We had had a long, extremely fun Christmas week. My brother, his four kids, wife and dog left on New Years Eve morning. The four of us spent a quiet day at home, putting away Christmas decorations, playing with new Christmas gifts and relaxing. We didn't even tell Alex and Noah that it was a holiday and put them to bed at their normal times. I was in bed at 9:30pm. Grant came up to wish me happy new year, and I don't even think I opened my eyes! We were all nice and well rested when I woke up at 7am to a little two year old wanting to snuggle. It was then that I realized my water had broken! I called for Grant, who was not convinced. (Okay, so I *may* have had a false alarm, or two, or four, during this pregnancy....) We decided to give it some time and see what happened. After about 10 minutes, it was clear that my water had indeed broken. Grant got into super-dad mode and started packing and calling people and moving at warp speed throughout the house while saying "This is NOT a drill!" The problem became, WHO do you call at 7am on New Years Day? EVERYone is tired from the night before. Thankfully, Mom and Dad were willing to come watch Alex and Noah while we went to the hospital to get things started. (Uncle Scott and Aunt Lynne were a HUGE help and came to watch the boys soon after so that my parents could be at the hospital for the birth.)
We arrived at Christ around 9:45am. It took awhile to get the resident to come check me, test me for amniotic fluid (which was negative, despite the fact that I was, in fact, sitting in a puddle on the bed...), call my OB, call my cardiologist, get the Medtronic rep to come to the hospital to disable my device, hook up heart monitors, etc. I had a WONDERFUL nurse who coordinated everyone flawlessly. (And gave me an awesome bear hug as I was getting my spinal/epidural.) I think that this was the smoothest c-section I've had yet. The anesthesiologist was fantastic. I felt good the whole time. Ryan came out crying and screaming with very healthy lungs! He cried and cried, which was such a wonderful sound! He was so active in the womb that he had tied a knot in his cord. It was a good thing that he came early. If he had pulled it tight, he could have been a stillborn. Thank you God for watching over my little wiggle worm!
I finally got to hold Ryan on the way to recovery. He latched on right away and nursed for 35 minutes the very first time! He is a champ. While in recovery, I found out that the hospital planned on moving me to the cardiac floor for 24 hours for monitoring, but planned on keeping baby up on the post-partum floor. They had a breast pump all ready for me to use for those first 24 hours. As soon as they told me, I refused. I was not willing to not see my child for his first 24 hours of life! After a long, drawn out process, involving LOTS of hospital personnel, a request to be transferred to Children's Hospital, and some very kind nurses, they agreed to let me stay on the post-partum floor while being monitored by the nurses from the cardiac floor.
Big brothers Alex and Noah came to the hospital to meet Ryan later that evening. They were both very unsure of what was going on. They were both very quiet and not themselves. As the week progressed, they opened up a little more each time they came to visit. We had lots of other visitors as well. Gramee and Papa, Shelly S., Missi K., Laura K. all came to visit at the hospital.
He is named after Grant's brother, David Ryan, and best friend, Ryan. His middle name is after my maternal grandfather, Raymond Chauncey Dickerson.
Ryan is a great baby. He's been a great nurser ever since his very first time. He is a very content baby, as long as he is being held. He cries through most diaper changes and bath times. He seems to be the best sleeper out of all 3! (At least so far, knock on wood!) He already is giving me a 5 hour stretch at night. He'll nurse and then go right back to sleep. His brothers love him very much and are very helpful. They say "Hi Ryan!" LOTS of times through out the day and like to bring him toys, clothes, blankets, binkies, etc.
Ryan had his first cardiology appointment this week. His echo and EKG don't show any signs of the HCM. He does have some trabeculation in his left ventricle. It could be nothing, or it could be worrisome. We sent off his genetic test. We should hear back within a month. If he does not have the gene, he'll still be followed by cardiology just to make sure his left ventricle continues to perform at a high level (probably about once a year). If he does have the gene, he'll be followed pretty closely (every 3 months or so).
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