Ryker Fionn Heegaard was born on June 15, 2007 at 8:13 pm. He was 5 lb 13 oz and 18 inches. It was a VERY long day and ended with a (not terribly unexpected) c-section since he was in breech position with the umbilical cord around his neck so we couldn't reposition him. His daddy, Andrew Rush, was there as well as my dear friends, Meredith Stone and Marilu Corrales. Meredith was actually the first to hold him. Since Ryker had fluid in his lungs, they had to take him immediately. Andrew fell asleep - exhausted. I had to wait two hours for more pain meds. They finally brought Ryker to me at about 1:00 am so I could hold him for an hour. Andrew held him in the morning.
His name, Ryker, is Danish for Richard and means "Powerful Leader." His middle name, Fionn (Gaellic spelling of Finn), is from one of the great hereos of Irish mythology: Finn MacCool. Mythologists have suggested that he was an aspect of the god Lugh. In folklore, he was depicted as a giant, but in myth he was of normal stature. He is said to have erected the Giant's Causeway on the Antrim Coast of Ireland. Andrew and I went to Giant's Causeway with his daughter, Keelin, last summer and we had the most wonderful time and wanted to commerate that special day.
Mostly, he looks like Andrew: dark hair and eyes with a cleft chin. He has my long fingers/toes. Since he was born 11 days early, he acts very much still in the womb. He likes to be swaddled tightly, mostly eats and sleeps. On his second day, he looked up at me and raised his right eyebrow - just like Andrew does. I've never been able to do that! On Day 5, he was lying on my tummy and crawled up to my neck. He was very frustrated when he ran out of room so I let him do it all over again. He is very calm and content and only fusses slightly when he needs a burp, food, or a diaper change.
On Tuesday we took him to his first pediatrician's appointment with Dr. Eric Sepe (who has the same birthday as Ryker). When he left the hospital, his weight had dropped to 5 lb 6 oz and was already up 3 oz. I feed him as fast and as often as possible! All of his tests: hearing, PKU, etc. came out fine. We have to bring him back next week for another weigh-in since he is a small baby.
Visitors at the hospital included Mac and Marsha Odell (10 minutes after I gave birth!), my father "River Poppa" and his wife, Charlotte, Marilu and Luis Corrales, Steve and Joanne Lamm, Paul and Joan Strokes.