Quote of the day (possibly the year, or my lifetime)

Dan to Me after taking off my shirt:  "Whoa!  Your huuuuge!"

In his defense, this is the biggest I got because I had Emma at 32 weeks (next week).  Not in his defense, he is a dead man.  :)

A weigh in (for baby)

At 31 weeks and 3 days, baby Riggs is estimated to weigh (by ultrasound)......3 pounds and 10oz.  She is in the 44th percentile.  She likes to tap her feet :)

Mommy and Her Bad Words

Family Riggs encounters another car with a very disrespectful and careless driver making poor choices:

Mommy:  "Why do people do that stupid sh*t (yeah, I know....I was raised in a barn)

Emma:  MOMMY!  You said a bad word!  You are NOT supposed to say stupid.  It's a bad word.  Right daddy?

Mommy needs filthy sailor mouth rehab.

32 weeks here I come!

My fetal fibronectin test was NEGATIVE today!  This means that baby Riggs (the sequel) will likely still be in there in 2 weeks.  I can't tell you the amount of stress and worry that just lifts off my shoulders when I get these results.  I guess I can hold off from packing my hospital bag for 2 more weeks!

What is fetal fibronectin?
fFN is a protein produced during pregnancy. It acts as a biological glue, attaching the fetal sac to the uterine lining. fFN normally is present in cervico-vaginal secretions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy and again at the end of the last trimester (1 to 3 weeks before labor). fFN usually cannot be detected between 24 and 34 weeks of pregnancy (5½ to 8½ months).

What is the fFN test?
Health care providers give the fFN test to women between 24 and 34 weeks of pregnancy. The presence of fFN during these weeks, along with symptoms of labor, suggests that the "glue" may be disintegrating ahead of schedule and alerts health care providers to a possibility of premature labor and delivery.

The result is either positive (fFN is present) or negative (fFN is not present).

What do fFN test results mean?
Most women with symptoms of preterm labor go on to deliver at term, even without treatment (2). The fFN test can help predict which symptomatic women have a reduced risk of premature labor and delivery. Fewer than 5 percent of women with symptoms of preterm labor who have a negative fFN test result deliver within the next 2 weeks (1). Identifying symptomatic women who have a reduced risk of premature delivery is the most valuable use of this test because these women often can avoid unnecessary medical interventions, such as bedrest, prenatal corticosteroids,hospitalization and labor-suppressing (tocolytic) medications (1,3).

Positive fFN test results in women with symptoms of preterm labor are less reliable. However, positive results allow health care providers and pregnant women to take preventive measures to delay labor as long as possible and to consider labor-suppressing medications.

Happy Father's Day 2012

Happy Father's Day to the BEST dad.  

Giddy up, Cowgirl

Emma's friend William had a PONY party.  That's right.  Up to this point Emma would not get on any pony rides.  I think all the other kids gave her confidence! I think she thought this was the best birthday party ever.

Patiently waiting to go in...

 sitting with daddy, trying to contain herself

 Emma and her friend, appropriately named "Mr. Ed"

 Why does this image spark fear in my heart?

 The hay Pinata:  search for candy under the hay

 Horse Painting!

30 weeks today!

 Today, I am exactly 30 weeks pregnant!  We are so relieved to be here as 30 weeks is a pretty big milestone to get to (pregnancy wise).  According to most sites (and on average), baby Riggsatoni #2 is weighing in at 3 pounds and measuring 15.7 inches long.  Lately, she has been practicing her karate. 

29 weeks

 I have received 11 progesterone shots in the old caboose for 11 weeks straight, have been to 11 Dr. appointments, 1 high risk consult, and 2 admissions to labor and deliver.  Being pregnant this time around feels like another full time job!  Yesterday, was not all that special when I started feeling contractions....

Behold, my irritable uterus! (Baby's heartbeat was in the 140s)

This was my reward for an hour of being monitored, an exam, and an ultrasound... (the sweet profile of my baby girl).  I'm starting to think she is a little high maintenance :)

 So they changed my medication to around the clock and sent me home.  The contractions I'm having aren't really organized enough to change my cervix or cause *real* labor (FYI, these *fake* ones still hurt like the real deal).  They don't really know if they could cause my water to break again so we are waiting to see.  Some people think that these constant contractions (since week 23 for me) stress and weaken the amniotic sac.  No bed rest (woohoo!).  Another day, another insurance claim, and all for a good cause.

 My other high maintenance baby is growing like a weed!  She is 42 inches tall and weighing in at 49 pounds.       She is really excited to tell every that when she stands up straight she comes up to "mommy's boobies."  She is really into swimming (the water park), birthday parties (unfortunately, she has missed a couple because of "mommy's belly"), loves Diego and Mike the Knight, and has been perfecting her skills in family "dance offs" and games of musical chairs with her daddy...and two chairs.  She isn't a great loser at this stage.  She is really excited about becoming a big sister, but also anxious.  She said last week before bed with tears in her eyes "I don't want baby sister to pop out yet."  When I asked her why, she said very quietly "because I don't want to be big, I want to stay little like I am now."  She melts my heart.  Once I convinced her she wasn't going to morph into a full time working adult the day her sister is born, she relaxed a little :)

Dan is still trying to survive taking care of a panicked preggo and being a super dad.  Emma doesn't know how lucky she is.

Emma the Opossum

Me:       Emma did you take a nap at school today (after 10 meltdowns in 5 minutes)
Emma:  No, I just played dead when my teachers looked at me

 Awesome night ahead for me!