Introduction

Hello, my name is Ryan Reid. I am the father of a newborn baby boy named Noah.

Noah got a rough start in life. He didn't cry at birth and was admitted to the special care unit right away. During his first night on earth he began having neonatal seizures which in time got worse. Noah was then transferred to one of the best hospitals in the country. He spent a week and a half there while they tried to figure out the cause of his seizures.

Finally, an MRI showed the clear markings of Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy or HIE. Basically meaning that some parts of his brain were damaged at some point during pregnancy. Everything developed just fine, but areas of his brain were damaged due to a loss of oxygen at some point without a known cause.

This blog will be a record of Noah's progress though life. The worst part about having a child with HIE is not knowing how they will turn out. It is a waiting game plain and simple, and the worst kind of waiting game...

I hope that his story will help parents dealing with HIE or other brain related injuries their children may have. Seeing your child in the NICU, knowing they may never have a normal life is the hardest thing I have ever dealt with. And maybe seeing the story of another baby in your child's position may help you cope with the stress. And hopefully give you a feeling of hope that your child will be just fine, as I hope our story goes.

10 comments:

  1. Sorry you have to go through this....

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  2. Ryan, I want you to know I will be here reading.

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  3. I will be following Noah progress here and on gather. Great idea for a blog, good luck and I am sure it will help someone.

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  4. This is a wonderful idea, Ryan. H.I.E isn't a well-known affliction, so support groups and sites will be rare. I'm sure lots of hurting parents will find you this way and be grateful for the connection.

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  5. Great blog, I hope it helps your and any other parents facing this.

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  6. Wonderful idea starting this blog. Not only will it be helpful to other parents but it can serve as a journal of Noah's progress.

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  7. new follower here, and will be follow on gather as well...good luck with little Noah!!!

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  8. Don't forget that Noah is the most perfect Noah there is and nothing about his situation can be compared to anothers. I hope you will grab onto the beautiful child he is and breathe a thanks for each breath he takes. He will grow and gain in perfection that is his alone. He is such a gorgeous little boy. Don't worry about you are told he MAY not do but concentrate instead on what he has already done. I will watch with anticipation, his progress and pray that you remain just as perfect as you are in being his father, you are doing a marvelous job.

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  9. Ryan...we were hoping for a great experience when Noah came into the world and were devasted to hear anything different in the fact that it affected you and Katie in such a sad way. However, as you have realized throughout your journey so far...we are only given what we can handle. And CLEARLY you have shown that you can handle this and anything else that comes your way! Thanks for bringing me to Gather (as I am only a Facebook junkie) to check up on Noah.
    Laura

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  10. hi ryan, i read your entire blog. i'm in a similar situation except that you have a mature good attitude and my attitude just sucks. my son's name is also noah! he was born only a couple weeks before your noah - sept 29th. instead of enjoying him as a normal baby, i find myself just watching him obsessively to see what signs he shows from his "significant" brain injury. it's absolute torture to me and i am just miserable.

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