Introducing Matthew Ryan

Well I thought I would finally share our newest little man and how he made his debut :)
Thursday 7/27 we got to the hospital at 5am and they started pitocin. I had been having contractions regularly for weeks and my body was ready. I was already a 3 when we got there and having contractions. At around noon my doctor came in and checked me (still a 3 ha!) and then broke my water. This is pretty typical of my previous inductions and I knew at that point things would get harder. They did :) After about 30-45 minutes or so I was able to get my epidural and then tried to relax. The epidural was great and this time was the first time I was ever given a pump that I could control. I thought that was the greatest. Pretty quickly though I realized something had changed and my pain was very diffferent. Thinking I had lots of time as I was just a 3 (and both Austin and EJ weren't born till the night of their inductions), I just tried to rest. Matthew had been tolerating labor well but now was having some decels and the alarms kept going off. They came in and gave me oxygen and said that based on the monitor I could be complete. They checked me and I was! I could not believe it went that quickly. I knew the pain had changed! Knowing how quickly I push, they scrambled to get my OB and told me to wait. My epidural was a light one and that was the worst pain for me. Needing to push but not being able to. I had to hold that way for 15 minutes and finally my Dr was there. Only pushed a couple times and sweet, big, Matthew was born! He was born at 2:54 weighing 8lbs 9oz and 20 inches long. He has blue eyes and medium brown hair and I am completely in love! He seriously has the biggest cheeks imaginable!

When Matthew was born we noticed he had blisters all over and at first were really concerned. The pediatrician on call though said it was nothing to worry about and it was pustular melanosis and would resolve on its own. He is still really rashy but it is slowly getting better. So if you notice anything in his pictures that is what it is! Right after birth he also had some issues holding his temp and some problems breathing. They ended up keeping him in the nursery that day and over night but he was back with us in the morning. We were both able to go home after only 24 hours. Since then he is nursing great and we are fine tuning that latch. He does not like to open wide! He has also been on meds for staph and a double eye infection but stopped all that last night. Now today I noticed some white patches in his mouth and am pretty sure it is thrush. Waiting on the Dr to call back with nystatin. Hoping now he can get a little break and just focus on regaining his birth weight! Im just so happy and grateful for a healthy boy despite some minor issues. Here are some pictures of the first couple days!
                                                                    Proud Daddy

Chunky Cheeks :)

Going home!

Meeting the boys!

3 days old

4 days old

And today at 5 days old. He has already changed so much!!

I am just so in love with this little precious boy. He is such a gift and such a blessing. Words can not describe how I feel. A mom of three boys. Perfection.

Here are some fun videos I thought I would share!

Labor :)

Adam and Matthew. A fathers love...

Matthew meeting the boys for the first time.

Thank you all for all the positive thoughts and prayers along the way. Just so over the moon in love! 

some pictures

Happy one week birthday little man....Oh how I love you!




Backtracking a little...
First time Austin got to hold EJ

Mommy's turn

First time for Daddy too!!

His bed in the Nicu

being transferred...bye mommy

Waiting for transport

Our first picture together

Welcome baby boy!!!


Thank you all again for your prayers. Our Lord is so good!!! What a journey we have been on.....What a week!!!!!

Easton Joseph...

Hello everyone! I am so sorry I havent been able to update you all any sooner than this. We had no internet and NICU had a strict no cell phone policy. So here is our story!

As you all know I went in on monday evening to be induced. They placed the cervadil and we went to sleep. My dr came in around 7am and I was only 1-2cm so she decided to not break my water and just start pitocin. My contractions got painful pretty fast but were still manageable. They kept having to up my pitocin b/c my contractions would eventually space back out. So needless to say at 4pm I was only about 3cm and my Dr broke my water and I got an epidural. I was happy for the epidural but not of the special leg devices I had to have on the whole time. Also the epidural that I recieved was very mild and I could still fully move my legs and feet. However it did take the edge off...

You would think that since my water had been broken that it would speed things up....nope! So after several hours and me being stuck at 4cm, I was begining to lose hope. Finally after 8 I started to feel A LOT and much lower down. It was a very different pain and very painful. I knew that things were happening. Within 30 minutes I dilated to 7cm and within 10 more minutes I was complete. I only had to push 3 times and he was out! I felt every bit of him coming out but it was so fast thankfully. He was born at 9:16 pm and weighed 7lbs 6oz and was 19.5 inches long. He was amazing and gorgeous but this is when our story became very, very scary.

Within minutes he started having a hard time breathing. They suctioned him very well but he couldn't breathe without a lot of effort and a lot of noise and grunting. They decided to take him to the nursery just to check him out. I wasn't worried at all at this point. 2 hours later they came in and said they had to transfer him to another hospital in orlando. There was a level 3 NICU there and thats where he needed to be. We went to see him and he had so many tubes everywhere. He had a nasal cannula, a tube into his stomach, an IV in his hand, and lots of monitors. Nothing could prepare me for that sight. It was heart breaking.

They finally transfered him after 3am and we tried to rest. I was lucky to be in such good shape after my delivery (and only tore a tiny bit) that they discharged me after 12 hours to go be with EJ. We left and went to be with our baby boy. Thank God we were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald house the entire time.

When we got to the NICU, EJ was in rough shape. He was on a lot of oxygen and had even more wires. He had been diagnosed with pneumonia, probably from Group B strep. They started antibiotics immediatley.

So we prayed and prayed and prayed even more. To our wonderful surprise, the next day EJ was on room air. It was still pressurized but room air none the less! The had moved his IV to his foot so we could hold his little hand. He still was not allowed to eat at all but he had the IV for that. By the next day they had removed the cannula and we started attempting feeds. These went really slowly at first but we got better and better. They finally placed him in the level 2 NICU and put in the IV in his head. That was horrible to see. I was so sad to see my baby stuck over and over. His hands, feet and head are so bruised.

On Valentines my baby boy pulled a miracle. He went on full feeds, he got off his IV, and stopped his antibiotics. He is so amazingly strong. We went from not knowing the outcome, to him being healthy literallyover night. The only thing we have now is jaundice. His bili levels went up each day but they still discharged us and we follow up tomorrow with the pediatrician. He is very sleepy and lethargic due to the bilirubin so say a prayer his levels have gone down some. I DO NOT want to have to be readmitted due to bili levels!

We are over the moon happy to have our little boy home. He is my little love and I could not have gotten a better Valentines gift. I am still so incredibly nervous that something will go wrong but I am just so in love....

Thank you all for your support and prayers. They really worked and we felt everyone of them.