As many hurdles as Riley keeps crossing we think she just might grow up to be a track star. Something like the 400 meter hurdles maybe?
The good news is she's crossed another hurdle. Her heart is normal! Did you get that? NORMAL!!!!
The Cardiologist spent quite a bit of time meeting with us, reviewing the Ultrasound, and thoroughly explaining everything. Besides her heart being normal, the blood flow to and from the heart and major organs looks normal as well.
The Hygroma is still there. Because he has never seen us before he had no frame of reference to tell whether it was smaller, larger, or the same. Both Shelly and I, with our infinite medical wisdom (yeah right), agreed that proportionally it looked the same, about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of her head. The Cardiologist did not see any veins or arteries in the Hygroma which is GREAT news! He also did not see any Hydrops (fluid anywhere else in the body) which is EXCELLENT!!!
What does all of this mean? It means Riley still has a Cystic Hygroma which is moderate in size and located on the back of her neck/shoulder. It's good that it's on the back of her neck versus the front. If located on the front of her neck it could restrict her airway. It doesn't look as if the Hygroma is causing any stress to any major organs. We've also ruled out any Chromosomal abnormalities. It means we should continue to move forward with guarded optimism. We'll still need to check on her via Ultrasound every three to four weeks to make sure that she's doing okay and that there is no hydrops (fluid build up anywhere else in her body). The Cardiologist feels that with a normal heart she should carry to term and hopefully deliver normally, without C-section. She'll most likely require surgery within a few hours/days of being born to remove the Hygroma.
Riley's heart being normal is FANTASTIC news, and we'll take it! 30 weeks is the key turning point. Once we hit 30 weeks her chances of surviving go way up. We'll be 30 weeks on March 18th. The countdown continues.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
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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!
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!
11 comments:
I have been lurking on your blog and and so happy to see her heart is great! Hope the rest of the pregnancy is smooth sailing :)
YEAH !!!!!
I can't believe how great she's doing. Yes I can.....we knew she'd be just fine.
I am SO happy that you received such great news.
All of these milestones, every single week just gives you better odds.
WAY TO GO RILEY !!!
Congratulations on the great news! We're so happy to hear that all looks well!!!!! :)
Stacey & Angele
oh that is such amazing news! sooooo happy for you both and for little riley too, of course! :)))
This is wonderful news! We're so glad her heart is okay! Hurray!!!!
Great!
That's wonderful news about your heart!
WONDERFUL NEWS!
Ah great news you guys. You have got a real trooper on your hands!
Such awesome news!
Baby Drew can't wait to meet her!
Great news about the normal heart and the lack of hydrops! With the normal chromosomes and this new great news, you've got be super excited!!!
What great news!!! It looks like everything is moving into a fantastic direction! To go from the initial scary news and odds to this....SO awesome. Congratulations!!
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