The Road We Have Been On

The road we have been on in the last week has been one of ups and downs. We were UP the day that Ryan was born. We were DOWN on the day he got transported to NICU. When we heard he may only have stinosis and Ryan was allowed to begin feedng - we were UP. When we heard yesterday that he may have Hirschsprung's we were DOWN.

Our 8p visit last night followed suit with our news of the day. Ryan was very hungry with his reduced feeding and he was very fussy the whole time we were with him. He cried with frustration as we put him in his incubator for the night. It broke my heart to walk away from him - so we stayed to comfort him until he fell asleep. He fell asleep in frustration about 10p. We left knowing his next feeding was only one hour away and that we really need the rest.

On our road of ups and downs, we have now catapulted UP with news that Ryan does NOT have Hirschsprung's. He will not be transported to Children's Hospital. He will not require surgery. He will slowly be backed off of his antibiotics. He will again be put on a gradual increase of feeding amounts. All of this will lead to his discharge from NICU. We expect that he may be home by the end of this weekend, but we need to talk to his doctors tomorrow for a real timeline.

Moving forward, Ryan will still require some dilation to help with his stinosis, but this can be done in our home or with office visits. Jeff and I are more than willing to take on this minor task. What a relief.

Jeff has been a true rock. He has kept me grounded and has supported me when I did not think I could keep going. He has been my communicator to family and friends when I did not have the will to carry on a conversation. He has supported me in ways I didn't even realize I needed to get through this difficult week. I have an amazing husband.

I want to thank everyone for their positive thoughts and prayers. I think we realized through this whole process how much of a support system we really have. We look forward to bringing Ryan home and FINALLY introducing our new addition to family and friends. We know you will fall in love with him as we have.

While I know the road of parenthood will continue to bring ups and downs - I now have comfort that it will be done in good health.

Our visits today with Ryan have been great. He has been extremely happy and alert. He stayed awake during the majority of our 1-2 hour visits at 11a and 2p. Jeff and I are headed back to the hospital for his 8p visit. We have much more energy to make this trip than what we had just 24 hours ago!