She's Here and She's Beautiful!!!

Riley is here! She's GORGEOUS and she's doing great! If it weren't for the Cystic Hygroma she wouldn't need to be in the NICU.

We're totally exhausted so I'll give a few details and provide more info. tomorrow.

She was born at 8:55 am. She weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long. Her APGAR scores were 8 and 9. She's doing extremely well.

The Cystic Hygroma is big but doesn't seem to cause her any discomfort or limit any movement. We met with the surgeon tonight. He's going to do imaging studies tomorrow and the surgery is scheduled for Monday.

Mama Shelly is also doing extremely well, sore, but doing well. Mama Dee is tired. It's been a long day.

More details to follow tomorrow. But I leave you with a few photos of our beautiful baby girl.

Riley's Debut in the NICU


Riley and Momma Dee

Riley and God Mommy Amy

A Newborn's Conversation with God

This was in one of the handouts we received tonight at Church. Needless to say we spent the entire service crying.

Looking At Life In A Whole Different Way - A Newborns Conversation with God

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?" God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you." The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy." God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy." Again the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?" God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak." "And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?" God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray." "Who will protect me?" God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life." "But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore." God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you." At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name." God said, "You will simply call her Mom."

Although we are not overly religious people, and don't follow any particular faith, we believe in God. Receiving this tonight made us both feel like it was meant to be. We've said all along God sent us Riley because he needed a special family to take care of her. Here we are Riley, ready to be your Angels.

Less Than 14 Hours!

Less than 14 hours from now our little girl will be here!!!!

Thank you all for your many well wishes, thoughts and prayers. Keep them coming! The next couple of days will be very exciting yet also met with much trepidation as we figure out exactly what is wrong and what needs to be done to fix Miss Riley.

This morning we took a short nap after our morning coffee. I love naps! And I know it might be a long time before we have the pleasure of the spontaneous nap. Then we went to the hospital to get registered and have Shelly's labs drawn. On our way home we stopped to get a couple dozen donuts to have in the waiting room for our family since they'll all be there quite early in the morning.

I repacked the hospital bags this afternoon just to make sure I have everything. We had a family dinner tonight to celebrate Sarah's (Shelly's 14 year old niece) confirmation into the Catholic Church. We're leaving for the church service shortly.

Shelly is ready! Beyond ready! She feels pretty uncomfortable today. And Riley is trying to bust out of her water condo. She's ready to move out into the real world.

Be sure to check K's blog at http://roleplayingwithkids.blogspot.com/. She is getting the call to post the preliminary details on her blog. Then, later in the day, when time permits, I'll post a more detailed update.

Wish us luck! Keep us in your prayers!

48 Hours

48 hours from now we'll be at the hospital prepping for the procedure that will bring us our sweet little girl. WoW!!

I have constant butterfly's in my belly. I keep thinking things like, "The next time I get ready for work Riley will be here." The next time I'm in the office Riley will be here." The next time I watch Lost Riley will be here." And on, and on, and on. The gamut of emotions I'm feeling are incredible. I'm happy, scared, excited, terrified, nervous, ecstatic, and more. It's all surreal.

Tomorrow I'll post my final post before Riley's born. Again, all I can say is Wow!

Are the Cookies Okay?

Today was our last day of Tuesday Doctor appointments. In order to thank everyone for being so understanding and helpful we bought yummy sugar cookies to take to our different doctor offices.

First the OB appointment. All went well. Shelly's actually measuring 43 weeks!!! BUT, Riley was sticking her bum up in the air! She's such a little stinker. We just went over plans for Saturday, asked a few questions, and were out of there.

Next was the NST at Maternal Fetal Medicine. As we were walking into the hospital, and I was carrying the giant box of cookies, I tripped! I went flying into the air, and in order to protect the cookies, I landed on my elbows and knees. OUCH!!! My soda went flying through the air but damn it, I protected the cookies! The first thing I said to Shelly was "Are the cookies okay?" I then proceeded to whine about my skinned elbows and knee. She proceeded to tell me that this just proves her point, I'm only going to be able to hold Riley while I'm sitting down because I'm too clumsy. It was all pretty funny. Thank goodness no one else was around!

The NST went great. Amniotic Fluid was higher than last week at 23, but still in normal range. Within the first 20 minutes Riley did exactly as she needed to. We were out of there in 30 minutes.

Then we went for pizza and pasta and then pedicures. You've got to have pretty feet for the hospital.

After the pedis I dropped Shelly off at home and went to the mall. I surprised myself (he he) with a new pink Razr phone! I got a small recognition gift at work and that's how I decided to spend it.

The wait is on. 3 DAYS!!! Well, 3 1/2 days, or 4 sleeps, however you look at it, it's almost here!

The Great Mother's Day Flood

First, before we get to Mother's Day, let me just point out that there are ONLY 5 DAYS LEFT until Riley's big arrival!

Mother's Day was wonderful and unique.

Shelly surprised me with not one, but two, necklaces. Both from Re.d Enve.lope. One of our favorite sites.




I surprised her with a ring that has Riley's birthstone (Emerald).



We had a wonderful brunch on Sunday with her family. I spent time on Saturday with my Mom, Aunt and cousins.

It was a great weekend, until, the big Mother's Day Flood.

Sunday night, 5:30 pm, I go into the Kitchen, and the ENTIRE kitchen is flooded. There was water under the cupboards, stove, fridge, dishwasher, EVERY WHERE. our Washing Machine hose slipped out of it's drain and ran through an entire cycle spewing bleach water into our kitchen. Nice! We spent more than an hour soaking and mopping up water. Part of our Pergo floor in the kitchen is now coming up. And, the water ran through a hole under the fridge (where the water pipe connects to the fridge) and drained into the new sheet rock and insulation in the basement that is being finished. Neat! We're not sure yet if they're going to have to redo the work they just finished or not. I guess we'll find out today or tomorrow, whenever the contractor's decide to show up again. We haven't yet decided if we're turning in an insurance claim or not. We're waiting to see how bad the kitchen floor is once it's all dry.

So, after an hour of mopping and sopping, and over a dozen bath towels, we relaxed while watching the Utah J.azz win game four against Gold.en State. Yeah Jazz!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!