A Growing Warrior: Ultrasound Update

Praise the Lord, my soul. Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 
Psalm 104:1-4 

I want to begin this post with the Daily Bible Verse. I love this verse because as it said in the reflection for this verse, it doesn't matter how large your problem may seem, as the Lord is much larger. There is nothing too difficult for God. He is great and full of love, grace, mercy, and strength. This is why I place my full trust in God. Because He is always by my side and without Him, my journey would seem so difficult and dark. With Him, I see brightness, joy, faith, hope, love, and a road that isn't as bumpy as it would be without Him in my life. I am so grateful to have God in my life, as he loves me with an everlasting love and reminds me that I can overcome even the roughest of mountain climbs. 

Last night, my fluid changed back to a normal color and the pink tint went away. For that I was grateful as I could sleep better, especially as James was working nights. Asher again stayed strong on the heart monitor, with just a few dips. I woke up this morning to lab work feeling tired, but feeling relieved to see James sleeping on the couch beside me. 

Asher had another good monitoring session, and then I ate breakfast. During breakfast, the high risk doctor came in. She checked over everything. She also checked to see if I was tender anywhere in my belly area, as was the norm each day. As she did, when she pushed on my lower left side I felt some pain. I then told her about my pink leakage yesterday and how I got low pains. I told her I wasn't sure if Asher was putting pressure down there or if it was due to restroom pains. She told me to keep an eye on it. I didn't feel too bad then. 

After she left, I read my daily readings and daily Bible verse. I then took a nap, as James was still sleeping and with it being dark on the room and I feeling tired, I just couldn't stay awake. I then woke up a little later as my stomach began to have those low pains again. It felt better after I got up and used the restroom etc. My nurse then came in for my monitoring. I was doing okay through most of the 2 hr time, but the last half hour I got in a lot of pain. I usually am strong, but the low pain got to the point that I curled into a ball and cried. James told me to buzz the nurse, so I did and she then gave me a uranalysis to see if mayve I had a UTI. After I got the monitor belts off and took the test, I felt somewhat better and ate lunch. I almost felt like the pain was worse when the belts were on maybe due to the pressure of them. So having them off was relieving.

I continued to wait for my ultrasound as we would find out his growth today as they do it every 4 weeks. The last growth, which was at 22 weeks, Asher was at 465 grams, which is around a pound. So I was curious how much he weighed now. My nurse told me they were swamped, so my ultrasound would be later. So, James and I decided to go ahead and give me a shower. 

Just as I got out of the shower, my high risk nurse came in to check on me as I had the unpleasant pain earlier. I told her I felt a little better, but still felt tender here and there in the same area. She pulled up my lab results, and my blood count was still good and my urine was negative for a UTI or bacteria. However, she said that they will send it off to cultures to be sure, but she thinks it will still be negative. So, I just am to watch it and when I had my ultrasound she said they will check that area too. 

Just as my high risk nurse was about to leave, my nurse knocked and said they are on there way to get me for ultrasound. I was relieved that the time finally came, especially since James would be able to go with me since he didn't have to leave for work yet. We were grateful because he didn't want to miss it, as it was growth measurements this time. 

Sitting in the wheelchair and getting wheeled down the hall felt so good. It was the one moment that I got to escape my room and it felt like stepping outside on a nice summer day and getting fresh air. They began measuring Asher's heart rate which was 142, which is strong. His cord is still around his neck, but they will continue to closely monitor me as they have to be sure it doesn't cause him any distress. They then did my fluid levels and I was at around 4 cm, so I did lose about a cm, but 4 cm was still good. They then checked my placenta and ovaries since I had pink leaking and lower pain. They said they thought everything looked good, but will have my high risk doctor check everything to be sure. Then it was time to see how big Asher was. To do this, they take two measurements of his head, one of his abdomen, and one of his femur. They did several measurements to be sure it was accurate. Coming in, I thought he would be close to 2 pounds, but a little under. At Dr. Hopf's I believe he was at the 45th percentile. My eyes lit up and I smiled as they told me his growth was great and he was at the 50th percentile weighing at 2.2 pounds! I really didn't think he would weigh over 2 pounds, so that just made my day and thank God for taking great care of him. He is truly a miracle wrapped in God's beautiful loving arms! 😊


I am now lying here with the monitor on listening to Asher's strong heart, and smiling as I can hear hiccups along with his heart. He seems to get them quite a bit lol. James just left, and so I am sitting here in thanksgiving for this amazing journey God has blessed us with. Our little miracle and warrior has grown over a pound, continues to have a heart with a strong beat, wiggles around to let me know he is there and okay, and has made it this far! I could have took this journey and not let God in, and tried to battle myself. But that was not even an option in my heart. Without God, I would slip, fall, and be living in darkness. Without God, Asher wouldn't be the strong little miracle and warrior that he is. Without God, Asher and I wouldn't be where we are today. Without God, my days wouldn't be full of joy, hope, and love. Without God, I would be weak. It is because I kept God close and put my full trust in Him, that Asher and I are where we are, that Asher's heart beats strong, that Asher is 2.2 pounds, that Asher and I live in the light and have faith God will guide us to His beautiful will. It is because I keep God at the center of my heart that God is holding Asher's and my hand through this fight and that we remain strong. For no problem is too large when God is with You, as no problem is too big for God. 

Thank You God for the gift of this fight and amazing journey. I feel so blessed that through this time I have grown closer to You as I longed for, and have kept strong through the great strength You bring me , which keeps Asher so strong. I couldn't imagine life without you. You are my hope, srrength, love, and greatest friend. Nothing is impossible with You by our side. I place my full trust in You, and I love You above all things! Amen.

I hope all of you had a great day. We pray for all of you daily as we are so blessed to have each of you in our life and here to keep us strong. May we continue to join together in prayer with God, Josh, and all the Angels and Saints through this amazing fight. The prayers are surrounding Asher, and I know he feels them inside. As we stay strong for him with God at our side, Asher stays strong and grows stronger each day! He is a warrior who is growing beautifully because of God's miraculous grace! Thank all of you for sticking with us in this fight. We love all of you so very much!