Dylan Randall Ward

Where to start?

How ironic my previous posting title was? No, evidently the 2nd isn't easier.

About 2am Saturday morning it became apparent that I was in full labor and ready to go to the hospital. We arrived in Joplin at about 3:45am and got checked into Labor and Delivery. I got a spinal block and was ready to push around 7:00am, I think. We pushed for awhile and then realized the block was wearing off and I needed another. Received the second block, my blood pressure dropped and Dylan's heartrate dropped dramatically. The nurse and midwife tried for a few mins to adjust me to get better response. The doctor then came in and explained to me that Dylan's heartrate had dropped and now we needed to do an emergency c-section to get baby out immediately. Off I went to the OR. It was organized chaos as they prepped little and cut quickly.

They took Dylan out quickly although I heard nothing. No crying, etc. Scary. I now know he came out with little life in him. If you know about APGAR scores (which I didn't really know too much before now), his was a 1 out of 10. That's not good. They did have to breath for him b/c he wasn't breathing on his own. They did not have to do chest compression b/c his heartrate stayed above 60 the entire time. Hence the 1 score and not a 0. They showed me Dylan and then ran him to the NICU to work on him thoroughly. They finished me up but had to let me "sleep" to finish - have me tell you that story over some drinks sometime - whacky experience for me. I do NOT recommend ketamine (sp?). :)

The first 24 hours were very grim for Dylan. He responded to little. His eyes were reactive to a flashlight and his EEG (brain activity) showed a weak charge but little else. He had many seizures during the day and they pumped him full of phenobarbitol (sp?). He had a tube to do his breathing for him. The NICU nurse, Kelly, said that she went home Saturday and told herself she wouldn't be sad until tomorrow. The 1st 24 hours can change a lot. Since then, he's shown amazing improvement. They got to remove his breathing tube by Sunday and I got to hold him for the 1st time. They have done a CT scan that showed no lesions and no stroke. A follow up EEG was done on Monday and showed great improvement in brain activity. He's loosened his hands (which were tightly up around his neck and rolled in) and his legs have loosened up some too. The seizures stopped almost completely by Sunday or Monday. He opened his eyes some and cried some too (he really didn't like the oxygen hood they put on him). Today was a big day (Wednesday) b/c he took a whole bottle on his own. They will continue to only do 1 or 2 feedings by bottle until he gets the hang of it. I'm really hoping to be able to actually nurse him sooner than later. Friday they will do an MRI to get a better look at the swelling. I believe that's the biggest question right now, how much swelling is in the brain and did it do damage that is not reversable. So far, he's impressing all the nurses. They are just as thrilled as we are when he makes these seemingly tiny baby steps.

So, what's this mean? It means he's doing much better than was expected on Saturday. It means we won't know completely the long term results until he's probably 2 years old or maybe later. It means he's a fighter and has had a rough life the last few days. We just continue to pray that God will make him whole and help him and us through these next few weeks/months, especially. Craig and I have just been so touched at the outpouring of support and love from everyone. Strangers, friends and family alike. People really are amazing. The nurses and doctors here have been so great and encouraging. I will definitely be posting more about all the support and stories I've heard the last 4 days.

I will continue to post updates on how he's doing. We are being kicked out of the hospital today, but will be staying at the Ronald McDonald house just down the street. We are hoping to be home by next Sat. at the latest. Zach has been staying with his grandparents and having a blast. Although he is a little sad he can't hold Baby Di-Wen (so cute). He gets to look through the outside window at his brother. He's colored pics and we've put up pics of Zach for Dylan to look at too. He misses us and of course, we miss him terribly, but he will be able to stay with us at Ronald McDonald some too. He's being a great big brother so far.

Thank you again for all your support and prayers. Please continue to think of us and I'll continue to update everyone as I know more. I'll attach some pics below of our sweetheart. He's really beautiful if I do say so myself - lots of dark hair (?) and yes, he's huge at 8lbs 11oz - no, I don't know where all that baby was! :)