Update

We have been really bad about updating this the past month so this will be a short, short update on everything.  Cheryl had  her thyroid surgery and they took out half of her thyroid.  It took a week to get back results and they came back negative and so she is cancer-free! She has healed well, although it took awhile for her to feel back to normal since the cyst was so huge and hidden.  That Sunday, I was sweeping and mopping and started bleeding.  We had a fetal ECHO to be done the next morning.  It's complicated because she has 4 heart defects - her heart is in the middle of her chest pointing to her right side,  she has a hole in her heart, no pulmonary artery or valve directiing blood from the heart to the lungs,  and abnormal tricuspid valve.  She will need many surgeries.  An operation in her first days of life, one when she is 6 months old, one when she is 5 years old, when she is a teen, and an adult. 

I was in Labor & Delivery twice that week for bleeding or contractions 3-5 minutes apart.  They gave me medicine to stop the pain with the contractions.  At our next dr appt, we talked a lot about planning for everything.  After our next fetal ECHO on Jan. 3rd, we will meet the surgeons and they will devise a plan for us based on those findings.  Then I had a growth scan... the first appointment that Cheryl couldn't make it, too.  It wasn't a good appointment.  Although Rianna is growing right on target, Aliya is not growing at the same rate.  50th percentile is the average (and where Rianna is) but Aliya is in the 10th percentile overall, and her tummy is in less than the 3rd percentile.  They also told me that her umbilical cord is inserting on the side, rather than the front, and this could be compromising how much nutrition and oxygen she is getting in.  Her lack of growth could also be related to her heart condition.  They will have to closely moniter her and if she starts showing other signs of distress or stops growing, we will have to deliver both babies.  The dr made it seem like the goal is to make it to 30 weeks pregnant, which would be the first week of January.  Very scary.  It's hard to relax at this point and it's terrifying to think that this birth will be happening soon and don't really know how to emotionally prepare for it, especially since we feel like we are going through it alone. 
Next appointment is Tuesday where we have another growth scan and see if Aliya will amaze us and grow a huge amount!