We're home!

Getting to know Uncle Nick!

Blowing snow and cold. But all seems to be great!!!

Waiting to go home

Mandi and Michael are waiting to take Matthias home... hopfully soon!

Connection

Be Careful With My Baby Brother!

Makayla was outside the nursery watching as they did all of the new baby stuff to her little brother.

Makayla and Matthias' Newborn Pics

My photo documentary

This link should take you to my Flickr page containing photos fromf the big event!

Enjoy!

BobbyDee's Flickr page

We are all very excited about Matthias joining our family! Thank you all for your prayers, emails and calls.

Below is an email from Michael and Mandi explaining Matthias' situation. We ask that you please continue to pray for Matthias and the Collyar family.

Thank you!!

Most of you on this list know that we have been concerned about Matthias for about 2 months now when we found out through an ultrasound that he had a small head - smaller than normal. We've had several doctors look at him while Mandi was pregnant and the results have been encouraging as far as there being no longterm effects - the risk has been there, but everything was good so far. After he was born, the nurses checked him over and I was eyeing him like a hawk. The good news was he was a small baby with a small head. The head measured small, but it was considered in their "normal" range on the graph. And he screamed loud from the get go and acts normal like any other newborn.

Yesterday we got a little bit of disturbing news, but not horrific yet. They did an ultrasound on his brain and found out that he at some point in time during the pregnancy (more than likely 2 or 3 months ago) had what they call a "mini-stroke". This is what caused the brain to measure small in the womb and basically made it develop a little slower than the rest of the body. The good news is the brain has been resolving the problem and has grown since then to look somewhat normal. His brain is just not as developed as they'd like to see a full-term baby - more like what a 25 or 26 week old premature baby's brain would look like.

The outlook is unclear at this moment. The good news, like I said, is he's behaving extremely well. We'll have to go to Little Rock to see a Pediatric Neurologist in the next month or so. We might find out more there. Basically, we'll be doing what we thought we would be doing and that's watching him develop to make sure nothing looks abnormal - and parents are always a good judge of that (tongue-in-cheek). It could be that he grows up to have a perfectly normal life or he might have some sort of handicap or any number of things in between. All this to say thank you for your prayers. We're happy, sad, nervous, mad, joyful, scared, etc. A roller coaster of emotions. Please continue to pray for peace of mind and that God would grant this little boy the resiliency to beat these odds he's been given here at the beginning. We all know kids are resilient and don't know when to quit. It just makes for a better story when Tom Rinaldi from ESPN does a story on him after he beats a 55 year old Tiger Woods in a playoff at the Masters - but I don't have very high expectations.

(I'm kidding by the way for those of you who are offended by my attempt at humor in a stressful situation - that's just how I roll).

Other than that, Matthias is pooping, peeing, screaming, looking at you, keeping us awake like any newborn. Hopefully we'll get out of the hospital today or tomorrow. We really do appreciate all the emails and calls and thoughts coming our way. It's awesome to have family and friends who care. I'll post more about things as we know them on the blog. Thanks everyone!

Michael, Mandi, Makayla, and now...... Matthias

Matthias and Mandi

Thanks for all the prayers!

Last post tonight... Really!

Welcome Matthias James Collyar!

6lbs, 6oz 19in long.

Everybody is great! He's already had dinner and lots of it!

I'll post more pics tonight or tomorrow!

Thanks for your prayers,
BobbyDee

He's Here!!!!!!!

We can hear him crying!

More in a bit!!

This is the hard part...

Granna, Tonya and Makayla, along with Nana, uncle BJ, me and uncle Nick have been kicked out of the room. The Dr. and nurses are In with Mandi and Michael... It shouldn't be long!

Time to push!!

It won't be long now!!!!!

Makayla is here!!!!

Mandi is a 5 and has the epidural and pitocin thing going on... she's feeling much better! Also, having Makayla here helps.

More to come!!!!

Waiting...

They just finished with the epidural and we're waiting to go back in.

The fun is over...

The contractions are more frequent and harder... about 2 min apart.

Uncle BJ and Jan waiting outside...

The Dr. is checking Mandi... All is good.

The next step is the epidural and potocin to move the labor along.

Dr. Mom's here... All is well.

We're at the hospital

We are in the room with Mandi and she looks great. Her hair is fixed and the makeup is on.

The contractions are light and she is in great spirits!

More to come...

Waiting makes you hungry!

Uncle BJ and uncle Nick must have breakfast... it could be a long day.

Jan just talked to Mandi and she is not even in a room. She wants us to wait till she's in her room to come to the hospital.

Jan and I are taking Makayla to daycare and someone will pick her up when Mandi gets closer.

Stay tuned

Gotta have caffeine

Family stop @ Hilltop in Rudy.

It's time!

We got the call at 6:23. Her water had broken. MJ is setting his own schedule.

Thursday is the big day!

Our grandson (we just know the initials MJ) will come into the world on Thursday, February 26.

Mandi will be induced Thursday morning and we'll finally get to meet MJ!

Our grandsughter, Makayla is so excited about her baby brother!

I'll keep posting photos and information as the day goes on.

Please pray fhat everything goes well for Mandi and MJ during this time.

Later,
BobbyDee

The awesome Makayla

This is my awesome granddaughter Makayla.