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Sunday, March 4, 2007

28 Weeks

We're 28 weeks today!
How Riley's doing:
  • Her eyebrows and eyelashes are now very noticeable!
  • Hair on Riley's head is growing longer. Some babies are born with almost none at all, while others appear to be ready for their first haircut! We tend to think she's going to be a baldy.
  • Eyes are completely formed now. Quite a view from inside!
  • Her body is getting plump and rounded. Most of that increase is muscle tissue and bone. Fat will be added during the third trimester.
  • Muscle tone is improving. Preparation for the Olympics feels like it is taking place in Mama Shelly's tummy!
  • Her lungs are capable of breathing now (but she would still struggle and require medical attention if born now).
  • She can recognize our voices now and will often calm to it later on!
  • She weighs in now at approximately 2.2 pounds and is about 14.8 inches.
Yesterday I spent the day cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. We had to prepare the house for our friend Erin's 40th birthday party. I didn't want Shelly to feel anxious about getting the house clean, plus I didn't want her to get wore out before the party, so I made her an appointment for a Maternity Massage. She loved it. Plus it gave me a chance to crank the stereo and scrub!
It was great to see friends last night we hadn't seen in awhile. Plus, many of those friends now have kids. It use to be, in all too recent years, a party meant lots of loud and intoxicated adults. Now a party consists of loud toddlers hopped up on sugar. Lots of fun! Our friends Kori & La came with their two year old twin boys, Beau and Brady. They've gotten so big! And are so cute! I think they had a great time playing with Tate.
Our other friends brought their six month old little girl Scout. She pretty much just wanted her Mommies but did LOVE playing with Tate as well.
I put the camera away early and didn't get many pictures. But we did catch Tate showing her excitement over having a party for her Mama Erin's birthday.
We thought it would be fun to snap a picture of Shelly and LB together. It's Riley and Talor's very first picture together. Shelly's 28 weeks. LB's 24 weeks.

We have our follow-up Fetal Foto appointment on Tuesday. Hopefully we'll get some good pictures to post. We didn't invite the entire tribe to go with us this time. Last time we had about 10 people with us (family and God Parents). Shortly after that we learned about Riley's complications and we think, because everyone had already seen her, it might have made it a little harder on those who were at the first appointment. I cant wait to see her face in 4D!

10 comments:

K J and the kids said...

I'm sorry we didn't make it. We didn't even get home until 10pm.
LOVE the pictures. Tate looks JUST like her mommy.
Cute double belly shot too. I'm so glad that Shelly's letting us enjoy pictures of Riley.

Boy have times changed. In a couple of years you will think back in a blur and wish that you could go to a drunken brawl party.....just once :)

Anonymous said...

We just saw you guys a couple of weeks ago and it's so exciting to see how much little Riley has grown. I just love the belly shots. Pregnant women are so beautiful.

Wendy and Karen said...

28 weeks! Hurray! Love the belly shots. Good luck at your photo appt. Can't wait to see the pictures.

Holly said...

OMG - look at those bellies!! How exciting!
I think it's so wonderful to see little Riley's at 28 weeks!
Congrats on another week down!

Stacey said...

Congrats on 28 weeks!!! :) Great photos! Tate is so adorable!! And I can't wait to see the 4D u/s!!!

Casey said...

What great photos!!

Merr said...

Sounds like a fun party. Cute pics! Can't wait to hear about your fetal photo appointment.

hotomiky said...

cute picture...

looks like you're going to have a girl and while other person - looks like she's going to have a boy. ???

Jennifer said...

PLEASE post the 4D pics! that would be awesome to see! I love the bump to bump shot!

I can't believe how developed 28 weekers are. Almost 15 inches...2.something pounds and eyelases? Incredible. She is getign so big. How long are babies when they are born...somehwere in the high teens or low 20s, right? Riley is getting close!

Is Shelly still on her cheese kick? I had fondue last night and thought of her!

K J and the kids said...

Was hoping to see 4D pics.
Hope all is well.

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!