Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Friday, December 29, 2006

Not Good News

Today we had our Fetal Well Being Ultrasound and the results were mixed. They confirmed that yes, she's a girl, and that at this point her heart, stomach, and structure look good. BUT, she has a Cystic Hygroma on the side of her neck which is fairly large, about 1/3 the size of her head. This means something is wrong with our little girl. It could be genetic or congenital. They also did an Amniocentesis so we can determine if it is a chromosomal abnormality or not. If it is chromosomal they are leaning towards it being Turner's Syndrome. If it's not chromosomal then they'll next conduct a Fetal Echo Cardiogram to see if there's a problem with her heart. Basically, it's not good news. We don't know anything for certain besides the fact that there is a fluid filled mass (cystic hygroma) which is an indicator that something is wrong. Worst case, our sweet baby may not survive the pregnancy. Best case, the body reabsorbs the fluid. We'll have our preliminary test results on Wednesday and definitive results the following week. Right now, we both just keep cycling through shock, denial, anger, frustration and extreme sadness. More updates to come as we know them.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

It's a Girl Pictures

I'm finally posting Riley's pictures from Fetal Foto. We don't have a lot of pictures as the 3D portion didn't work well because she was so close to the placenta so I'm only posting a few. We're going back in a few months and will post more pictures then.



Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Spoiled Little Girl

What an amazing Christmas. Riley hasn't entered the outside world yet and already she's spoiled! There are so many people who love her already. Here's a list of everything she got so far. I say so far because I know there are still a few more things to be given from Grandma Connie and Aunt Angie. Here's the list of her loot:
  • Bedding and Bedding Accessories
  • Socks, socks, socks
  • Beanies and more beanies
  • Bath towels
  • Bibs
  • Diaper Genie
  • Toy Box
  • Adorable Lamp that matches the Toy Box
  • Tummy Time Mat
  • $25 Babies R Us Gift Card (Thanks Aunt Jennifer!)
  • Rattles and Toys
  • Onsies
  • Sleepers
  • Blankets
  • Little Pink Sneakers (soooo cute)
  • Shoes
  • Cuddle Bear Woobie Holder
  • Cuddly Bear
  • And on and on!

What a spoiled (loved) little girl. I'll take a picture of everything and post it this week. Grandma Shanni also had a cute little stocking up for Riley. We took a picture on Steve's new digital camera. I'll get it posted as well.

We were also spoiled this year. The Phanton of the Opera was AMAZING!!! I've seen it previously in SLC but this was taking it to the next level. Just think Theatrical Production + Las Vegas Show and you can imagine what I'm talking about. We also got a new Camcorder so that we can take lots of video of Riley once she's born. We might have to start practicing with the girls (our 4-legged girls that is).

And Tate was spoiled this year as well! We went to see her Christmas morning and had a blast playing with her and her presents. She got some pretty neat stuff. We got her a pink Barbie Electric Guitar. She loved it of course. Anything with music she loves. I kind of like playing with it myself.

Back to work today. Yuck. But, at least I can get caught up and lots done while everyone is still out.

Finally, Shelly is feeling Riley more and more every day! She's an active one that's for sure!

Friday, December 22, 2006

We're Not Big Winners

We had lots of fun gambling last night but no big wins to report. We came out just $67.00 ahead and that won't pay for Riley's college. Maybe we'll get lucky today!

Tonight we're going to see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. The tickets are part of our Christmas gift from my Dad and Stepmom. They also gave us the CD so we can listen to it on the way home. It will be a very nice last evening in Vegas. Then we're up and out of here early in the morning for the big trek back to Utah.

Riley keeps kicking! Shelly's feeling her little twinges daily. We love that she's physically making her presence known!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

We Found Riley's Bedding!

I drug Shelly all over yesterday looking for Riley's bedding. I was bound and determined not to go home empty handed. Everything was either too pink, too masculine, too cutesy. We finally found something we fell in love with at Burlington. It's called Pocket Full of Posies and is kind of classic and old fashioned. It will look great with our already sage green paint and brown toned carpet. We didn't buy the decorative hearts for the wall as we have other ideas for the walls. We also didn't get the lamp but did get everything else. Every time I look at it I just smile because I LOVE IT! I love that it's not all pink but rather more red and yellow but still sooo girly. I couldn't be happier.

And, I've decided on the spelling. It will be Riley Joe. Thanks to everyone who offered advice. I've written it out over and over and like the looks of Riley Joe the best.

We're off to the casino tonight. Hopefully we win big and can put it in a 529 college fund for Riley.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Pink, Kicks, and Names

We arrived in Vegas last night. My Dad and Stepmom had a few special surpises for us and the Little One from Santa. The got Rylie the cutest, cutest things. Lots and lots of Pink. The little pink newborn tennis shoes they got her are ADORABLE!!! We are so, so lucky and very, very blessed to have such wonderful people to love and care about us as well as our baby.

Yesterday we made the drive from SLC to Las Vegas. We made it in record time having a pregnant woman in the car. We only made two bathroom stops in 5 and 1/2 hours which I need worse than her. Too much Diet Pepsi. But all the way day down Shell kept feeling little twinges in her belly. We're pretty positive it's Rylie. So yesterday was the first day she started feeling the Little One kick. I think she was just SOOO excited to see Grandpa and Grandma and to gamble!

I'm having name dilemas. Shelly says I can spell the first and middle name any way I want. The first dilema is do we spell the middle name Joe or Jo. I'm leaning towards Joe because that is my Dad's name and it's after him. But is it too masculine? I don't know. I can't decide. The spelling of her first name I thought I had decided on a long time ago with Ryleigh. About three weeks ago I changed my mind to Rylie. Now that everyone is giving us gifts they make the tags out to Riley. I also LOVE the way that looks. I'm so picky about the spelling. So, right now, I'm sitting on Rylie or Riley. Not sure which one I'll decide on in the end. Hopefully I decide soon because I have crafty things to make for her bedroom.

We're off to do some shopping! I hope we find bedding for Rylie (or Riley's) room!

Sunday, December 17, 2006

It's a GIRL!!!

Its a Girl and her name is Rylie Joe (Joe is my Dad's name).

We had our Fetal Foto appointment yesterday which was AMAZING!! We had a room full of family there with us. Shelly's Dad was so cute about it. He'd ask, "Is that a foot? We'll I'll be damned." Over and over again. He thought it was pretty amazing. Shelly's Grandma was there with us as well which was wonderful. This will be her 21st Grandchild and but this was the first time she'd been to an Ultrasound. It was such a special experience and we are very blessed to have such wonderful family that wanted to share it with us.

But, again, Rylie didn't want to fully cooperate. I think she might be a little fiesty as she never really cooperates at our Ultrasound appointments. She loves the Placenta and likes to hug it like a Yoga Ball. Because of this we couldn't get the 3D/4D to work properly. So we get to go back in a few weeks, or months, to have it done again and hope she'll cooperate. At least she was in a position where we could confirm the sex!

My Mom was with us so after the appointment we decided to grab a quick bite to eat and head to Babies R Us to purchase our first Little Girl outfit!! We ended up with three. We each picked one. I can't wait to go shopping in Vegas this week. Our goal...find her bedding!

Both Shelly and I are suffering through winter colds. I'm ok because I can take medicine to make me feel better but Shelly can't. She's pretty much miserable.

I'll post Rylie's pictures later today after Shelly can help me figure out how to open the files.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

No Amnio!

We got the results from our Quad Screen tonight. We had the lowest possible risk in all three categories. Because of this they don't feel there is any need to do an Amniocenteses!!! Basically, all is well! Yeah!!!

People have wondered why we're doing our Ultrasound to find out the sex so early. It's because I'm too impatient!! I also wanted to know the sex before we go to Las Vegas for Christmas and shopping. We'll be 16 weeks and 6 days on the day of the test. Fetal Foto said you can come in as early as 16 weeks. The doctor sets you up for a test at 19 to 20 weeks. I just couldn't wait that long!

Just two days!!!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

GRRRRR

Today has been one of those days!!! I'm a walking nightmare today. Everyone I talk to is an idiot! I trip, fall, or drop something with every move I make. I've spilled every drink of coffee or soda I've had today. And, if someone even looks at me funny I'm on the verge of tears! AND I'M NOT THE PREGNANT ONE!!! I called Shelly to vent and she's been crying most the day as well. What is happening to us?!? I'll be glad to have today over with! GRRRRR~~~

I finished our Christmas shopping last night! Yeah!!! DONE! Now we have several "Home Made Projects" to finish before Tuesday of next week.

We got our second baby gift today!!! A co-worker of mine gave me a Christmas gift, and besides her yummy homemade pretzels, she gave us some onsies. They're adorable! It still amazes me to think that there will be a little baby that small wearing those clothes.

Only 4 days to go!!

Monday, December 11, 2006

Itch Relieved!!!

From my last two posts you'll recall I've suffered new baby shoppers block. I've had the itch to shop but haven't been able to bring myself to buy anything for the Little One. Saturday I convinced Shelly to adventure with me to Babies R Us. I think the cure for my itch was that we had to be TOGETHER to buy the first baby stuff! We bought our first outfit, picked up some onsies, socks, beanies, and one little rattle.Yeah!!! We can now start putting stuff in the baby's room, as soon as we get it emptied out, cleaned, painted, bead board installed, and furniture moved in. :)

Saturday night was an exciting night at our house. Shelly's brother, who lives with us, thought he had the stomach flu and wasn't feeling well. I decided to get all of our presents wrapped so I pulled everything into the TV room. Which means there are presents and wrapping paper everywhere!!! The dogs thought it made for a FUN obstacle course. Just as I get started Steve announces he's taking himself to the emergency room because he's in too much pain for it to just be the stomach flu. Before I even get a chance to get ready and go with him he leaves. Shelly and I agreed someone needed to be with him in case something's wrong but it can't be Shelly because we don't want her exposed to all the germs floating around in an ER. So I leave the obstacle course out for the dogs and head to the ER. Over the course of the next six and half hours Steve is examined, drugged, sent to surgery, has his appendix removed, recovered, and brought back home. It was a CRAZY night! The good news is yesterday he felt a 100% better. He actually felt so good he cooked US Sunday dinner!

Just FIVE days until we know if Little One is a boy or girl!!!

Saturday, December 9, 2006

Still Itching!

I almost broke down in tears last night right in the middle of Burlington Coat Factory. I still can't get myself to buy anything! I called my sweet, patient, and still quite sick Shelly and she talked me through it. She's right in that once I know the sex it will be MUCH easier! Second, I may not be completely cured until I meet the Little One. Once I'm introduced to our sweet baby and get to know him or her shopping will be MUCH easier and much more fun. Her last opinion is it's Little One's influence on helping me to become more frugal and not spend as much money unnecessarily. She may be right AGAIN! I so love shopping, and do go a little overboard sometimes. Maybe the days I continue to not buy anything I should come home and put that money in a savings account for the Little One. Good news is that there is just SIX days until we know if the Little One is a boy or girl!!!

We went with plan C last night. Shelly's had a BAD headache the past three days. Got to love those hormones! She didn't feel up to seeing the lights or shopping. I brought Italian Village home for dinner. Yummy!!! We watched the Utah Jazz game and I worked on my email of which I'm so far behind. It was a nice Friday night except the Ghost Whisper wasn't on. Shelly did agree, assuming she feels up to it today, that we'll go to Babies R Us, and go see how our friends new house is coming along. I hope her headache is better today. It woke her up several times last night. Anyone have a cure for hormonal headaches???

Friday, December 8, 2006

The Itch!

I'm totally going crazy with the baby shopping itch! I try to shop but still can't find anything I like. We won't know the sex for seven more days. But that's just SEVEN DAYS AWAY!!! Whenever I go to Target, Wally World, Kohl's, etc. I ALWAYS go through the baby sections. EVERYTHING is boy or girl! I can't find anything I like that is unisex. So I still haven't really bought anything for the Little One. BUT, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Did I mention that hopefully, assuming the Little One cooperates, we'll find out the sex IN SEVEN DAYS!!! We leave for Las Vegas a few days after the Little One has been revealed and we plan to SHOP, SHOP, SHOP! Hopefully we can find bedding we like there. So far we're being VERY picky and haven't fallen in love with anything. Shelly's brother did buy the Bead Board to put up in the Nursery. That's a post Holiday project.

Tonight, assuming the Little One goes easy on Shelly today, we're going to go downtown to see the lights and have dinner. If she's not up to that then plan B, which she doesn't know there's a plan B, is to go to BabiesRUs and look. Maybe start on the gift registry. And if she's not up to that then plan C, stay home, get take-out, and watch the Ghost Whisperer (which we love)!

This weekend is a busy one for both of us, Shelly works this weekend, but at least it's from home, and I have a chore list a MILE long. Cleaning, holiday baking, holiday gift projects, wrapping presents, shopping, and of course, watching a little football!

In parting, let me just give out a shout out for my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers who toppled the Browns last night! Way to go boys!!!

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

The Belly is Growing!

I'm a bad blogger. It's been quite a few days since I've blogged. It's just a busy time of year. But I do love the holidays!

Shelly's belly has suddenly expanded. She's getting that pregnancy bump! I love that the Little One is finally starting to become more visable!

Shelly's been under the weather today. Just a bad pregnancy day. Naseau, bloating, panic attack, etc. It's hard to see her go through days like this and not be able to do much for her. Hopefully she'll have a better day tomorrow.

Last night I took Tate to the mall to ride the Merry-Go-Round. This time we actually rode it twice! She was pretty excited about that. We also went to see Santa. She wasn't quite as happy with that. I asked if she wanted to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what she wants for Christmas. She said, "No, I'll just sit on your lap and tell you ok." She was not about to sit on a strange guys lap. No way! Then we came home and watched the claymation version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." I love that show. I forgot how much fun music it has in it. My favorite song is definitely "Put one foot in front of the other..." What a classic show. I've got to get in on DVD for the Little One!

Friday, December 1, 2006

Strawberry Pancake

Tate's mom told me the cutest story about Tate today. Over Thanksgiving Tate got a Strawberry Shortcake doll. At first she wasn't super interested but when they got ready to leave she says to her mom, "Wait, I need my Strawberry Pancake doll!" Strawberry Shortcake will now forever be known as Strawberry Pancake.


One of our friends read our blog the other day and emailed me with the good news that they had a Doppler that we could borrow. As soon as I got home from St. Louis we picked it up. We then came right home, after a detour at the mall to get Shelly a "Hot Dog on a Stick" which has been her recent craving, and listened to the Little One's heart beat. Shelly found it right away and we clearly heard the "whoosh - whoosh - whoosh" sound of our LO's heart beat. Hearing it once again brought big, big smiles to our face. Steve got to hear it also. It will be nice to use when we are suffering "In-between-itis" (thanks for the official term Karen!).

It was nice visiting with our friend who loaned us the Doppler. We hadn't seen her in awhile. Her and her partner have an adorable almost three year old girl and two very cutie pie 4 month old twin boys. Talk about a whirlwind! Three kids under 3. K, I'm not sure how you do it but I so admire you for getting it done! You're a great mom!

Just 15 days until the gender identification ultrasound!

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

The In Between Stage

We're currently in the "In Between" stage. It's too early for Shelly to feel the little one and we're two weeks from the next doctors appointment. It's "in between" for us because it's been two weeks since our last appointment with two more to go. It's hard when you can't feel the LO yet. Shelly's starting to feel better which makes you then start to worry..."Is everything okay? Is the baby okay? etc., etc., etc, etc. " You expectant mothers all know what I'm talking about. How do you get through it? We're seriously thinking of renting a doppler for the next couple of months so we can hear the heartbeat until Shelly can start to feel the LO kick. It would be fun to have a doppler over the Christmas holidays so that we can let the family hear Little One's heartbeat. Anyone else rent a doppler? Is it worth it? I'm interested to hear what think.

On another note, I'm miles and miles from home in St. Louis on business. :( Shelly, my three four legged kids, and the Little One are all curled up together at home in front of a fire watching COPS. Yes, Cops. One of Shelly's favorite shows. It's a good thing I'm out of town so she can enjoy watching it because it's NOT a favorite of mine. I MISS YOU GUYS! Luckily my trip is ending early which means if the flights are available I'll be home a day early!

Monday, November 27, 2006

Our First Baby Gift!!!

Last week was Thanksgiving. It's tradition with Shelly's family, who we spend Thanksgiving with, to get together the day after Thanksgiving for left overs. Shelly's sister and niece had been shopping that day and picked up a little surprise for the Little One. They gave us two adorable onesies. Our very first baby gift! I was so excited and touched that I cried! I hope I don't cry every time we get a baby gift. We were holding those tiny newborn onesies and couldn't hardly believe that in six months a tiny little baby will be wearing them. Did I mention that they were so tiny!!

We're officially in our SECOND TRIMESTER! Yeah!!! Shelly's feeling much better. She still has her moments but the constant nausea is gone. She's gone from not being able to eat to feeling hungry every 30 minutes. It's no wonder as much as the baby is growing right now. In the books I'm reading it says that Little One will go through it's biggest growth spurt during the next four weeks, and will actually double in size. No wonder Shelly's belly is starting to show signs of a bulge.

Good news! I have officially overcome my "Shoppers Block"! I spent 8 hours shopping with friends on Black Friday. I was able to almost finish our Christmas Shopping and even picked up a couple of presents for Shelly and the Little One. I love shopping the day after Thanksgiving! There's nothing like watching crazy people push each other around at 5:00 am in the morning!

I'm off to St. Louis tomorrow on business. This is the first time I've left Shelly since we became pregnant. I don't like that I'll be away from her and not here to help take care of her. At least it's just a few days and Steve is here to watch over her.

Little One's Gender ID test is just 19 days away!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Shoppers Block

I've been waiting three months to begin shopping for Little One. We've crossed that 1st Trimester mark which means I could begin to pick up a few things. Yesterday I stopped by Pottery Barn Kids. Three months ago I would have spent, spent, spent. Now that the time has come, I'm not spending! Everything I thought about getting I would tell myself to "wait until after the Baby Shower". What has happened to me??? I know I'm not becoming frugel. Sorry, Shelly, it's true, I can't be changed. But I think I do have Shoppers Block. Hopefully I'll get over it before Friday aka THE BIGGEST SHOPPING DAY OF THE YEAR!!! Maybe I'm just saving up my energy for Friday. I know I'll need it! I did buy a CD of Nursery Rhymes. Shelly and I were trying to sing with Tate the other day and couldn't remember the words to most of the songs. We agreed we better "brush up" on Nursery Rhymes before Little One is born. When I ran across the CD at PB Kids I thought I'd better pick it up and get a jump start on becoming a expert Nursery Rhyme performer. Did I mention I can't wait to shop this Friday???

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Picture of the Little One

Here's a picture of our Little One! This is from Friday, 11/17. Little One was very active and his or her favorite position was standing on its head.


Last weekend we took Tate to the Aquarium exhibit. She loved it! Lots of Nemo's, Dori's, Sharks, and Fishies. Below are our pictures from the Photo Booth there. I couldn't get Shelly to get in the booth with us. And, I have to make sure you all know this was NOT a beauty day for me. It was get up, throw a visor on, and get out of the house.

Monday, November 20, 2006

12/16 - The Big Day

I couldn't wait any longer. I've scheduled an appointment with Fetal Foto for December 16th. Our appointment with the Doctor to found out the sex is 12/29. Who can wait that long!! I need to shop BEFORE christmas! Plus, by going to Fetal Foto we can have the Grandmother's, Shelly's sister, brother, and niece all come. My Mom's asked if she could come to a doctor appointment with us but if we do that we need to bring everyone. I'm all about being fair. I can just see us showing up for a doctor appointment with five family members. So, in order to include everyone we've made the appointment with FF. I can't wait!!!

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Stubborn Little One

13 weeks today! Yeah!!!

It's been a crazy couple of days. Thursday was the first of our integrated screening appointments. We we're so conflicted about whether to do the screening or not. We decided to meet with them, get our questions answered and then decide. In the end we chose to go ahead with the testing knowing the risk of false positives but feeling like everything is fine and it could at least rule out any questions on doing an amnio. The test is done via ultrasound and blood work. We started the ultrasound and the first thing they did was let us HEAR THE HEARTBEAT!!! We both started crying! We'd seen the heart beat before but never heard it. Little One's HB was 148 on Thursday. It's been 162 before and at Friday's appointment it was 138.

Little One (LO) wouldn't cooperate during the ultrasound and move into a position where they could get the measurements on the back of the head. LO was standing on its head, punching, kicking, and stretching but would not move in the right position for them. We tried three different times with Shelly getting up, walking around, stretching, but LO wouldn't cooperate. We got some great pictures though! I'll get them posted hopefully today. We finally gave up and made arrangements to come back Friday morning before our OB appointment. Friday morning came and LO had moved and was now kneeling and laying over the placenta but still would not move into a position where they could get the measurements. We gave up and decided to do the test with just the blood work. I think LO was trying to tell us that the tests weren't necessary. But we did walk away with lots of great ultrasound pictures!

Friday morning we had our OB appointment. Everything is good so far. Shelly's lost 4 lbs. this month. I'm not surprised as sick as she's been. Our OB used the doppler and we got to hear the heartbeat again. So fun! Once again Shelly had to get blood work done. By10:00 am Friday morning Shelly had been poked five different times while they tried to get blood. After they finally got blood samples we got our flu shots which made us both a little sick. Thank goodness we only go to the doctor once a month. It was a crazy morning.

We're now supposed to get the other blood test for the integrated screening done between December 4th & 8th. We're supposed to go for our test to find out if it's a boy or girl around January 1st. But I CAN'T wait that long! I'm going to try to get us into Fetal Photos before Christmas.

Last night we took Tate for a sleep over. So much fun! Yesterday we went to the mall and rode the Merry-go-round, saw Santa, and Built a Bear at Build-a-Bear. Then we picked up Shelly and went to see Fishes at the Aquarium. Today we're coloring and playing. Lots of fun!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Belly Laughs

I couldn't help myself. I had to stop by Babies R Us last night. I knew I couldn't buy anything for the baby yet since we're not quite through the third trimester but I could at least look!! Such cute stuff! I can't WAIT to start shopping! I did make a purchase. Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy. So funny! I was so LOL reading about her hard boiling her baby. Poor Shelly, she wasn't feeling well, queasy after dinner, and was laying on my lap while I rubbed her head and read this book. Couldn't have been very relaxing for her because I kept cracking up.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

It's Snowing!

It's snowing! The first storm of the season. It's so windy that it woke both of us up at 4:30 this morning. Of course we can't go back to sleep. The minute we wake up we start thinking baby thoughts! So, I'm up reading email before I get ready for work. Roxi needs to go to the bathroom but won't go off the back porch because it's so wet and windy. She's our big baby.



We bought the $60 pillow! Hopefully it's worth it. I've been reading that the full body pregnancy pillows from Babies R Us are well worth the money. Shelly's having such a hard time sleeping we thought we'd give it a try. Her biggest problem right now is she feels so bloated. It should be here in a couple of days. Hope it helps!


Our friends LB and Erin, Tate's Mom's, are pregnant again and just three weeks behind us. It's pretty neat to be pregnant at the same time. But, LB is so sick this time. She's even doing IV therapy to help get her through it. I feel so bad for her. Plus, Tate's an active two+ year old. I watch how awful Shelly feels and think how hard it would be to be pregnant AND run around after a two year old!

It's going to be a crazy, wet, cold, day. Guess I better get ready and hit the streets before all the other crazy people are on the roads!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Shelly's in BIG trouble!

Shelly is in so much trouble! Yesterday we were talking baby stuff of course and she said to me, "I wish that for one day you could feel the way I feel." It wasn't an hour later that I was almost doubled over with stomach cramps and nausea! I thought I was going to die. I still feel a little queasy today but much better than yesterday. She cursed me! She's the pregnant one for a reason! I'm too much of a baby when I'm sick. She's better at it then me.

I read on another blog today, a couple that used the same donor as us, that they're baby, due in February, starts kicking like crazy whenever they play any type of music. They think the baby's already musically inclined because of this and because the donor is a musician. Maybe our little one will have great musical ability as well! If he or she does I know it won't come from Shelly or I since neither of us are good at singing, dancing, or playing a musical instrument. The good news is Shelly can teach the little one to drawn and I have the responsiblity of teaching him or her to STAMP!

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Our first entry!

This is the first for us. We had no idea how to blog but ran across some other blogs of interest and decided to give it a try. We've decided to create this site to share information with our family and friends about our journey into parenthood.

As of today we're 12 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Almost through the first trimester! We can't wait to cross the first major milestone. Shelly's still feeling quite sick (nauseous) and is having lots of back ache today.

This week we have two appointments. One with maternal fetal medicine to do a quad screening. This is a preliminary test to look for any serious problems or chromosomal issues. We keep trying to decide if we even want to do the test because we're having this baby unless there is something seriously wrong that would gravely impact the baby's quality of life. Any thoughts on this?? We'd love to hear from you.

We also have our second OB appointment this week. After a lot of research and searching we've found an OB-GYN that we love!

We've had three ultrasounds so far. Two at the U of U and one with our OB. So far everything looks great. I'll get our pictures scanned in and posted.

Lots of exciting stuff as we get closer to the end of the first trimester. We can't wait to start shopping!!!

Our Conception Story

After eight years together we were pretty sure we'd spend our life with our four legged kids, doing lots of camping, and traveling the world. On August 12, 2004 that all changed with the birth of our God Daughter Tate. We immediately fell completely in love with her and soon began to re-think our decision of not having kids.

In October 2005 we began the process of trying to conceive. As soon as we started trying Shelly began having very erratic cycles which made the process that more complicated. After four tries over six months we decided to schedule a consultation with the a Reproductive Specialist. We were desperate to conceive and on a limited time frame since Shelly had just turned 41. Dee was 35 at the time but not able to conceive due to a medical procedure.

Our first appointment with the Repro Man was May 2006. He suggested we try IVF using Dee's eggs and Shelly as the gestational mother. He felt this scenario would give us the highest chance for success of a healthy pregnancy. We spent a short amount of time weighing our options and decided this was the best choice. We began our first IVF cycle in August. They did the Egg Retrieval and Fertilization on 8/31. Three days later, 9/3, they transferred three embryos into Shelly. Then the wait began.

Shelly promised not to begin the home pregnancy test too soon. Dee had to travel out of state for business a week after the transfer and asked Shelly to please wait to test. BUT, the wait was too much for her and she started testing after a week. At first there was no line. But after a couple of days testing a faint line started to appear. When Dee came home from her trip Shelly told her, "I know I'm pregnant." Dee didn't believe her and insisted the line wasn't dark enough so she tested herself to compare. There was absolutely no line. She began to believe Shelly was pregnant but still had doubt. Dee went to the store and bought another brand of testing strips. After five home tests, we were convinced we we're pregnant due to all positive results. A blood test at two weeks confirmed it; we were going to have a baby!