I look forward to posting a variety of things here. As a husband and father I will post the personal, as a pastor I will share the spiritual. I will dive into many different topics, some controversial and some will be light at heart.
I hope to engage into a conversation about the things that matter most!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
The arrival of our two miracles - part 3 (Final)
Ok, so it is now Friday and the babies came home on Tuesday… It has been a wild ride. Thanks to all the friends who went and saw us in the hospital. Everyone who has brought us food, we have not had to worry about what we have eaten for the past 3 weeks because it has just been there.
Here is my journal account of the remaining time we had in the hospital.
We are now in our room and both Carrie and I are both spent. It was a long night, one in which we did not expect to have the babies. Now we had a new mission, turn off the cell phones and get some sleep. I pull down the Murphy bed and make it all cozy for me and we finally start trying to get some rest. The only challenge is that it seems like everyone at the hospital has to get some kind of information from us. In comes the guy from the financial department checking our insurance information, then the social worker who makes sure we are suitable parents (I think we fooled her), then the women who works for the birth certificate department… Are you kidding me! My wife just had twins, and with-in one hour of us being in our room you want to make sure our address is correct? I literally was at a point where I was talking to these people in my sleep. Then finally things slowed down a bit and we made a commitment to sleep for a few hours and then we were going to go check on the babies.
So then we slept, and it was nice! Then Carrie’s nurse was kind enough to wheel her down to see the babies. They were in the level 3 NICU, which was more intensive for about 36 hours, then they moved them to level 2 which is a more comfortable environment. It was great just to take a step back with my wife and savor the joy. That night we had some friends visit us, it was great to have the support of so many people. At 9pm things slowed down and Carrie had to get to bed, so I went down and held my daughter for about 30 minutes, I kept thinking “ I can’t believe I am going to bring you home someday soon” because she is so tiny.
On Wednesday March 25th, I went home to get some things we needed for another night in the hospital. I was going 80 mph on the 417 and before you know it I saw those blue flashing lights… Usually when this happens I am in an immediate state of depression. Not because I know it is sin and I should not be speeding, but because I got caught and am now looking at wasting $200 +. This time I was just giddy. I told the officer we just had babies the night before, and I was in a rush to get some things back to my wife and see my kids (he didn’t ask why I was speeding, I volunteered this information). So, he then asked to see my license, insurance, and registration… I gave him all this information and then he said “Sir this is your health insurance”, I guess I was thinking they could apply the speeding ticket to the deductable. Like I said I was giddy and I was still running on a high and pumped with adrenaline. So he went back to the car and asked to see the pink and blue bracelets I was wearing, I guess the health insurance thing didn’t fool him, then he kindly gave me a warning said congratulations and told me to slow down. Wow! Everything was going good.
So to make the rest of this short for your sake and mine, we had a great experience… we were discharged on Thursday the 26th without the babies, it was sad to leave them. Both Carrie and I cried… I know I am a man and should not say that, but I get a little emotional. But we both felt God’s presence in everything. We were given great opportunities to share Christ with the nurses in the nicu. And we even got 3 weeks extra sleep until they come.
So on Tuesday April 14th all things seem whole, our kids came home. Sleepless nights are now in play, but grandma is here to let us nap. We are loving these two miracles that God has given us. And thank you to all our friends for all your love and support!
Love,
Ryan and Carrie
Here is my journal account of the remaining time we had in the hospital.
We are now in our room and both Carrie and I are both spent. It was a long night, one in which we did not expect to have the babies. Now we had a new mission, turn off the cell phones and get some sleep. I pull down the Murphy bed and make it all cozy for me and we finally start trying to get some rest. The only challenge is that it seems like everyone at the hospital has to get some kind of information from us. In comes the guy from the financial department checking our insurance information, then the social worker who makes sure we are suitable parents (I think we fooled her), then the women who works for the birth certificate department… Are you kidding me! My wife just had twins, and with-in one hour of us being in our room you want to make sure our address is correct? I literally was at a point where I was talking to these people in my sleep. Then finally things slowed down a bit and we made a commitment to sleep for a few hours and then we were going to go check on the babies.
So then we slept, and it was nice! Then Carrie’s nurse was kind enough to wheel her down to see the babies. They were in the level 3 NICU, which was more intensive for about 36 hours, then they moved them to level 2 which is a more comfortable environment. It was great just to take a step back with my wife and savor the joy. That night we had some friends visit us, it was great to have the support of so many people. At 9pm things slowed down and Carrie had to get to bed, so I went down and held my daughter for about 30 minutes, I kept thinking “ I can’t believe I am going to bring you home someday soon” because she is so tiny.
On Wednesday March 25th, I went home to get some things we needed for another night in the hospital. I was going 80 mph on the 417 and before you know it I saw those blue flashing lights… Usually when this happens I am in an immediate state of depression. Not because I know it is sin and I should not be speeding, but because I got caught and am now looking at wasting $200 +. This time I was just giddy. I told the officer we just had babies the night before, and I was in a rush to get some things back to my wife and see my kids (he didn’t ask why I was speeding, I volunteered this information). So, he then asked to see my license, insurance, and registration… I gave him all this information and then he said “Sir this is your health insurance”, I guess I was thinking they could apply the speeding ticket to the deductable. Like I said I was giddy and I was still running on a high and pumped with adrenaline. So he went back to the car and asked to see the pink and blue bracelets I was wearing, I guess the health insurance thing didn’t fool him, then he kindly gave me a warning said congratulations and told me to slow down. Wow! Everything was going good.
So to make the rest of this short for your sake and mine, we had a great experience… we were discharged on Thursday the 26th without the babies, it was sad to leave them. Both Carrie and I cried… I know I am a man and should not say that, but I get a little emotional. But we both felt God’s presence in everything. We were given great opportunities to share Christ with the nurses in the nicu. And we even got 3 weeks extra sleep until they come.
So on Tuesday April 14th all things seem whole, our kids came home. Sleepless nights are now in play, but grandma is here to let us nap. We are loving these two miracles that God has given us. And thank you to all our friends for all your love and support!
Love,
Ryan and Carrie
Friday, April 3, 2009
The arrival of our two miracles- part 2
Continued from part one,
So as I am frantically praying because I am about to enter the role of father, out comes one of the nurses to get me. I enter the surgery room to see Carrie, and they have her all ready to go for the c-section. When I got there they had a sheet up covering everything below Carrie’s chest so we would not see the surgery taking place. They had a seat for me right next to her, I did my best to convey to Carrie that I was composed and ready to go, she was so calm and collected… She told me that it all felt like a dream, and she was right; it all seemed to be a blur. I grabbed her hands and prayed with her as they began the surgery. Not too long after that the anesthesiologist told me pop my head up and look, and out came Camden, my beautiful boy. The doctor must have had him for a total of 30 seconds while they cut the cord and gave him to a nicu nurse, then before I knew it Adalyn was out and my first thought was “she is so small and absolutely gorgeous”. As Carrie heard them cry she began to cry, it was an emotional journey and she was now crying tears of joy even though she could not see them. Both babies were crying which was a good sign, and then I heard Camden stop crying after not too long. I saw them pumping oxygen into him which made me really concerned, I wasn’t too worried about Adalyn because her little lungs were filling the room with her cry. Then they told me to come over and take a look, Camden was fine… They then placed them on the scale to weigh them and took their footprints… I journaled the whole thing with my handy dandy disposable camera. Then they placed their footprints on my gown along with their names and weights. After this they brought both of the babies to Carrie so she could see and hold them for just a minute. This minute gave me such a glimpse of God’s love for me to see how happy mommy was, she had just been through so much and this was a picture I will never forget.
Carrie did absolutely incredible the whole night, I was not too shabby myself I must admit… This was hard work! After this they put Camden and Adalyn in the little incubators and took them with me up to the 3rd floor. Unfortunately they had to place Camden and Adalyn in different areas in the nicu because there was not room for two of them anywhere together. This was ok, they had great nurses who cared for their every need.
Both of them had to be on oxygen, and many different tubes and wires were coming from the babies little bodies. Carrie and I knew the chances of having premature babies meant that they would be in the nicu so although we don’t like all these little wires we know they are for their good. After this it was about 4am, I was pumped with adrenaline. I wanted to see how Carrie was doing so I went to the recovery area, they told me they were not ready for me so I went back up to see they babies, I walked around the nicu like a crazy man so excited about what just took place. I called my parents and Carrie’s parents to let them know everything went well and then went back down to check on Carrie. Again, she was not ready… I had nothing to do and had so much energy. So I took a walk, it was an amazing walk… I was so filled with joy and emotions, I felt the presence of God in such an amazing way. It was truly a time of praise and worship.
Finally about 5am I was able to go see Carrie in recovery. She was doing well except her mouth was incredibly dry so the nurse allowed her to have ice chips and this made her a happy women. By this time the adrenaline had wore off and I was exhausted. The only problem was that I had to sit in an uncomfortable chair for another two hours until they were able to get us into our room, but it is not like I should have anything to complain about. So at 7:30AM they wheeled us into our room. It was great!!! Finally we would be able to sleep. What a relief, everything went so darn quick and what we thought was only going to be a 24 hour hospital stay for monitoring was the day our beautiful babies came. It was a day that ranks with the best days of my life. God has given me a wife who is way too hot for me and two absolutely precious little babies. Not all of life is like this, not all days are this good. For Carrie and I it has been the dark days that we have walked through that allowed this day to be one of the sweetest we have ever experienced together.
One last post to go... stay tuned!
So as I am frantically praying because I am about to enter the role of father, out comes one of the nurses to get me. I enter the surgery room to see Carrie, and they have her all ready to go for the c-section. When I got there they had a sheet up covering everything below Carrie’s chest so we would not see the surgery taking place. They had a seat for me right next to her, I did my best to convey to Carrie that I was composed and ready to go, she was so calm and collected… She told me that it all felt like a dream, and she was right; it all seemed to be a blur. I grabbed her hands and prayed with her as they began the surgery. Not too long after that the anesthesiologist told me pop my head up and look, and out came Camden, my beautiful boy. The doctor must have had him for a total of 30 seconds while they cut the cord and gave him to a nicu nurse, then before I knew it Adalyn was out and my first thought was “she is so small and absolutely gorgeous”. As Carrie heard them cry she began to cry, it was an emotional journey and she was now crying tears of joy even though she could not see them. Both babies were crying which was a good sign, and then I heard Camden stop crying after not too long. I saw them pumping oxygen into him which made me really concerned, I wasn’t too worried about Adalyn because her little lungs were filling the room with her cry. Then they told me to come over and take a look, Camden was fine… They then placed them on the scale to weigh them and took their footprints… I journaled the whole thing with my handy dandy disposable camera. Then they placed their footprints on my gown along with their names and weights. After this they brought both of the babies to Carrie so she could see and hold them for just a minute. This minute gave me such a glimpse of God’s love for me to see how happy mommy was, she had just been through so much and this was a picture I will never forget.
Carrie did absolutely incredible the whole night, I was not too shabby myself I must admit… This was hard work! After this they put Camden and Adalyn in the little incubators and took them with me up to the 3rd floor. Unfortunately they had to place Camden and Adalyn in different areas in the nicu because there was not room for two of them anywhere together. This was ok, they had great nurses who cared for their every need.
Both of them had to be on oxygen, and many different tubes and wires were coming from the babies little bodies. Carrie and I knew the chances of having premature babies meant that they would be in the nicu so although we don’t like all these little wires we know they are for their good. After this it was about 4am, I was pumped with adrenaline. I wanted to see how Carrie was doing so I went to the recovery area, they told me they were not ready for me so I went back up to see they babies, I walked around the nicu like a crazy man so excited about what just took place. I called my parents and Carrie’s parents to let them know everything went well and then went back down to check on Carrie. Again, she was not ready… I had nothing to do and had so much energy. So I took a walk, it was an amazing walk… I was so filled with joy and emotions, I felt the presence of God in such an amazing way. It was truly a time of praise and worship.
Finally about 5am I was able to go see Carrie in recovery. She was doing well except her mouth was incredibly dry so the nurse allowed her to have ice chips and this made her a happy women. By this time the adrenaline had wore off and I was exhausted. The only problem was that I had to sit in an uncomfortable chair for another two hours until they were able to get us into our room, but it is not like I should have anything to complain about. So at 7:30AM they wheeled us into our room. It was great!!! Finally we would be able to sleep. What a relief, everything went so darn quick and what we thought was only going to be a 24 hour hospital stay for monitoring was the day our beautiful babies came. It was a day that ranks with the best days of my life. God has given me a wife who is way too hot for me and two absolutely precious little babies. Not all of life is like this, not all days are this good. For Carrie and I it has been the dark days that we have walked through that allowed this day to be one of the sweetest we have ever experienced together.
One last post to go... stay tuned!
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