Ryan Jay: 8 pounds 12 ounces; 20.5 inches long; Born Friday July 11 at 12:49 PM

So to say the very least... it's been an interesting couple of days. And there is nothing like the birth of your baby to put things into perspective. Friday, my biggest worry was that I didn't get into the salon to have my legs waxed because of the change in dates for surgery. Today we went down to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit here at the hospital to visit with our little boy. It's all about perspective.

The surgery itself went well enough-- Shaun and my mom both got to be in the operating room while I had the baby. Grandma was snapping pictures every chance she got (she's kind of a blood and guts kind of person), and Shaun sat on the other side of the curtain with me and just held my hand (not a big fan of the blood and guts-- in fact we had to rely on the guy that gave me my drugs to give the play by play). And like I said- things went pretty smoothly. We got to take the baby into the recovery room with us and hold him for about a half an hour before they wheeled him out and down to the nursery. Then we got news that the baby had gotten some fluid in his lungs and that his blood sugars were low- so he was taken to the NICU.



It's been crazy when we go down to visit him. Here he is- 8 pounds 12 ounces and he's hooked up to a ventilator and all these IV medications and right next to him is another little baby that is the size of my thumb on the same things. I guess he just wasn't quite ready to come out yet. He's been doing much better though. This morning the Dr. put him on a less intensive ventilator and he's breathing closer to normal now. I can't believe how much he looks like his older brother! Talk about part and parcel of the same crew! Shaun thought maybe we could name this one C-cubed or Chubby Cheeks the Second since they both have the same cheeks.

Ty is so ultimately confused by the situation though. We left on Friday and told him that we were going to go get his baby brother out of Mama's tummy... so when he came to visit us Friday night- he looked at my tummy and asked if his baby was still in there. How do you explain NICU to a three year old? They don't allow anyone under 18 years old to be in there, so Ty will have to wait a few more days to meet his baby brother and he just doesn't understand. Thankfully we have had the help of Grandma Janet and Grandpa to keep him busy. Even Dave and Nat took him swimming last night to help wear him out. We are so grateful for all of the love and support that we have received throughout these last few days.

We were even lucky enough to have Shaun's parents and grandparents come down and see baby as well. (I guess I can quit calling him baby now- we have officially picked out Ryan Jay- after Shaun's grandpa.) It was quite a trek but Grandpa Jay thought that the Rodizio Grill made it all worth it!

We also appreciate all the phone calls, visits and prayers in Ryan's behalf. We love you all!