Lily Marie Onderko - 22 weeks in 3-D

Today Emily had an ultrasound done to check on Lily's progress. Emily, my mom, and I went to the doctor's office today hoping we may get to see a good picture of the baby and hopeful bring a picture or two home to share with everyone. To our surprise, we felt like we were at a photoshoot for a calender. The ultrasound technician was very nice and took probably two dozen images of Lily including her head, hands, feet, heart, stomach, spine, and full body profile. The images were really clear 2-D images and I was really excited when I saw them. That was nothing compared to what I was about to see. Suddenly 3-D images of Lily started popping up on the screen of her head, face, and hands. It was amazing, shocking, and even a little spooky to see. It was like there was a window in Emily's stomach and we could look right in to Lily. Lily is now 22 weeks (out of 40 weeks) and has an estimated weight of 1.2 lbs. She is still very tiny but really resembles a child now. She was moving around, grabbing her feet, yawning, and putting her hands on her head and face. The 3-D images looked like the old clay-mation movies. I was so excited to see her face for the first time! Everything went well and she is progressing as normal. We have a visit on Thursday with the heart specialist at the Cleveland Clinic. Another echocardiogram will be done to check on the condition of her heart. We are hoping to find out more about her diagnosis and on the surgeries she will need after she is born. Despite her heart condition, its so evident that Lily is a fighter and a real fire ball. She was so active today during the scan that she was making me tired. I don't think she's going to let a "little" heart condition stop her from doing anything. Check back for more details from our next doctor's visit this Thursday.

Glamour Shots - Week 20

I know I said I wouldn't have a new Ultrasound image of Lily for a few weeks but we were luckly enough to get an updated image of Lily during week 20. Each time, she is just a little bigger and the pictures become clearer. The ultrasound image above shows a side profile of Lily with her hands reaching to the sky. No doubt she is reaching out to tell Mom to take it easy on all the spicy food. Lily looks happy and healthy and by the looks of that bicept, pretty lean and fit. All of the punching and kicking in Emily's stomach has really benefited her training program. Those arms look pretty short though. Sorry Lily, looks like you might take after your Papa! We've got a few doctors appointments fast approaching so hopefully we'll get a few more pics of Lily to post.

Update on Lily

This week, Emily reached week 20 in her pregnancy. That means we are half way to delivery date and in 20 short weeks Little Lily will make her grand entrance. For now, there is no new updates from the doctor. Our next appointment and ultrasound will be on October 23. That means we'll have a new picture of Lily to post. Hopefully we can get one of her smiling. Emily is doing well and we can actually at times, feel the baby kicking. The above image is what I imagine Lily will look like when she's out. I think she look's like me. Let me know what you think.

Pulmonary Atresia Diagram

Hello everyone, thanks for checking back in at Lily's Pad. Above is a diagram of the heart but shown in a more helpful and less confusing manner. The heart has 4 chambers and you can see the 4 chambers are shown as rooms in a house. Lily's heart does not have the lower left hand room which represents the right ventricle. This effects how the blood will flow back into her heart after it is pumped through her body. There is no way to create this fourth chamber so the doctors will basically have to rewire the heart to function on 2 chambers. They will need to do three separate open heart surgeries to complete this process. The first surgery will be within three days of Lily's birth. The second surgery will come at about 6 months. The third will happen at about 4-6 years of age. Please visit the links below for more information. Please keep checking for more postings. I plan on posting more information about Lily's condition, her progress and future ultrasounds, pictures of the nursery(after I finish it....actually maybe after I start it!) and other fun or interesting things that might come up with Emily's pregnacy in the next few months. I am sure Emily will roll her eyes when she reads that line! Anyways, here are a few links:

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1303

http://texasheart.org/HIC/Topics/Cond/patresia.cfm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonary_atresia