Rambling about Ryder: Who needs a seat when you can WALK?!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Who needs a seat when you can WALK?!

We FINALLY received the guide bar for Ryder's walker and it makes the world of a difference! No more running around hunched over trying to steer him in the right direction. My back is very happy. We have also ditched the seat and Ryder is now walking instead of gliding around on his toes. He almost wore a hole right through one of his shoes before we took that darn seat off!!! He is doing SO amazing! He still toe walks but his therapists feel that after he gets his castings done and his braces are made he'll be more likely to be able to get those feet flat on the ground. We have taken Ryder to the park EVERY day for the past week. He LOVES it and I love how excited he get as soon as we get there!

Here he is walking with no seat :)

The park we have been going to is awesome for Ryder. Not only is the playground accessible for special needs kids it also has horses!! Ryder loves saying "hi and watching the horses :) The other night he was actually "Neighing" in his sleep! Silly guy...

Here he is walking up the playground, we did this about twenty times!! lol NO JOKE! I am sure we'll find ourselves back there again tomorrow :)

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Ryder's Story

Ryder and Wyatt are our identical twin boys that were born 12 weeks premature. They suffered from a "rare" disease called Twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). TTTS affects 10-15% of identical multiples sharing a single placenta. Basically what happens is there are crossed vessels in the placenta forcing one baby to have way too much blood, nutrients & oxygen and the other not enough. Left untreated this heartbreaking disease has a astonishing mortality rate of 90%. Unfortunately I was not diagnosed until I had already gone into labor at 24 weeks gestation so not much could be done. Thankfully the doctors were able to stop my labor and we all made it to 28 weeks. The boys entered their nicu fight together but sadly on their 24 day of life we had to say our goodbyes to sweet Wyatt. Our hearts broke in a million pieces but somehow we picked up a few and continued our fight for Ryder. Ryder stayed in the nicu for 67 long days and was finally able to come home 2 weeks before their anticipated due date. It was a bittersweet day for many. We were told by every doctor that Ryder was just a "normal" baby and not to worry. I never felt right about this and knew there was something more to come. When he was 11 months old he was diagnosed with Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy. Our hearts broke once again and we were left to wonder what his future would hold. When we started this blog Ryder was 19 months old and still could not sit, crawl or walk unassisted. Since then he has made tremendous leaps but he still has a long way to go. He see's his physio therapist and occupational therapist twice a month and speech pathologist once a month. This is what our government will offer and we don't feel it's enough. He has so much determination and we know given the proper tools and therapy nothing will stop him. With your help we sent Ryder to Ability camp in January 2012 and there are many other treatments and alternative therapies we want to give him the opportunity to try. Thank you for supporting Ryder and following his journey!