I Can't Stand Your Voice Anymore

I worked from home today because my conference calls started at 7:00 am and we had a contractor coming to give us a bid on finishing the basement. Because we're wireless at home I typically work from the couch with a TV Tray serving as my makeshift desk. I get a lot done this way. I'm comfy, the dogs get to sit by me and I work, work, work. I do have a desk in the other room but I'd rather work from my couch. Anyway, that's not the point of the story.

My day consisted of 5 hours of conference calls. Three of those hours I was the chair and spent a majority of the time talking. Keep in mind, my sweet, pregnant, wife is right around the corner working in her office. When my last call finished at 4:00 she came in and said, "I can't stand your voice anymore. You've got to stop talking AND go into another room for awhile. I've heard you talking non-stop today and I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Believe it or not, I thought this was cute. She was actually laughing while saying this to me. Her hormones have gone on a rampage and today my non stop talking was the latest thing to put her over the edge. Yesterday she was extremely emotional and every little thing said to her made her cry. Something tells me I should expect this for the next three months. That's okay. I can deal with it. I just make her laugh and all is well.

Yesterday we had our appointment to check on Riley. This consists of an Ultrasound at Maternal Fetal Medicine and a review with the Perinatologist. Riley looks good. She's growing as she should and is measuring about 13-14 inches and weighs about 2 lbs. Her heartbeat was 132 bpm. There is no Hydrops which is the most important thing! Everything else, heart, stomach, brain, etc. all look good. The Cystic Hygroma is still there. It is measuring the same as it did 6 weeks ago. We asked for the measurements this time. It measures 4cm x 4cm x 2 cm and proportionally is half the size of her head. This means Riley's grown but the Hygroma hasn't. That doesn't mean it still may not grow with her as she continues to get bigger. Of course the hope is that it goes away but that is highly unlikely.

We asked if we could start getting ready since Riley seems to be doing okay. The answer was a big fat no! For those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile now you know how excited I was to start shopping, painting and getting ready. I have a list a mile long of things I want to do to prep for our new baby. Don't all new Mom's dream of this?!? I was almost counting down the minutes to the end of the first trimester in order to start the "prepping for baby" process. That lasted for about 30 days and then was put on hold. Put on hold December 29th to be exact. The Perinatologist feels we should wait and reevaluate at our next appointment on March 20th which puts us at 30 weeks. The reason for this is not that they're as concerned Riley won't survive the pregnancy but if she was born prematurely for any reason the Hygroma could complicate her medical treatment. He feels we should hold off until at least 30 weeks. Then, the next big hurdle after that, is 34 weeks. Once we get to 34 weeks the risk of complications goe way down. So, besides our weekly countdown, which are mini hurdles, the big hurdles are 30 and 34 weeks.

Speaking of mini hurdles we hit the 26 week mark on Sunday. Yeah! Here's a 26 week update:

• Riley should weigh about two pounds now (average is 1.7 pound, 760gm) and should be about 14 inches (35.6cm) in length.
• To support her growing body, the spine is getting stronger and more supple. Though no longer than the span of the average adult hand, it is now made up of 150 joints, 33 rings, and some 1,000 ligaments.
• Air sacs in her lungs form now.
• Lungs begin to secrete a greasy substance called surfactant. Without surfactant the fetal lungs would stick together and couldn't expand after she is born.
• Although they've been sealed shut for the last few months, her eyes are opening and beginning to blink this week. Depending on ethnicity, some babies will be born with blue or gray-blue eyes (which may change color in the first 6 months of life) and some will be born with brown or dark eyes.
• Retinas begin to form.
• Brain wave activity for hearing and sight begins to be detectable.
• Fetal brain scans show response to touch. If we shine a light on Shelly's abdomen, Riley would probably turn her head, which according to researchers, means her optic nerve is working.

At 16 weeks, during our 30 day "prepping for baby" phase, we went to Fetal Foto. Mainly so I could know the sex of our Little One as early as possible. The anticipation was way too much for me. At that time Riley was in love with the Placenta. She treated it like a giant Yoga ball and had herself wrapped around it bouncing and playing. Because of this, and how small the baby is at 16 weeks, the 3D imaging didn't work well. They gave us a certificate to come back once she got a little bigger and put on some baby fat. We think we're going to do this around 28 weeks. This gives us a chance to check on her in two weeks versus waiting until 30 weeks. During the Ultrasound yesterday they tried 3D but, again, our little girl was being stubborn and kept her hands in front of her face. She's so sassy! But just when we didn't think we could love her anymore we realize we in fact love her so much more!

Finally, we're still asking for prayers, well wishes, positive energy, good karma, etc. Whatever you believe in we'll take it! Anything to help our sweet baby pull through this. I know there are a lot of you out there doing just that. So, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Now that I've rambled on for awhile, I must run. Shelly and I want to watch last nights episode of Dirt. Anyone out there watching Dirt? We love it!!! Courtney Cox rocks in it!