“There is nothing - no circumstance, no trouble, no testing - that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment. But as I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to Him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart, no sorrow will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to fret – for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is! THAT is the rest of victory.” Alan Redpath

In the midst of last week's uncertainty, my oldest friend from kindergarten (who's name is also April!) sent me this word as encouragement that nothing escapes God's attention. Even after the insanity of this past weekend and Asher's surprising, early arrival, this truth encourages me. Now today, after coming home to my family without Asher, I can rest in joy and comfort of who God says he is in my life and family.

Thank you all SO MUCH for your boundless prayers, words of encouragement, and tangible acts of support (as I started writing this last night, one friend was running to Babies R Us for breast milk pouches while another friend picked up Chipotle for dinner). This week has been beyond chaos but YOU have brought peace and manageability to it all. Did I mention our master bathroom is in the midst of a remodel and workers and dust fill our home?!?

Yesterday afternoon I was discharged from the hospital - YA!!! - and many of you are wondering about how Baby Asher is doing and what's happening next.

The doctors and nurses are pleased and impressed with our miracle baby. Allow me to bullet point his medical status in hopes to quickly capture what's going on...

Asher's been breathing on his own since birth! Truly awesome for a 33 week, 1 day baby.
I met one of his NICU doctors who's first words word, "Your son is a mystery!" HA. He doesn't even know the mystery of how he was conceived to begin with. This is par for the course. This doctor went on to describe Asher's biggest "issue" is his unregulated blood sugar levels. His insulin is high and blood sugar low. They aren't sure why (has nothing to do with my PCOS or high blood sugar level during pregnancy). They are thinking it will regulate itself over the next 1-2 weeks but if not they will start getting concerned and ruling out issues. He's currently on a high IV amount of sugar intake in order to keep his levels within normal range. Pray this self-corrects soon and that his pancreas matures to do what it was created to do!
He has a feeding IV that goes directly to his belly but they are also attempting bottle feeding. Typically, babies don't learn the sucking-swallowing coordination until weeks 34-35, so he's getting a head start on this.
Only after his blood sugar regulates will I be able to nurse him. Pray for regulation and his coordination so we can begin bonding during breastfeeding!
He's working with an OT every day to develop his little muscles and coordination skills. She's encouraged and impressed with his strength. So crazy that my little 4.5 lb baby has an occupational therapist. :)
He was displaying a little jaundice but they placed him under the lights and in less than 24-hours later he was off the machine.
Asher has a little heart murmur but nothing to be concerned about and is not affecting his breathing. It should self-correct in this first year of life.

Asher is totally our child. He knows what he wants ("no, I do not want that pacifer"). He's strong (batting away our hand from an awkward position). He has a strong cry (he was placed in the isolette because he was disturbing other babies with his dog-teradactyl crying). He knows his mommy and daddy's voice and touch. His feet look like daddy's. His mouth like mommy. His nose is a toss up. His hair is like daddy's was...hehe.

Brian finally got to hold him for the first time yesterday. What a moment. Judah and Addise have yet to meet baby brother and we're not sure when we'll be able to pull that off (mainly due to timing and the construction workers milling around). Enjoy a couple new pics of our family...