Update- 32 weeks

Well, we’ve made it back from another trip to Dallas. We had two appointments lined-up, one with the Pedi Cardiologist and then a follow up with the Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) Doc at Baylor Medical where we thought we would be delivering. Unfortunately things didn’t not go quite as planned...
Once again, I’ll try to keep this short, but informative. During our fetal echo, Dr. Day noted a small change with Rylynn’s heart that makes a very large impact. The scenario that we were hoping would not come to be seems to be developing. The Atrial Septum which is the small hole that links the two upper chambers of her heart is starting to narrow. This simply means that she will need to have a catheter IMMEDIATELY after birth. They will again try to stabilizer for a couple of days before taking her in for surgery; however our original plan for the Norwood procedure may also have to be changed. Until we know how much her lungs have been affected by the AS closure, if the catheter worked, and how much her heart is struggling, we are not clear how they will choose to proceed.
Gilly and I will be back in Dallas in three weeks in order for them to take another look at her heart. At that time we will sit down with our new team of MFM Docs to plan a Cesarean delivery most likely between 36-38 weeks. We do know that we will be delivering at Parkland Hospital so that they can immediately take Rylynn to the Cath Lab at Children’s Hospital.
Please send some extra prayers our way. Miss Rylynn is going to have to fight even harder because she has a lot to overcome.
With love…

Quick Update

Gilly and I had a Doctor's appointment yesterday (in Austin) and things went well. Rylynn is growing fast and is in the 58th percentile. Our chunky monkey now weighs 3lbs-11oz. Yesterday during our sonogram, Rylynn gave the camera a quick look and once again I think she looks just like Gilly!! I know these images are sometimes a little weird looking, but squint your eyes and maybe you can see it too!

We will be headed back to Dallas on the 18th to try to make a few tough decisions regarding the coordination of the delivery. I will be sure to keep you all up to date as soon as we know a little more.

Please keep us in your prayers and take care!

With love...

Welcome to Rio~Loco!

Hello everyone, from the Riojas fam! I’ve never been a blogger, but am hoping this will keep all our family and friends up to date on our little Rylynn. We are only about 10 weeks from our May 12th due date and it seems to be right around the corner now.
After a couple of hectic months of traveling between Austin, Houston and Dallas to meet with various Doctors and Surgeons, Gilly and I have made the decision to have Rylynn at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. We believe she will be in the best care there and Gilly and I felt very comfortable with everyone we met. They were all so super nice!
I will keep you all up to date as we plan the delivery and surgery. However, we laugh that little Miss has yet to adhere to any typical ways of doing things so we are hoping she stays nice and snug in my belly for a while and isn’t too anxious to come out.
Amongst all the stress and confusion, Gilly and I are doing well and have been busy with our daily grind. We appreciate all the emails, phone calls and cards that you all have sent our way. It means the world to know that we are loved by so many and that Rylynn has such a loving bunch of people praying for her.

With love…

~ PS ~ I have posted a few links off to the side so you can learn more about Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) and visit some of the websites and organizations that have helped us to understand the medical condition. I did not want to bore you all with too many details, but please feel free to ask us anytime. We have become quite the whizzes at all this medical terminology!