A few firsts with Ryder

A bunch of firsts have been going on lately. William had his first visit to the hospital on Saturday. Unfortunately he was not able to see Ryder, but he did get a bloody nose on his way out. Yes that's right...while he was running down the hall he decided to trip and face plant it down the hall getting a nose bleed. A couple of bloody tissues and a rubber glove full of ice and he was back in action. He did manage to color Ryder a picture to decorate his unit with...so sweet.

Late on the 27th Ryder's nurse came to visit and give us some awesome news, Ryder had been taken off his respirator and was back on regular oxygen. His levels were improving and his test where coming back showing improvements and the surfactant treatment seemed to be working. That night we decided to visit before we went to bed and his eyes were open for the first time (or at least the first time we saw them open) so we couldn't resist getting a small family picture. He was looking all around and Chris and I where melting, he just looked like an angel.

On the 28th I was a basket case. I was being discharged from the hospital and unfortunately Ryder was staying. I haven't been able to hold him at all and with each minute I felt opportunities of bonding passing me by. Of course logically thinking I knew this was just a minor speed bump, however giving birth and hormones are a very bad combination and the waterworks where flowing. Before we said our good-byes the nurse asked if I wanted to hold him....um YES!!! Up to that point I have not been able to hold him and the extent of contact we had was patting or rubbing his back. I was on cloud 9, I didn't want to put him up...it was just what I needed to get me over this hump. Chris being the wonderful husband that he was knew that I needed this moment and decided to allow me to have this opportunity for the entire time.

Today we visited Ryder again and another first happened, Chris finally got to hold his baby boy! He choked back the tears and took in the moment. There's nothing quite like watching the father of your children love on God's creation....I thank God each day that I have Chris in my life and he's the father of my children.

Each day Ryder is improving, his levels are slowly getting to where they need to be and soon he will be bottle feeding and eventually will not require oxygen assistance at all. I continue to pray for him every second of the day...I fall asleep praying for him and pick right back up when I wake up. I can't wait to have our family whole, it's only a matter of time!