This is just video of my baby sleeping. A little bit of voiceover from his mom. Not very exciting, but I could watch this guy sleep forever.

Okay, not forever. I meant to watch Cooper while Julie was in the shower, but I became a participant observer.

I should also note that there are more photos up of the little man here .

Fist off, they have these signs plastered up all over the mother and babe ward:

Doesn’t it look like the sign should fully read, “Don’t Leave Your Baby Unattended, We Have A Problem With Giant Birds Taking Off With Them.”

Also I noted this sculpture that sits in the main foyer. It looks to me like this guy is at the hospital to have his groin injury taken care of.

Also, there are more photos up at Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/bigmikephotos/081215#

It’s been a big adjustment this last few days, and while this Cooper guy involves a lot of hard work, its the most rewarding I’ve ever done.

I wish I’d had a chance to write a big entry on the blog every day. I have lots to say, but I am experiencing so much life right now I just haven’t been able to make the time to sit down and write. I expect I will soon.

Here’s the main headlines:

• On Saturday morning, Cooper moved from level 1 of the special care nursery from level 2. He was still in an incubator and on an IV, but they were confident enough in his progress that they figured they didn’t need so many machines that go “BING!” around him.
• On Sunday morning his IV was removed, and he was out of the incubator and in a cot instead. This was great, because handling a newborn is tricky and intimidating enough for a new parent, and delicate tubes and wires didn’t make it any easier!
• On Sunday afernoon, Cooper was released from the special care nursery, and was moved to stay with Julie and I in the hospital room we were in
• Today, Thursday, Cooper, Julie and I came home!

It is great to be back here. We’re up all night still, but it’s way more comfortable here in our own bed and in our familiar surroundings.

I’ve started posting some photos up on Picassa . Here’s the latest album . I’ll be putting more up there as I process it all!

Thanks to everyone for all your comments. Nothing pleases me more!

This is the absolutely best day of my entire life. I am not kidding.

At 11:32 am, weighing in at 9lbs and 9oz, Cooper Ruben Stephen Lathrop was born.

You can see he has some real instinctual talent with gangsta rapper hand gestures. Check out the video!

Julie is recovering well, and we’ll all be here at the hospital for a few days with her. Cooper is also doing well, but after being born his blood sugar and temperature started to drop. I got to hold him for about 2 hours, and feed him some formula (in an effort to increase the blood sugar levels). Since about 1:30, he’s been in the special care nursery here at the hospital, in an incubator, with an IV glucose drip. It’s a little hard, not having him in my arms, but once again I am really feeling lucky to be receiving such great care. I just went to check on him, and he’s getting what he needs. Both his temperature and his blood sugar is up, and he seems alert and okay.

I heard from many people that the experience I just went through is indescribable, that one can’t comprehend how much love you feel for that little critter, that there is nothing like it. I have no way to describe the experience without sounding as cliche as that. I can add that in the moments leading up to the birth, I honestly felt like every bit of caffiene I’d ever ingested was hitting me all at that same point. I can also say that the period of time I was in the operating room before the child was born felt like about a half hour at least, perhaps more. I was astounded when I heard the time of birth was 11:32. They called me in about 11:25. I still can’t believe that period of time was 7 minutes. This to me is proof of the theory of relativity.

I am anxious to upload and publish this, because I get to feed him in a short while. I cannot wait to get my mitts on that little guy again.

“Go with the flow” has been my mantra over the last few days, and it has served me well.

Julie’s induction started yesterday at 3pm, but by 11am today, it was not working the way it should, and the treatment was stopped. I chose my shirt carefully this morning, and even sped to the hospital at breakneck speed because Julie was having some pretty big contractions when she called me first thing this morning, but no baby as yet.

Given what we’ve learned, Julie isn’t really a candidate for induction. There are other circumstances at work that negate her as a candidate for waiting longer for things to start on their own, and so tomorrow, we’re up for a scheduled cesarian section. That wasn’t really the way we saw our birth plan going, but our plan always put healthy baby and mom first, so we aren’t really deviating either. We’ve talked with many doctors, nurses, obstetricians and doulas, and we feel our consent is very well informed.

It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster this last week or two, not knowing when, if and how this story would unfold. That said, I can’t say I’ve really found it all that trying. (Mind you, I’m not the one that’s pregnant.) Every step of the way, I’ve understood what has been happening, and why. For the past two days, I’ve been expecting the birth to happen, but I don’t feel dissapointed not to have him yet. Every night I’ve been going to bed feeling wonderstruck, hopeful and eager to greet the coming day. It actually feels great. It’s not every day a guy goes to bed expecting to meet his first born the next day. Many never do. This is my third night like that. I count myself lucky.

And so, it is now fatherhood eve. I took the opportunity to shave (thanks, Candace, John, and Deb). I will pick another great shirt tomorrow, but for the record, the above guitar shirt was also a winner (thanks for the birthday present, btw, Mary!).

As I write this, there are only hours to go and I expect to be holding this kiddo in my arms tomorrow. I just can’t wait to meet him!

Wednesday came, and while the kiddo is still inside Julie, the induction has begun, and sometime in the next hour or 48, she are expected to deliver our little boy.

I am in a heightened state of awareness. I am supposed to get lots of sleep tonight in order to prepare, but I am not quite sure how that is possible. Everything I am doing now seems auspicious, though, so the pressure is on to sleep well. When I picked my shirt this morning, I thought, this could be the shirt that I am wearing in that first picture of the Little Man, Julie and Myself. Someday he’ll look at that picture and think, “Wow. That shirt is so 2008. I wonder what things were really like back then.”

That’s what I presume anyway, based on the thoughts I think when I see my dad’s shirt and sideburns when I look at the photo that was snapped of me and my parents when I was shiny and new in 1972.

Today it was the ghetto blaster shirt. It’s a good one – one of my favourites. I better pick another good shirt tomorrow.

This last few weeks, we’ve been hearing the sound of the fetal heartbeat on the monitor by Julie’s hospital bed. They hook her up to it several times a day. I am always blown away by the sound of that little heart thumping away. I wonder how many times it will beat. I think about how the first one, no matter how you measure it, happened sometime around 7-9 months ago. It’s pretty damn awe inspiring. Whatever your take on spirituality or epistemology is, to consider all of the various circumstances and coincidences that are leading up to that little guy getting born is amazing. I feel privileged and giddy just thinking about it.

Here’s a link to a brief recording of said little heart, thumping away:

03_12_08-10_39AMfetalheartbeat.mp3