Matt was surprised again ;) Apparently Cooper was pretty blue when he came out but Aubre said that was pretty common and she didn't see anything to be concerned about. Even after the blue faded he was extremely pale for quite a long time though. After the birth Aubre left us to hang with Cooper so she could attend to another Mama. 

At some point the nurse came in to check Cooper out and take measurements. He was by far my biggest baby at 8 pounds and 21.5 inches long. We were at Mountain Midwifery until about 2am when they discharged us and sent us home. It was a crazy quick night but there isn't anywhere I would have rather been at the end of it than in my own bed with Matt and Cooper!

August 2015

We are getting ready for school and baby! Aurora had her last camps this month and we finished on a high note. She had two princess camps at dance and another week of Avid which all went beautifully. Hopefully school will continue this trend. We had our first Meet and Greet for her new school at the City Park playground and that also went well. She was a little nervous about going but had fun and played with a few kids there.

I finally hired a nanny! I have been trying for weeks to find someone to watch the kids when this baby is born and also to help out around the house afterwards. The whole process has been a disaster and I finally broke down and used a nanny service which solved the problem immediately. Thank goodness! Maddie will be starting with us the beginning of September.

I took Connor to a class at Great Play after Aurora had a birthday party there and he absolutely loved it! I think this was probably the first class he has ever gone to that was just for him and he almost didn't know what to do with himself. It was a great hour of Connor being able to do whatever he wanted without his older sister directing everything.

We had our last set of family pictures taken as a family of four! Kristin came over to the house to do the shoot and they came out great. I can't wait to meet this little one.

We bought a new car! Or should I say truck ;) After going back and forth for months we finally decided on the Escalade ESV (or Escalade Stretch as Nanny calls it) because with three kids, two dogs and all our gear to head up to the mountains I am sure we will need the extra cargo space. Now I just have to learn how to park it...

We finally made it up to Breckenridge this summer when Karen, Brad and Ruth came out to visit. I can't believe Ruth is almost two and this is the first time I have met that sweet girl. The kids had a blast playing together and it was such a special time to catch up with two of our very favorite people.

-- Connor at 20 Months -- 

Connor is talking in real sentences now. I love being able to hear what is going on in that little mind of his. It is also hysterical to hear him start to repeat things we or his sister say like “Oh my gosh!”

He loves jumping off everything. Currently his favorite is jumping down stairs.

He want to do everything himself -- “CaCa do self”

He knows some of the basic colors — blue, purple, green, yellow. He still gets confused between orange and red but those can be tricky.
He has been trying to "count" with us lately -- "six, seven, eight, nine, SEVEN!"

He is getting more teeth, but they seem to  be mostly on one side which is odd. He has one molar finally coming in on the right but has both plus an incoming bottom canine on the left.

He is sleeping from about 6:30/7 until his wake up light goes on at 5:55. He rarely wakes before then, or if he does he goes right back to sleep. Often we wake up in the morning to him standing in his crib saying “Green light yay!”

There was a random week this past month where he was totally refusing his nap, but we seem to be past that now thankfully.