Uncle Steve here...

Shelly came home from the hospital last night, she is doing very well, her feet and legs are pretty swollen still.

Shelly and Dee just left the house to go spend a few hours with little Riley. Then they are going back tonight to see her again and take the infant CPR class that is required before release. We were hoping they would let Riley come home tonight, but it is looking more like tomorrow. She is doing awesome, but they do not want to release her until she starts gaining weight. So I am sure momma Dee and momma Shelly will be force feeding her today! LOL

Anyway, Dee just wanted me to update you all as she is running around like a mad woman :)

Still Jumping Hurdles

Little Miss Riley continues to amaze. She still consistently jumps hurdles and beats all expectations just like when she was in the womb. She was extabated early this morning, sooner than they were expecting. She pulled out her own feeding tube, earlier than they would have, but she didn't need it anymore. She's also almost passed three of the four steps that need to be completed to be released.

1. Breathing room air consistently. (She only needed oxygen for less than 12 hours because of the surgery.)
2. Maintaining her own body temperature. (She's done this since birth.)
3. Move from a temperature bed (I don't know the medical term) to a crib. (She'll move to a crib tomorrow.)
4. Consistent eating and gaining weight. (We're working on this. She just started taking milk today. She has dropped to 6 lbs. 8 oz. from 8 lbs. 3 oz. at birth. One pound of that was from the Hygroma. Unbelievable that she had an extra pound of fluid off the side of her neck.)

The great news is she may be home by this weekend if she continues doing this well. Yeah!!! Our little Sunshine is a SUPER STAR!

Shelly has highs and lows. She's still struggling with an Ileus (small bowel obstruction). She was on the mend and they moved her to clear liquids but she's now taken a step backwards and back off clear liquids. Looks like she won't be released tomorrow as planned. She's just been in so much pain. She's got to start feeling better soon! The only good thing about keeping her in the hospital is we're walking distance to Primary's making it easy to go back and forth to see Riley.

There are more stories to tell but again I'm climbing in to bed exhausted.

I'm leaving you with a few pics of Riley from today.

3 Hours

Riley was in and out of surgery in THREE HOURS!!! She didn't get in to surgery until 3:00. We're just getting back to the room after spending time with her. She is doing FANTASTIC!

Shelly had a very rough 24 hours. We are exhausted!!!!!!! I'll post a better update tomorrow once I've hopefully gotten some ZZZZ's.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE THOUGHTS, PRAYERS, KARMA, WELL WISHES, ETC. IT WORKED!!!

Just Like Her Momma!

Little Miss Riley loves to sleep, and sleep, and sleep. Today we escorted her to her MRI. Because they need babies to hold still in order to get good imaging they need to sedate them. Well, not our Riley! She slept. The whole time. Just napped away. 45 minutes worth of imaging and she hardly budged. She likes her naps just like her Momma Dee!

We met with the surgeon again today. He's wonderful. We really like him. Bedside manner goes a long way with us. She is on the schedule for tomorrow after 1:00 pm. He had the MRI done today so they would have plenty of time to review the images before surgery. There will be a team in the surgery consisting of our Pediatric surgeon, plastic surgeon, and surgeon residents. The biggest risks, besides those associated with any surgery, are 1) There are two major nerves that may come into play. They'll have to be particularly careful to not impact those nerves. 2) They're not able to, or don't, get it all. This could mean potential recurrence which is not uncommon.

So, tomorrow morning we'll rest and spend lots of time with her. Then the surgery tomorrow afternoon which he feels may take around six hours. OMG! Six hours! What do you do for six hours while your little, two day old girl, is in surgery? I know it's not sleep!

Everyone, please keep the prayers and well wishes coming. Tomorrow's a big day. I'll do my best to post an update tomorrow night.

I leave you with a couple more snap shots of Riley. We're being very careful and not posting any pictures of the Hygroma. It's quite big and to us she's just beautiful, but to others it can be a little over whelming.

Riley with Momma Dee and Riley with God Mommy Angie (Yes, she's lucky enough to have TWO God Mommies!)

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!