Looking back...

I didn't know what a blog WAS when Ralph was born. That strikes me a funny now, but it's true!

After the chaotic aftermath of Ralph's birth, we found that we needed an efficient way to keep people informed. My poor husband spent hours and hours and hours on the phone during the first few weeks while I was too emotionally fragile to talk to anyone at all.

I started writing things down on a temporary website after Ralph was transferred to Kansas City. Later I moved all that info over to http://babyhomepages.net/ralphie/music.php?t=index.php. I started Ralphcrew about a year later when it became apparent that I would continue to share. I never did move any of the original information over here. Today I will begin to move that information over and share our first days with you.

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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 pnuemonia! 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?