The journey begins...

Hello, my name is Kouper Shane. I was born on Thanksgiving, November 22, 2007. My mommy and daddy were surprised that I decided to make my debut this early. I was scheduled to be induced on November 26, but I was just ready to meet them and couldn't wait a moment longer! I was officially born at 5:29 p.m. and I weighed 6 lbs. 3 ozs. and was 20 inches long. I was born two weeks before my due date, but my lungs were ready, so it wasn't a problem. My mommy said that she had some medicine that made my delivery a breeze!

Once I was born the nice nurses and doctors took me to the nursery to check me out. When they were checking everything they noticed that my heart had a murmur. When they heard this they decided that I needed to stay in a very special place at the hospital - the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). Mommy and Daddy were scared, but I wasn't at all I was nice and warm and had so many nice nurses who took great care of me. Daddy was especially concerned because he knew that something was wrong with my left eye. All I knew was that this new world was not as cozy as where I had been, but I was starting to like it.



(Mommy wanted to tell you some things about me too, so here goes...
Kouper was diagnosed with a single vessel umbilical cord at 20 weeks gestation. This alone doesn’t necessarily cause any problems, but it sends out a red flag to look for certain anomalies, usually with the heart and kidneys. From then on we followed his growth with a perinatal specialist in San Antonio. We went to the perinatologist every two weeks and did level II sonograms. They noticed that his left kidney appeared to be blocked and enlarged and determined that it was most likely a case of hydronephrosis. They also noticed that there were no signs of a right kidney. At that point they thought that it could possibly be a pelvic kidney on the right side, but that was not confirmed. Throughout the pregnancy they monitored my amniotic fluid level and his growth regularly. The continual normal level of amniotic fluid showed that there was some kidney function, which was positive. His heart appeared to be normal and there were no other anomalies found while he was in utero. I was scheduled to be induced on Monday, Nov. 26 at the Methodist Hospital. They wanted to do the induction at 38 weeks to prevent any growth restrictions in utero that often occur with babies who have the single vessel cord.)

Once I got to the NICU there were so many different doctors that were all so interested in little ol' me! They all wanted to poke on me and do so many different tests. I felt just fine, so I don't know what all of the fuss was about, but I was a trooper and let them do their thing. Mommy and Daddy were there holding me every chance they got. This NICU had visiting hours though so they couldn't be there all the time. That was okay though because the nurses were so sweet. All I really wanted to do was sleep anyway. One nurse pricked my heal and then said something about high bilirubin and jaundice or something and the next thing I knew I was wearing sunglasses, was naked and under a heat lamp. It was actually pretty cool to me so I didn't complain.

Mommy and daddy were staying at the hospital until Sunday and then they had to go home, but that was okay because I know that they had to check on our dog and the house. My big brother was being taken care of by my Aunt Shawn and Uncle AJ, so he was in good hands, but I just couldn't wait to meet him! Mommy and daddy drove back and forth to come see me each morning and then left late at night. I was always so excited to see them in the morning. I was also visited by my grandparents, that was a real treat! Parents and grandparents were the only ones allowed to visit me in the NICU.

(This is mommy talking now... we were a bit perturbed okay a LOT perturbed at this point because we had heard NOTHING at all from the doctors regarding his condition. We were on pins and needles wondering and waiting. Apparently most of the doctors were not available for consultations because of the holiday weekend. Hello! Who cares about the darn holiday, we need to know what the heck is going on with our angel! I guess we were the only ones who felt this way, but somehow we made it through...we leaned on each other a lot during this time - thank you honey for being so wonderful!)

Mommy and daddy were still so worried because none of the doctors had talked to them about me yet. They didn't hear anything until Monday! Finally on that day a nice doctor sat down with my mommy and daddy and started to explain a few things to them. Mommy and daddy said that everything was so confusing because there were so many things to hear, but they made it through. Here are the things that the doctors found on me... I only had one kidney and it was my left one, I had three heart defects, I had only one normal eye and the other one was very tiny and had no optic nerve, I had a couple of spots on my spine that were a little funny a sacral dimple and I think that was it. To find all of this stuff out I had to do a lot of tests including: an EKG, MRI, spinal ultrasound, a brain ultrasound, a renal ultrasound, VCUG, a ton of blood tests and a lot of just checking me out. I really don't know what all of the fuss was about, I felt great! The last procedure that was done on me is a little bit embarrassing, but I didn't even cry one bit! It is called a circumcision or something like that. They finally said that I could go home after my procedure, just as soon as I tee tee... Well wouldn't you know it I just couldn't do it! I tried and tried and mommy and daddy put my hand in warm water and blew on my private part, but no tee tee. The NICU was closed between 6:15 p.m. and 8 p.m. and I couldn't produce and tee tee before 6:15 so they went to have dinner and prayed that when they came back I would have tee teed. I DID!! It was so hard for some reason, but I knew that I had to get it done to go home so I did it! Whoop Whoop! My mommy and daddy got so excited and really kind of embarrassed me with their giddiness, but it was okay. So FINALLY on Wednesday, November 28 I got to go home! Yippe! They loaded me up in my car seat and we were on our way! When we got home my pamaw and pawpaw (Seidenschwarz grandparents) had a nice welcome home sign for me and a tiny little Kouper-sized poinsettia waiting for me! We were finally home, and I now knew why mommy and daddy wanted to have me here it was so cozy and it smelled good AND the lights go off there. I had never seen darkness because in the NICU it was always bright and cold. I will post some pictures next! :)