Week 5 of HRC. We're still plugging along. My blood pressure was fine. I've lost a pound. Alison's heart rate was still in the 140's and at 29 weeks, I'm measuring 29 weeks. Gotta love these "boring" appointments.

Week 4 of HRC. Everything is still going well. My blood pressure is ok and I gained another 3 pounds. Alison's heart rate was in the 140's again today, and I'm measuring a week ahead now.

Week 3 of HRC. Things are still going well. Nothing out of the ordinary. My blood pressure is still fine. I gained weight this week....2 1/2 pounds since last week! What was I eating? Alison's heart rate was in the 140's and at 27 weeks, I am measureing 27 weeks.

Week 2 of HRC. Another unremarkable appointment. Again, blood pressure was fine, I've lost another half pound since the surgery (though it's probably from wearing lighter clothes), Alison's heart rate was in the 150's, and we're still measuring right on track.

Today was my first appointment at the High Risk Clinic (hereafter to be referred to as HRC). We got a nice folder full of information on just about everything we will need to know, from how to measure contractions to when the gift shop hours are at the hospital. It was a most unremarkable appointment, thank goodness. My blood pressure was fine, I've lost a pound since the surgery, Alison's heart rate was in the 150s, and we're measuring 25 weeks at 25 weeks.

We have gone through an array of tests to see what lesion level we are dealing with. After visiting with Dr. Davis and getting another level II ultrasound, he is positive we are not dealing with an L1 lesion, but is unsure if it is an L2 or L3. Dr. Davis also noticed that we are dealing with myeloschisis instead of myelomeningocele. So instead of having the bulge, we have a open hole. That means that when the closure is done, it will be necessary to make small incisions on the baby's sides so the doctor can pull the skin over the opening together. The flank incisions will then be covered with a skin graft. They sent us down to try the 3D ultra-sound to see if we could get a better picture of the affected vertebrae. That was really cool. We still didn't get a good reading of the defect, so we are assuming it is an L2.

We are leaving for Nashville today. Tomorrow we begin two days of testing and counseling. Unless we learn something that makes us change our minds, the surgery will be May 8. We are going to stay will Traci and Kevin while we are Nashville.

Today we went to see Dr. Wechter for a level II ultrasound. We got some very bad news. It appears that the baby has a neural tube defect at L1. Dr. Wechter told us about in utero surgery to close the defect.

Today we went to see Dr. Wechter for a level II ultrasound. We got some very bad news. It appears that the baby has a neural tube defect at L1. Dr. Wechter told us about in utero surgery to close the defect.