The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By DAVID GRIMES for The Quill
NEW BOSTON - Never refuse help, even if it's offered by a clown.
Just ask Tony and Michelle Ryan, a thirty-something couple from rural New Boston who received help when they didn't know they'd be needing it and from a source they never expected.
The two met several years ago - when Tony worked as a sixth grade teacher and Michelle worked in special education at Louisa-Muscatine Elementary School.
Tony came to Union Elementary School, Biggsville, two years ago, where he was until recently elementary principal.
In April 2001, the Ryans' daughter, Abby, arrived prematurely - 15 weeks early to be exact.
Abby is fine now; an active 3-year-old that loves to be read to, likes to work puzzles and can't get enough of the great outdoors on a warm spring day.
Mom is doing well also. The Ryans have added another face to the family, son Toby arrived 4 1/2 months ago.
But on April 9, 2001, Michelle became ill without explanation.
"My vision was blurred and I was experiencing flu-like symptoms," she said.
By late in the day, Michelle Ryan was on the way to the hospital in Muscatine, where she was diagnosed as suffering from preeclampsia, a condition that affects about 7 percent of pregnancies.
The condition ranges in intensity from mild to severe.
"I was pretty severe," Ryan said.
"They immediately transported Michelle to University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City," Tony Ryan said.
Michelle was admitted late that evening and the following morning doctors induced labor and delivered Abby by c-section.
The Ryans' baby girl weighed less than a pound-and-a-half.
"She was just 1 pound, 6 ounces," Tony Ryan said. "The size of a 20-ounce Coke bottle."
Abby would be in neonatal ICU for an undetermined amount of time, but the Ryans had been blindsided by their infant daughter's early arrival and were still stunned.
Thinking about what they would do for accommodations and understandably not wanting to leave their baby, they had nowhere to turn.
"It was a whirlwind situation," Tony Ryan said.
Hospital staff members urged the Ryans to get their names on a waiting list for the Iowa City Ronald McDonald House as soon as possible and prepare to stay for a while.
"I'd heard about the house, but didn't know much about," Tony Ryan said. "The time since Michelle left home for the hospital had been an emotional whirlwind and we hadn't given thought to where we'd be staying or for how long."
The Ryans would come to know the facility inside and out, however, as Abby would spend her first 3 1/2 months of life in intensive care, "faring well for the most part but dealing with day-to-day ups and downs.
Feeding and oxygen tubes were the infant girl's safety net, although her greatest threat was infections, including a lung infection that doctors had difficulty identifying and that kept Abby in isolation for a week.
"It was a roller coaster time," Ryan said. "There were real good days and some not-so-good days."
But despite her time spent in ICU, Abby Ryan eventually was released.
The day before she was released, Abby's heart rate dropped. Doctors were able to get it stabilized, but she did take a heart monitor with her when she was dismissed the following day.
The day Abby went home for the first time she weighed 6 lbs., 3 oz. - a far cry from being the size of a Coke bottle.
"During those 3 1/2 months, Abby's doctors - Neonatal ICU head Edward Bell and neonatologist Jeff Segar - became as much a part of our family as anyone," Tony Ryan said.
The Ryans said they are grateful for how their respective school districts worked with them in allowing them time off for Michelle's complicated delivery and Abby's birth.
The Ryans set up collection sites at their respective schools to collect pop can pull tabs that they in turn give to the Iowa City Ronald McDonald House to be redeemed for cash.
And during the school year, Tony Ryan takes a group of Union Junior High School student council members to Iowa City for a day of volunteer service at the house.
The house benefits from volunteers from a number of organizations who spend a few hours or a few days cooking, cleaning and routine maintenance at the facility.
Last fall, Tony Ryan received a call from the Iowa City house. He was asked to serve on the 18-member board for the Iowa City Ronald McDonald House.
He was surprised, he said, but couldn't say anything but yes.
"I didn't know how to respond, but I agreed since the house was so good to us," he said.
Ryan began his three-year term in January.
While the house that welcomes one and all is named for a corporate clown, Ryan knows what is really responsible for the success of the Iowa City Ronald McDonald House.
"It's an amazing place," he said, "because this is definitely the house that love built."
Tony Ryan, principal of Union Elementary School, rural Biggsville, and his three year old daughter, Abby, spend time together. Ryans became closely involved with the Ronald McDonald House in Iowa City, Iowa after Abby was born prematurely. Ryan now serves on the Ronald McDonald House Board of Directors.
-photo by John Lovretta/ Courtesy of the Hawk Eye