I'm 16 inches long today...I'm only on 1/2 liter of air flow on my nasal prongs....they say I could have my nasal prongs off in 2 days or so : ) Thats HUGE!!!!!! one MAJOR step closer to going home! So that means all I'd have left is the feeding tube in my mouth! and IV on my neck.

My belly is looking "normal" according to the Dr's (finally!) So they are slowly bumping up my feeds. Pray that I get my feedings down! thats another huge step to going home!

Today at least 5 nurses that have taken care of me so far, came up to mommy and said WOW! he's huge! he's growing so fast!

I like to squirm out of the position the nurses put me in...they'll check on me and it looks like I'm trying to escape out of the bed....I probably am!

AND!! my nurses and DRS have been watching my movements, and so far my movements are normal...so I might not have severe cerebral palsey! My right side of my bodies movements are great...and that's a wonderful sign! awesome.

Today I'm 3 LBS 4 OZ!!! I'm getting fatter! finally! The DR says my heart murmur has gone down....it's not considered moderate anymore, it's considered a small heart murmur! yay! I'm also down on the amount of air they blow into my nose to remind me to breathe...(I'm down to 3/4 liter! that's a HUGE step!) esp because I'm doing fine with it!!!

My primary nurse Mariane, hasn't seen me in a week, and is so impressed with how well I'm doing and how much I've grown!!!! She says I look more like a full term baby....goodbye preemie look : )

I'm finally 3 LBS 1 1/2 oun!!! I'm doing really good today again! My nurses said again that I'm a very funny boy! I make silly faces at them all day...they say my personality is coming out.

Today I'm closer to breathing with nothing on my face...so all by myself like all of you! I'm down to 1 liter of oxygen.

My tummy is still having a little bit of issues...my food is not digesting the way it should, so they are staying low on my feedings. Tomorrow they are doing a special ultrasound on my tummy to see what they can do. The Dr's think maybe it's because my preemie belly isn't developed enough, or maybe my infection hurt my tummy a little bit.

I had another day with no Apnea spells : ) that's great!!!!!

Oh and mommy and daddy got to hold me again last night, because I was such a good boy!

I'm only a 1/2 an ounce away from 3 pounds today! I'm sooo close to 3 LBS! I was really good all night to my nurse! Kim my nurse last night, says I make her laugh with my silly facial expressions. I like to smile, frown, look angry just to make her laugh. My nurses say if I don't want them to do something to me I get mad at them, and that means I'm a stubborn little boy. One time I even held my fist up at a nurse when she was putting cpap on me a couple weeks ago...they all say I'm a funny boy.

Today I'm 2 LBS 14 OZ! almost 3 LBS!!!! I'm getting bigger! I'm now 4 weeks and one day old! which makes me 30 weeks along...April 4th (mommy's due date) I'll be 40 weeks! yay!

*** chantel here's the pic you wanted me to add :)

Today Ryder is being a very good boy! no apnea spells...we hope that means he's growing out of that! yay! The Dr's are slowly starting to feed him more and more...tomorrow they x-ray his tummy and heart. The monitor the heart murmur daily, but Tuesdays they x-ray it. Every other day they X-ray his tummy checking up on the infection (NEC).

Today he has a nurse that Greg and his mom really liked....I'm sure they would, since the nurse is from southern Idaho. We are able to ask the nurse if we really like them to be his primary nurse...Ryder has 3 now! Mariane, a wonderful nurse from the Philippines...after she told us she "loved Ryder, sooo much" we asked her to be a primary. The other nurse is Claire... she's his funny nurse, a good sense of humor...she tells us how she thinks about him even when shes at home, and she hates leaving him when he's having a bad preemie day : ( And now there's Karlee, the cute lil' LDS girl from Idaho....she talks so sweetly to the babies...she said 10 years ago she saw a special on the NICU at ST Joes, and always dreamed of working there...and now she's living that dream....and my son's being cared for by her in that wonderful dream coming true. I might ask her when we're not there to hum some primary songs to him...if it's not to much! : )

Nurses are so wonderful! Ryder's are truly his life savers! we love them all soooooooo much!!!

What's on my face?? I have "nasal prongs". They blow constant air into my nose reminding me to breathe...I'm slowing coming off the nasal prongs though!

The tube in my mouth is my feeding tube, going directly to my little belly...It's making me fatter then the wee 2lbs 15 oz that I am today....mommy can't wait for me to hit 3 LBS!!!!

We take everything day by day we learned you have to do that in the NICU...everyday can bring something totally new... if thats good or bad, it's always a surprise to us and the DR's!

What happened to Ryder's arm? people are asking....He had an IV infiltrate. They were having issues with Ryders tiny veins, and the IV's....one night his primary nurse flushed his IV, and it looked ok to keep another day or so, but 15 minutes later she checked it again, and the IV was leaking all his nutrients and lipids all over his arm. The lipids and nutrients are harsh on the skin, as you can see. It happened 2 weeks ago, and this is what happened from it. Mariane the nurse that was working felt SOOOO bad! but it happens sometimes with these little preemies. He will be ok...but there can be some minor movement issues later with his arm. POOR BABY!!!! on a happier note, he doesn't really cry when they check the wound...he's tough!

He's doing good today...the DR's are still concerned about his belly, but it should be ok by about Thursday....we hope! until then, they are starting to feed him 1 cc every 12 hours. Even though they are not feeding him very much, he is still getting nutrients, and fat through his broviac (IV). He doesn't weigh what he should at 30 weeks, due to the tummy infection, so they are giving him for fat and nutrients.

His heart murmur hasn't been picked up lately when they listen to his heart....so hopefully that means it's finally closing!! : )

His arm still is looking gross, so they are trying a new medicine to heal it quicker then what it is now. Most likely it will leave a huge scar...but at least it didn't damage any major nerves or muscles!

He's been sleeping a lot lately!!! Hopefully that means he's growing faster! the nurses always laugh at him because he's always wide awake, staring into space...they are always telling Ryder to shut his eyes and grow, but Ryder doesn't listen! (stubborn like me!)

OH! the Dr's told us that baby boys are pretty wimpy up to like the 31 week...they call it "wimpy white boy syndrome". They say when Ryder makes it past the 31 week (this week) he should grow fast and healthy after that.

Thanks for all the prayers and faith! They keep him going strong!

Today Ryder's doing great...he had a few apnea spells, but they were not bad. Ryder weighs 2 lbs 13 oz. now! yay! he's finally gaining weight! He loves when I visit... when I talk, he always opens his eyes wide, and looks for mommy....so cute! We love that kid sooooo much!

Today Ryder is doing well...like yesterday. His heart murmur sounds like it's closing up... which solves the dehydrated issue. His arm was looking gross yesterday, so the DR looked at it today because the nurses were concerned, but the burn looked much better today.

The new issue today is his weight. Since our lil' man was sick he hasn't gained what he should have...so they are giving him extra lipids and fats....trying to fatten our boy up!!

The last 24 hours he's slept, slept and slept! that's good cause he's a growing boy! I held him on my chest for a long time today! its great for preemies because they hold your heat, and listen to the moms heart beat, which is a very familiar sound to them...It calms them. Today he got so comfy, he forgot to breath once...so we put him back away.

He's looking different each day.... the nurses all agree that he looks like his daddy...he's a cute LITTLE kid.... We love our lil' boy!!!

Today Ryder is well. Ryder's doctor said he's improving. His test results came back on his brain and heart and tummy. All look fine....meaning they have not gotten any worse. His brain there's still a little bit of fluid on the brain, but not enough to do anything yet. As for his heart, the murmur is the same as before, hopefully it'll close soon! His tummy is looking better, the infection is looking smaller.

The newest concern is minor as of now...but it still keeps the Doctors watching him closely. His blood tests show that he is slightly dehydrated. That means they watch the kidneys... BUT NO WORRIES! they can fix it by giving him more fluids, BUT that would make the heart murmur worse, so they are trying to figure out a plan to fix that :)

Ryders arm today is GROSS! they removed the black layer, and now theres a deep wound. Its one of the sickest things I have seen! you know the poor baby is in pain :( but he's a tough boy! :)

I finally got to hold him again today, after him being sick for so long. I held him for about 3 hours! he loves being held! he cried and cried when I put him back in his incubator....but the "binkie" stopped that really quick! he loves binkies!

We take everything day by day. That's how it works in a NICU with a preemie. But Ryder is a good boy and will be ok.

Thanks for everything!

Ryder Page

Ryder Aaron Page was born on December 30, 2007 at 12:12 AM. He was a tiny 2 LBS 9 OZ. and only 15 1/2 inches long! He definitely wanted to come, because nothing could stop him. Labor wasn't exactly easy for mommy, because Ryder wanted to come so bad that there was no time for anything to take away the pain or worries. Mommy was really scared for little Ryder. She was happy to see Ryder look right at her when he was born. It reassured her that all would be fine.

Four hours after birth Ryder pulled his breathing tube (ventilator) right out! He had to prove to everyone that he was tough.

The road hasn't been easy for little Ryder. Ryder's been up and down with his fragile health. Since Ryder is so preemie, is is prone to many things. Two of the major things the doctors don't like to see any preemie get is blood on the brain, and an intestinal infection. Unfortunately Ryder has had both.

The blood on the brain has caused much concern for the medical staff and others. The damage to his brain can cause many troubles in Ryder's future, but we are all keeping faith that he will beat the odds! From this he also has water on the brain that they are monitoring daily. So far the water is not to serious of a problem. We pray it stays that way!

Ryder most recently has had an infection that was a scare! It definitely wiped him out for a week or so. He got an infection in his intestines that was very scary! If not caught soon enough such infections can be life threatening to such a small preemie. If the infection was to grow and rupture, it could take a preemies life. Fortunately Ryder has amazing Doctors and nurses that were alert and caught it right in the beginning stages. Now he is still recovering.

Ryder also has a heart murmur that they continue to watch daily. They expect it to close soon. If it doesn't they have safe ways of closing the murmur.

He also recently had a IV infiltrate on his arm, that caused a severe chemical burn. They watch that daily as well to make sure it's healing properly. A plastic surgeon came and looked at it and said it shouldn't scar really bad. They have had MANY issues with Ryder's IV's. His veins are so small that they had a lot of trouble! But Friday they were able to surgically place a broviak (IV that lasts a long time) in the artery in his neck.

Ryder today (1/22/2008) is well. He is off the cpap and the temporary ventilator. He is now on nasal prongs and breathing room air. The nasal prongs blow constant air, reminding him to breath. Occasionally he has apnea spells that quickly go away after quick stimulation (usually a tickle to the foot).

We ask that you all keep him in your prayers! They are working! he's going to make it, and grow to be big and strong! We have faith in that! We love our little Ryder!