The beginning

I wrote this shortly after I had recovered from a hair raising, bumpy flight in the Children's Mercy plane. Ralph was transferred to Kansas City because ECMO, a last ditch effort, was available there. He was so sick - I thought this might be the end.

Ralph is intubated and prepared for transfer. The NICU doc here was so sweet - he had the nurse tape some ear muffs on him. The plane WAS very noisy.





After dragging my suitcase around the hospital for a few days I was able to get a room at the Ronald McDonald House. Ralph was stabilizing and then I was able to clear my head and begin to communicate with the folks back home.

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Ralphie was born at home on April 29, 2007 after an uneventful pregnancy and a gentle labor. It was immediately apparent that he would require medical attention. He had breathed in meconium sometime before birth and was in respiratory distress as soon as he was born. The paramedics were called and Ralphie and mom were taken to the hospital by ambulance. We didn't even have time to weigh him! He was born at 9:15pm and was at the hospital before 10:00pm.

The first few weeks are a blur at this point in time. I wish that I had the presence of mind to record the events and my thoughts at the time. Let's fast forward...
We are presently at The Children's Mercy Hospital. We are dealing with Ralphie's pulmonary hypertension as a result of his meconium aspiration. This high blood pressure of the lungs is adversely affecting his heart. On top of everything else, he has contracted pneumonia! He is stable and doing much better as of today, May 27, 2007.

I want to take a moment to thank all of our family and friends. We are truly blessed to have such incredible people on our lives! You know who you are...you kept our fridge packed with food for the family, you made lunches for our school children, you cared for our young children so that we could be at the hospital for important tests and meetings with doctors. But most importantly, you held us up in prayer and continue to do so. What more could we ask?