Life Is Good: Friends Are Great!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Friends Are Great!

Ryan had a play date today. Connor and Macy came over and spent the day with us. They even brought their mom too. It was a fabulous day!

"Meal Time Choreography"

"Best Friends"

It's been awhile since I've given a really good update so here you go:

Ryan is doing wonderfully.
He probably weighs between 16 and 17 pounds. His last official naked baby weight was earlier this month and he weighed 15 pounds 13 ounces.
He has one more Synagis (RSV) shot to go. Speaking of RSV, did anyone catch the story on the news last night about a boy who died of RSV at the age of 6! Sad story. Please pray for that family to be filled with God's peace at this time.
We aren't completely out of RSV season yet. It ends around the end of April. However, we are starting to get out more. I'm still being careful. This rule still applies: If I don't know you; If you can't remember when you last washed your hands; If you haven't washed your hands within the last hour; If you have been sick recently...Don't Touch My Kid! Anyway, I'm being a little silly, but I really do mean it, but in a very loving, nonjudgmental, non-offensive kind of way.
We are going on our first "breaking out of hibernation" big-time outing tomorrow night. We will be going to the rib supper in Marshall. We're meeting some family there. I'm sure we'll have a great time.
For some time now Ryan has been having issues with the workings of his bottom end plumbing. Many of you know that one of his biggest struggles after we came home was getting him to be regular in bowel movements. That issue was resolved. It resurfaced when we started introducing new foods. For several weeks (maybe a couple of months) he has been going through a viscious cycle ending in the need for a suppository to relieve the problem. We've visited with the doctor and with our SoonerStart (early intervention) people. We've added a daily 1/2 jar-1 jar of prunes (he loves them), water when he will drink it (he only drinks it from my cup), and 1/2 tsp of wheat germ added to his food once a day. Something is working! He is now a much happier baby. Yea!
He is drinking whole milk. We give him pediasure every now and then and only when we are away from home. He likes it real well. It is the only thing he will actually drink from a sippy cup and at room temperature. He still likes his milk warm.
He eats anything he can get his little hand around. This includes trying the dog food. Yes! He finally managed to sneak a piece. He didn't like it. In fact it made him vomit. Has he learned his lesson? Does he leave the dogfood alone? Are you kidding!
He takes 2 naps a day on good days, usually one 30-45 min. nap in the morning and one 1-3 hour nap in the afternoon. On days he doesn't get good naps he goes to bed great. On days he gets good naps he fights bedtime like crazy! On days we run and play and spend the day away he oftentime fights sleep whether or not he has had good naps. I'm guessing he crosses that line of "too tired".
We're trying to create a good nighttime routine...one that when he is older and protests going to bed we can say, "well, son, you've done this...this...this...this...and this...the only thing left is going to bed". So far our routine is this: bathtime, massage and pajamas, bottle, book (we're still working on Les Miserables), cuddle time, bedtime. This is still a work in progress. Some nights he's in bed at 7:30. Some nights I'm still pleading with him to go to bed at 10:30. In case you didn't know I'm a morning person, not a night person. :)

It Must Be A Boy Thing

One last thought for the evening...

The other day we went to the gift shop at Mercy Hospital. We (my mom and I) started showing Ryan all the cutsie 1/2-price Easter stuff...the bunnies, the ducks, the teddy bears, etc. He couldn't have cared any less. He didn't even reach out for any of it. He literally acted bored. I imagined him saying something like "blah, blah, blah, whatever". We started walking around the store looking at all of their wonderful merchandise when lo and behold the boy starts laughing. I immediately looked up to see what in the world could be so funny. What did I see? What was my son so excited about?

An ugly, green, stuffed snake!

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Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander