We wanted you so much. We prayed for you so hard. And now you’re here.
Our perfect, precious boy!
You entered the world fast and furious and we wept when we met you. Our sweet miracle.
Welcome to the world, Ryder Thomas!
Ryder was born on Monday afternoon – his due date! – at 3:29 p.m. weighing 7 pounds and 7 ounces. He’s 20 inches long and completely perfect. We are so in love!
A couple of hours after Ryder was born he was admitted to the NICU for meconium and fluid in his lungs. It was terrifying as we waited for more information and heard the results from his first x-rays. Not being able to hold our baby, attempt nursing and snuggle up to his face has been so challenging. I’m trying not to focus on the fact that we will very likely be discharged from the hospital today and Ryder will not.
My focus has been on Ryder and his incredible strength and the amazing response he’s shown to his treatments. We’ve seen such incredible progress from our sweet boy in a short amount of time and I have full belief we will continue to see him improve and be able to take him home soon.
Ryder didn’t have a name until late last night. Yesterday he was transitioned off a CPAP machine for breathing and onto a smaller tube for oxygen which allowed us to better see his face and my heart to grow as I soaked in his precious cheeks and perfectly pink little lips. We stroked his dark brown hair and felt like we could really SEE our baby for the first time since he was admitted to the NICU and picked a name we hope will serve him well.
Ryder means warrior. Our guy is so strong. We selected Thomas, his middle name, as a tribute to Chase who knew all along he was going to have a little brother and confidently told everyone his name would be “Thomas the Train.” It’s a name that makes us smile so big.
When I shared some very short updates about Ryder and his time in the NICU on Instagram, I received so many comments and messages from all of you and I cannot thank you enough for your incredible reassurance, prayers and kindness. To those who have had little ones in the NICU, your comments have touched me so deeply. Thank you for sharing your experiences with me. I am reading every single message and comment and feeling so grateful for all of you right now.
Seeing such tiny babies fighting so hard in the NICU is unbelievable. They are so resilient! The parents we’ve met are so kind and so strong. And I can barely speak about the nurses and doctors who have watched our boy so closely without feeling overwhelmingly grateful for the work they do, their compassion, expertise and knowledge. I know Ryder is in the very, very best hands.
I am hoping to share Ryder’s birth story on the blog but right now that seems so distant from everything that came up after his arrival. I need some time to focus on our baby boy, pumping (which is incredibly challenging since I am getting nothing and my milk hasn’t come in yet), healing and pouring all of my energy into caring for our baby boy in whatever ways I can, even if they’re not the ways I envisioned right now.
Ryder Thomas, we love you so, so much and I am so lucky to be your mama.
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I was stalking you last night on Instagram and sharing your photos and stories at class…LOL
Ryder is perfect — Chase can chase him as Ryder rides his bike!!
I keep thinking of this blog post – THE EVOLUTION OF RYAN’S HAIR JANUARY 26, 2012 – when \I see Ryan’s hair … LOL. My hubby is bald.
Sending you so much love …
Praying for Ryder Thomas and your family. He is beautiful and I love how you chose his middle name! You are such thoughtful, caring parents. May God continue to bless you greatly!
Congrats! Love the name, I think it goes well with Chase and it’s fun that you let him have some input with the middle name. 🙂 Stay positive, he’ll be home with you soon!
Congratulations! Ryder is absolutely perfect! He’s in good hands and so lucky to be born into such a loving family????
Congratulations to the whole family!! <3
Julie/Ryan/Chase/Ryder: SO THRILLED FOR ALL OF YOU. What a beautiful family you have. I know how much Ryder has been loved and prayed for since long before his birth. Praying for Ryder to be home with all of you very soon!
So very happy for you Julie. I have been praying for this time in your life to happen for a long time right along with so many of your other readers!!!! Wishing you an eternity of love, joy and happiness.
Congratulations!! Ryder is precious. How incredibly adorable that his middle name is Thomas.
I know this has to be incredibly hard for you but he’s in good hands and God is cradling him as well.
Congratulations Julie, I am so happy for you and your family. I have been praying and continue to pray for Ryder! As a longtime reader, I feel like I know you and have been thinking of you and your family in these past couple days. Congratulations again! He is so precious!! Xoxo
Congratulations!!!!! He is beautiful and I absolutely love the name and it’s meaning and tribute. You guys are all in my prayers <3
He is absolutely beautiful. And the name choice is perfect. Prayers and good thoughts to you, Ryder, and your entire family. Can’t wait to hear the news that you are all at home as a family, as I am positive it is coming soon <3
Prayers and happy thoughts are with you, Ryder, Ryan, and Chase! Take care of yourself as well at this time – you can’t serve from an empty cup.
Julie, I first want to say congratulations on your rainbow baby, Ryder. He is perfect in every way and I’m so happy for you and your sweet family. I cant wait to read your birth story and Chase’s first meeting with his baby brother.
As I have told you in previous comments our boys are just a few weeks a part. My sons name is Austin. He was born a month early and was in the NICU just shy of a month. I can say now, I couldn’t bring myself to say it before, that we almost lost him. He is our miracle baby. The strength that God gives these babies to fight for their lives is incredible. The nurses that work in the NICU have a special place in heaven because they are amazing. It was so hard after I got discharged to have to leave the hospital without our baby boy. It was so hard not being able to do all the things you imagine being able to do, holding, feeding, skin to skin, bathing, etc with your newborn.
I am praying for you and your family. I’m so happy that Ryder is doing well and will be praying he can come home soon.
Ryder and Chase! Was Paw Patrol the show?! #mombrain
Congrats on another perfect little bundle of joy. The NICU days are tough, but I promise, this will all feel like a distant memory soon.
Congrats Julie and Ryan!! What a journey you have been on in the past few years. You are so kind to share with all of us and we appreciate your honesty and the wisdom gained from your experiences on your blog. Welcome Ryder!! May God bless you and keep you!
Congrats on sweet Ryder! He’s beautiful! Hopefully he won’t stay long in NICU and be home real soon!
Congratulations! Chase and Ryder will be best buddies. I hope your little guy gets to go home soon!
He is adorable and resembles his handsome big brother ?? I am keeping Ryder and your family in my prayers!
Such a beautiful baby! What a precious name. Sending lots of prayers that Ryder goes home soon. Thinking positive thoughts for you all. You’re all so strong and all will be home before you know it.
Congrats to your family!! He is so precious!! Thinking of you guys and praying your sweet baby boy only continues to improve so he can go home soon. xoxo
He is perfect! I am so happy for you and your family. Congratulations mama. Sending sweet prayers for you all.
Congratulations to you, Ryan and Chase! Ryder is absolutely beautiful, and I LOVE his name. As soon as I saw “Thomas,” I knew it was a tribute to Chase. I pray that with his strength–and your faith–he will be out of the NICU in no time. Thank you for keeping us updated with everything that you have going on right now. We love you, Julie!
Sending you and your family so much love, Julie. Ryder will be home before you know it! <3
Thinking of you every day and refreshing for updates SO often! Can’t wait to hear more in the future about Chases new brother!!
Congratulations to all of you! He is adorable! He looks so much like Chase in that one picture!
I’m so happy for your family and praying for a swift recovery and homecoming for little Ryder! I cannot imagine what you are going through as I’ve never had a baby in the NICU, but I have had 2 emergency c-sections and it’s such a scary and humbling experience having to relinquish control of something so precious. I’m so glad you have a great team of doctors and nurses taking care of Ryder and so many people supporting you. His name is perfect, I love the nod to Chase’s Thomas the Train obsession! So cute! Now, the only thing better will be if you have a 3rd and name him/her Rocky, Rubble, Marshall, or Skye, lol! 😉
Congratulations! He is precious, love his name and the reason you picked Thomas. You and your family are in my thoughts and prays!
Congratulations! I love his name! Prayers for a short NICU stay and a reunion at home very soon.
He’s beautiful – congrats!! 2x NICU alum here (99 days and 5 days). I suspect my 5 day NICU baby was a similar situation to yours (healthy pregnancy, full term baby with a respiratory infection). The only lingering struggle after we came home was nursing. It took 2-3 weeks to get the latch down and I had to pump exclusively until then. Best wishes mama!!
He’s perfect! I love his name too! Praying for a speedy recovery for him and you!
So so happy for you all! One of those pics looked like a mini Chase! How wonderful!
His name is absolutely perfect; in meaning and sound. Again, congrats and we’re keeping you all in prayer. I pray also, that your milk comes in with the pumping. I know how hard that can be. Much love!
Congrats on your NICU warrior. I have been reading your blog since ~2009 (when I finished nursing school); and am currently a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. My son, is around the same age of your oldest (September 2015), but was a NICU baby himself at 29 weeks (1 lb 10 oz). Having a child in the NICU will be one of the most trialing experiences, filled with lots of ups and downs. My prayers that Ryder (aka Thomas the Train…another favorite of toddler boys); will have a short NICU journey, and will only bring you and your family, closer and stronger.
Also, best wishing on pumping, I exclusively pumped for ~9 months; and it is incredible what you are doing for your sweet boy. No worries about your milk coming in, often times for NICU moms, they produce colostrum for longer. Keep hydrated, as you are doing; and your milk should come in ~day 5.
So proud of ya’ll.
Welcome to the world Ryder Thomas! Your parents and big brother have been anxiously waiting to meet you. There are also a lot of people who you’ll probably never meet in person who were praying for your amazing family. You are such a lucky boy to have been born into such a sweet and loving family and I know that they are also very lucky to have you!
Oh gosh Julie! He is perfect! I know him and Chase will be such good friends (and brothers). I love the name so much! I had a feeling it was a BOY the whole time!
I am keeping him and you in our thoughts and prayers for a quick time in the NICU/hospital and for a speedy recovery!
Congratulations on the newest addition to your family! My heart burst with joy when I saw your post on Facebook yesterday morning. The thought you put into his name is truly one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever hear – I so love that his middle name is Thomas in tribute to Chase. Sending you and your whole family lots of internet hugs and even more prayers for a quick recovery and discharge for Ryder!
Hi Julie!! Congratulations on your sweet Ryder! Somebody may have already noted this, but I just wanted to say that if you’re struggling at all with pumping, that the hospital may be able to provide support (if they haven’t already) on exclusive pumping and how to build supply while he’s in the NICU. My daughter was in the NICU for seven weeks and the hospital had a great support system for teaching moms how to pump and tricks for increasing supply. The greatest tip they taught was hand expressing to help increase supply. Don’t be discouraged, you’re doing a great job!
I totally agree about the support and hand expressing. Also, once I went home, I rented the hospital grade pump. So much more efficient.
Ryder is so cute! Love his name! I hope you are all home soon… I know you can’t wait! You have such a beautiful family!!! So very happy for you all!
My girl was born at 34 and 5. She was taken immediately to the NICU. I started pumping every two hours from the moment she was born. The first 3 days I got absolutely nothing except for what I hand expressed. The lactation specialist just kept encouraging me, and one day it literally just started flowing. We were discharged after 12 days and I took home extra milk to freeze. This was my second so I knew what to expect, but it was still hard and discouraging in the beginning. Keep after it, if that’s what you want, and it will come.
Congratulations Julie!! I love his middle name and the story behind it. It melts my heart. I hope you get to bring Ryder home soon! ❤️
Congratulations guys, he’s just beautiful, you must be so happy. Two boys from Paw Patrol!! Chase and Ryder!
OH my gosh the picture of Ryan holding Ryder, he looks soo much like Chase !! I love that you gave him Thomas as a middle name, sooo thoughtful for Chase!
Sully only spent ONE night in the NICU and it was exhausting, terrifying and yet so rewarding to see how well the babies are taken care of, so I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. I remember pumping and trying to feed then doing the bottle just to feed our little guy and man it took all of me not to break down. You’re amazing mama and know we are all here for you just sending you all the love and good vibes, and with such a strong mama you know Ryder can only be strong too! xo
Congratulations Julie on your new precious little boy! I’ve been following your blog since long before Chase was born and your way of being a mama has brought me so much inspiration ever since my little premature Thomas was born a year ago this week. There are no words for how hard it is to see your baby with machines all around them and not in your arms but this too shall pass. You’ve been through so much to get here, and Ryder is doing his bit, fighting so hard to get through this last hurdle to be home with you. (BTW my tip for expressing is finding any way you can to relax, which may seem impossible right now. Cheesy TV shows did it for me in the midst of the craziness!)
Julie he is so beautiful. I know it must be so hard to not take your sweet baby home right away but he will be home so soon and you will get so many baby snuggles. Congratulations to all of you and I love his name. Welcome to the world Ryder Thomas (the Train) Fagan. <3
Sending lots of prayers your way. The name is adorable. Love, love, love the Thomas middle name! SO CUTE.
I’m in the hospital right now too (having also just delivered my baby, coincidentally), and I can only imagine how hard that must be to have your little warrior in the NICU!) Seriously, I’m so sorry you’re having to go through with that extra worry, and here’s sending positive thoughts and prayers your way so your beautiful little addition can come home with you soon!
Hi Julie,
I have been reading your blog for a while and I never commented… I am sorry about it!
Your pictures of your precious little boy brought me tears of joy! So adorable!
Congratulations to you and your lovely family!
You are the mama of two beautiful boys, Julie! Congratulations! So happy he’s finally here. I’m sorry that your sweet little one has had a rough start but so glad to hear he’s improving. I love his name, it’s perfect! Praying for Ryder, know he’s going to be just fine- hang in there!
Congratulations! I will keep your family in my prayers as you keep watch over little Ryder. He is so precious and I’m sure that everything will turn out well.
Sweet congratulations on the birth of Ryder Thomas! I love the name and all the reasons you gave it to him. As I mentioned somewhere (maybe instagram), my oldest brother was a NICU baby and he’s now a full on adult, strong as an ox, with TWO of his OWN, strong-as-an-ox sons (seriously, the two of them are literally as big as Kris Humphries! NICU babies are strong enough to father the equally strong! lol) And clearly my brother was a NICU baby when technology wasn’t even as advanced as it is now – so I am holding the hope for you whenever you feel worried.
Sending you BIG, effective, enormous prayers – for speedy healing for Ryder, for soothing peace of mind for you and Ryan and your family, for wisdom and right action from the doctors and nurses, for healing for your own post-birth body, for the milk to come in well, for Ryder’s physical comfort and for yours, for the bond that will grow between Chase and Ryder, for the future bond that both Ryder and Chase will have with Leslie’s baby (their cousin!!), for the right people to show up with the right things or the right words at the right time, and for this all to turn out better than you could have imagined.
When you’re worried or weary – just remember the many, many, people collectively praying for you and your family all at the same time, and rest in that peace, knowing that we’re all being heard.
Also really cool that RYan and RYder have the same first two letters. <3
Congratulations, Fagans!
My Godson was born 11 years ago at full term, but also aspirated meconium. He was in the NICU for a few days, but recovered very well and today is a healthy boy. Hoping he’s home with you very soon.