About his name...
Antonette and I really had a difficult time conferring on a single first name. Though not exhaustive, some of the names on our list included: Drake, Damian, Thanos, Roman, Ray, Dante, Colin, Chance, Jaguar, Trinidad, and Gage (came very close to using that name).  "Baby Boy" was his generic name until we could come up with a "real" name.  We were watching the ending credits for the movie, "Beowulf & Grendel", when Antonette saw the name "Ronan" and that reminded me of the great movie "Ronin" (staring Robert DeNiro).  The name grew on us quickly:  It wasn't a common name which was important to us and just felt good.  As to the spelling, well, as mentioned previously, Antonette was thinking "row-nan" while I was thinking "row-nin".  She wanted to know what they meant (I already knew what "Ronin" meant ) so I indulged her and went to www.dictionary.com and read the definitions of both. Since she wasn't too hip on naming a child after a king who killed his son, she went with "Ronin", which is "a samurai who...had become a wanderer without a lord".



Ultrasounds

13June2006
The first image...the head.    Footsies!    Antonette got HER wish...it's a boy.

23August2006
Head shot...lookin' healthy.
The surprise baby shower I threw for Antonette:
The Birth of Ronin Ray Erkson
20Oct06-
9:00pm With 32 minutes left to watch in the DVD, "Silent Hill", Antonette says the contractions are too much and she needs to go to the hospital. We drop Bella off with her biological father for the night.
9:45pm Baby isn't low enough and her cervix is unchanged so we're told to go home and wait until the contractions become more intense. We're told that this could possibly last until Monday -- Antonette wasn't happy with that!
10:30pm We left the hospital and they give Antonette a couple pills to help her sleep.
21Oct06--
1:30am Antonette wakes me up and tells me we are going to the hospital NOW! Contractions about 3 minutes apart and strong. She's been awake the whole time...the sleeping pills did not affect her.
2:00am First examination at the hospital and Antonette is at 4cm. Contractions are very strong.
3:39am Epidural administered.
3:53am Doctor breaks Antonette's water bag to encourage the delivery along.
6:30am Ready for delivery! The pushing begins!
7:15am Epidural suddenly stops working and Antonette experiences the real deal! The anesthesiologist (a great guy, BTW) is baffled but says it can happen. He gives her a spinal and re-does the epidural. Antonette's pain quickly subsides. I have time to grab a quick breakfast from the cafeteria. I carry my cell phone with me just in case.
8:37am I'm in the coffee room (which is directly across from our birthing room) when my cell phone rings. Antonette is trying to talk to me but is flustered. I tell her to wait a second, then I take 5 steps and I'm in our room and ask what's going on (lots of people in the room). I'm told she's going to get a Cesarian section! I get dressed for the operation room.
9:08am Ronin Erkson is pulled from Antonette's uterus...which I get to see! I pretty much got to see the whole C-section as well as them tieing her tubes. Though groggy, Antonette was doing well and kept her sense of humor, a good sign. His stats:
7 pounds and 14 ounces, 20¼ inches in length, normal looking and healthy!
Both mom and baby rest in the recovery room for a couple hours then are moved to a normal maternity room.
Ronin's heartbeat and Mom's thoughts 11.9Mb
Talk talk talk talk talk! Ronin afterwards. 4.1Mb

Click here for pictures of the experience.