Guess Who's Coming Home...

FINALLY! We finally got the news we've been waiting for. The doctor said that Ryder would possibly be able to be discharged tomorrow, or Thursday at the latest! We are so excited. We have been trying really hard to get everything ready for Ryder to come home for the past few days and we finished up all the last minute stuff tonight. Here are some pictures of our progress!

Carter testing out his stroller and the recliner, what a good friend!

Surgery Day

Ryder had surgery today! The doctor went in and carterized the valves that were blocking everything from being able to drain properly. The surgery was at 9:00am and he was in there until 10:00am. I was so nervous sitting in the waiting room, but I just knew everything was going to be fine. The doctor finally came out and said that the surgery went great and that he was in recovery coming off of the anesthesia. We will have to see the Pediatric Urologist regularly so that he can monitor Ryder's kidneys to make sure that the right one continues to function properly and to watch the left one to see if it regains function. But for now, the main problem has been corrected and things should only get better from here.

He is such a strong boy, I can't believe how much he has been through in his first 12 days of life. Here are some pictures from our big day...it didn't even phase him one bit!

Before Surgery

Letting him know everything would be okay...

Getting ready for our field trip to the OR

Resting after surgery

The Power of Prayer

I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you.

2 Kings 20:5

We just have to say thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and for Ryder. The power of prayer is truly amazing. I know that just in the hour it took us to get to the hospital the day he was born, we were put on atleast 10 different Church prayer lists, and had probably 100 different people praying hard between our families and friends (and friends of our families) for a safe delivery and a healthy baby. God is Awesome, He has been our sense of strength through this time of weakness.

Yesterday was a big day for Ryder and we prayed so hard. It was so comforting to hear the words "we'll be praying for you guys" from every person we talked to. We even received a text message prayer (thanks Grandma!). Well, we're so happy to say that our prayers have been answered, they've finally confirmed what is wrong with Ryder, they have a plan to fix it, and he's on the path to being able to come home!!

Some time next week Ryder will be getting surgery to carterize his Posterior Urethral Valves which will allow everything to start draining properly from his kidneys into his bladder. They did confirm that some amount of damage was done to his left kidney through all of this, but they're hoping he will regain moderate function in that kidney once the surgery is completed. The right kidney is working perfectly and you can live with one kidney so this is a huge blessing.

Please continue to pray that his surgery will go well, he will recover quickly, and that he can finally come home to his parents, family, and friends that are all waiting so patiently to get their hands on him!

Thanks again, we love you all, and together lets thank GOD that Ryder is going to be okay!!

Ryder's First Week of Life

I can't believe it has been an entire week already! Unfortunately, Ryder is still not home from the hospital. We just need everyone to keep praying, he has his big test tomorrow that will tell us whether he needs surgery to clear the blockage or whether it has corrected itself. Either way, it should give us a better idea of when we can bring him home. The nurse told us lastnight that he has now met every monumental stage required of a preemie in order to go home. So, besides the kidney issue, he is such a strong, healthy boy! I daydream about the day we can bring him home.

When I was in the hospital we would go visit Ryder very frequently in the NICU during the day and at night. I was discharged on Monday so it has been hard to be home without him. People have been so sweet though, doing things to help me out and making sure I have a ride to the hospital each day to visit with Ryder. I cherish the time we get to spend together. Also, the hospital set up a web cam for us so we can log on and watch Ryder any time we want day or night. We actually just keep it up on the computer 24/7 and peek in periodically to see what he's doing. Here are a few pictures from our visits and his very first week of life!:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7 - A Whole Week!

Meet Ryder!

Ryder Joseph Marsh

March 19, 2009 2:26pm

6 pounds 2 ounces

To continue the story, we had to leave the Dr's office and drive to St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond, VA where they had doctors and specialists waiting to deliver Ryder 5 weeks before his due date. We arrived at the hospital at 1:00 and they had us in the operating room within an hour to deliver by C-Section. Our immediate families rushed to the hospital and made it just in time for the big event. We were all scared and nervous, but anxious to see his sweet face and know that he was going to be okay. Sure enough, at 2:26pm on March 19th, 2009 out came the most beautiful baby boy I have ever laid my eyes on, crying the sweetest cry that we will never forget. Everyone in the operating room (including the 11 doctors waiting for Ryder) breathed a huge sigh of relief once we saw how big and healthy he was.

Ryder and Daddy were off to the NICU, and I was put into my recovery room where they allowed family to come in and visit with me. I was laying there completely in shock of what had just taken place and beyond relieved to know that he was okay. The Dr's looked at Ryder's kidneys through a sonogram and decided that emergency surgery was not needed. They inserted a catheter and began to drain all of the fluid that had built up in and around his kidneys. Daddy took lots of pictures and brought them to my room so I could see our little miracle.

What a day! We started the day thinking we were going to a Dr. Appt and ended up becoming parents! It's unexplainable how you can fall so deeply in love with someone that fast, he has our whole hearts and we look forward to everything this adventure will bring to our lives.

Meet Ryder - The newest addition to the Marsh Family

The Background Story

Alan & I started dating in November of 2001 and got married almost 7 years later on March 8th, 2008 (what a wonderful day). We found out I was pregnant on August 18th, 2008 - the day we got back from CJ & Angela's Bachelor/Bachelorette parties. We had no clue how to react so we laughed, hugged, then called our parents! And that was the beginning of a life-changing journey!

We found out we were having a boy at our 20 week sonogram and couldn't have been happier! Being pregnant was amazing. Feeling him move was my favorite part. He was so active and he had great reflexes, any time I wanted him to move I would just push where I knew his legs/feet were and he'd kick me back. That was his way of letting me know he was okay and to stop worrying about him.

The pregnancy started getting a little complicated around 28 weeks. I found out that I had gestational diabetes. This meant that I would have to completely change my diet and start testing my blood sugar levels four times a day. It doesn't sound that bad, unless you're like me and hate needles and blood. I guess that was God's way of making me stronger, what a blessing in disguise! The biggest side effect of the diabetes was that Ryder was growing very big, very fast. My doctor wanted to start doing weekly sonograms to monitor his growth and my fluids because of the diabetes. It's a good thing because the first appointment I went to with the Perinatologist for the sonogram, they found a problem with Ryder's kidneys. They called it Hydronephrosis, he had some sort of blockage not letting his fluids drain so his kidneys were swelling. We went through 3 weeks of the sonograms where they would monitor all of this stuff until at our last appointment they decided that the condition was getting to be severe and the baby needed to be delivered...THAT DAY!