Here Comes Ryan!

So I waited for my mom and step-dad, Ron, to get to my house so I could go to the hospital. I wasn't sure what I was going to walk into and I didn't want to wake up my Lauren and bring her with me. As soon as mom and Ron got to my home I was off.

I ran in to the Maternity floor at 5:35am and frantically told them who I was. They had a gown and mask waiting for me but before I could get them on Dr. Ahadi came out holding a little bundle. That was my first glimpse of my baby Ryan.

Out of the swaddled blanket poked a sweet little head full of dark hair with a tiny blue knit cap. He was so tiny. He was so calm. He was so beautiful. 

Dr. Ahadi let me kiss him and then rushed off to take care of Ryan. Being five weeks early, his lungs were not fully developed. He would start having trouble breathing and they needed to take care of him quick. 

Later that day they explained that his lungs were developed except for one key thing. There is a fluid in our lungs that make sure they don't stick together as we breath. The more Ryan breathed, the more his lungs were sticking together. Just the struggle for breathe was burning more calories and taking everything out of him. 

Immediately after the doctor took Ryan away from me, a nurse came out and took me to the recovery room to see Sandy. I spent some time with her there and then took her to her room. I was able to go see Ryan as they were getting him ready to be taken to Children's Hospital in Toledo. 

When I walked in Ryan was laying on a bed that looked massive. He had on a little diaper and his knit cap. There was an enclosure over his head that reminded me of a glass cake cover. They were pumping oxygen into it but he was still struggling to breathe. His little chest was indented from trying to breathe. 

They let me hold his hand and stay there until the transfer team got there. They also put the fluid in his lungs which they assured me would make it easier for him to breathe. They took a couple of pictures of him with a Polaroid and gave those to me. The little guy looked so pitiful!

The team arrived and they put Ryan in a mobile incubator. Before going to the hospital they wheeled him down to Sandy's room so she could see him and then took him to the NICU in Toledo Children's Hospital.

The rest of the day was a blur. I know I went to the hospital to see him. It was so hard to see him with wires and tubes hooked up to him. I was able to touch my baby as much as I wanted and Lauren got to meet her little brother. The next day I even got to hold him.

I think it was ten days he stayed in the NICU. The doctors and nurses there were amazing. The nurses even had a prayer group where they prayed for the babies and their families every day. They invited patients to join them too. I went to see Ryan and Sandy every day after work, taking Lauren with me. The LaPrad's still kept her while I went to work. 

Once Sandy got out of the hospital she was determined to see her new baby. Our close friend, Kim Pawlowski, took her, staples and all, to Toledo. Nothing was going to keep her from Ryan.

Ryan was improving each day and finally we were able to take our little guy home. He was under five pounds, with wires connected to some machine that was supposed to let us know if he stopped breathing, but he was perfect. 

Ryan grew and it didn't take long for him to leave his preemie status behind. Now, as we celebrate his fourth birthday, he is bigger than most kids his age. He's healthy and funny and wonderful. 

God has been so good to us, and looking back, His hand was everywhere. Our family, both church and those related, helped us get through the trials. Between meals and prayers and rides and everything else, we have been so blessed. It's times like these the Body of Christ moves into action and we get to be the hands and feet of Christ.