We Have A Heartbeat

Yesterday was our 3 month prenatal appointment, and we heard the baby's heart beating! What an amazing sound. This little person living inside me, with a heart beating at 160 beats per minute. Doc said I am now into my second trimester. The big news on that is the chance for miscarriage drops from roughly 20% to less than 5%.

Baby stats:

• Roughly 3 inches long and weighing in at almost an ounce (about the size of a shrimp)
• Fully formed fetus (we've graduated from embryo status)
• 10 fingers with fingernails and fingerprints have formed
• 10 toes are formed, although not as developed as the hands
• Eyes and eyelids are formed and reactive to light
• Vocal cords have formed (but aren't useful until air is present at birth)
• Ears are starting to form
• Sex organs are fully formed, although they won't be visible for several more weeks

In other news, Marilyn is still in ICU at the hospital and her status hasn't changed much. She still is semi-conscious - she will only respond when prodded several times in a loud voice. The doc is hopeful her mental state will continue to improve, although it is going much slower than any of us anticipated.

Baby Steps

Marilyn opened her eyes yesterday morning and said her husbands name as he walked into the room! That is a wonderful sign of improvement. Today she was able to answer questions, but was very, very weak. She can't stay awake very long, and her voice is no stronger than a kittens. But it appears she is coming back to us!! She will remain in intensive care for several more days, at least. It's all still very iffy - it just depends on her strength.

Her birthday is in one week - so let's pray she is strong enough to talk on the phone to hear all her birthday wishes.

No News - Good News?

I don't have much to report as far as Marilyn. She is still in ICU, still on a ventilator and still has seven IVs running into her.

The good news is she seems to have beaten the infection, her dialysis is going very well, her ostomy bag seems functional, and her blood pressure has remained stable.

The biggest concern is she is still unresponsive. She been that way for a week now. There doesn't seem to be a physical reason for it, so the doctor is hopeful she is some sort of self-induced protective shock/coma state.

So we wait.