Roller Coaster Week

What a roller coaster week we have had. I apologize now for the long post! Our journey started last week when Haley was bitten by a mosquito near her eye. The next few days her eye was almost swollen shut. It looked aweful and I could feel people staring at us as we went out in public. So by Friday when it wasn't better I called her dr. and he said to bring her in. $25 later he told me she is fine(no eye infection) and take Benedryl. On Saturday wouldn't you know her eye was back to normal...yeah! Saturday during the day we went to Kendall's (John's girlfriend) graduation party at the lake. They have a great little "beach" and Haley couldn't keep out of the water. Poor Daddy and Uncle Mark took turns out in the hot sun playing with her why I tried not to pass out from the heat. When we got back to grandma's house we went swimming some more and Haley had another accident. She was all wrapped up in her towel and tripped and BAM....mouth hit the cement. A big fat lip was the prize, luckily no broken teeth. It's all better now but poor Haley has been beat up lately.

And on to the rest of the roller coaster...on Thursday I had my check with my dr for my monthly visit. I've finally gained some weight (5 lbs since last visit) and my blood pressure was looking great again. Everything was finally back to normal. Then on Monday I got a voicemail from the Dr. asking me to call her. I knew that was never good cause usually it's the nurses calling. I called right back and she explained that our blood screen test came back positive for a Neural Tube Defect (NTD). The most common NTD is Spina Bifida. I didn't panic yet as she explained my odds came back at 1:35 which was high but that also means 34 out of 35 chance the baby is just fine. She explained I couldn't wait for the ultrasound scheduled at the hospital in a couple of weeks and I need to see a specialist this week. She arranged everything, which is good, cause the next few days where a blur as the panic set in, and so did the praying and crying. Matt and I did a lot of research on Spina Bifida and it was pretty scary. His cousin, who is an OB, gave us some good stats and told us not to panic yet either and reassured us the internet can be a devil. Luckily I was able to see the specialist this morning. She did an ultrasound and couldn't find anything wrong yet, although the baby was laying on it's back so it was not an optimal screen. But she was pretty confident that the baby didn't at least have any major lesions because those cause skull deformaties and our babies skull is perfect. At this time she couldn't rule out smaller lesions but she doesn't think they are present. She did ease our minds some and said we can choose to do an aminocentesis to get a more defenitive answer, 98% accurate. We haven't made up our minds yet on the amino but I'm feeling so much better knowing the ultrasound came back good so far. The plus side of this ultrasound was the 3D picture we got of the baby, although I have to admit it's kind of freaky looking cause the baby moved as they were taking the pic so it's almost like it has 4 eyes and 2 noses. They didn't do the entire ultrasound in 3D but instead would change it to 3D around the babies face so we could get the picture. I have a feeling this baby is going to look like me but we'll see :) Since my marker level was so high, I'm considered a high risk pregnancy now, which means I have to be monitored by my regular OB and this Fetal Maternal Specialist the entire pregnancy. Basically I'm at one of my drs. every two weeks! She explained I am at a higher risk of preeclampsia, pre-term labor, stillbirth and placenta abruption, which is why the monitor me so closely. BUT, so far everything looks perfect and there is a high chance the baby and I will be perfectly healthy with no complications. Also, we had a chance to find out the sex but stuck to our wish of not finding out, although I have a suspicion it's a boy (I've thought that all along).

And finally the end of our roller coaster, or at least we hope. Matt received news last Friday that his brother was in the hospital. While he was in ICU last week, he has been doing much better and is in a regular bed now. Hopefully he will be home soon and our roller coaster ride will come to an end. I'm not sure I can take much more :)

Now on to the fun...pictures. Our scanner is broken or I would add one of the baby, so it's all Haley...

Naken cowgirl...she loves those pink boots when she finds them

Show Day at The Little Gym

Getting her ribbon all by herself

Playing soccer in the backyard....yes, in her pink boots

Washing off in the sink after spaghetti

Hanging out with Unlce Mark at Kendall's party

Big girl