Little Mr.

Andrew Ryan Holmes

November 2, 2010 @ 2:29 p.m.

11 pounds, 23.5 inches long

Our infant toddler

Isn't he beautiful? 

     His birth and the time since then haven't gone exactly as we thought or hoped they would go.   Part way into labor Andrew's heartbeat dropped drastically and the Dr. and nurses were unable to get it back up.  Within a 5 minute time period I was in the operating room having an emergency c-section.  Since it was an emergency, Ryan wasn't allowed in the room with me.  It was one of the scariest experiences of my life.  However, I am very grateful for modern medicine and for Dr.'s and nurses who know what they're doing.  I am also grateful for my testimony.  I was never alone through the entire thing.  Despite the urgency and the unknown of it all, I knew everything would be okay.  I was able to remain calm, mostly, and felt as though there was someone beside me throughout it all.

     Andrew was taken directly to the nursery following his birth.  He had aspirated some fluid into his lungs and was having difficulty breathing.  They were able to get him pretty stabilized, but were unable to calm him down.  They weren't sure what else was going on or if he had other injuries or difficulties they were unaware of.  At 3 a.m. he was taken by helicopter to another hospital with a more advanced NICU.  In the NICU, they were able to put him on a ventilator and oxygen which helped him greatly.  They called us with an update around 5 a.m.  The irritability and crying was caused by the fluid in his lungs, but they had found no other problems.  We were told the irritability was a good thing, that most babies acting that way made a full recovery.

     My Dr. gave me leave on Thursday to go down to see Andrew.  However, we weren't able to hold him until Friday.  It was wonderful to be able to hold my baby.  I had been able to touch his knee twice and see him for only a few brief moments up until that point.  He woke up when we held him.  We finally got to hold our sweet little angel.

     Andrew is still in the NICU.  He is improving everyday.  He is off the ventilator, off the oxygen and he is taking all his feedings by mouth now instead of being fed through an IV.  He is still under jaundice lights and is on antibiotics to fight off a possible pneumonia.  He is active and much more peaceful.  We hope to be able to bring him home soon.  Please keep him in your prayers.

Daddy holding his son the first time.

The first time I held him.

Our sweet baby boy.