23 weeks.....

Happy Halloween!! We had a busy weekend. Saturday was Pumpkin Lane in Deer Park(my hometown) and it was 2 hours of trick or treating fun. We even took the kids on a hay ride, what a blast! My pelvis, however, was NOT happy with me! It's been giving me a lot of grief lately. I don't sleep well because of it, it's hard to get comfortable. Then tonite, my mom and I took the kids out trick or treating in our neighborhood. I drove my moms tahoe, and sat in the heated seat, while my mom walked with the kids. Now THAT is the way to go! Hehe! When we hit a quiet area, everyone hopped in and we went to another street. =) They got a TON of candy!!! We'll be eating it at Christmas!

My Midnight Fairy

&

Strawberry Shortcake

 ♥

Shakyra finally felt Stormy move for the first time yesterday!! ♥ Stormy had kicked her before, but she didn't really "feel" it. The look of joy on her face was priceless!!! =) Shakyra hasn't been feeling well this past week. Poor girl, but it seems to bring out a sweetness to her. The other day, she told me "You are a beautiful, smart, the best mommy ever, and pregnant with my cute baby sister."  Awwwwwwww...  ♥  Melted my heart!

Other than the massive acid monster in my belly, an aching pelvis, Stormy doing lots of different tricks, and no appointments this week... that is my update!

16 weeks left!!

♥ 23 weeks ♥

Skittle has a NAME!!!!!!!!

It's official!!!  Jonathan actually told Shakyra what Skittle's name was last night, but he didn't tell me.  So I asked him today, and he said, well I guess it's official.  ♥

♥ Stormy ♥

No, she doesn't have a middle name.... haven't made it that far, but she has a first name!!  She'll have a middle name when she is born!  =)  It brings tears to my eyes, knowing she has a name. Silly, I know, but it's getting more and more real. ♥

Ultrasound....

The ultrasound went great!  Yay!  As far as we can see, it still looks like stomach and intestines are the only organs in the chest.  The tech was checking blood flow(the liver makes the blood flow look like a tree) and that seems to still be in the stomach, but maybe close to the diaphragm.  But being as we don't know where the hole is at, we just hope it STAYS that way!  So 8 weeks, and no change!  Woohoo!  I can accept that!  She was stubborn, of course, so no profile pictures... so no 3D face shot yet.  We could see the muscles on her arms and legs, and her cheeks are starting to fill out.  She is estimated to weigh about 1 lb 4 oz right now.  I think she was estimated to be 11.5-12.5 inches long.  I can't remember.  She is in the 77% for her growth, so I am a HAPPY momma!  ♥

♥ Cute lil fingers ♥

♥ Cute lil legs getting stronger ♥

♥Lil foot, and cute lil toes ♥

 ♥ Love 3D pictures! ♥

♥ Thank goodness! ♥

♥ Love her cute lil feet! ♥

22 weeks.....

My OH my!! Hard to believe I have 17 weeks left! No more(induction at 39 weeks as far as I know) and no less(I AM going to do everything in my power, of course, unless Skittle is in dire need of being born, to keep her in there till then!)!! Skittle has mastered the heartburn dance... however, I have attempted to teach her another routine, yet, she doesn't listen. Guess that is what I get when she has Shakyra DNA in her! ♥ I still wake up nauseated every morning. So I am still take my Zofran, every morning, sometimes evening if I am feeling not so hot! I have felt less stressed the past few days. I know part of that has to do with knowing she has a perfect heart! ♥ I haven't had as many nightmares as I was having. Thank god... because seriously, they were getting REALLY bad, and I was going to ask for sleeping meds to help my brain not function like that when I was sleeping. SCARY! I have an u/s and perinatologist appointment on Thursday, 11 am. The closer it gets, the more nervous I am about it. The cardiologist said he only seen stomach and intestines in the chest... so I am glad, that in 7 weeks, that that hadn't changed... but ugh, I know its all unpredictable... and at any time... things can shift/change. Hoping for the best... and that it is NO change at this appointment. I also learned that CDH babies can have a problem with too much amniotic fluid. A condition known as Polyhydramnios.  Greeeeeeeeat... just what I need.  But, we are going to NOT have that problem!!  =)  Trying to stay positive here... we have enough on our plate!  I imagine that, at the coming appointments, her fluid levels will start being monitored.  I really don't know.  I am learning as I go.  I will also ask when my appointments start becoming more regular, since Skittle is considered viable in 4 weeks.  EEP!!!  Never thought I'd make it this far, but I couldn't be more thankful!!

♥ 22 weeks ♥

All *3* of my girls.

Skittle's Pediatric Surgeon Appointment...

Today I met with Dr. Fisher.  An amazing Dr!!  If only we could take him to where ever it is that I deliver.  *sigh*  Hopefully her surgeon is just as amazing!!  He gave me lots of info, some I knew, some I did not.  He told me that Skittle should have the "open" procedure done.  Meaning, don't let them do a scope to fix her herniated diaphragm.  An open procedure has better outcomes, and less chance of it reherniating.  He said the surgery is relatively easy, and that she should do fine with the surgery itself, it's of course, the after effects... of how the lungs will do, etc.  He said that as long as she is stable, she should be able to have the surgery within 3-5 days after birth.  He said that if she makes it to term, she has about a 70-75% chance of surviving.  *sigh*  He said that he agrees with me on wanting a referral to Portland.  He referred me to see Dr. Ilg, the neonatologist, so that I could talk to him, and get the best recommendation and referral to Portland.  I will see and speak with him on 11/11.

Can't she just stay in my tummy till she is bigger and stronger to live on the outside???  ♥

Skittle's Pediatric Cardiologist Appointment....

First things first.... Skittle has a P.E.R.F.E.C.T heart!!!  ♥  Wooohooo!!!  Of course, getting up to that point was pretty nerve wracking to say the least!  I was so scared and nervous.  The gel on the probe was very cold.  Not like the nice, warm gel at the peri's office.  We seen her cute lil face on the screen first.  =)  Then he got to her heart.  While he was looking around, he was very informative.  I liked that.  He told me what he was looking at, and what everything was.  The monitor was connected to a big screen t.v. hanging on the wall, omg, that thing was so annoying!  Driving me crazy, kept losing it's signal... yet no one was touching anything!  Lol  Talk about getting a kink in your neck trying to look at the other monitor!  Skittle wasn't always being cooperative, is she ever?  Hehe!  Being she is a moving target, he had to get on a certain part of the heart, then zoom in, and get the image he is looking for, just at that moment, she would move.  Lol!  Sure made me giggle!  It took about an hour to get all the images he needed.  Of course, we took a peak at the rest of her too, while we were there.  Although, he mentioned, "it will be a quick scan, I don't get paid to look at anything but the heart."  LOL!  He said, yup, definitely a girl.  Thank goodness!  I've told everyone, if she comes out anything but a SHE, all these techs I've been seeing are gonna need to get retrained at what they are looking at!  Hehe.  After the tech was done, I seen Dr. Jensen.  He said, that her heart made the journey to the right(wrong) side of her chest with no complications.  Said that she shouldn't ever have any heart problems.  After her surgery, he said that her heart would shift back towards the left, but most likely, never be in the correct spot that it was meant to be.  Said that it would probably reside in the middle of her chest, but it was in the correct position, and all the valves, chambers, structure, arteries, etc look awesome!  YAY!

I was so elated to leave that appointment.  I didn't sleep last night, of course.  I had nightmares leading up to this appointment... now I can at least rest easy, knowing that my lil Skittle has a perfect heart!  ♥

After the appointment, my mom treated me to China Dragon.  YUMMY!  Couldn't go wrong there!  And my fortune, very fitting...

*Your emotional nature is strong and sensitive.*

21 weeks....

Nothing much to report this week.  No appointments, yay!  Skittle is moving around a lot now!  However, whenever I WANT to feel her move, she doesn't.  So stubborn already!  =)  In the last week my pelvis has started to give me grief.  The wonderful start of PSD ( Pubic Symphasis Diastasis) or what I refer to as a separated pelvis.  OUCH!  I can only hope that it just doesn't get too bad yet.  =/

18 weeks left....

♥ 21 weeks ♥