What another beautiful week it has been filled with God's blessings all around! We can't believe Asher has reached his 35 week milestone. It is going on 6 weeks since his miraculous entrance into God's beautiful world, and I am going into my 6th week of recovery. How fast time has flown by! I continue to send God praises each day for His gift of Asher's strength and healing, along with this whole miraculous journey. Each time I hold my warrior in my arms and look at him, it makes me flash back to the unknown at the beginning of this road, but yet there was something truly known all along. That even though you can't always see the road ahead and all hope around you seems lost and you feel like you have dropped into a dark place, that you are NEVER alone. That if you have faith (which is believing in the unseen) in God above and His miraculous works and loving mercy, that You can trust the road He has planned ahead is the best and most blessed road. Even in that darkest and scariest moment, I held on to my faith and prayed that God would guide us to His road and trusted in it, even when I didn't know what the outcome was. I let go, and let God. He has written us the most beautiful story... a story that I can't wait to share someday with Asher... a story that with Him nothing is impossible... a story that displays the power of His healing grace and everlasting love... a story that has changed my life. With faith and hope in Him, He has delivered us sunshine and a miracle - a beautiful son. So as I sit each day and hold my miracle in my arms, I thank God for the story He has written for my family and the story He continues to write and leads us to each day. Even though I can't see the story ahead, I wake up each morning excited to see what He places in front of us each morning and the blessings He shines upon us each day. He is truly a Merciful God!
This past week started with an exciting and beautiful blessing! Just as I left Church on Sunday, I called the nicu to get an update on our little miracle. The nurse told me she had some good news... Asher had graduated to an open crib as he was blessed by God above in being able to maintain his body temperature. My eyes lit up and a huge smile appeared on my face as I heard the news! We looked forward to seeing Asher out of his incubator and in an open bed later that afternoon. Prior to seeing him, James bought paint and he painted Asher's nursery, of course with Easton's help! Easton was so excited to help his daddy paint Baby Asher's room, it melted my heart. Later that afternoon we saw our little warrior in the nicu in his brand new open bed. Not only was that a first, but he also graduated to his first outfit.... a onesie, a sleeper over the onesie, and a sleep sack over the sleeper. To help him maintain his temperature, this was a must. Seeing him in clothes for the first time was such a blessing, and how cute he looked! We then both took turns cuddling with our miracle that afternoon while singing praise to God for the strong little guy He blessed us with in our arms.
Throughout the week I got several items accomplished. I managed to finally get Easton successfully transferred to Asher's and his new pediatrician along with setting up his 3 year old checkup. I also managed to contact individuals about lovely insurance items with our hospital stays, which is always fun :). I managed to cook dinner, wash dishes, do laundry as I am slowly getting more energy to do it without me feeling too tired and my back not giving in. I even managed to drive back to my hometown for the first time since that scary day when this journey began... which is what I am going to write about now.
Thursday arrived and Easton and I were heading back to my hometown for a dental appointment and to visit my parents. Yes.. I still need to switch dentists... but o well.. just twice a year of driving back home. It would be my first time home since May 23.... the day my water was beginning to break earlier in the day, but no one really knew...the day I and James left work early to drive back to our hometown to see Dr. Hopf and see what was going on. As I began to drive home on the interstate, it hit me of the thoughts that were going through my mind that day. It seemed just like yesterday. Now here I was, 7 weeks of bed rest had flown by, my miracle was heading to be 6 weeks old and getting stronger each day in the nicu, I was already 6 weeks into recovery, and I was driving on the interstate for the first time in 3 months with my son to visit my hometown. As I listened to Christian music play on the radio, I thanked God for His blessings in my life.
It was so nice to enter my mom and dad's house again and relax and visit. Easton was so excited to be at Mamaw and Papaw's house. I couldn't get over how big and spread out the pink petunias had gotten that Easton gave Mamaw for Mother's Day in his handprint painted pot. It made me think of Asher. He was so small from the start, but now he has truly grown and became such a strong little warrior. As I left for my dental appointment, Easton waved bye as Mamaw was caring for him while I was gone. Driving there I had a feeling that I had a cavity on my one tooth. While on bedrest, there were days when I had an IV in my right arm which made brushing my teeth with my left hand pretty hard... and I knew I wasn't brushing them too good. So, it wouldn't be a surprise to me if I indeed had one. I wasn't going to get upset if I did either. Afterall a cavity is nothing, life can be so much more scary. While I got my teeth checked and cleaned, it was nice catching up with the dental assistant who cleans my teeth. Her one daughter has had a baby in the nicu too, so she could relate to Asher's story. I couldn't believe it when she told me that I had no cavity. She knew my one tooth was sensitive, but it was more of a gum sensitivity she said. So instead of a cavity, God blessed me with the gift of Sensodyne tooth paste instead. I felt relieved and so blessed.
Before heading back to my parents' house, I visited my brother. It was a while since I was there, so I looked forward to visiting with him. I pulled up, got out, and placed my hand on his beautiful picture. I told him how much I missed him and loved him and how thankful I was to have him as a Guardian Angel over all of us, especially right there with Asher from day 1. Asher was due on his birthday for a very special reason... to let me know that Josh was watching over him and he would be just as strong as my brother was. When I left my brother, I left with a smile on my face. Yes, I miss him dearly. I can't believe it has been almost 16 years since he entered Heaven. But no matter what I know he is always right here with me and my family watching over us from a beautiful place above. Easton and Asher are so blessed to have an Uncle in Heaven to watch over them. :)
When I returned back to my parents' home, I pumped and then Easton and I got ready to head back home. I would be back on Tuesday for my 6 week check-up with Dr. Hopf and my yearly eye appointment (yes I need to switch eye doctors yet too!). I thanked my mom for helping watch Easton throughout the day as we headed into my car to head back home. Last time I headed back home from my hometown I was still unsure of what was all happening. We knew I was leaking, but Dr. Hopf did an ultrasound and my fluid appeared to be okay. I remember being nervous still as I just felt that something wasn't right. So the moment I left my hometown this time, I felt so blessed to know that God was right with me through it all. Yes, I experienced a scary moment, but I can't be more grateful for the blessing it brought me. Again, God couldn't have written the story more beautifully. The story He wrote led me closer to Him and completely changed my life. I want to do all I can to serve Him and to lead my children to love Him and serve Him all their life. What a beautiful God He is!
Each evening throughout the week we visited our little miracle. Asher graduated to pod B mid week. So when we enter the nicu, there he is right there! As I held him Thursday evening, James brought Easton into the lobby of the nicu. Easton could look right inside the window and see his little brother. A huge smile appeared on Easton's face as he was excited to see his little brother in person once again. This time it was a closer view for him too. Seeing him so happy to see Asher made my evening so special. I look forward to the moment Easton gets to bring his little brother.. bestest bud.. home for the first time. What a special moment that will be!
Asher is now 16 1/2 inches long and 4 pounds, 9.2 ounces. He is on 3.5 liters of oxygen pressure. The goal is to get down to .5 or 1 before he can graduate from it. Once he reaches 1 liter, he can begin to be fed by bottle. With God's blessings of weight gain and temperature management, his main 2 checklist items before being able to graduate from the nicu are to get his liter level down to .5 on the machine and breathe independently along with being able to suck, swallow, and breathe when taking a bottle. They also would like him to be at least 5 pounds, so he needs to gain a half pound at least, which we are confident he will hit that milestone soon as he has been blessed with taking his feedings very well. We trust fully in God and know that He will bless Asher with these milestones in His perfect timing as He has the perfect plan set out for our miracle He has blessed us with.
Yesterday James picked up meat with the help of his mom. We received half a cow that his parents had raised, so that will help us greatly this year on our grocery bill! His mom then came and helped him pack it in the freezer. With me not being able to do a lot of lifting, I was glad she was there to help him, especially since she is good at organizing it for us! Thank you Bonnie for helping us, it meant a lot!
Today my mom and dad came up to help as James was back in our hometown working on our rental property as our renters were moving in. He has one more side to fix some items so we can rent it out as well. My dad played with and watched Easton, as Mom and I cleaned all the baby toys. James will be putting the 2nd coat of paint on Asher's room tomorrow. So, once it drys, my job this coming week will be to move the toys into his room and get his clothes hung in the closet. We will be storing the toys in his room, as his crib will be put up in our bedroom for a good year. Right now all his toys and clothes are sitting in our sitting room. So, it will be nice to get things organized. I want to send a special thank you to my mom and dad for coming to help today. You truly mean so much to me and are such big helpers! I could never say enough how much I love you! You are blessings to us!
Rainbows have always been beautiful signs from God above reminding us of His everlasting love and His constant presence in our lives. Over the weeks since I have been home we have seen several pretty rainbows... always on the way to the hospital to see our miracle. God blessed us with two beautiful rainbows this week... again both on the way to see Asher. These rainbows were God Moments and we praise God for sending us to them... His works are amazing! (You probably have to look closely to see them... but they were so beautiful to see as we drove to see our warrior!)
Dear Loving God, I sing praises to You for Your endless blessings in our lives. You are truly merciful in all Your ways! Thank You for continuing to wrap Your loving, healing arms around Asher and keeping him strong as You heal him in Your perfect timing. Thank You for blessing him with growth and the ability to maintain his temperature in an open bed. Thank You for the gift of holding him in our arms each day as we praise You for our miracle. Thank You for amazing family who are right here with us always. Thank You for powerful prayer warriors who continue to pray for Asher's healing and strength. Thank You for this beautiful story You have written and continue to write in our lives. We place our full trust in You as You heal Asher in Your beautiful timing and keep us strong. You are miraculous in all Your works, and we love You above all things! May You continue to shine Your miraculous works through our little miracle so all may witness the power of Your healing grace and grow closer to You. May You also bless all the babies in the nicu with Your healing grace. You are merciful, and Your love is everlasting! Amen.
We continue to feel your powerful prayers surround us each day. Asher continues to grow stronger as he is blessed in God's loving arms while surrounded by Josh, all the Angels and Saints, and your endless prayers. All of you are blessings in our lives. I pray that all of You praise God each day for the blessings surrounding your life and the beautiful story God is writing for all of you. May He shine special blessings upon all of you for the amazing prayer warriors you are! Let us continue to unite hand in hand with God, Josh, and all the Angels and Saints in prayer throughout this miraculous journey as God heals Asher in His perfect timing. All of you mean so much to us, and we love all of you more than you could ever know...as Asher does too!
So happy to hear and see these wonderful blessings from God! I'm so excited for the day you all get Asher at home!! Keeping you all in our prayers always! ❤️
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