Ryan's MRI

Wednesday morning we had Ryan's MRI. Since we had to be at the hospital so early...ahem, 7:00 AM, we let Ryan sleep in our room in a pack and play on Tuesday night. We didn't want to have to go in to the nursery so much earlier than usual and end up waking everyone up and causing unnecessary chaos. So Ryan stayed with Mama and Dada.

A little snuggle time before bed

Dada, Ryan and me

True Love

Ryan and I got up super early, got ready to go and went to the hospital. They checked us in, took us to the MRI area, we got re-checked in and then got an opportunity to speak with a nurse. The nurse explained everything that was going to happen and allowed me to ask any questions. This isn't our first MRI rodeo, however, so I was fairly familiar with how it all would go down.

Waiting at the hospital to check in around 7:15 am

I was super nervous about Ryan being sedated, and although this wasn't the first time, it didn't make me feel any better about it. I teared up a little when the nurse was talking about it, but I was trying to be strong and keep it together.

This little boy was such a TROOPER. I can't even put into words how sweet, brave, and wonderful he is. He barely even fussed at all when he got his IV and the nurses kept saying how surprisingly well he was doing. (They also complimented him on his pretty hair and how handsome he is...but that's a different story and anyone who reads this blog already knows that and can see it plain as day! ;) My Ryan is TOUGH. No doubt about it.

Getting him ready for his IV

Post-IV selfie while waiting

Let's get this show on the road so we can go home!

When it was finally time for the MRI, a little over an hour after we'd arrived, they let me come into the MRI room with Ryan. Again, we have done this before, so I figured I would get to go in there with him again. This time though, they let me hold him when they put the sedation medicine in his IV. It startled me how quickly he went to sleep. It was literally within seconds of when they gave him the medicine. I didn't like it and was just ready for it all to be over.

After that, they put him up on the table, got him positioned, hooked him up to the oxygen/heart rate monitor, gave me earplugs to wear, and put him in the big MRI tunnel. It makes series of very loud beeps and sounds, which is why you must wear the earplugs while you're in the room and everything becomes very muffled. The actual MRI lasted about 15 - 20 minutes and then they came back in to get him. When they pulled him out of the tunnel, the sedation medicine was already beginning to wear off and he was starting to open his eyes. I like it that they really only sedated him for the time he had to do the test. I didn't want to see him sedated for any longer than he absolutely had to be.

They put him on a stretcher and we went out to another area for "recovery". A nurse stayed with me and we basically just had to make sure that he fully came to and before we could leave, he had to be able to drink and swallow. He did great. He was a little out of it and a little "floppy" from the sedation when I was able to pick him up, but we got him dressed and loaded in the stroller and that was that.

Post-MRI: groggy from sedation

He was probably wondering why I was taking pictures of him :)

I even took him to run a quick errand to the grocery store with me on the way home. Even though he hadn't had anything to eat and much to drink since the night before he was so sweet. He must have been hungry but was being so patient. And can I just please mention how much easier it is to run errands with just one kid?!?! It was great. I need to do that more often with just one of my little guys at a time!

Anyway, back to the MRI. The doctor told me that the Radiologist will have to look at the results and then will get the results to our neurologist, Dr. Taft, at which point I could follow up with him. He also said it would take a few days. My plan is to call Dr. Taft tomorrow (Friday) to ask about it and if I don't get him, I will follow up on Monday. I'll update the blog with what we hear back from him. Thank you for the prayers and support. He made it through the MRI like a boss.