Life Is Good: Week Recap, Continued (Finally!)

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Week Recap, Continued (Finally!)

Tuesday I decided to have a little pampering. Sometimes us Mommies need a little extra pampering from time to time. I went and had my hair cut and styled. Here is a picture. Please don't laugh I'm not very photogenic which is why I am usually on the opposite side of the camera.

On Wednesday we had a great time doing something I haven't done since I was 12 or 13 years old. We went to the drive-in movies! We met up with a bunch of friends and ate dinner in Guthrie after which we went to the Beacon Drive-In. We got there early and the kids had a blast running around on the grassy patch in front of the screen. When it was time for the movie to start we sat around in lawn chairs and the big kids stretched out on blankets. Ryan sat on my lap. He was very excited about the movie for the first 5 minutes. He pointed and squealed. Eventually he and I had to retire to the car until he went to sleep. We saw Nim's Island. I recommend it. It's cute. We had a great time and we can't wait to do it again!

Thursday we spent the morning recouperating from our late night out. That afternoon we went grocery shopping. Not very exciting, huh?

For some reason the urge hit me to make some changes on Friday, so I decided to rearrange our master bedroom. My husband just loves when I do that. Poor guy! While I worked on the bedroom Ryan climbed all over his "baby" carseat. He played tough guy with it. Friday night I got together with a group of ladies. Ryan and Daddy played all evening while Mom was away. They had a good time together.

And that pretty much sums up our week.

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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