Ruby Hope McKee Starling

  My first appointment at CHOP went well.  My AFI is holding steady at 20-22.  She is growing appropriately and her weight looks good.  We have another check on Monday.  I didn't get any pictures this time.   Which is fine, we have almost filled one whole album and she's not even here yet.

Chris starts his long drive tomorrow.  Hopefully he will arrive safely on Sunday.  Once he gets here we can get settled in our apartment and start  to explore Philadelphia. 

Today was our last check-up here in Austin.  My amniotic fluid is holding steady at 20-22, which is good.   We got to see her practice breathing.  We also both sides of her diaphragm moving up and down!  That has to be a good thing.  I've been cleared to travel to Philadelphia tomorrow morning. I have my first appointment at CHOP on Thursday afternoon.

Here is a profile shot from this morning.

Hopefully the flight tomorrow will be uneventful and we will arrive in Philly safely.  Chris is still leaving on Friday as planned.  Hopefully he will arrive safely on Sunday and not encounter any bad weather.  I have been mentally preparing myself for the fact that I might not be able to wear flip flops until June.  I don't know how I spent the first 23 years of my life living up North.

Ruby's room is almost finished.  I have plans for orange polka dots on the walls, but that will have to wait until we get back.  We simply ran out of time.   We have 5-8 eight weeks less time than most families to get a room ready.  We look forward to spending many hours with Ruby in this room.

It's a good thing we bought Ella a new chair.  I just hope she lets us sit in it.

Last night our friends Mel and Kurt threw us a going away party/shower.  It was alot of fun getting to see our friends and celebrate Ruby before we leave.  While we appreciate all the generous gifts we received, one gift really stood out.  Our friend Kim gave us some official Texas dirt.  She somehow convinced one of the security guards at the capitol to let her dig up some dirt.  Now we have a zip lock bag full dirt from the capitol grounds to put under my delivery bed so Ruby can be born on Texas soil.  If I have to have a C-section it might be harder to sneake it in, but we'll try.  We no longer have to worry about Ruby not being a native Texan.

Here's some more pictures of Chris and I opening gifts.

We had another Biophysical Profile done this morning.  My amniotic fluid (AFI) was at 20.5.  So it seems to be holding steady.  Our nurse from CHOP called yesterday and said they were concerned with me traveling when my AFI was on the high end of normal.  She seemed really concerned with my comfort.  The thing is I'm not that big.  I can still wear some of my non-maternety stretchy pants.  I've had to argue with strangers about how far along I am.  Since we did did fertility treatments we know EXACTLY how far a long I am, no debates.  I'm still swimming or walking everyday.  I can't help but wonder how I'd look if my AFI wasn't on the high end.  I also think being so tall gives Ruby plenty of room to hide.  We are going to watch my fluid very closely and if needed I will fly to Philly next week instead of the week after.

Ruby passed all her tests her this morning.  I did have to drink some lemonaide to get her moving a bit for the non-stress test.  I have been craving lemonaide the whole pregnancy so I didn't really mind. 

The sonographer took pity on us and gave us some 3-d shots of her face.  I love the sonographer at our OB's office.  The one at the Peri is all business, but at the OB she went ahead and gave us a CD with 10 3-d pictures on it!  As you can tell from the pictures Ruby is definately taking after her father.  That nose isn't from the McKee side of the family, that's for sure :)  These pictures really cheered both of us up.  While we are both very hopeful and optimistic, we are very worried.  The stress of it all  takes it's toll some days.  Seeing her face reminded us why we are fighting so hard.  These pictures have made all the very hard decisions and sacrifices worth it.

When looking at these pictures remember she is in pretty tight quarters these days.  She looks kinda squished, but it's for a good reason.  Right now I am breathing for her and that's a really good thing.

Our good friends are throwing us a going away party/shower tomorrow evening.  We are looking forward to seeing everyone one last time before we leave.  Hopefully we'll have some good pictures of the party to post.  We have Biophysical Profiles scheduled on Tuesday and Firday of next week.  Chris and his Dad start the drive to Philly next Friday.  Then as long as my fluid doesn't get too high I fly out with Chris's Mom on Monday March 2.  The next week is going to be busy.  We will try our best to post updates, but we might not get anything up until after we are settled in Philly.

Thank you all for all the love and support.  It'll be so nice to tell Ruby how people are pulling for her.

We had our first Biophysical Profile this morning.  Ruby passed with flying colors.  She's practice breathing and moving as she should be.  Her amniotic fluid is holding steady at 22.  Which is really good for both of us.  Our perinatalogist said everything looks as good as it can at this point.  Which is the best situation for us to be in.

They gave us a face shot of Ruby today.  It's hard to make out what is what, but she's looking right at us in the picture. If  you look closely you can make out her eyes, nose, and mouth.  While we were waiting for  her to practice her breathing she was smacking her lips, it was really cute. We have another biophysical profile and OB appointment on Friday and will hopefully get a better picture.

Things have been pretty boring around here the past couple days as far as Ruby is concerned.   We have been very busy getting ready to leave for 3-4 months.  So much to do, and I can't really do my fair share.  Chris is having to do anything that involves lifting or climbing on a ladder. We do have an OB appointment  tomorrow. Then next week I start the bi-weekly appointments to check on her. 

I found a video on CHOP'S website that explains the Special Delivery Unit.  It's one of the main reasons we chose CHOP over TCH.  You can watch it here. You can also watch a video that explains Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia and how it's treated.  Ruby's surgeon Dr. Hedrick is one of the doctors on the video. Both videos are very informative and will hopefully give you a better idea of what is going on.

We saw the Perinatologist yesterday.  Everything seems to be going OK.  Ruby's amniotic fluid is on the high end of normal, 17-22 was the range that we were given yesterday.  15 - 25 is considered normal, and anything above 40 requires medication or intervention.  The intervention would be a therapeutic amnio to remove some of the fluid.  Which would mean another very large scary needle stick for me.  We go back in two weeks to check the fluid again.  From what I understand it's not if her fluid will get to high it' s when. 

Ruby is excelling at her kick counts  every evening, and appears to growing right on track.  Here is a picture from yesterday.

This is a picture from last week.  It's a really good picture of her heart, stomach, and diaphram.  The diaphram is the line seperating the upper and lower abdomen.   This a view from the back.  Niether of  ua are docotors or sonographers this is the interprtation we remeber getting from the sonographer last week.   Please don't ask what anything else is.  If we know what it is I have labeled it. We thought it would be intersting to show our friends and family a more detailed picture.

Thank you for checking in on us.  We really appreciate all the love and support.