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Tuesday, April 10, 2007

33 Weeks and Today Was a Good D-Day


On Sunday we hit the 33 week mark! Yeah! We're so close to the next big milestone of 34 weeks!


I've posted a beautiful picture of Shelly at 33 weeks. Don't you love the beautiful spring flowers! We took this on Easter Sunday. What a beautiful day! I would also like to take credit for the beautiful yard but it's actually our neighbors across the street. Our flowers haven't come in yet. :(


Today was D-Day (Doctor Day). We met with the Perinatologist, Genetic Counselor, NICU Head, Insurance Case Worker, and had a non-stress test. Sounds like a lot but it was a good day! Today was the most positive appointment we've had since the dreaded 12/29 appointment.


The Perinatologist feels like things are progressing well. There is no Hydrops and there is no blood feeding the Hygroma. It's just fluid. The Hygroma did not get bigger from three weeks ago and Riley is continuing to grow like a weed and is still measuring a week ahead. They estimated her current weight at just over 5 lbs! At this rate, if she went term, and continued to gain a 1/2 lb. a week she'd be close to 9 lbs!


The Genetic Counselor checks in with us when we meet with the Perinatologist to just help answer questions and take care of any follow up appointments. Again, just as a reminder for you all, she has no Chromosomal abnormalities. There are still a couple of Syndromes out there that aren't genetic we'll need to check for but our hope is that it's just a Cystic Hygroma.


Our insurance company has assigned a case worker to follow us. She is wonderful! She comes to see us every week at our appointment. And, she takes care of everything! I don't have to worry about any insurance approvals. She's got it covered! We love her!


The NICU Doctor said that he doesn't expect any complications during Riley's transition from Prenatal to Postnatal. Because the Hygroma is located on the back of her neck he doesn't believe it will cause any issues with her airway. He did recommend that we deliver at the University of Utah which is walking distance from Primary Children's Medical Center. That way, once Riley's born, she can be cared for at Primary's. Plus, we don't want Shelly to deliver at one hospital and then have Riley moved to another hospital several miles away.


Our wonderful insurance case worker has already arranged for us to meet with the NeoNatal unit and Pediatric Surgeons at Primary's. Our appointment is a week from today. She's also arranged for our tour of the U of U Labor and Delivery. And she gave us the number to call so that while we're there the Car Seat people at Primary's can install Riley's car seat. I'm telling you she is on top of it!


On Tuesday, before our appointment at Primary's, we'll go for a Non-stress test. We'll continue with weekly Non-stress Tests and another full Ultrasound scheduled for three weeks, May 1st.


Thursday we have an OB appointment to check on Shelly. We'll also hopefully talk about potential planned C-section days so that they can get us on the OR schedule. Right now, our insurance case worker, submitted the temporary order for May 17th. OMG! May 17th! We're getting soooo close!


So, today was a good day. We're now even thinking of having our family baby shower before Riley's born because we don't know if she'll need surgery right away. I think we'll still wait and have our friend baby shower after she's born.


More to come Thursday after our OB appointment!


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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!