Life Is Good: Pictures and More

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Pictures and More

Today has been a pretty good day. Actually it's been a monumental day. Ryan has not drank out of a bottle all day long. He has only used sippy cups today. This isn't especially exciting for him, but it sure is for me. I don't have to wash bottles any more. Hooray!

I found this ridiculous thing lounging comfortably on the beanbag this morning. Isn't he so ridiculous!

We did a little bit of everything today. We played inside for a while. In fact, we dumped the toy box out today. Sometimes it's fun just to empty the toy box and watch Ryan pick and choose different toys to play with.

We also went for a bike ride. We have a cart that hooks onto the bicycle for Ryan to ride in. He really enjoys it. I'm sure it won't be too long before he's yelling, "go faster!" As I was cleaning it and emptying the water (this Oklahoma weather!) Ryan came running. He even tried to climb in it. I guess he was ready to go. I'll have to remember to take a picture of our bicycle set-up sometime soon. We played outside some.

I even got to do some yard work this evening while Ryan played with his daddy. Now our backyard is mowed and somewhat manicured. Now if I can just convince my husband that all of the stacks of wood and other miscellaneous junk ought to have a better home than my backyard.... One thing I really enjoy is having nice yards. I enjoy mowing and trimming. I love the feeling of freshing tilled dirt on my bare feet. I love the coolness of walking barefoot through the plush, green grass. I enjoy watching things grow, watching the birds. I enjoy the sounds and smells outside. I just love God's great creation. What better canvas of his love could there be?

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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