Ryler's Surgery

For those of you who don't know, Ryler is going to be undergoing a heart surgery on Wednesday of next week.

Ryler has Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA), which is a heart problem that occurs soon after birth in some babies. In PDA, abnormal blood flow occurs between two of the major arteries connected to the heart. Before birth, the two major arteries the aorta and the pulmonary artery are connected by a blood vessel called the ductus arteriosus. This vessel is an essential part of fetal blood circulation. Within minutes or up to a few days after birth, the vessel is supposed to close as part of the normal changes occurring in the baby's circulation. In some babies, however, the Ductus Arteriosus remains open. This opening allows oxygen-rich blood from the aorta to mix with oxygen-poor blood from the pulmonary artery. This can put strain on the heart and increase blood pressure in the lung arteries.



To repair the PDA, a procedure know as PDA ligation, the surgeon will make an incision in the left side of Ryler's chest. The surgeon then will close the patent ductus arteriosus by tying or clipping it, stopping the blood flow across the PDA. When we spoke to the surgeon (Dr. Yeh)and Cardiologist (Dr. Recto) the other day, he said that this surgery is more common then you'd think and that he has a 100% success rate!

Aside from the obvious fear and nervousness, we are truly happy that we stayed on top of this and are able to take care of it so early in his life. Ryler will never remember this surgery and because he is so young, he will bounce back really quickly. The surgeon says that a lot of the babies this age don't even require pain medication after the surgery.



Chris and I are going to head to New Orleans (Tulane) on Monday afternoon for Ryler's early morning pre-op testing on Tuesday. Then if all of the pre-op testing comes out normal, they will operate on Wednesday. Ryler will then stay in the hospital for observation for 3-4 days. This will be a very taxing week for our family and we welcome any thoughts or prayers! We are so thankful for the great support system we have from our friends and family! Thanks in advance!

Two week pictures

We are really enjoying Ryler! He is such a sweet little guy! He had his first photo shoot the other day thanks to Tina. After he peed on almost everything....including Mommy, we got some really cute pictures!! Here are Ryler's two week pictures.


This just says it all!!


His little bitty feet! They are No doubt Mommies feet (Not because they are little though...lol)!


My sweet man! I really wanted his nub to fall off before the pictures but I guess it just proves his newness...lol


Our first family picture! And baby makes three!!


Daddy's little man!


Momma's boy!

Ryler's Birth Story

Hey everyone! So if you didn't already know, Ryler made his grand entrance on December 17th at 8:01pm!



I was scheduled to be induced on Monday December 20th at 8:00pm. Chris and I had so many plans for the weekend before the induction to get some last minute things together before Ryler came into this world. Well, he had other plans. This is how Ryler planned his arrival:

At about 6:00am (5:58am to be exact) my water broke while I was asleep. Chris was coming in to kiss me good bye before going to work when I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Chris thought it was just Ryler sitting on my bladder again. Soon after, I yelled for Chris to call the doctor and tell her my water had broke. The doctor said to come in to the hospital. So we got together all of our things, I showered, and we were on our way!

We got to the hospital around 7:00am. Where they confirmed that it was in fact my water that broke, they admitted me, and we got a labor and delivery room (room 9).



I was still at 1 1/2cm, so they gave it an hour to see if I would progress on my own. Unfortunately, I didn't, so the doctor started a Oxytocin drip at 9:00am. I was not having any contraction that I could feel and was doing great!



The doctor came in and said, "Unfortunately, you are feeling way too good. We will start upping your pitocin". And they did! By 11:05 the contractions were in full swing, and I began to understand that 1 to 10 scale in a whole new way. At 11:25 I was given a muscle relaxer which did help me to relax, but didn't help the pain.



At 12:30, the pain is at a strong 10+ and I asked begged for an epidural. The doctor checked and I was only at 2cm. She would not give an epidural until I was at least at 4cm. So they gave me Demerol and Finnegan, which did absolutely nothing for the pain of the contraction, but did help me sleep through the minutes in between.

At 2:20pm I was finally able to get the epidural. My blood pressure dropped really low (58/60) and I got horrible sick (Ryler was just fine through this whole thing). Once they fixed all of my issues, I was feeling much better and able to rest. After they gave me the epidural things starting moving really fast! At 2:45 5cm, 4:30 9cm, 5:01 10cm, and finally at 5:20 I started to push.

After a long three hours of pushing, at 8:01 the doctor placed my beautiful baby boy on my stomach. He came out very alert. The doctor roughed him up a bit to get him to cry for the crowd of friends and family listening at the door!



It was the most amazing thing I have ever been a part of!! He was then weighed and measured (6lbs. 15oz. and 20in).



Chris brought him to me after, and I nursed him while we got to really meet our newest member of the family!



Once the doctor was finished and I was done nursing, all of those fans waiting outside the door were let in to meet Ryler for the first time! I'm so glad Ryler has so many close friends and family that love him!



Dad took him to the nursery (with a quick stop to play the new born lullaby announcer) and then they took me to our new room (215 on 2East).



After the nursery was done they brought Ryler to our room (complete with mohawk super stylish hair that the nurses just loved) where he nursed again, and dad got to change his first dirty diaper. Then it was down for the night.





It was a super long day but I wouldn't change anything! It was the best experience and we can't wait to grow and learn with Ryler! Thank you to all our friends and family for their love and support through this whole journey. Now a new journey begins!!!

Ryler's Room

Ryler's room is now finished! We had such a fun time decorating it! Now we are playing the waiting game. As of today we have 9 days until my due date and we are just awaiting the day he decides to show! In the meantime here are some pictures of his room:

The clock made at the paint party by some of my closest friends. We had a blast!


Cute wall stickers that match his bedding. Thanks 1st grade teachers!!


Wooden letters over his closet. Thanks Broadmoor Support Staff!!


His name, bed, and bedding!


Whether he knows it or not his room is ready for Christmas with his Charlie Brown tree and dancing Snoopy doll!

Broadmoor Shower

The Broadmoor faculty put on a great shower for Mrs. Duhon and I on November 7th. I had such a great time! Ryler is set and his room is now complete! I am so happy to be part of such a great group of people! Thank you guys for everything. Here are some of the pictures to share that great day!


What a beautiful cake and it tasted great too!!


Mrs. Gretchen hosted the shower in her fabulous home!


The guests' of honor


Us opening gifts!

Jungle Art

A couple weekends ago Tina hosted a paint party for Ryler. It was very small with just a few of my closest girlfriends. The only thing left to do in Ryler's room was decorate the walls. Together we painted some jungle art. Each person painted the animals in his bedding and some random jungle animals, and since his initials are R.A.M. we had to have a "jungle ram"...lol. It all turned out so cute! Now, Ryler will have fun art to look at. I think it's so important to surround yourself with good people and that is what we are starting for Ryler. Everyone needs a great network of people to turn to in times of need and when you just need support. Ryler's network is coming together already!! Here are some of the pictures of our little get together.

Family Photos....sort of :)

Chris and I are soaking up every minute of this pregnancy! This is such a fun time in both of our lives and we can't wait for the big day. While waiting, we have been very busy! Recently we had two awesome photo shoots. The first photo shoot being a Maternity shoot, was done by our friend Amy. She did such a great job and we really had a blast taking the pictures. After a couple risque wardrobe changes, and some rough terrain we got some fabulous shots, here are a few of the highlights.










The second photo shoot was of Ryler. We got the chance to see Ryler in 4D. It was like he was right there with us. I might be a little partial, but he sure is a cute baby! He didn't want to cooperate at all though. Who would have thought a stubborn kid....not ours?!? But after some dancing around and hanging from my feet he turned to say hello. Best news is that he has flipped and is now head down! He is weighing in at 3lbs. 10oz. and his estimated birth weight is around 7 1/2lbs.






Hope you enjoy these early family pictures. I'm sure I'll have tons more in December.