Introducing: William Christopher Ricks

Dan, Cooper, and I are blessed and honored to welcome William Christopher Ricks into our little family. He was born January 14, 2013 at 8:52pm weighing a healthy 6 pounds and 15 ounces. Our little toe head is a miracle in our lives, and we credit his safe arrival and delivery from all the many thoughts, prayers, fasting and support from so many friends and family. To all of you, Dan and I send our most heartfelt thanks and appreciation.

For those of you who aren’t aware, our little William was born with a heart defect called a “Common AV Valve.” This hole in his heart will require open heart surgery when William is between 4-6 months old. We found out about this complication at our routine level 2 Ultrasound when I was 20 weeks pregnant. We entered in that appointment eager to find out our baby’s gender, and left feeling like our hopes and dreams for our child had fallen apart. In addition to finding out the news about the baby’s heart, we soon learned that this type of defect was common in babies with Down Syndrome or Trisomy 21. We did further testing (amniocentesis) and received the results a week later that confirmed the genetic disorder.

So on Monday evening and at 39 weeks, little William was born. I fortunately was able to hold him for a few moments before they took him down to the NICU and he has been there ever since. He is progressing beautifully. They are still keeping a careful watch of his heart and on Friday will perform another echogram which will in large part determine when he can come home. He is eating well, breathing well, and hopefully by this weekend they will be able to take him off of his IV and oxygen. It is a miracle to see how far he has come this week and we thank our Heavenly Father as well as friends/family who have helped us every step of the way.

As many of you know, it has taken some time for Dan and I to wrap our heads around what we thought would never happen to us. But now after holding William this week I can honestly say that I would want it no other way. I know that this little boy was meant for our family and that I am supposed to be his mother. And I will now thank the Lord every day that I am blessed with this perfect child. I wish you all could meet him and feel of his pure and innocent spirit. He is an angel and I can’t believe the Lord has entrusted him into our family. I know I also speak for Dan that we are privileged to be his parents and hope that each one of you will come to know how special he is as well.

I will try to do better to update this blog with pictures, his progression, surgery and smiles. I know he will forever brighten all of our lives as we watch him grow.

Xoxo,

Lindsay, Dan and Cooper