Jackson Cooper was born on Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 at 1:04 PM in Boise, Idaho at St. Alphonsus Hospital. He burst onto the scene weighing 7lbs, 14 oz. and measuring 20 inches long. His due date was January 28th, but due to the early onset of labor he was delivered via C-Section. The delivery wasn’t exactly what mommy and daddy had pictured or seen a million times depicted on “baby shows”. Mommy was sick throughout the entire delivery and daddy nearly missed it because the nurses forgot to go get him. But, when little Jack did emerge, he gave everyone a scare; his umbilical cord had wrapped itself around his little neck resulting in a very blue baby.
Mommy was only able to see little Jack for a brief moment as he was wheeled up to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Daddy stayed with mommy until the doctors finished sewing her back together. Then daddy went to go check on Jack as mommy went into the Post Anesthetic Care Unit. The first time mommy was able to get a really good look at Jack was when daddy brought her a picture of him in the N.I.C.U. and boy did he have the fullest head of copper red hair that anyone had ever seen. All of the nurses and doctors couldn’t refrain from commenting on how cute he was and how they had never before seen such pretty hair and so much of it on a newborn. Soon mommy was able to see and hold her little guy for the first time and we were all able to be together as a family: mommy, daddy, and Jack.
Before mommy had even gone into the operating room to have Jack, Oma had arrived at the hospital. She wanted to make sure she was there to see her newest grandson on his birthday. She couldn’t believe how much hair Jack had either! She could definitely see mommy and daddy in little Jack. Then, later that night after mommy and daddy had settled into their room with Jack, Grandad and Nana arrived to see little Jack and to check in on our new little family. They too were surprised by all of Jack’s beautiful red hair and being Grandad and Nana, out came the big camera and lots and lots of pictures were taken.
Despite the bumpy start and Jack’s dramatic entrance into the world, mommy and daddy couldn’t ask for anything more because the addition of Jack was the single best moment in both of their lives; we fell even more in love that day and most certainly fell head over heels with their little guy. Mommy and daddy had been their own little family before his birth, but now baby makes an amazing three.
And so began our Tuesdays with Jack.
Jack in the NICU
