The Dane Family

Q & A

2011-08-11T20:19:00.007-05:00

Can you tell that Ryder is back to his normal, happy self? You would never guess by watching him that he had brain surgery just a few days ago! He is extremely happy to be home where he can get down on the floor, go all over the place, and play with his toys. And we are ecstatic that we can let him play in more than a 3’ x 6’ area! We have been asked several questions about Ryder this week, so we thought we would put the answers to some of those questions here along with a few others that we thought people might be curious about but are hesitant to ask us. So here goes our little Q & A session.

What is a shunt? Why does Ryder have one?
Ryder has a condition called hydrocephalus. This means he has too much spinal fluid in the ventricle in his brain. You might remember that when Ryder was born, he had a bleed on his brain. After the bleeding stopped, the spinal fluid did not drain properly from his ventricle. So his neurosurgeon placed a shunt into the ventricle. The shunt drains the excess spinal fluid from the ventricle to his abdomen, where it is absorbed by his body.

What did they do in Ryder’s surgery on Sunday night?
The shunt has three parts: the tube that goes into the ventricle, a valve, and another tube that goes down to his abdomen. Any or all of these parts can break/malfunction. We have known for about a year that the tube that goes into Ryder’s ventricle was not in the most optimal position, but it seemed to be working. It may have just been slowly working less and less. Last week, the doctors thought something might be wrong, so they scheduled an MRI for Friday. We were supposed to follow up with neurosurgery this Tuesday morning, but we didn’t make it to that point. When we got to the ER on Sunday morning, they looked at Friday’s MRI and said that the ventricles looked larger than Ryder’s last MRI in December, but nothing too alarming. (If the ventricles are increasing in size, this is how the doctors know that the spinal fluid is not draining properly.) The neurosurgeon on call decided he would like to get a cat scan to see if there were additional changes. It turned out that Ryder’s ventricles were larger on Sunday than they were on Friday. While it was still not a huge difference, it was obviously making Ryder sick. They also did x-rays to look at the entire shunt and see if any part of the tubing was broken. Nothing appeared to be an issue other than the tube that was not in the right spot going into his ventricle, so that’s what they fixed. They replaced the portion of tubing that goes from the ventricle to connect to the valve. They tested it in surgery and it worked much better. So they stitched up the two incisions they made on his scalp and returned him to us. 24 hours later, he was almost back to normal.

Can this happen again?
Yes, and unfortunately it’s likely that it will. When Ryder first got the shunt when he was teeny tiny, we were told that statistically the average life of a shunt is 7 years. Some kids only have a few surgeries, some have way into the double digits, and some may only have one. We hope for no more, but we have to be aware that the shunt is a man made device that can never be perfect. It is possible that it could malfunction again and another surgery would be the only way to fix it.

How do you know what to watch for?
Vomiting, lethargy, and headache are the primary signs of a shunt malfunction. Since Ryder can’t yet tell us if his head hurts, we have to pay close attention to him when he’s throwing up. If he’s really tired along with vomiting, we go to the ER to get it checked out. Normally, if he has fever with those symptoms, it’s a good thing. It means he’s just sick and it’s not related to his shunt. For the next few months, however, fever, vomiting, and/or lethargy could mean infection. He’s at risk for infection for a while since he just had surgery. And infection would be bad since his brain is involved.

Ryder has cerebral palsy?
Yes. Cerebral palsy was also a result of the bleed on Ryder’s brain when he was born. Ryder’s CP primarily affects his lower body. It causes the muscles in his legs to be very tight. He is very strong and it is difficult in general for him to bend his legs or bend at his hips or ankles. His brain is unable to control his muscle tone because of his CP.

Will Ryder walk?
We don’t know. His doctors or therapists don’t know. Only the Lord knows that answer. It is, however, our great hope that he will stand, walk, and run one day. He has “boots” (orthotic braces that we affectionately call his boots) for his legs that help him tremendously to stand. Ryder naturally points his toes because of the muscle tone that goes all the way from his hips to his feet. His boots keep his foot bent at the ankle and break up his super strong muscle tone. He is able, with help, to pull up, stand and take steps while he’s wearing his boots. He even sits so much better when he’s wearing them. It’s really amazing to see what a difference they make. So you might be wondering why he doesn’t wear them all the time if they help him so much. The issue is that Ryder’s primary mode of transportation is army crawling and they limit his crawling because of the way they hold his feet. It’s just too frustrating for him to wear them when he’s on the floor playing and crawling, and we want him to be able to have fun. So he wears them only when one of us or one of his therapists is working with him to practice sitting, standing, or walking.

What does a typical week for us look like?
Ryder goes to physical therapy every week and occupational therapy every other week. Beth Anne takes him to those appointments and Jeremy has been able to start coming to physical therapy some too. The therapists work with him on all of his motor skills, both gross (PT) and fine (OT). They stretch his muscles to try and keep him as loose as possible since he has such high tone. He also has speech therapy twice a month. Speech is through ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) and it is done at our home. While all of his therapists do a lot of work with Ryder in their time with him, they are also giving us the tools to work with him when we are on our own at home. It’s important that we help him “exercise” as much as possible. That’s one reason we’re so thankful Beth Anne gets to stay home with him!
In addition to therapies, we usually have some kind of doctor appointment at least a couple times a month. Ryder has trouble gaining weight since his muscles are working and burning calories all the time, so we have lots of extra visits to the pediatrician for weight checks. Then we have neurology, neurosurgery, and ophthalmology from time to time. I may even be leaving some kind of doctor off of the list. It’s hard to keep it all straight sometimes!
Even with all of this, we think we still lead pretty normal lives. Every once in a while, there’s an overwhelming week, but we try to keep it all pretty spread out. We do our best to make sure that Ryder has fun and enjoys life. And he brings so much joy into every day of our lives!

Do you get sad?
Yes, it definitely makes us sad to think about future hospital trips being inevitable. It breaks our hearts that Ryder has so many obstacles to face, obstacles that we or most people never had to overcome. It brings us to tears that our son can’t do things that other kids his age do and that he will likely have his feelings hurt by things other kids or even adults will say to him or the way they look at him. While these things and many others make us sad, we are confident that Ryder is who he was created by God to be. The Lord knew long before we would have a son that it would be Ryder and that he would have hydrocephalus and cerebral palsy. And we would not want him to be anything other than who God made him for one second of one single day.
And the happy, fun times FAR outweigh any sadness. Ryder has the best smile and sweetest laugh ever! If you’ve been around him for more than about two seconds, you’ve seen that smile and if you’re anything like us, you can’t get enough of it! He’s quite the social butterfly (if you can call a boy a butterfly). We very rarely go someplace that he doesn’t say “hi” to everyone he passes…and continue saying “hi” until they respond or acknowledge him somehow! Ryder is a smart boy…he certainly keeps us on our toes with the ways he figures out how to get into anything and everything. There are definitely ways that he is just like any typical toddler!

Whew! That concludes today’s Q & A session that turned out not to be so little. All of this may sound overwhelming or even a bit depressing to you, but please know that we are only overwhelmed a very small percentage of the time and we are absolutely not depressed. We are extremely blessed to have Ryder. God chose us to be his parents and gave us an amazing gift in him. We love him like crazy and he makes us so incredibly happy! If you ever have questions about Ryder or want to know how we are dealing with his hydrocephalus and/or cerebral palsy, please don’t hesitate to ask us. We desire so much to make much of Jesus as we walk this road with our sweet son and we hope that we are able to do that by being open and honest with our friends, family and God.

Home Sweet Home

2011-08-09T17:04:00.003-05:00

We made it home. Seems to be a pattern that Ryder is asleep and I'm writing again. The reason for this is that when he's up, he's UP. In fact he was up last night till 2am (6 hours after bed time) simply because he wanted to play. This should illustrate 2 things for you. First, that Ryder is feeling much much better. Second, that times were pretty hard for our family over the last day at Cooks. The poor guy just wanted to get down to crawl and explore the world of Cooks. His only avenue for recreation was hanging out with Mom and Dad or wagon rides around the 4th floor (see pics below). To get Ryder to go to sleep we eventually had to clear all items off the bed and fill it with as many toys as possible and let him crawl to his hearts content (about 2 feet at a time). Today his Nurse Practitioner came in to see him angry that his lunch wasn't to the room yet and that we couldn't get crackers to him fast enough. That pretty much sealed the deal for her that Ryder was himself again, so she cut us loose.

That said, we're home. From here we have to be on the lookout for signs of any problems with his shunt from malfunction or infection. We have to be as gentle as possible when it comes to his sweet little head. The poor guy has two inch long cuts that are as tender as can be. But he's pretty tough and never seems to hurt them himself (just mom & dad). I guess he knows his head better than we do.

Thank you all for joining us in this, our latest battle. We pray that the battle was won in the favor of God's glory and Ryder's health. In this we have had more opportunities to see how truly blessed we are by our immediate family members and our CityView Church family. Thank you all for your hearts and for keeping us & especially Ryder close to them. Please continue to pray for his healing and that we would all get the much needed rest that's been missing from our recent days. God Bless.

Ryder 2.0

2011-08-08T11:41:00.011-05:00

Well friends. I'm so sorry to be writing to you for the first time, in a long time, because this post isn't the most fun we've ever written. (pics below)

For about 3 weeks Ryder has had a few spells of vomiting that were mostly unexplained. The sickness was at first thought to be viral and the doctor's best advice was to make sure that we cleaned the house good to prevent it from coming back again. If you know Beth Anne like I do, that suggestion is a red flag that they are probably wrong; no one keeps a clean house like my lady. As it turns out, they were mistaken about their diagnosis. Instead the source was the result of Ryder's shunt not working properly.

If you don't recall, Ryder's shunt is the extra hardware that his doctors implanted under his scalp and down his rib cage, a couple months after he was born. The shunt serves Ryder by allowing fluid from his brain to drain to his abdomen, which in turn prevents undue pressure and/or swelling on his brain. If the brain has swelling or extra pressure it won't function as intended. The body reacts by becoming lethargic and usually accompanies vomiting. The body has natural defense mechanisms to right itself and in this case Ryder's body was ticked.

Sunday morning (4am) we were woken up by Ryder throwing up in his crib. We jumped into the routine we had just recently developed by grabbing him, a tub lined with a grocery sack (thanks for the bag tip Taber), wet rags, etc., to help our boy get through it. In between the action I start cleaning to prep for the next round while Beth Anne did her Mommy duties to make Ryder know he's loved and as safe as he could ever be. It was at this point that Beth Anne realized Ryder's head had a lump on it as if he had taken a blow from a fall. The lump was definitely where it should not have been (over the shunt) so we knew it was ER time. We were dressed, packed, out the door, out of Keller, in the ER at Cooks in Fort Worth in just under 20 minutes (Ambulances can't drive near as fast as a scared Daddy).

After some time of repeated sick spells, X-rays, Cat Scan and lots of sleeping for Ryder, his Neuro team decided it was time to operate to revise his original shunt. So at about 7 pm they took Ryder back to make the repairs. Once again, our friend Sarah was the one to take Ryder from us and into the ER. He was upset so she even carried him instead of making him ride on the bed. We're so grateful for that grace that God gave us in allowing Sarah to be there with him, just as she was for his first 2 surgeries almost 2 years ago. The reality for most shunt patients is that a handful of revisions (or more) are to be expected throughout their lives. We have always remained hopeful that Ryder would be in is own category and keep his original forever. As you may know, God has shown us repeatedly that our plans are small compared to His and that we need to stop making plans and wait for Him.

Ryder is sleeping as I type this. He's recovering from a long night of minimal pain and the struggle of trying to fight for room in the hospital bed that Mommy and Daddy thought they should be in too (only one at a time though). We don't really know yet how well his shunt revision went. Surgery went fine though, but as they say, the proof is in the nasty Hospital puddin. The next step is to get Ryder healthy and home again. For this he must begin eating again. So far he's just nibbling and doesn't have much of an appetite.

From here please pray for lots of comfort for our little boy. He means the world to us and it hurts us to see him weak and in pain. Pray for our family's strength as we move forward. Pray that we would grieve honestly and openly with our sweet Lord. Ultimately, please pray for Ryder's healing. He's anxious to get back to his toys and check on his puppies. We will continue to trust our great God and look forward to Him being glorified in this as He has so evidently in the rest of Ryder's life.

Ryder's Progress

2011-06-05T20:46:00.002-05:00

Hey Friends
Just watched our sweet boy grow before our eyes so we wanted to make sure that you knew how well he is doing and how great our God is. Enjoy!

Ryder Sitting

Ryder Standing

Ryder Chatting

Meet, Awesome.

2011-04-05T22:04:00.004-05:00

I know its been a really really long time since our last post so I though I would reward our faithful followers, so...

Meet, Awesome. He's a possum. I caught him with a pooper scooper in our back yard. He's got a lot of fight in him so I had no problem letting him go in a near by creek (defended himself against both Lavender and Diesel).

By Awesome. We'll miss you.

On another note...please pray that Awesome did not have an awesome case of rabies. If he did its likely that our dogs are in an awesome amount of trouble.

The Long Awaited Update

2010-11-19T10:51:00.005-06:00

It’s no secret that we’re terrible at updating our blog. I would have thought that people had just quit checking it by now, but I still get emails and comments letting me know we’ve failed to keep the world informed of the details of our lives.
The question people ask the most is about Ryder’s medicine. I guess that would be since we let everyone know what was going on, asked for prayer that the medicine would work and have no ill effects, then we left you all hanging to guess for yourself where we are now. So sorry! Ryder is continually making good progress. He’s still pretty delayed on his motor skills, but always making forward progress – slowly but surely! He is handling his medicine well…we just never know if his progress is due to the medicine working or if he’s just growing and developing on his own schedule. We recently started backing off of the dose of medicine we’re giving him to see how he does without it. If he digresses and we can clearly see the medicine is helping him, we’ll be more than happy to keep giving it to him. But if it doesn’t seem to make a difference whether or not he takes it, we’ll more than likely stop giving it to him. We want him to have it if it helps him, but we don’t want to medicate him for no reason. So that’s the reason for our “test”. He’s still such a little guy so it’s hard to know what the medicine is or isn’t doing in his body. You can pray with us that God will give us wisdom as his parents to know what to do in this situation and that our “test” will have clear results.
Thank you for continuing to check in on our family after such a long period of no updates from us!
Don’t worry, there’s plenty of pictures in the posts below!

Ryder’s Birthday

2010-11-19T10:45:00.011-06:00

It’s been two and a half months now, but Ryder had a GREAT first birthday! He turned one year old on September 2^nd. I can’t believe it! And Wednesday marked one year from the date we thought he would be making his appearance into the world. While we’re talking about momentous dates for Ryder, November 5^th was his “come home from the hospital birthday”. The last 14 months of our lives have been so different than we would have EVER imagined, but we wouldn’t trade one second of it. Ryder brings so much joy, laughter, fun, and happiness into our lives to make every difficult moment worth enduring over again. He is the happiest boy I have ever seen in my life. He loves to smile and laugh at anyone who even glances his way. And he can get a smile out of most anyone who looks at him too!
Ryder had a frog prince birthday party. He did great at his party – both with all of his friends and family who came to celebrate and the cake! Here are the birthday pictures…

The birthday boy!

Opening presents with help from a few friends

The cake Mommy made before Ryder touched it

"You mean all this is for me?"

Not so sure at first

He decided he really liked it!

The cake after

Aunt Deborah made the cutest frog cookies for all Ryder's guests to take home. Thanks Aunt Deborah!

Update in Pictures

2010-11-19T10:23:00.016-06:00

Since we’ve been on such a long blog hiatus, I have lots of pictures to share!

First sleepover with cousin Brock. Don't they look thrilled?

Getting ready for Ryder's first haircut with Daddy

During the first haircut

Very handsome! Thanks Aunt Amy!

An attempt at eating chocolate pudding on his own :)

We went to the pumpkin patch with Brock and Aunt Deborah. Ryder didn't feel well. His face in the next two pictures shows it!

This is how I found him in his room one day. He was exploring!

Our little sock monkey for Halloween

Brock and Ryder went trick or treating at my Grandad's. This is them waiting for him to come to the door.

Still Halloween. I'm sure he's thinking "Finally, she took that monkey suit off of me!"

One of Ryder's favorite things to do

All clean and very cute!

Family Vacation

2010-11-19T10:18:00.005-06:00

At the beginning of October, we were able to take our first family vacation! We went to Cozumel and it was wonderful! It was Ryder’s first time to fly. On the way, he was perfect – fell asleep as soon as we started speeding up to take off and woke up about 30 minutes before landing to look out the window and play a little bit. On the way home, it was a little rougher. Jeremy and I weren’t sitting together and he started off sitting with me. He couldn’t decide what he wanted to do and fussed on and off when he was sitting with me. Almost as soon as he went to sit with his daddy though, he went to sleep and slept all the way to customs at DFW!
We stayed at the Occidental Grand in Cozumel, which we definitely recommend if you’re looking for a vacation spot. We spent most of our time relaxing on the beach. Ryder was a perfect beach bum! He loved just laying in his lounge chair playing with his toys, then napping, then playing some more. He went everywhere in his stroller – it was his chariot for the week! Because we went in off season, the hotel was only about 20% full (and cheaper!) and it made it so nice. We were most definitely the only people there with a baby. Everyone at the hotel knew exactly who the people with the baby were J I think most people there thought we were crazy for bringing him, but we loved having him with us and it was a perfect first vacation as a family!

Not a great picture, but the better of the only two choices we have for a family picture

Camping, Chick-fil-a Style

2010-11-19T10:09:00.004-06:00

We have been hearing about Chick-fil-a “campouts” for a while now and thought it sounded like so much fun. I saw a parking lot full of tents on a trip for work once over a year ago and it really made me want to do it. This Wednesday, we got to experience it and now we know it’s fun! Every time a new Chick-fil-a opens, they do a First 100 promotion. Here’s how it works: you show up on Wednesday morning by 6am. If there are over 100 people in line, everyone gets a number and they draw for the 100 people that get to stay. Then those 100 people camp out in the parking lot until Thursday morning at 6am. If you make it to Thursday morning, you get free Chick-fil-a for a year! So this Wednesday morning we left our house at 4:45 to head to the new Chick-fil-a in Denton. Ryder looked at me like I was crazy going in his room and getting him out of his bed that early! There were about 140 people in line by 6am. So we got our numbers and they started drawing….we were numbers 5 and 33 – we both got picked! It was so exciting to hear our numbers (and to get to go inside to register and have a little relief from the cold)! So then it was time to set up camp. I think we brought half of our house with us. We were just well prepared, right? Once we finally got all set up, we just hung out in the parking lot for the day. They fed us breakfast, lunch, and dinner and took good care of us in true Chick-fil-a fashion. It was really cold at night, but we were perfectly cozy all cuddled up in our tent. It was really windy too, but Jeremy gathered lots of big rocks to anchor our tent and our little house didn’t blow down! All in all, it was a great experience and best of all, we left with 104 coupons (1 per week for a year per person) for free meals!

Here we are in our tent

Jeremy's mom came down from Gainesville for a little visit in the parking lot.

Ryder was soooo good. He took great naps in the day and slept good at night. People kept telling us how good our baby was.

So Far, So Good!

2010-07-14T22:48:00.003-05:00

Ryder has officially been on his meds for a week now. So far, so good! We have seen no side effects. Tonight we increased to the full dose so we are continuing to pray that the medicine will only help him and not cause any adverse effects in him. I have another reason to be thankful I can stay at home with my sweet boy....I should know very quickly if anything changes in him since I pretty much spend every waking moment with him (which is a huge privilege). We're also thankful to have a good pharmacist for a friend, Kaysey. She told me today that it could be around 9 weeks before we see any results of the medicine working. 9 weeks sounds kind of close to eternity! She did say that if there were going to be any negative effects, we would likely see those soon. Still praying for none of that, but it's good to know that we wouldn't have to keep him on a drug for that long and then have to start all over again. Please keep praying with us that this medicine will be what Ryder's body needs and we don't have to go through a lot of trial and error to find the right thing for him.

Thank you for walking this road with us and for all the notes, calls, and texts this week. We appreciate the love, support, and encouragement so much.

Tuesday is STILL Newsday

2010-07-08T21:13:00.005-05:00

For the longest time we knew Tuesday to be the day that we would talk to Ryder's doctors during his stay in the NICU. This was when we would here any news they had to break to us. Thus, "Newsday" was born. In the recent months though, we've gotten used to our Tuesdays becoming normal again. Unfortunately, this past Tuesday, we realized that "Newsday" was still alive.

I took the morning off to join Beth Anne and Ryder at his first appointment with his Neurologist, Dr. Marks. We met him, Ryder smiled, drooled a little (a lot), and then the news. Dr. Marks told us for the first time that Ryder has Cerebral Palsy. He glazed past this huge word without even letting us catch our breath and began to discuss further aspects of his diagnosis. He continued to say life altering things like dystonia, medication to help his symptoms, and forever.

Ryder's official diagnosis is diplegic cerebral palsy. If you've been around him much, you may have noticed his legs getting stiff. This condition causes him to have increased muscle tone in his legs and the normal or decreased tone in the rest of his body can't compensate for his Hercules legs. Our first step after diagnosis is medication. He started on a small dose of a medicine with a huge name last night. The goal is for it to help him get his muscles working together so that he can function like any other baby. A possible side effect of the medicine is that it could cause him to become really irritable, in which case we would discontinue the medicine and the doctor would go a different route. We're praying that we don't have to see what that would be.

This may all be hitting you like a ton of bricks that Ryder has more issues to face in his life than we originally expected. If so, please look through our blog at his smiling face. That smile is evidence of the grace from our Lord that gave Ryder his middle name (Gray). We look into his precious eyes everyday and see that he is happy in spite of artificial additions to his body (his shunt) and all of these five dollar words. Even now he is in the floor rolling around when he supposed to tired and even asleep in his bed. Why? Because he is very, very happy. God has answered so many prayers and blessed us with a happy boy.

Though I can write this (and we do truly believe this stuff) it's still hard. I first began crying over the reality of my son's diagnosis over crispy thai beef at Pei-Wei. For some reason I thought we were all out of the woods and that aside from adolescence, the worst was over. I think that the enemy (satan) probably wanted me to get comfortable with life so that this would wreck my, then subsequently, my family's world. But we still have the Holy Spirit and are thankfully still grounded in the truth of the Gospel. We aren't promised an easy life. If anything we are promised suffering. But we are promised abundant life, which I witness and experience every time I walk in from work to see my beautiful wife feeding my smiling son, covered in his favorite orange tinted vegetable. (P.S. all of Ryder's favorite foods have carrots in them, which makes his skin look tan. The dude is practically an Oompa Loompa.)

So... what we need. We need, more than anything, for you to look at our lives, for you to look at our son's life and see that God's love is bigger than you can comprehend. That His mercy and goodness are so immeasurable that you are without words. Please, from the bottom of our hearts, see Jesus' glory in what He has done in us. Through all of this we are more in love with our great God than ever. Maybe that was His plan for all of this.

Please pray for our boy. Pray that his new medicine will create harmony in his life rather than turmoil. Pray that his limbs will relax and that his abdomen strengthens. Pray that his mind will be sharpened and that all of his struggles will only be physical. Pray that he always finds the courage to wake up and smile at his mommy and daddy. Pray that God continues to be glorified in all three of our lives as he has so far. We love you and praise God for your friendship.

9 Months

2010-06-05T10:29:00.007-05:00

Ryder is 9 months old this week! We went to his doctor appointment Wednesday and he weighs 17 pounds 3 ounces and is 27.5 inches long. His weight and head circumference are still below the 5th percentile for a "normal" 9 month old, but his length has now jumped into the 10th to 25th percentile. Looks like he's working on getting tall like his daddy!

We also went to get some new pictures taken this week. Here's a few!

Swimming

2010-06-02T22:13:00.005-05:00

Ryder celebrated Memorial Day by taking his first dip in Pops and Mimi's pool. He just wanted to relax and float around!

Cousin Brock was there too! Don't they both look so excited?

Swimming is such hard work. He was asleep before he even made it out of the pool!

So Funny :)

2010-04-20T15:49:00.002-05:00

Ryder thinks everything is pretty hilarious these days. Here's a video proving that....

Lots of Pictures

2010-04-05T14:26:00.016-05:00

It's a good thing this boy is not camera shy because he's been the subject of a lot of different photographers recently! Before I quit work, our sweet babysitter, Jamie, took tons of pictures of Ryder. We didn't even know she was doing it or that she was getting started in photography, and she surprised us with a big stack she had printed. Here's some of her handiwork....

Then Jeremy's cousin who also does photography, Kasey, was here from Baltimore in March and she took some great pictures of him too! Here's a few of my favorites....

The last photo shoot (not including all the mommy shots in between) was with cousin Brock. Deborah and I took the boys to have their pictures taken together. Ryder isn't smiling, but for 2 boys who were 6 months and 4 weeks old, I think we got a pretty good picture, both looking at the camera and no crying!
And here's a couple of Ryder from that day....
What a good little model!

Stay at Home Mom!

2010-04-05T14:25:00.007-05:00

This is one happy boy because his mommy is at home with him all the time now! I have officially been a full time stay at home mom for 4 weeks now. It obviously didn't make me a better blogger, but I think it's made me a better mommy.
Ryder and I have been busy in our first 4 weeks of full time togetherness. He started physical therapy and occupational therapy because his development is a little delayed. We always knew this was a possibility because of the bleed he had on his brain when he was born. Even if you're expecting it though, it's not fun when a "professional" tells you your child is delayed. But God continues to show us grace and remind us of the confidence and hope we have in Him. He is in full control of all the things that happen with our little boy and we trust in Him to take care of Ryder and all his needs. I think it's no coincidence that the first day anyone told us that Ryder had some delays was on my first day at home with Ryder. I was given several activities to do with him to stimulate his development. So Ryder and I do his daily exercises every morning and have lots of good quality playtime throughout the day incorporating exercises! There are a lot of things around the house I thought I would have already gotten done in 4 weeks that haven't been touched, but I've been working on the most important thing! We quickly started seeing some big improvements in the things Ryder is doing and it's so exciting to watch. I'm certain we made the right decision to have me at home full time and I love it! I'm pretty sure Ryder loves it too!

New Baby Cousin

2010-02-28T21:13:00.004-06:00

We got a nephew last week and Ryder got a cousin! Brock Andrew Dodson was born Thursday February 25th! These boys are 6 months apart and we know they're going to be good buddies!

Here's Ryder and Brock together last weekend with Aunt Deborah............ And here they are Thursday with their daddies.

We love you Brock and are so excited you're here!

Rock & Roll

2010-02-28T00:22:00.002-06:00

Ryder has stunned us again. I know that the last video only worked intermittently, but we couldn't resist sharing a quick view of Ryder's latest accomplishment. Please enjoy.

The Glorious Struggle

2010-02-08T14:12:00.002-06:00

CAUTION: What you are about to see may appear unimportant and/or boring. If this applies to you please check your pulse. You may not have a heart beat.

Out of no where our baby boy was able to lift his head and look around like never before. He went from lots of tears and cries of frustration to this. As you can imagine Beth Anne and I were both melted down to puddles of goo. I'm sure you will feel the same way when you see his head bob around and his eyes cross as he struggles to see the world from a whole new perspective.
Enjoy.

Doctor Reports

2010-02-04T10:03:00.002-06:00

Can you tell Daddy is hoping for another hunter in the family one day?!

We breezed through all the doctor appointments this week! First was Ryder's neurosurgeon who gave good news.....it looks like the shunt is functioning properly! Next was the eye doctor.....Ryder's eyes are doing what they should too! Last was the pediatrician for a quick weight check and a shot. Ryder is up to 13 pounds, 2 ounces - big boy! The worst news we got all week was from the pediatrician.....we still can't let Ryder sleep through the night. He said maybe next month we can drop the middle of the night feeding. If that's the worst news we got, we're considering it a week of great doctor reports!

Four Months

2010-01-13T21:29:00.008-06:00

Look at that big boy! It’s hard to believe that it’s already been more than 4 months since Ryder made his grand entrance into the world. He had his check up at the pediatrician last week. Here’s his stats…weight: 11 pounds, 6 ounces, length: 23 1/8 inches, head circumference: 14 3/4 inches. All three are almost on the growth curve for a normal 4 month old! He still has a ways to go to be “normal” for his age, but at least he’s on the charts now! Some great news for mom and dad is that we can let him go 5 hours between feedings at night now instead of 4. That’s a little more sleep for us! The doctor says we can’t let him sleep through the night and/or as long as he would sleep on his own until he’s well into the normal growth curve for his age (we’re not going to think about how long that could be). The doctor was a little concerned about Ryder’s eyes so we now have a follow up appointment with the opthamologist at the beginning of February. Hopefully he’ll tell us Ryder is just a preemie and his eyes are fine for his adjusted age. We also have another follow up appointment with the neurosurgeon at the beginning of February. At the end of December we had a few neurosurgeon visits as well as a trip to the ER because of some swelling around his shunt that just doesn’t want to go down. The neurosurgeon told us then that he suspects that the shunt is trying to malfunction and that he will probably have to go in and fix it sooner rather than later. Ryder will have another MRI on January 26th and then follow up with the neurosurgeon the following week who will hopefully have some better answers for us when he has a second MRI to compare to December’s scan. We’re praying that the swelling is just an issue of Ryder’s body still adjusting to the “hardware” and that it’s not related to shunt malfunction that would have to be fixed surgically.

A big change in our house recently is that Beth Anne went back to work after Christmas. Ryder is still at home during the day. We’re blessed to have a very sweet babysitter, Jamie, who comes to our house every morning to take care of our baby boy while we can’t be there. We’re still trying to figure out how to get everything else done and have two working parents. It’s difficult, but we seem to be slowly getting into a routine. Our definition of normal seems to keep changing dramatically lately!

We’ll leave you with some pictures from Ryder’s first Christmas. He got spoiled beyond measure and he doesn’t even know it!

Not so sure Ryder was loving a white Christmas Eve

Doesn't he look excited to be opening his presents?!

Just hanging out with some of his new toys

I think he might have actually been a little interested in this one!

All that hard work wore him out

Finally A New Update

2009-12-25T22:42:00.009-06:00

We might be the worst bloggers in the world! Contrary to popular belief, we have not totally abandoned the blog. Since our last post over a month ago, our sweet little boy has grown and grown. He is now 10 pounds and 22 inches long! We can't believe how big he's gotten! He is getting very interested in all the things around him, especially Christmas trees lately! Ryder had a great first Christmas and we are so thankful to have this sweet boy this Christmas. Here's some of the pictures he had taken a few weeks ago. We think he's very photgenic!

This has to be the cutest boy you've ever seen!

Happy boy laying on Daddy's hand

Look at those eyes!

The last two for Ryder's homies....

11 Weeks!

2009-11-17T18:08:00.009-06:00

November 17th. If this date doesn't blow you away maybe you just need a little perspective.

November 17th: the date that our son was expected to delivered into this world!
November 17th: the day before our son turns 11 weeks old!
November 17th: the day that our son reached 7lbs 12 1/2 oz!
November 17th: the last day after 11 weeks of meals of being delivered to our house from our City View Church family! You are all amazing. We love you dearly.
November 17th: the day that we thanked God for our baby boy for the 1 millionth time!

To celebrate we thought it might be time for you to see Ryder's new world. Here are some pics of his new room. This is a world without wires attached to his stomach and chest. A world without 11 other stinky babies to compete with. A world where his Mommy is at his beckon call 24 hours a day. A world in which he can call home. Enjoy.

Home Sweet Home

2009-11-06T21:28:00.001-06:00

Quick update to let you know that RYDER IS HOME!!!!! We got to bring our sweet baby home yesterday afternoon. We are so thankful for all of your prayers, encouragement, and support over these past few months. Thank you Jesus for our friends and family who have walked with us and for the incredible amounts of grace You have given us to make it to this day. We continue to pray that YOU will receive glory from Ryder's life.

All Muscles

2009-11-02T09:58:00.004-06:00

Just a quick pic to let you know that Ryder is doing great. We happened to look up and take this picture at just the right time as Ryder (Super Baby) flew over our heads.

2nd Street to Recovery

2009-10-26T23:03:00.004-05:00

God's good. Ryder is doing great. His surgery went very well. This time he had a lot of work done but he's such a big boy that he was able to leave Cooks and go back to Harris without a breathing tube. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support. Next step is getting him home. All this will take is eating everything on his own. So lets pray that he gets as hungry as a Baptist leaving church.

Need to hear from you...

2009-10-25T23:21:00.004-05:00

Today my sweet wife said something that broke my heart. She told me she doesn't feel like she is able to be much of a mommy yet to our new baby boy. Of course I immediately showered her with all the ways I've seen her blow me a way by being such a great mommy to Ryder. It's no wonder she feels this way but I know it's not true. I'm sure you would agree with me.

We have prayed and prayed that God be glorified in our efforts and in our new family and we know that it must be taking place. If God's chief end is to see Himself glorified, then we know that He is more glorified in Ryder's surgeries and shunts than if He had healed Ryder without them. It's difficult, though, to see that glory when trying to view it through all the "gloom" that we have seen.

Now, with both these things in mind, please help us. I need Beth Anne to hear from you regarding how great she is doing as a new mommy. I'm sure you have seen her do something great (cause she's incredible). Also, we both need to hear from you regarding God's glory. In what ways have you seen it? In our efforts? In Ryder's smile? In your own prayer life? We'll take it all. Please leave a comment to help us.

We love you all so very much and we are so grateful for all that you have done for us. It's so good to hear how many people are praying for us and Ryder. We ask that you continue to do so. Please remember that tomorrow is the day for his surgery. It will be at Cooks around 1pm. Look forward to hearing your stories. Take care.

Tuesday / Newsday

2009-10-22T20:06:00.008-05:00

Recently I received a phone call from Dr. Lynch (Ryder's new Doctor). This was not out of the ordinary. She calls me every Tuesday/Newsday to let me know how Ryder's brain scan looked from the day before. This then allows me to relay the info back to Beth Anne in a loving hubandly manner. The news though was not what we were looking to hear. Ryder's ventricles have increased in size again. His doctors' only assumption is that since he's growing so much (6lbs 9.4oz/huge) his body is producing more fluid and therefore, requires an increasing amount to be drawn from his VAD. That being said, they also think that the best option now is to not wait any longer, but to move forward with the next surgery.

This surgery will take place on Monday the 26th and will be at Cooks with all the same great doctors and nurses. (We are so thankful Sarah can be with him again!) The goal this time will be to remove the temporary VAD and implant a permanent shunt (see below) that's permanent and will be permanently in his body and will permanently replace the natural function in his brain that absorbs/drains spinal fluid for him, permanently (Please feel the weight of the word permanent. Feel it yet? Beth Anne and I feel it too).

Though this is a huge deal in our world, to the doctors it is not. They are confident in Ryder's progress thus far (they know he can handle it), and they are confident in what they can do for him. Once completed, the next step in the process will be to get Ryder recovered, eating entirely on his own (no tube) and then home to his cool new room.

So, please join us in prayer. Pray all the things that the Holy Spirit leads you to pray. A special request I ask for Beth Anne and me is prayer for faith. Its becoming increasingly difficult to push on. We know we have to though. We have begun to realize that God must be being glorified more in our struggle to press on than He would have been through healing Ryder without these surgeries. Please pray that we will be refreshed and that we will be strong parents for our sweet little boy. We love you all.

Just Pictures

2009-10-17T12:29:00.009-05:00

Since the last post didn't have any pictures, here's a few new ones!

Hanging out with Mommy while Daddy's at work

Ryder decided to pull his feeding tube out, so we caught a few pictures of a sweet little bare face!

Is he dreaming about ballerinas???

All clean after Daddy gave him a bath!

Pray for strength...he's big

2009-10-13T22:58:00.003-05:00

Well friends, things are going well. Ryder is now 5lbs 13 oz. If you look back at the October 2nd post he weighed 4lbs 13 oz. Yup, that's 1 pound in 11 days! This means that he will weigh 33lbs when he is a year old. It also means that he will weigh close to 200lbs when he's 6! (Trust me I did the math. That means it will happen.)

Ryder is now eating from a bottle or nursing at every other feeding (4 out of 8 times a day). He is able to hold his own temperature. He is back in his normal baby bed. The best part is that he is back to his room with his friends in room 1.

Today we met Ryder's new doctor. She is a very sweet lady and Beth Anne is really glad to have her. Today I also stayed home from work (didn't feel too hot this morn and needed to rest up). This worked out well because I needed to be at the hospital with Beth Anne to hear some updates from the doctor. We found out that its likely that Ryder will be having a second surgery. This surgery will be to give Ryder a permanent shunt to replace the device that is currently implanted under his scalp. We don't know when this will be but I promise to post again before hand if he has to have the surgery so that you can be praying for his medical team and for his sweet little head. There is still a chance that the permanent shunt won't be necessary, so we're going to continue to ask God to heal Ryder's brain without a second surgery.

The doctor also told us some very exciting news today. In all previous scans they had been monitoring a spot on his brain that at one time wasn't receiving necessary amounts of blood. This spot meant an increased risk for developmental problems. Praise our Great God! It has been gone for the past 2 brain scans! Ryder still is at risk because of a bajillion other factors, but its one big factor that has been eliminated.

Please pray that we would continue to praise God for what He is doing in our life. Sometimes things are rough, but we know that He knows best & has our best in mind. He has been faithful to us and we love Him. Thank you all for your prayers and for all of your concern.

One Month

2009-10-02T23:08:00.006-05:00

Hello Friends. I'm sorry that it has been a week since our last post. There's just a lot to do and we can't seem to figure out how to get it all done. Even though this is the case we seem to have fallen in to a routine. This routine really is God showing us one more way that He is wonderful. From it He has given us peace. We still stop every once and awhile to to think things over and it takes our breath away. But after a few tears and sweet words we pick each other back up.

Can you believe it? Its been a month. We have a son. He is ONE month old! It's just impossible to think through all this. The hardest thing to think about is how much I love my son. I can't begin to measure it. It brings me to tears as I write this; I finally realize that this is how much our dear Lord loves us. Thank you God for such a blessing. While I can't measure Your love, You let me see it in a new way. You are so good to us. This is what Grace is, friends. God giving us something we don't deserve. I couldn't earn this life He has given me if I tried, but I have it and it keeps getting better.Ryder is doing so well. The device the implanted in his head is working great. This means that the ventricles in his head have begun to decrease in size. We have no clue how long that the device will be necessary, but we are praying that it is very effective and that Ryder won't need it for too long.

Ryder is eating well too. Our big man has learned to swallow. This past Sunday was his first time to try eating from a bottle and as of last night he began to finish every bottle that you put near his little face. As you can imagine, he is gaining weight too. On his one month birthday the little dude now weighs 4 lbs 13 oz. When he was born he was 2lbs 15 oz. He has almost gained 2 pounds... in one month!

Thank you all for your prayers. God has carried us through so much in the last month. There is no doubt for us of His goodness. This goodness is especially visible in each of you. We know of so many who are praying for our family. My prayer is that you are drawn into a deeper relationship with God through these prayers and that you will be blessed by God in the same ways He has blessed us.

Recovery... Ryder's Way

2009-09-26T13:17:00.003-05:00

Hey Friends. This past Wednesday Ryder went to Cooks hospital for brain surgery. When I say brain surgery I mean that they did SURGERY on his BRAIN! Though it was scary it was very simple and very quick. His nurse was our friend Sarah Doyle. God's providence and goodness didn't stop there. He even gave us a Surgeon that was a follower of Christ. Dr. Honeycutt (the surgeon) led us all in prayer before they took Ryder back. Ryder had an entourage at the hospital that followed him around both Cooks and Harris hospital like he was the pope. That said, we are forever grateful to our friends and family that were at our side praying or were literally by our side.

Right now Ryder is recovering. He is now completely off of any breathing assistance. At one point (in Ryder style) he got sick of having the breathing tube breathing for him so he coughed it up and started breathing on his own. It scared Beth Anne a little when he extubated himself, but she was kinda out of it the last time he showed his stuborn personality and did things his own way (I am referring, of course, to crawling out of his Momma 11 weeks early).

He has lost a little weight (about 2 ounces), but he has also begun to eat more than ever (40ccs). So he is doing great. Our new prayer is that the device in his head can be removed very within the next couple of weeks. That will help Ryder out a very great deal. So please join us in asking for his safety, proper development, and comfort. We love our great God and know that he can do anything. Also, please know that we love you all and are so blessed by all that you do.

Ryder's Surgery

2009-09-22T23:50:00.001-05:00

Really Beth Anne and I are at a loss for words. I wish I had something witty or fun to share. Instead, I thought I'd go for informative. Ryder has swollen ventricles (brain parts). These ventricles have rapidly increased in size since his birth. Increased size in a limited space (his head) is bad. The ventricles are not allowing fluid to drain properly and the extra fluid is building up. This problem was the result of a hemorrhage that turned into a clot. To help things out the doctors are going to create a way for the ventricles to drain by means of something called a VAD (Ventricular Access Device). If you are just finding this out you are not alone. We just found out today that he was going to have the brain surgery and that it would be tomorrow morning at Cooks Hospital in Fort Worth around 11am. Just imagine the weight that has been dropped on our shoulders- Our baby boy is having brain surgery. So if you are freaking out with us please let your freakage drive you to pray with all the strength that you have. Pray that God's glory would be seen in this. Pray that the surgery would go well and that God would guide the doctors and nurses who will be with our baby. Pray that we will be comforted and find peace in the fact that God is in control and He knew all the details of today and tomorrow long ago. None of this makes sense to us. All we can think is that it's not suppossed to happen this way, but it is. So we want comfort. That comfort is going to have to come from seeing our Creator, Jesus, glorified. We love Jesus dearly and want to remain steadfast in this time for our sweet son and we want anyone around us who doesn't share in that same love to see Jesus made known. Thank you for being so faithful to pray for our family.

Tension and Gain

2009-09-21T23:17:00.002-05:00

Well, if any of you wondered if Ryder had big genes in that little body, wonder no more. Big Ryder gained almost 3 ounces since yesterday. That means that he is now 3 pounds 15.2 ounces. You're right. That's almost one pound in less than 3 weeks!

Ryder is doing very well in almost everything. We can see this when we hold him, when we see him stretch, yawn, even poop on momma. The problem is that when we are away from him all we can seem to think of is tomorrow's news. Is it going to be hard to hear or exciting? We want to see our boy healthy.What we want though could be different than what God wants. We are trying so hard to believe that whatever happens God is doing His best for us, Ryder and Jesus' name. We know that this is true and it's exactly what God's word says, but it’s very hard to live out.

More than anything we want to see God glorified in our son. The tension is to want Him glorified and at the same time have very specific requests that we are begging God to do. Whatever the answer is, I’m sure God is going to teach us. What we need form you, our faithful and loving friends, is to ask God to grant us peace and trust.Pray that our big man continues to grow and continues to amaze our doctors.

Setting the Record Straight

2009-09-19T00:25:00.003-05:00

It seems that the problem is not that we can't do math. The problem is that Ryder has a crazy mommy who apparently just makes up what he weighs. Here are the correct numbers from his past 4 weigh-ins (after triple checking with the nurse):
9/15: 3 pounds, 6.3 ounces
9/16: 3 pounds, 8.1 ounces
9/17: 3 pounds, 10.2 ounces
9/18: 3 pounds, 9.6 ounces
Yes, he went down a little bit today, but that could be partly because he moved to a big boy bed yesterday! He's not in the isolette anymore, so he's burning extra calories to keep his tiny little body warm. He's doing great at maintaining his temperature. Now hopefully he can keep packing on the ounces while he warms himself up!

Here's Ryder in his dishpan/bathtub. He doesn't quite know what to think of it yet!

Gaining Little by Little

2009-09-16T22:49:00.001-05:00

Tonight's weigh in put Ryder at 3 pounds, 4.9 ounces. That means he's gained 5.6 ounces since his birthday 2 weeks ago. We're retracting yesterday's statement that he has gained 7 ounces. Apparently we can't do math...we're very tired! We got a little ahead of ourselves, but we're still very happy with the 5.6 ounces that he's gained!

Here's some pictures of our little man in his new clothes today!

Another Move!

2009-09-15T22:40:00.000-05:00

Ryder is growing! He is up to 3 pounds, 4.6 ounces...exactly 7 ounces bigger than when he was born. He also made another move tonight. Ryder is now a resident of room 1 in the NICU! I'm sure he doesn't care which room he is in, but this is a big deal for mom and dad because room 1 means he's that much closer to coming home with us.

We got the results of the head CT today and they were not what we were hoping for. Some areas of concern are still showing up. The doctors have decided to continue to watch him until Monday. They will do another scan then. If the issues aren't resolved at that point we will talk about other measures to take from there. Please continue to pray with us that God will heal Ryder's little brain as only He is able. Pray also for peace for us. Today was another rough one after hearing what wasn't great news from Ryder's doctors.

We have been so touched by the messages we received through the day to simply let us know that you are praying. Thank you again for praying with us and loving our family.

The Great Exchange: Wires for Threads

2009-09-13T21:50:00.000-05:00

It seems that our weekends are becoming more tiring than the weeks. It seems that all of our plans are thwarted regardless of our attempts to make the most efficient use of our time. It seems that everyday we learn something new about our new lives as parents that takes our breaths away. Though we are struggling to catch up to this crazy life we still get moments in the day to look into the eyes of our healthy baby boy. In such moments we are reminded that regardless of the chaos, we are blessed beyond measure.

For example: Today we arrived at the NICU to be surprised by Ryder's new look. Big Man was wearing his first set of pajamas and he was light one more wire! Putting on PJs may seem to be something trivial to you and me. To Ryder though, it means that he is learning to maintain his own temperature, it means that he is gaining weight and it means that he gets to start getting ready for his GQ cover shoot (Just look at the pictures... You'll see).

So, thank You, God. Thank You for sustaining us. Thank You for our sweet boy. Thank You that we get to be a family and thank You that we know all of this is from You. Your word tells us that "for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). For all that You do, we thank you.

We still have a long road ahead of us, so we ask for your continued prayers. One very important thing one that we want to remind you of is his brain scan tomorrow. This scan is to check on the progress of some bleeding that became evident to his doctor very quickly after delivery and again in his last brain scan. His little body has been through a very great deal and quite early so this bleed doesn't do much to overly concern his doctors. That said, I'm sure you can imagine its not easy for his parents to hear though. Please pray for his little head, our peace, and wisdom for his doctors.

New Room... No Attachments!

2009-09-10T23:11:00.000-05:00

Big Ryder has moved on from 4a to 3b. You should be confused by this. What it means is that he has moved from the most intensive room to a room that is one level less of intensity. From here there are two rooms to go; room 2 and then to room 1. Not only has he graduated to the next room, he also travels with less baggage. As you know Ryder has a feeding tube to provide him milk. Up until this point he has also had IV's that delivered fats and calories from separate tubes. This means he had two additional lines running into one IV. Not any more! As anxious as he was to leave the womb he has been anxious to free himself from the bonds of latex. He now receives all of his nourishment through his feeding tube. We are so excited to see our Big Man progress. The remaining tube may seem sad, but its only because he is still supposed to be getting his food through an umbilical cord (The little guy doesn't know how to swallow yet!). So, he'll have to wait to shuck that last tube (A mans gotta have goals.)
All of these are very big steps in growth. Ryder is learning to sustain himself. Little does he know though, his very body is being held together by our great and wonderful Lord, Jesus Christ. Colossians 1: 17 says, "in Him all things hold together." Since we know that it is Jesus carrying him through this stage of life, we give Him all praise and honor. Because of this Beth Anne and I have committed ourselves to making sure that we spend our lives helping Ryder to know this same truth. Please pray that we continue to rest in the sweetness of Colossians 1:17. Also, pray that our dear Lord be glorified in Ryder's growth, his health, his life, and someday his knowledge of Him. We love you all and are so grateful for your prayers.

Scan Results

2009-09-09T10:42:00.000-05:00

I just finished emailing a client in Ireland (yeah way over there!) who wanted me to know that she is praying for Ryder. Beth Anne just got a gift from our Home Group that brought her to tears, again. What these things mean is that the Body of Christ is more amazing than we ever knew! Our CityView family continues to amaze us with their love for us and for Jesus. They've done so by taking care of us in ways that we haven't even realized that we needed. That being said this is a plea to all of the Body of Christ to continue in prayer for Ryder. The doctor's report today on possible bleeding on his brain was not as good as we would like them to have been. Really, we have no answers except that what they saw before that gave them pause is still there. They are going to continue to take more scans and continue monitoring everything. Please pray that our sweet boy's brain is getting all the blood that it needs and that all anomalies in the results would go away. Please pray that Ryder would continue to be healthy and grow in strength. Please pray for Beth Anne and for me that we would rest in the Grace that God has shown us and that gave our sweet boy his name, Gray.

No IVs...Big Progress!

2009-09-08T19:07:00.000-05:00

Dinner was good tonight! We had pasta, salad, bread, and cookies waiting on our front porch for us when we got home (thanks Jen!). Our sweet church family has dinners planned for us through the end of October. We are so grateful to have one less thing to think about while we're shuffling back and forth to the hospital to see our baby boy!

Ryder is still making good progress. He gained a little bit of weight as of last night. He's now 3 pounds, 1.7 ounces. (He lost a little from a few days ago, which was to be expected.) His milk intake has been increased and they took him off of IV fluids today. He should finish his antibiotics tonight and then the IVs can come out! We're so glad that his little hands and feet can be rid of them. They only last about a day in his tiny little veins, so he's been stuck a bunch of times in his first week of life!

He had a follow up head CT today to look at a small bleed on his brain. The doctors have not been worried about...it was very small and they told us that if they scanned most full term babies, they would have the same thing. We should get the results sometime tomorrow. We're still praying that God will heal anything that was there and the scan would show all clear.

Jeremy went back to work today. It was rough on him, but Ryder and I had several visitors to keep us company in his absence. It's about time to head back to the hospital now so Ryder can visit with his Daddy!

Here's some pictures of the first time we got to hold our sweet baby boy. I've gotten to hold him two more times since this first time and Jeremy should get to hold him again tonight. We are loving that time with him!!!

We got to hold Ryder!

2009-09-06T22:32:00.000-05:00

Today was a big day for the Dane family! Ryder is 4 days old and we got to hold him for the first time! He is such a sweet boy. We each got to hold him and love on him for 20 or 30 minutes before his feeding. We loved that special time and can't wait for the next time we get to hold him!

Ryder is still doing very well. All of his vital signs remain good and he's still breathing on his own. His breathing isn't very steady...which is to be expected for such a little guy. We are praying that he will learn quickly how to regulate his breathing. The amount of milk he's getting is increasing every day and he's doing very good with it...today he's up to half an ounce. Big eater! He'll remain on an IV to give him extra calories and fat until his little tummy is up to the task of digesting all the food he needs. He's also getting antibiotics through his IV for the next several days as a precautionary measure. He's had some trouble with the IVs getting infiltrated and irritating his hands and feet. Please pray with us that his little veins will be strong enough for the IV as long as he needs them.

Here's a few pictures we got yesterday after he got all of the breathing aids off of his face and the first time he really opened his eyes to look at us. We're taking plenty more pictures, just haven't had time to download them yet. More to come!

A Very Early Arrival

2009-09-06T09:37:00.001-05:00

Ryder Gray Dane

born

September 2, 2009

12:44pm

16 ½ inches

2 pounds 15.3 ounces

Even though we were taken by complete surprise that our sweet baby boy arrived two and half months early, we have full confidence that our good and gracious God knew this day would come long ago. We’ve had an emotionally and physically exhausting past few days, but we are in good spirits and are so thankful to God for the precious gift He has given us. We continue to trust in His goodness and faithfulness.

If you haven’t heard what’s gone on the past week, here’s a quick recap. We arrived at the hospital around 8pm Tuesday night and were told that this baby was definitely trying to come early. The doctors and nurses spent all night working hard to slow Beth Anne’s labor and they were able to buy us an extra 15 hours after they gave her a steroid shot that they very much wanted to get to baby Ryder’s lungs. By noon on Wednesday, he had decided it was time to make his appearance and we saw him for the first time at 12:44. He is much bigger than we expected him to be…very long and skinny!

So far baby Ryder is doing great. The NICU team was in the delivery room waiting for him when he was born and they immediately got to work on him. He got a breathing tube, which was replaced that night with a less invasive breathing aid, and even that was already removed today. He’s breathing on his own and doing very well! All of his vital signs are good and we’re getting nothing but positive reports. As of last night, he was up to 3 pounds and 3 ounces. He will probably stay at the hospital for about two months while he grows bigger and stronger.

We are so thankful for our family and friends who have surrounded us and loved us so much over the past few difficult and crazy days. We have already seen God do so much through your prayers. The most important thing for Jeremy through all of this has been to be a strong supportive husband. God was not going to let him do that on his own. As much as Jeremy tried to be strong, he still found himself leaning against a wall in the delivery room Tuesday night, barely able to breathe and staring at the ceiling to keep the tears from flowing. Through the prayer of a good friend, Justin, God truly transformed him into a rock for our family. Jeremy stood close to Beth Anne all night long with no sleep, no food, and a strength (emotional and physical) that only our God can provide.

God has continued to show Himself to us through the body of Christ. We have been supported by so many in ways that we could never have imagined. Our yard is mowed and pretty; our kitchen is full of gifts and food (which we just learned will continue through October!). Thank you, Lord, for the grace and the goodness you have shown us through our friends, family and through CityView. The body of Christ is an indescribable blessing. For it, we are forever grateful.

Friends, we ask that you please continue to pray with us that our sweet baby boy will thrive and grow. Pray for wisdom for his doctors and nurses to give him exactly what his little body needs. Pray that his little body will be guarded against infection. Pray, also, that mom & dad will stay healthy so that we can continue to come see him daily. Pray for mom & dad as we try to work into a complete new lifestyle that we never expected. We know we have a long road ahead of us and we cannot thank you enough for praying with us as we enter this new phase of our lives.

Love,

The Dane Family-

Jeremy, Beth Anne & Ryder