Beauty in the Struggle: Small blessings all around us

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Each day is a truly a gift! We have chosen joy and chosen to be happy day in and day out. Let's see, what have we gotten ourselves into lately? We have hung out at the beach, played tourist and walked around downtown Honolulu, and enjoyed good food with good friends. Oh yes, and it is important for you all to know that I saw my first centipede the other day IN OUR KITCHEN...ALIVE!!! I will spare you all the picture of the centipede, you can thank me later for that! Scorpion and centipede can be checked off my list, I'd rather not see either one of them ever again! Our primary support system in on the east coast, but I am extremely grateful for our small support system here in Hawaii. We have some really good friends who have been so supportive throughout everything. People I know we can count on at all times on any given day. And people who are always down for a cookout and a good evening of laughter. Thankful for you all, probably a whole lot more than most of you all know!

Anyways, I just wanted to update you all on our latest doctor's appointment. As I have told you in the past, I really dislike going to the doctor. It's not that I do not want to see Asher, it's just hard to hear people tell you that your son may not make it. And then there is always that fear that today is the day. Today, I am happy to say that it was our best appointment yet. I left there feeling good and no tears were shed during this appointment. It was nice to be able to look at the screen and just smile and enjoy watching Asher bounce around in there.

All in all, Asher looked great today! Honestly, to me, he looked like a normal, healthy, happy, blessed little boy in there. He even gave mommy and daddy a few smirks while we were peeking at him! His heart was beating strong and looked good, again, the heart condition does not look as bad as what they thought in the beginning. My fluid levels were great and he seems to be right on track as far as growth goes. He is still about a week behind, but in the big scheme that is not too big of a deal. His kidneys look a little different, maybe slightly larger, but they are functioning perfectly fine. We got ourselves a little fighter in there, makes me smile just thinking about this sweet little boy. He is one special guy! The doctor was amazed at how much Asher does not look like a typical trisomy 13 baby. This is awesome to hear, but unfortunately doesn't say a whole lot because it is in all of his cells and we will not know how it affects him until he is born. So confusing and so frustrating!

The sweet sonographer was such a blessing today! She treated Asher like he was any other baby and couldn't get over how cute his nose and lips were. She spent an hour with us, when she did not have to do this. She sent us home with tons of pictures and even hooked us up with a few 4D pictures of Asher's face. For some reason they do not typically do the 4D pictures, but when I asked her about them she insisted that she would get some for us. Before we left the room she asked us to roll up all the pictures so other people would not see how many she printed for us. She totally went above and beyond what she had to do for us today and I am so grateful for that! These are pictures we will cherish forever.

Sad news, our doctor is retiring and will be processing out in the next few weeks. We are praying that the other 3 doctors will be just as good and just as supportive as he has been to us this far.

I am currently at 25 weeks, I am thrilled to have made it thus far, but I am also terrified because any day now anything could happen. From stories I have read, it has ranged anywhere from 25 weeks to 41 weeks and there is just no telling when things will happen. I am a total planner, so this makes me totally crazy! Especially knowing that there are plane tickets that need to be bought for parents to come out here and daycare to be figured out for Micah. But again, I know this is God reminding me that I am not in control and I do not need to worry about the details. He has got this all under control and things will play out as they are supposed to.

And our silly Micah boy. Today we dropped him off at the daycare they offer at the hospital. We trade off between dropping him there and dropping him off at a friends house. I don't want to wear all of our friends out! He of course was crying when we left him! When we picked him up he was sitting on one of the ladies laps. They said that he would not get down the entire time! I promise you that this child never stops moving! I was shocked that he was so content just sitting on their lap the entire time we were gone! As soon as he saw Mommy and Daddy, he jumps down, starts jabbering and bringing us every car and truck he could find. Too funny!