Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Saturday, February 3, 2007

She FINALLY Let Me Feel Her Again!

Riley finally decided to cooprate and let me feel her moving and grooving a little last night and A LOT this morning. Thank you Riley!! This put a much needed smile on my face as I'm starting to get anxious about Wednesday's Fetal Echo Cardiogram appointment. I'm trying to think only positive thoughts and believe that everything will be okay. But I feel anxious at the same time. Luckily besides the Echo Cardiogram they do a full Ultrasound so we'll get to see our precious little girl again. I hope and pray that the Hygroma has either gone down in size, is gone, or has at least stayed the same. Please send your positive thoughts and prayers our way!

We are 24 weeks tomorrow!!! Super Bowl Sunday and Riley is viable. What a wonderful day! More to come tomorrow on Riley's progress at 24 weeks.

Thursday, February 1, 2007

Miscellaneous

Shelly and I both seem to finally be on the mend. Now we're both just whiny and want someone to pay attention to us. That's hard when we're both sick. But, we're both working today and I even ventured to the store to get medicine.

I've been trying to decide what to post today. There's really no updates on Riley or Shelly. Both are fine. Riley's a little bratty. She's a big wiggle worm until I try to feel here and then she freezes. She must have also gone through a growth spurt because Shelly's again looking more pregnant.

So, since I don't have any new or exiting news to post, I thought I'd just post miscellaneous thoughts, updates, and fun stuff.

I've posted before that our good friends LB and Erin, Tate's Mom's, are pregnant again. Their due about 4 weeks after us. They had their Fetal Well Being Ultrasound last week. Good news. Their Little One is healthy and measuring right on track. The technician did comment that she has really long legs. No surprise. So does her Mama LB. Did you catch the she? Yep, it's another girl! Tate's having a baby sister. Although she continues to refer to her as Thomas, as in Thomas the Train, or Baby Bubba. It will be fun having little girls so close in age. Plus, Tate will really be like a big sister to both of them.
My good friend Shelly called me last night with an update. After several miscarriages and lots of trying she's pregnant! Yeah! She's about 7 weeks. Once she gets past the first trimester I'm sure she'll have a big sigh of relief. I can't wait to hear what names they pick out. Her and her husbands names both start with S. As do their two dogs, Sage and Sierra. So their little one will no doubt be something like Sedona, Savannah, Shaniqua, Steven, Stu?

And finally, for fun, here is a picture of our adorable Boxer Roxi, strutting around the house with the treat I brought her home from the store.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Sick x2

We're both still sick.

Shelly had a really rough night last night. She finally got out of bed about 11:30 and came down on the couch. All night long she was just waiting for daylight to hit so she could go to the doctor. She had a horrible sore throat and was worried it might be strep. But, she's doing better today. Thank God. I've been absolutely worried about her. Me being sick, no big deal. Her being sick, BIG DEAL! If she wasn't better today I was taking her to the doctor. I just don't want to take any chances. We've already had enough road blocks thrown at us. But again, she's doing a little better and Riley is quite active today. So no doctor visits for her.

I, on the other hand, am doing worse. I'm very close to heading to the doctor myself. I'm having such a hard time getting my breath. But I just took a nice long nap and seem to be doing a little better.

The dogs don't like dealing with sick Mom's. They want attention, especially Roxi, our poodle trapped in a Boxer body. Today she even inserted herself between me and my lap top when I was working from bed. She was determined I must stop typing and pay attention to her. She's such a fun dog. She brings smiles and laughs to our lives every day.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Sick, Daytime TV, and the Countdown to Double Digits

Well, every time I travel I seem to get sick, I've done it again. I've brought a cold into our house and have already given it to Shelly. I'm in so much trouble. Both of us are pretty miserable. It's a strange cold as we're full of chest and head congestion but it's stuck. It's not coming out. My chest hurts so bad. I just want someone to pound on my chest to loosen it up. Shelly is just laying on the couch not saying much. When she's sick she doesn't have much to say. Besides I'm in trouble for getting her sick.

So, while we're sick, and I'm working from home, we're watching lots of Daytime TV. Part of the viewing includes all of the "Baby Story" type shoes on the Discovery Channel. It's so dang addictive! Every time Shelly tries to change the channel I feel all anxious and tell her to, "Go back! I have to see how it ends!" Next thing you know I'll start Tivo-ing Baby Stories, Adoption Stores, Runway Moms, etc., etc.

I love watching our ticker come down at the top of our page. We've got 117 days left to go. I can't wait until we hit the double digits!

Finally, a good friend of mine has entered the world of blogging. I think she's totally addicted already. Go visit her at http://roleplayingwithkids.blogspot.com/.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

23 Weeks!

Another hurdle crossed!

We're on the cusp of viability!!!

Riley has been crazy. I know all Mom's say this but we really think she might be striving to be a gymnast. Or, maybe, she just likes torturing her Mama Shelly. She's been very crazy this last week. And now, she's even becoming stubborn! She'll be twirling away until I enter the scene. I put my hand on Shelly's baby and she freezes. She's so just teasing me. Little pill.

Here' a 23 week update:
  • Proportions of the body are now quite similar to a newborn although thinner since she hasn't begun to form body fat.
  • Bones located in the middle ear harden.
  • Your baby is able to hear.
  • The eyes are formed, though the iris still lacks pigmentation.
  • The pancreas, essential in the production of hormones, is developing steadily. She has begun producing insulin, important for the breakdown of sugars.
  • If born now, she has a 15% chance of survival, her odds going up with each passing day.
  • The average baby at this stage weighs 1.1 pound (501gm) and is 11.38 inches (28.9cm) long.
And, JUST 10 DAYS until the Fetal Echo!

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!