The doctors are about 90% sure that Skyelar has a neuroblastoma which is a malignant nerve tumor. Its in his adrenal gland which is actually good because it could have started out in his neck or spinal cord. Its the most common type of childhood and infancy cancer and usually they dont catch it until later in the childs life when symptoms present and by that point its pretty much too late to do anything. The doctors say that because they caught it while he is still cooking the curability rate is excellent. A few cases when they catch it this early do still end up being fatal, but that number is really really low. Basically they caught it before it has a chance to get big bad and nasty and they should just be able to remove the tumor completely. They will get to him immediately after he's born and run any of the necessary tests to confirm the diagnosis. Its bad, but not as bad as it could be. The hopeless case would be if it was the adrenocorticoid carcinoma which is really really aggressive, but they dont think its that. Even the pediatric oncologist said that he should be find because they caught it this early. The good news with moving back to texas is that scottish rite and the childrens hospital are pretty much right down the street from my moms house. So we are staying positive and hopeful because the doctors are positive and hopeful that he will be just fine with treatment. Its just difficult knowing that he's going to have to go through all of that, but at least he should be done with treatment and healthy by the time he can actually remember anything.

Our Little Boy

Well I found out that we are having a boy! Steven is excited and so am I. Thank you to everyone who has wished us well. We have a bit more news on our bouncing baby boy. I am currently 26 weeks and Steven has astounded me by picking the best name ever for our son. His name is Skyelar Ray Ryan. For those of you that think Skyelar is a girls name, I did lots of research on the subject. It is more commonly used as a boys name and our particular spelling is the masculine form. It means guarded, protected, and scholar depending on what form and spelling you look up. Steven's middle name is Ray so we are keeping it in the family. he has the same exact initials as Steven and my same initials minus the middle name. Our next child will need to be an SR too otherwise they might feel left out :-)

That was the great news, and now I do have a bit of potentially sad news. When I went in for my 20 week ultrasound they did find a possible mass in the baby's abdomen. Because of this they sent me to Dr. Boddy, a perinatal specialist. He did a very indepth ultrasound and looked at EVERYTHING and told me it was either a hemorrage, which is good and it will fix itself, or its an adrenal gland tumor which could potentially be malignant or benign. The good thing is they caught it incredibly early. I go back to Dr. Boddy on March 12th for a repeat ultrasound to find out which one it actually is. The doctors seem like they're leaning towards hemorrage because he's growing well, he's incredibly active, and his heart rate is good. They said they're not too worried about him which makes me hopeful. Ive talked to a couple other people who have been told the same thing and it was just a hemorrage. Prayers are definately welcome and appreciated though!

In some other happy news, I am planning a trip to Texas in less than 2 weeks. I fly there on March 5th and my mom, stepmom, and stepsister are throwing me a baby shower on March 7th. Im so excitd to get to see everyone that I havent seen in a while. Its going to be an exhausting trip probably because I have to squeeze lots into about 4 days, but it will be worth it. I havent seen my family in about 6 months so Im definately looking forward to it.

Okay and on to the Army and PCSing. I know everyone was looking forward to us going to Colorado, but unfortunately as I said in the last post, that fell through. Steven has now gotten a new assignment and we arent thrilled about it. He has to report to Korea for a year on Sept 9th, and he cant take me or Skyelar along with him. I will be moving back in with my mom in Texas for that year that he's gone. At least I will have lots of help with our little man. Steven and I have already started planning all the ways that we will keep in constant contact so that Skyelar will know his daddy when he gets home. We will video chat all the time via the wonderful webcam and we are going to get a video camera so that I can record all of Skyelar's firsts and cuteness! Just wish us luck, because this is going to be a difficult time.

Well I think that about wraps up update. I go in to the OB today to get my belly measured and then in a couple weeks is the lovely sugar test. Here is a recent belly pic, enjoy!

Welcome

Well Im new to the whole blogging outside of myspace thing so bare with me. I figured with so much always going on I could use this to keep friends and family updated on the wonder world of the Ryan's.

First biggest news has already made it's way around, but im pregnant. I found out Oct 10th and I am due June 2. I get to find out on January 12 if its a boy or a girl so believe me, when I know, you will too.

Steven is currently deployed. He's been gone for about 4 weeks. When he left we thought that he would be back in February, but no such luck. We found out a couple of weeks ago that he's not coming home until April. He'll be gone for 4.5 months and this is the longest deployment we've had to go through together. He's been gone longer of course, but that was before me. He is already tired of being out there and bored all the time. I get calls about 1-2 times a week. He tries to talk to me on email more. Its difficult especially with the pregnancy. I was about 14 weeks when he left and I will be about 32 when he gets home. That should be a nice surprise, a big huge pregnant wife. I was showing, but not that much when he first left.

For those who were hoping we would get PCSed to Ft. Carson in Colorado, no such luck. His name didnt get turned in for the volunteer positions to get moved and so we are stuck here for now. We are now trying to get to Ft. Huachuca in Arizona. Colorado is out of the picture because they are already set to deploy April of 2010 and Steven doesnt want to have to leave me and the baby for a year that soon. So no Colorado, but maybe Arizona. He just wants to get out of here right now and isnt too particular about where we end up.