2nd Street to Recovery

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...

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

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

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

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

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.