February 1, 2007 - The first appointment went well, the baby measured in at 11 weeks 2 days which means The Mom was only off by 2 days on the due date. We really like the doctor that we have found and the hospital has great facilities. I (Dad) even have a snack bar in the hospital to help relieve any stress I might be feeling. The Mom has informed me that I cannot eat in front of her as she will only be allowed on suck on ice.

March 1, 2007 - The Mom had her second doctors appointment today and all seems well. This was the first visit that Boy was not able to be with her as he was at every appointment with Roo and Ren. Having two kids sure does make it alot more difficult, yet oh so much more fun!! The heart beat was coming in at a whopping 144 bpm, (boy or girl???).

April 3, 2007 - The third appoint was pretty uneventful. All is well which is a good thing and the ultra Sound has been set for late in april.

April 19, 2007 thru April 25 - We had our routine ultrasound last Thursday. As always, we chose not to find out if we will be having a girl or a boy. (When I asked Ren what the name of the baby would be, she said Cinderella. So I guess Ren thinks it will be a girl.) On Friday afternoon I received a call from my doctor wanting to tell me a bit about what was found by the high-risk OB in the ultrasound. The following is what she outlined for us.

The ventricles in the baby’s brain were dilated and larger than normal. This means that the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) could be putting pressure on the brain matter, which could cause brain damage over time. Along with the dilated ventricles, cysts were found in the coriplexus. This is somewhat common during fetal development and most go away however due to the size of the cysts coupled with the dilated ventricles, the doctors were concerned. They were also concerned that there were no signs in the ultrasound showing the baby opening and closing its fists and extending its fingers.

Separately, these anomalies wouldn’t be an issue however because they were all present the high-risk OB , thought that perhaps the baby would have what is called Trisomy 18. When I asked my doctor what I could expect with Trisomy 18. She proceeded to tell me that Trisomy 18 is a fatal chromosomal disorder, most fetus’ will not make it full term and if they do, the only live a few hours after birth, a very few live up to a year. The next step would be to monitor these issues through ultrasound and if necessary administer an amniocentesis.

After a bit of an emotional roller-coaster weekend, we were able to go to our follow up ultrasound on Tuesday morning with peace. The prayers given and the faith exercised over the weekend by our family and friends were definitely heard. The baby showed open and closed fists. The right ventricle was normal size, the left ventricle was misshaped but volume was normal. The cysts were still present; the left cyst was larger than the right and is an atypical shape. The left cyst was the cause of the misshaped ventricle.

In short, the Trisomy 18 prognosis is basically ruled out. They will continue to monitor the cysts throughout the pregnancy to see if they shrink and disappear (as most cysts do). The doctor wants us to stay optimistic because he really feels that in the end there will be nothing to worry about. When I asked what to expect if the cysts did not go away he told me to wait to cross the bridge if we get to it.

Our next ultrasound is scheduled for the end of May and we will keep you all posted to the results here.

On Monday May 21, 2007 - I went in for a follow up ultra sound. We haven’t heard back from the doctor yet but the tech couldn’t find the cysts and the ventricles are measuring totally normal. What a relief! We could still hear something contrary from the doctor but for now we think we are out of the woods.

Next I moseyed on over to my doctor for my regular checkup and everything is going well there too. Heart Rate is at 144 and I’m measuring, as I should, 26 weeks.

It’s hard to accurately express my feelings on all that has taken place. What others deem as normal fetal development is so much more. This hasn’t been an issue of relying on medical science but has everything to do with my faith and trust in my Heavenly Father.

June - The heart beat is a whopping 140 and all is going well. The doctor advised us that there are no indication of any complications. There was no need for an additional ultra sound and the doc set me up for our regularly scheduled monthly appointment.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - Once again I drove up to Michigan for my appointment. I was lucky to have my Mom drive with me to take care of the kids on the drive up. This does not sound like much but that trip sure is long when I am by myself.

At the doctors the heart beat was 130 and I am measuring exactly 34 weeks. That is correct, I only have 6 weeks left. The baby is moving like he/she should be and the doctor is pleased with all the vitals. Again there are no concerns at this point and I have another appointment on August 7, 2007

Monday, August 6, 2007 - Everything is looking great! The baby is moving as expected, measuring normal (Ren was measuring 2 weeks bigger than she should have each visit), and the heart beat is coming in at a healthy 130 beats per minute. I did have to re-take the strep test as there was a “lab mishap” and they did not get mine. They did not check for progress even though I informed them that my water breaks and there are no early warning signs.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - Still looking good! The heart beat is still 130 and movement keeps me up at night between 10 and midnight. The strep test came back positive for a strain other than “A” or “B” so they will probably give me the antibiotic when I arrive at the hospital as a precautionary measure. Again they did not check for progress, this does not bother me as less than 24 hours before Roo was born I was checked for progress and there was none. So the progress check never means much for us anyway.

Baby update 08/16/07 - Since I’m accustomed to my water breaking before I efface, dilate or have a single solitary contraction, I got a little excited last night when I woke up at about a quarter to 4 with a contraction!

Yes it was pure silliness. I couldn’t go back to sleep I was so excited. I kept thinking, “I need to get as much sleep as possible just in case another one comes.” Another one never came but my excitement still couldn’t let me fall asleep. I felt like it was Christmas Eve and the anticipation of finding what treasures lay beneath the tree was far more rewarding than sleep. Luckily I’m not too sleepy this morning (I think I’m still excited and waiting for the next contraction.) For the record….I like it when my water just breaks because that is it, there is nothing more to anticipate or do, I just know that baby is coming and I need to go to the hospital.

August 19 - Fish was born today, in the front seat of the car. You read that correctly and you will not see a correction to anything I just said. For a detailed run down of the days events you can read The Mom’s journal entry re-printed on the Family Journal page and for my quick and dirty version you can go to Dad’s Convictions.