Ryan Christopher King

He's here he's here!!!!! He's soo cute and soooo perfect, we love him sooooo much, becoming a Parent is the most amazing thing!!!!

Good thing I didn't have a birth plan because this would not have been it haha. I have learned you can't plan out life, life happens, people are challenged, and in the end all that matters is doing what's best and being strong for the people you love most! I wouldn't/didnt hope or want things to happen the way they have but we have been in the best care the entire time. The nurses taking care of me have all been wonderful and the nurses and doctors watching little Ryan have been amazing, supportive, and soooo understanding!

Here's our story for anyone interested and I cant wait to share with Ryan when he doesn't remember any of this...it makes me feel better to get it all out as well!!!

Thursday January 12th- Eric and I went to our 36 week appointment at the obgyn, we were having a sono to see how big he was, confirm he was breech which was discovered at our 34 week appointment and just see what was going on. There he was on the screen, a baby, totally grown, it was so crazy. My last sono before this was like 15 weeks ago, my how he had grown. Everything looked great, his kidneys were good and working, his head was measuring 2 weeks ahead of course and then they checked the amniotic fluid. This measured at a 3.5. Thank god I had this sono and this was figured out. The fluids normal range is 5-25, so we were way below normal, we then met with the doctor who suggested we go see a specialist, his next available appointment was the next day. Eric and I went back to work and continued on with our days. I was a bit worried about these levels,everything I read online had people freaking out about theirs being low when they were measuring at 8-10, so I knew something in the 3 range was not good. I drowned myself in water the whole night because I had read that helped some people get their levels back up and I didn't do a thing because I also read bed rest was the key to conquering low fluid levels....

Friday January 13th- I was exhausted from being up all night with Callie and her dislocated disc in her neck (found out about that on wednesday), peeing every couple minutes, and chugging water like I was in some sort of competition, so when I woke up to get ready for work I decided not to dry my hair (didn't know I would be taking some of the most special pictures in just a few hours) and figured I was just spending the evening on the couch. I went to work and finished up a few projects I had to get done before I went out on leave. Then I start getting this feeling that Hummm this specialist might tell us to deliver today, we were 36 weeks and all, so he might just be better on the outside if my fluid levels hadn't risen, on top of the fact that it was Friday the 13th, and we also received an email from Patty that morning reminding us today was what would have been George's 56th birthday- my uncle, Eric's mentor that passed away from ALS and had a lot to do with Eric and I being together in the first place. Not only was he born on January 13th, he was born on Friday the 13th and buried on Friday the 13th, soooo there were just kinda a lot of reasons for me to start believing this was going to be happening today. I went over everything with my team updating them where I was with things etc, hugged my boss and others in the office knowing deep down I wasn't coming back for a while, and off to the appointment I went. Mom was meeting me at the specialist as Eric had a big demo in alexandria at noon.

11:00am- signed in at the specialist. Shortly after was taken back for a sono where they determined my levels were still 3.8 which was basically no improvement so I was hooked up for 30 minutes of monitoring where they monitored little Ryan's heart beat and my contractions which I came to find out I was having, no idea those were going on. The lady doing the monitoring actually knew of me and Whitney because they were big oakton girl basketball fans, so it was nice to have some familiarity and conversation to pass the time as I laid there were 30minutes. Every once in a while she would say do you feel that, that was a pretty big one, nope I didn't feel anything haha, maybe because I was scared to death and so nervous, kinda numb to all feeling really. Eric and debs were texting the entire time about every detail that was going on. After about 25 minutes the technician tore off the mentoring strips and took them to the doctor for review. He came in..."your fluid is basically at zero,your're 36 weeks which is early, but in my opinion the baby is at the point where he is better off on the outside, I am going to call your doctor and suggest that the baby be delivered today.". Debs immediately was so happy and excited and started texting and calling everyone she knew.  What was going through my head....uhhh get Eric here, holy shit, I am soooo scared, I am getting an epidural (which has been amongst my top fears leading up to delivery, I HATE needles) in the next few hours, he was still breech and I was going to be laying on an operating table getting cut open in a very short time, my anxiety was sky high. Doctor came out to the waiting room and said Doctor Wilson (who I have been seeing for the past 15years was at the hospital and all ready for me). I of course terrified out of my mind was in no rush to let over to the hospital especially before Eric was there. Eric ended his meeting with "my wife is in labor gotta go", ran home to get out camera and some clothes (no we did not have our bag packed) and was gonna meet me at the hospital. Debs and I went to her house, dropped off her car, and then headed over.

2:00 pm- the ride over, debs still soooo excited and texting, me scared and sort of excited and driving. Really the only thing I was talking about was Julies shower the next day that I was going to miss, that made me so upset, I was telling mom where all the stuff was for the shower so that she could take it. We parked and headed in....

2:30pm- I was in a gown, in a bed, being hooked up to the same monitors as the other place watching Ryan's heart beat and my contractions. My contractions were like 3 minutes apart and apparently pretty strong, I still didn't feel a thing. Eric arrived and came in the room with me, my IV was hooked up and things were just moving so fast. The nurses were asking Eric if he had eaten and then giving him food so he didn't pass out during everything haha grrrreat. My nurse came in Anna, her along with every nurse we have worked with has been absolutely wonderful during our time here, continued paperwork and prepping for surgery. Then came in the anesthesiologist, luckily just to talk at this point. She told me what to expect, turns out I wasnt getting an epidural just a spinal block which is a shot that lasts for an extended period of time since they know how long c-sections last, much thinner needle etc so I wasn't quite as terrified, then I signed my life away, suuuuure I wont hold you responsible if you paralyze me...

3:30pm- I was walking to the OR. Okay this place is scary, there are scissors and tubes and knives and scary stuff everywhere. The room was super small, super cold, Eric wasn't allowed in yet, the table was really small, the nurses all had space suits on, I felt like I was in some time machine or something, two huge lights above my head, computers everywhere, and the little bassinet to he right of me where my baby would go. In came the anesthesiologist sat all of her stuff on the bed next to me, of course I had to look and all of the sudden I was in a different mind set. It was like Brooke you are going to be a mommy in just a few minutes, there is no other way to do this and this is the absolute best thing for your baby. Then a calming came over me, of course I was seeing stars as she was prepping my back, then my head was in the boobs of the nurse in front of me while I bent over and stuck my spine out as best as I could. The numbing stuff hurt, then tingled, then felt like a burning sensation, the actual shot I didn't really even feel I don't think. The hardest part for me was now over, the biggest anxiety producer was a thing of the past. Immediately my legs were tingling so they laid me down. More prep work, puttin things on my legs to massage them preventing blood clots, cleaning the area, I remember nurses counting off all of the equipment, I remember when Eric came in dressed in his very own space suit with camera in hand, he was soooo excited, I was calm.

Then went up the drape in front of us, oxygen in my nose and it was go time. There was music in the room so I didn't hear or see anything gross unless of course you count the tube to the right of me where all my blood was being suctioned into. Eric kept trying to talk to me about whatever and I just said shhh I wanted silence. I made really tight fists and just laid there starring at the ceiling. A few minutes in I felt the tugging I had heard about, trying to get the baby out, well he wasn't coming, his head was stuck, I felt nurses trying to push him out over and over again for what felt like eternity, then all of the sudden over the loud speaker "paging doctor so and so, emergency OR 2 stat!!!". Just as that all clicked in my head and my anxiety was about to rise a doctor comes rushing in, I hear Dr Wilson say she needs help he won't come out and isn't breathing" and then I felt the doctor on my stomach push him out, still no crying, they call Eric over to the bassinet where they had Ryan, he was blue and then finally crying and everyone cheering, that was the scariest forever I had ever experienced. So he was out, he was crying, the pediatrician was working on him, he was 7 pounds 0 ounces and 20 inches long. I could kind of see him around the curtain, he was soo perfect, I was tearing up but didn't want to cry cuz when I do I tend to have total convulsions and my stomach moves a lot which is of course a good thing to avoid when the doctors have 5 layers of insides to put back together and sew back up. Then the pediatrician brought Ryan over to me, he was soooo cute, I kissed his head and felt his cheek. Then Eric was right next to me and we got our very first family photo (which is on the camera and we can't get it on the computer while in the hospital. Ryan was born at 4:33.  What an amazing miracle,  or hearts were filled with even more love in a matter of seconds.

By 5:00 I was all put back together and we were all 3 together in recovery.  What a great time we had, I held my little baby, Eric held baby, I did skin to skin with him, it was just the coolest thing to get to look at him and get to know him. He was having some breathing issues but then those seemed to clear up once we did skin to skin and he was laying on my chest. Time was coming to an end in the recovery room and he was still experiencing what is called grunting, a respiratory issue, so the nurses let all the visitors who were anxiously waiting in the waiting room come in and meet the little man before he went to the NICU "for a few hours."

8:00 - the separation- Eric and Ryan went down to the NICU and I was wheeled to my new home for the next few days I arrived in the room, my feet and legs in full tingle from the spinal block wearing off, I was sweating profusely and those things on my legs were soaked with sweat.  Mom wiped me off with cold wash cloths.  Then I began to feel naitious, never threw up, but was given some anti-nausea medicine.  Eric returned about an hour later, without Ryan, all along we figured he would just be in NICU for a few hours and then to the room with us.  For me to go to the NICU to visit him I would have to get up and get into a wheel chair which the nurses wouldn't let me try to do until 1am since I was feeling nautious they didn't want me throwing up with my brand new stitches.  I layed here starring at the clock for hours. 

1:00 am (Saturday morning) I rang the nurse, "I'm ready to get up and go to the NICU."  Eric helped me out of bed I walked into the hall way, sat down on the wheel chair and was on the way to see my baby.  The NICU here at Fair Oaks is very nice, each baby has their own room which is great, gives us time to hang out with him without interruptions.  Ryan was laying on a new bassinet which was much more intense, was hooked up to monitors that were measuring his heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen levels.  He also had those little oxygen things, super mini ones, in his nose.  Seeing my 6 hour old baby on this table was ard for me but I was strong, not being able to hold him was even harder for me, but still I remained strong, I had switched into mom mode where I had to be strong for my child.  I then wanted to do whatever I could to help him, so I went back to my room and began pumping, every 2-3 hours for 15 minutes.  We did go to sleep around 2:30am until abot 4am when I wanted to go back and check on him, back in the wheel chair it was.  We left the NICU around 6:00am, the nurses switch between 6:30 and 7:30 every night and every morning so they kinda close to go over each of the patients.

Saturday was a crazy day. I don't even remember what time everything happened. With Ryan- at some point they decided the oxygen things weren't working well enough so he needed a hood, then he needed an IV and they couldn't find any of his little veins anywhere so the IV went into his head where babies have the best veins, not the best site for new parents, We had a ton of visitors and being the proud and so happy to have our little man parents took pretty much everyone that came by to the NICU which we ended up finding out disturbed his levels every time he was stimulated, he is a very alert little baby. We didn't get any sleep during the day, it was one visitor after another and we wouldnt have wanted it any other way, thats exactly how we always imagined it would be except the baby would be in our room and people would come visit and we would get all of the pictures with all of these people who love him so much. Needless to say by the end of Saturday we were completely exhausted. We went over to visit Ryan, he wasn't doing well, he was given another xray, he had fluid in his lungs, he had a tear in his lungs, if the xray showed any sign of anything getting worse I was told they would put a small needle into his lungs. Hearing that I just completely lost it, I had been strong long enough, I was done putting on the everything is okay face. I was scared shitless, my baby wasn't doing well and I couldn't do a damn thing, not even hold and at least tell him it would be okay. I sat on the side of his little bed, he held my finger, I was falling asleep, and Eric finally made me leave so I could get some rest and be strong for him the next day.

Sunday- Eric and I decided with some strong encouragement from the NICU nurses that we needed less stimulation today, so Ryan wasn't going to receive any visitors today and hopefully that will help with his levels and it did. As hard as it was to tell people no we can't go over there it was even harder to see him struggling, this made a huge difference. Our day time nurse Marie said this was like a totally different baby from the day before. Eric and I got some good rest as well with just a few family member visiting to check on us throughout the day. Ryan made some eat improvements, was coming down even more off his oxygen, lost some weight which was a good thing because he was puffy from retaining so much water, was peeing up a storm on the inside and outside of his diaper, haha. PS Ryan hate hate hatessss is diaper change. He has needled pricing and prodding him all of the time, he doesn't cry, diaper change and you you'll think the world is coming to an end :). So the day time was good, night timE Sunday night was good too except the spot where his IV was in his head was turning red so they had to move that which is very hard to do on a little baby, their veins are so small. They found n in his hand, it worked, I held his hand through the whole thing and even better the IV thing in his head could come out.

Monday- we went over there before the 6:00 feeding and 6:30 nurse change to drop off what I had been able to get rom pumping which was increasing each time. Monday crazy for me, my milk or something has come in, my boobs were killing me, pumping was going great, by the end of the day I was able to produce more than half of what he was getting at each feeding. Oh and I measured for a size D nursing bra...whaaaaaat!!! Yeah never thought I would hear those words, needless to say Eric is thrilled with these new bajongas. We came back to the room, took a nap and got some food, all within the hour so we Could head back over there once the nurse switch was done. When we went back we found out they had done another X-ray and the doctor was finding something that looked to be infection in the lower part of his lungs. The new doctor also said he was jaundice which we had kinda noticed the night before. So the doc took some blood to how've sent to the lab Checking for pnuemonia and started his 3 days of light therapy for the jaundice, poor little guys can't catch a break. Then they decided they wanted to put a pic line in, which is a catheter through his arm or leg that take the tubes into a bigger vein for the antibiotics and IV, yes this is a good thing so they don't have to prick him anymore trying to find veins but this was again something else and was a pretty intense procedure to get it in there. 2 hours after they started the nurse performing the procedure she came to our room to let us know the procedure was successful and they got it on the first try!!! The rest of Monday was good, Ryan did great, I continued to sit on the side of his bassinet and he held my finger, Eric has become a pro at feeding him and mixing the breast milk with the formula to get his 12 CDs of food every 3 hours. Eric has totally taken on the whole feeding thing and has been great at it, he cleans all of the supplies each time I pump and runs what we got down to the NICU each time!!! My doctor has let me stay another day, of course if baby was ale to come with me I would have asked the doc to leave on Sunday but Ryan in the NICU I wanted to stay in the hospital as long as possible. Things are looking good today. The overnight nurse came on at 6:30, turns out her dad used to coach with mr bullock and she knows of Courtney, her older sister did CCD with Courtney, she went to tech, and was actually pregnant as well and naming her boy Ryan if it's a boy, it was nice to talk with her throughout the night she is so positive and actually gave Ryan a bath haha :)