Originally written May 13, 2012 7:10pm
If you’ve ever questioned the presence of miracles in this world, take 10 minutes to go back through these journal entries; look at the pictures of this precious baby, our Little Superman, and try to grasp just how easily his story could have had a very different ending.
Statistically speaking, Ryland should not be here. Ninety percent of infants who suffer from an interrupted aortic arch die at four days old. When he began to crash the morning of April 13th, it was a matter of minutes that saved his life. If Robin had stopped to fix her hair before they went to the doctor, if mom had not been able to by-pass the normal waiting room lines, if the doctors had not had just the right medication on hand, Ryland would be a precious memory and this would be a very different kind of Mother’s Day for our family. Never question that huge moments happen in small minutes. “Timing is everything” may not be so cliché after all.
If that’s not enough to convince you, babies who survive this type of surgery typically have abnormal hearts, with underdeveloped left sides. Ryland is being followed-up by the cardiologists in Greenville, they saw him this week and we are happy to report his heart is PERFECT. His two defects, the pulmonary window and the aortic arch, were both limited to the vessels and did not affect the normal growth of his heart.
Tomorrow will be one week since he left Duke, and to no one’s surprise, his eating is drastically improved. Ryland lost down to about 6 lbs 6 oz during his whole ordeal, but has slowly managed to creep up to 6-13. He goes in for another weight check tomorrow, fingers crossed he’s still gaining. I’m convinced he is going to be absolute little pig in the not so distant future.
Ryland’s recovery is a story of second chances. The second chance he’s been given at life and a second chance for Robin and Michael to bring a brand new baby home for a “do over.” They are more than ecstatic to be home! Well kind of … they are staying with Mom and Dad until the additions and baby’s nursery are done at their house. You may hear Robin squeal when Little Superman flies through the door at the Clarks house for the first time since leaving.
He is much more active, awake and alert these days. His coos and squeaks might possibly the sweetest music I’ve ever heard, and there’s nothing like those big eyes looking up at you. I wonder what he is thinking, and I bet it may be something like “why does it take 5 adults, 6 college degrees and pretty much the whole village to take care of me?” He went for his “new born” pictures yesterday and it took us all to get him there!
Robin and Michael want each of you to understand how important every single prayer, thought, card, message, etc. meant to them and they truly believe it is through your power of prayer and God’s grace that Ryland is alive.
So we intend to continue sharing his miracle story with you, because you have all played a special part in getting him to this point. Stay tuned as we work to migrate this site into a blog, where you can follow the ups, downs, tears, laughs and ultimately the testimony of one little fighter’s miracle story. We will post all the info once we have the site created.
Until then, please remember that while we have no way of understanding how he managed to defy the odds, Ryland = Miracle is as true a statement as they come.
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