Usually, a newborn baby has 90-95% brain matter and 5-10% fluid within the cranial cavity. When Parker was born in September 2008, he had over 98% fluid and just 8 millimeters of brain matter.

He was delivered via C-section at 39 weeks.

Of course, Parker coming into the world was quite the chaotic event. His future looked uncertain, and everyone was unsure if he would even survive, let alone what kind of life he would have ahead of him.

Thankfully, he had fantastic support from his parents – who loved their precious baby boy more than anything.

“I was by his side the whole time—talking to him, praying over him, holding his hand, rubbing his head. That unconditional love just rushes over you, and here is this helpless baby that’s been entrusted to me and I can’t do anything for him,” Ryan told.

At just two days old, medical experts at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta started to drain the excess liquid from his skull and relieve the pressure. That in turn allowed Parker’s brain to grow and develop naturally.

After that, he began to undergo operations. Doctors performed craniofacial surgeries to correct his skull malformation, but they knew they were facing a huge challenge.

“Our goal was to go in and re-expand the skull, open the skull up and separate those bones that had grown together. And, that was basically what we did— getting the space for his brain to grow and grow normally,” recalls Joseph Williams, M.D., Chief of Plastic and Craniofacial Surgery at the hospital.