On April 21, 2009, Ryan was born weighing in at 2 pounds, 12 ounces and 15 inches long. He was born at 28 weeks and 3 days. Everything about this boy has been a surprise.
Medical issues that we had to deal with...he had a grade IV (three) brain bleed. We know now that there is MILD MILD white matter brain damage that only showed on the MRI he had in June. It is so mild, it never showed on the many ultra sounds that he had done while in the NICU or while he was seeing the neuro doc on a regular basis.
The area effected controls gross motor skills. He has NO delays on when he did things such as sitting, walking, etc. - it's more the manner in which he does them...he just needs a little help perfecting how he does those things.
Right now, his neurologist is only recommending physical therapy. So that's what we are doing. His PT comes once a week to the house and he loves her. We have the best PT, Christie, and she says she is already seeing signs on improvement!
Here are some of the posts during his NICU stay.
What happened to go into premature labor???
....cause you know us, it's a good story!!! But let me give my disclaimer.
DISCLAIMER: What actually caused me to go into preterm labor, we will never know. This is simply the recap of HOW it happened. There is no test that will give us that answer to WHY. And it doesn't matter. Can't change it. Could sit and beat it like a dead horse (sorry Holly and Aunt Mary) but Peanut is here, he can't go back in! I cannot send an email to God asking him WHY -
It is easier to believe God has plan and we are just living it out.
Late on the evening of April 15th (my birthday) I kept feeling like I was tee-teeing on myself. And I questioned whether I was or if my fluid was leaking. (I mentioned that on my April 20th post.) Did the trip to the doctors on that Thursday the 16th. They tested me and did the ultrasound of Peanut. All the tests came back negative. Ultrasound was all good, fluid levels were good. But they told me, that could change, pay attention to my body and rest when I can, oh and wear a mattress (a pad)....
Weekend was chocked full of events like the wedding and soccer (I still need to put a picture up of chick in her AMAZING flower girl dress, cause she did look so beautiful.) I rested when I could. I commented to my friend, Blondie, that I felt that the baby was acting different. I told Hubby that my belly felt smaller. I said the baby had moved and wasn't kicking me in the same place that he had been. No more rock star moments.
I knew that something was different.
Now throw in an event that HAD to happen....my car fuel pump deciding to no longer work on Saturday night. It HAD to happen. SERIOUSLY. My car being out of commission kept me home resting on Monday the 20th.
My car guy, DK, that usually can fix anything, came out on Monday afternoon to see if he could get it started to drive to his house to fix. He couldn't get it started, which meant that he couldn't fix it because he can't have cars towed to his house. HAD HE BEEN ABLE TO FIX IT, I would have had my car on Tuesday - so again...DK NOT UNABLE TO FIX MY CAR - HAD TO HAPPEN!!! (That's all on Monday)
(Now we are on Tuesday, April 21st.) DK has a little garage in Stallings that he uses when he can't fix things, he set it up for them to fix my car. Tow truck came early Tuesday morning. Since I needed to be at Lola's school to watch her NOT run the challenge run, mom was going to pick me up.
When the tow truck left, I went back inside to wait for mom. I went to the bathroom, I happened to notice the tee-niniest little speck of blood. I called the doctors office and told them. They gave me a 10:30 doctors appointment. (Not once did they ever make me feel like I was a nut, they totally supported me in the whole "I Know something isn't right".)
When Mom picked me up, I told her she was going to have to also take me to the doctor. LUCKILY, mom didn't have to be at work until 11:30 that day. Again, all this had to play out as it did so I wasn't alone at the doctor's office!!!!!! We headed to school to watch her NOT run - I was very emotional....
When the doctor saw me at 10:30, "it's your fluid". I was a basket case. The nurse got mom, we called Hubby. Doctor said they were going to admit me to the hospital for monitoring. Plan on being there 6 weeks. Did I say I was a basket case? Can I go home and get some of my stuff? NOPE - Dr looked at Mom and said...she needs to go straight to the hospital! Mom called Dad, he picked us up and drove me, Hubby is going to meet us there.
Straight to Labor and Delivery to be monitored. I think it was about 11:30ish by the time they got me all hooked up. Baby's heart rate was great. AND I WAS NOT HAVING ANY CONTRACTIONS! Even better....plan on being here 6 weeks! They were going to keep me in L&D overnight and then send me up to High Risk.
I won't go into the whole thing about how it totally freaked me out that for 6 weeks I would be sitting on my butt! Again, if you know me, you can only imagine.
Hubby, Mom, Dad and Pastor just hung out with me listening to the monitors. I talked to Crash and Lola when they got home from school at 2. Just had to wait to talk to Pootie. Donna had things under control here at home....we were formulating plans. Mom, Dad and Pastor left about 3:30ish. Mom & Dad were going to get the kids to bring them to see me......
By 3:45 I was having major contractions that were not showing up on the monitor. Two minutes apart. Dr decided to see if I had dilated...I was, over 8, maybe 9...he very sweetly looked at me and said, we are getting ready to have a baby. He said this was getting ready to happen fast, and he would just take a seat and hang out with us. I was able to get a spinal block thingy, not a full epidural (didn't need a full epi).
Now, I do have to tell you that I had big plans about how I wanted this delivery to go. I had told my friend Martha, several times that I wanted to have make up on to look decent for pictures FOR ONCE, like my cousins in California always do. That didn't happen. I was going to attempt this one without an epidural, I'd work on my breathing and it would be all controlled. Yeah, not. Contractions came too fast and too close for me to even think about how to breath. Plans once again out the window!!!!!
The NICU as brought in..and at 5:01pm, we had a baby boy! (And at that point, he still had NO name.)
I did get antibiotics. I did get one of the steroid shots to help his lungs, although I had him within a couple hours of getting it, so the chances that it helped him are slim and none..but they don't know for sure. I did get a shot when the contractions were really strong to try to stop them, slowed them but didn't matter at that point, I was way dilated.
Hubby did have a chance to get in touch with Mom and Dad-they raced back, so Mom was in the room with us.
And at 5:35, everything and everyone was gone. It was just me, Hubby, Mom and Dad again. VERY SURREAL feeling to have your baby, and then just be sitting there by yourself. Didn't like that at all. When I think about it, I still feel like I am watching someone else's life on a TV show.
Hubby did cut the cord, I did get him plunked on me right after he popped out, then he was scooped up and off with the NICU. At 7:30 his neonatalogist came to my room and talked with us, explained alot of stuff and then wheeled me down to see my baby, WHO STILL DIDN'T HAVE A NAME!!!!!!!!!! We promised everyone that we would have a name by 12 noon on Wednesday.
So that's the story. Alot of things had to happen the way they did, so I wasn't alone. Cause let me tell ya, had I had my car, I'd have been running errands or whatever, could have had a Walmart baby (movie reference there
....cause you know us, it's a good story!!! But let me give my disclaimer.
DISCLAIMER: What actually caused me to go into preterm labor, we will never know. This is simply the recap of HOW it happened. There is no test that will give us that answer to WHY. And it doesn't matter. Can't change it. Could sit and beat it like a dead horse (sorry Holly and Aunt Mary) but Peanut is here, he can't go back in! I cannot send an email to God asking him WHY -
It is easier to believe God has plan and we are just living it out.
Late on the evening of April 15th (my birthday) I kept feeling like I was tee-teeing on myself. And I questioned whether I was or if my fluid was leaking. (I mentioned that on my April 20th post.) Did the trip to the doctors on that Thursday the 16th. They tested me and did the ultrasound of Peanut. All the tests came back negative. Ultrasound was all good, fluid levels were good. But they told me, that could change, pay attention to my body and rest when I can, oh and wear a mattress (a pad)....
Weekend was chocked full of events like the wedding and soccer (I still need to put a picture up of chick in her AMAZING flower girl dress, cause she did look so beautiful.) I rested when I could. I commented to my friend, Blondie, that I felt that the baby was acting different. I told Hubby that my belly felt smaller. I said the baby had moved and wasn't kicking me in the same place that he had been. No more rock star moments.
I knew that something was different.
Now throw in an event that HAD to happen....my car fuel pump deciding to no longer work on Saturday night. It HAD to happen. SERIOUSLY. My car being out of commission kept me home resting on Monday the 20th.
My car guy, DK, that usually can fix anything, came out on Monday afternoon to see if he could get it started to drive to his house to fix. He couldn't get it started, which meant that he couldn't fix it because he can't have cars towed to his house. HAD HE BEEN ABLE TO FIX IT, I would have had my car on Tuesday - so again...DK NOT UNABLE TO FIX MY CAR - HAD TO HAPPEN!!! (That's all on Monday)
(Now we are on Tuesday, April 21st.) DK has a little garage in Stallings that he uses when he can't fix things, he set it up for them to fix my car. Tow truck came early Tuesday morning. Since I needed to be at Lola's school to watch her NOT run the challenge run, mom was going to pick me up.
When the tow truck left, I went back inside to wait for mom. I went to the bathroom, I happened to notice the tee-niniest little speck of blood. I called the doctors office and told them. They gave me a 10:30 doctors appointment. (Not once did they ever make me feel like I was a nut, they totally supported me in the whole "I Know something isn't right".)
When Mom picked me up, I told her she was going to have to also take me to the doctor. LUCKILY, mom didn't have to be at work until 11:30 that day. Again, all this had to play out as it did so I wasn't alone at the doctor's office!!!!!! We headed to school to watch her NOT run - I was very emotional....
When the doctor saw me at 10:30, "it's your fluid". I was a basket case. The nurse got mom, we called Hubby. Doctor said they were going to admit me to the hospital for monitoring. Plan on being there 6 weeks. Did I say I was a basket case? Can I go home and get some of my stuff? NOPE - Dr looked at Mom and said...she needs to go straight to the hospital! Mom called Dad, he picked us up and drove me, Hubby is going to meet us there.
Straight to Labor and Delivery to be monitored. I think it was about 11:30ish by the time they got me all hooked up. Baby's heart rate was great. AND I WAS NOT HAVING ANY CONTRACTIONS! Even better....plan on being here 6 weeks! They were going to keep me in L&D overnight and then send me up to High Risk.
I won't go into the whole thing about how it totally freaked me out that for 6 weeks I would be sitting on my butt! Again, if you know me, you can only imagine.
Hubby, Mom, Dad and Pastor just hung out with me listening to the monitors. I talked to Crash and Lola when they got home from school at 2. Just had to wait to talk to Pootie. Donna had things under control here at home....we were formulating plans. Mom, Dad and Pastor left about 3:30ish. Mom & Dad were going to get the kids to bring them to see me......
By 3:45 I was having major contractions that were not showing up on the monitor. Two minutes apart. Dr decided to see if I had dilated...I was, over 8, maybe 9...he very sweetly looked at me and said, we are getting ready to have a baby. He said this was getting ready to happen fast, and he would just take a seat and hang out with us. I was able to get a spinal block thingy, not a full epidural (didn't need a full epi).
Now, I do have to tell you that I had big plans about how I wanted this delivery to go. I had told my friend Martha, several times that I wanted to have make up on to look decent for pictures FOR ONCE, like my cousins in California always do. That didn't happen. I was going to attempt this one without an epidural, I'd work on my breathing and it would be all controlled. Yeah, not. Contractions came too fast and too close for me to even think about how to breath. Plans once again out the window!!!!!
The NICU as brought in..and at 5:01pm, we had a baby boy! (And at that point, he still had NO name.)
I did get antibiotics. I did get one of the steroid shots to help his lungs, although I had him within a couple hours of getting it, so the chances that it helped him are slim and none..but they don't know for sure. I did get a shot when the contractions were really strong to try to stop them, slowed them but didn't matter at that point, I was way dilated.
Hubby did have a chance to get in touch with Mom and Dad-they raced back, so Mom was in the room with us.
And at 5:35, everything and everyone was gone. It was just me, Hubby, Mom and Dad again. VERY SURREAL feeling to have your baby, and then just be sitting there by yourself. Didn't like that at all. When I think about it, I still feel like I am watching someone else's life on a TV show.
Hubby did cut the cord, I did get him plunked on me right after he popped out, then he was scooped up and off with the NICU. At 7:30 his neonatalogist came to my room and talked with us, explained alot of stuff and then wheeled me down to see my baby, WHO STILL DIDN'T HAVE A NAME!!!!!!!!!! We promised everyone that we would have a name by 12 noon on Wednesday.
So that's the story. Alot of things had to happen the way they did, so I wasn't alone. Cause let me tell ya, had I had my car, I'd have been running errands or whatever, could have had a Walmart baby (movie reference there
folks, stay with me.)
