Ricky

My new blogging resolve is to post something everyday. It's something I have wanted to do regularly, especially since our extended family is so spread out and are always so happy when we actually post something and also to inspire me to keep a more complete history of our family. My journal writing has suffered the past couple of years so to think that a few people might be counting on me to write something everyday will be a motivator to keep going. I am going to write about each of our children this week.

 Ricky. He was born in Payson Utah a couple of weeks early, he was not breathing too well at first, he had to stay in hospital for a couple of weeks with chemical pneumonia and group B strep infection. He was healthy otherwise and so cute, I remember one of the pediatricians (who I called the "Baywatch doctor" because he was handsome and confident) said that Ricky was handsome, he said he doesn't say that to all the Mothers and then he pointed out another baby that was not so handsome. I was flattered, my baby is gorgeous, I knew it! Of course I was absolutely heartbroken each day when I had to leave him there.

 One day I came in and he looked like a four ended cotton bud, his hands and feet were wrapped in white warm towels and they had been taped on. The nurse explained they were having trouble getting a good vein for an IV so they were trying to bring the veins to the surface. I was sent out of the room not long after and cried like a little girl into Rick's shoulder because I could not be there to comfort my baby. I remember looking down at Ricky in that little bed and thinking, he doesn't understand, is this what he thinks life is like? I couldn't wait to take him home and wrap him in soft blankets and hold him and nurse him and help him forget this place.

 Ricky was about one when we began to notice he was different, but he was also just like other kids, it's impossible to explain! Others tried to comfort us and told me not to worry, but a Mother knows, I doubted myself those first years, there were many dark moments, what am I doing wrong etc. He was tested for all kinds of things over the next five years. We heard about Aspergers, it was a brand new syndrome, not every doctor knew about it then. He was labelled with many things, somantic pragmatic disorder. pervasive developmental disorder. short term memory loss. Perhaps the lack of oxygen to brain at birth had caused damage, most babies die or suffer severe brain damage from a group B strep infection but since he was treated immediately with antibiotics he escaped the worst- we heard all kinds of theories from specialists. Eventually came the diagnoses of Aspergers and learning disabilities, we were told we would never know why. Why, it is pointless to ask it but we still do.

 So our dear Ricky is now 16, he is a sophomore in high school. He has struggled and floundered but also grown and become a wonderful young man, and he is still handsome, the Baywatch doctor was right! He is shorter than most guys his age but he has a strong build. He is unsure of many things but is absolutely sure of others. Morally he is a rock, you better not swear in his presence! He loves reading the Percy Jackson series, we eventually bought it for him. He likes the fact that Percy has what everyone in the world thinks is ADD but is actually part of his god like abilities, super powers. Ricky has an elaborate imaginary world he has created where he has numerous powers, it's been going on for about 10 years now. We don't know what the future holds for Ricky, we are trying to help him plan for the future but it's tricky. This is a whole other subject! So here is my favorite video from 2011, and now that you know a little about Ricky you will know why I cried when I saw it.