GREAT NEWS worth sharing!

My uncle (dad's brother) was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer around september-ish. Long story short, he got really sick and has been in and out of the hospital several times with numerous problems associated with his cancer. He had the cancer removed and would start chemo in January for preventative measures. He then found out that his "cancer tumor number" was 78. For those that aren't familiar with this....anything below 20 is considered "cancer-free". The numbers showed that the cancer had obviously returned. They quickly rose to 265. His cancer had spread to his kidneys and his liver. He started chemo two days before Christmas. He lost a ton of weight because he can't eat. He has a feeding tube because he can't keep anything down. His poor body has been shutting down very quickly. Doctors have given him three months to live, and that if he started a very aggressive Chemo treatment, it would prolong his life up to a year.

Our family decided to come together to pray for him. We know that "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them."- Matthew 18:20. We knew that we could ask the Lord for a miracle. Medically speaking, it's more than likely impossible. We all traveled to Little Rock to be with him one Sunday night. We prayed for an hour or so. We asked the Lord to bring healing and strength to his body and for a miracle. But....we also prayed for Him to prepare our hearts in the event he chose to take my uncle.

Our phone call came yesterday from my uncle..... After 4 treatments of chemo, his numbers were down to 16 and was declared CANCER FREE!!!!!! Chills all over!!! We are still in shock and praising the Lord for this miracle.!!!! How??? ITS BEYOND CRAZY!!!! There is NO explanation other than God's incredible power!! This is a very short version of everything my family has been through the past 6 months, and I can't begin to describe the emotional and painful roller-coaster. It's too great of news not to share though!! He will continue chemo until June and then begin a maintenance program. They have "blogged" some of their story at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/billrush

We will continue to pray for strength and that the cancer would not return. Thank you LORD!!!!

Psalm 126:3 "The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with JOY!"

New Design!

Woohoo!!! Thanks to "A Design of Faith", I have a newly designed blog!! She did so good and she was so easy to work with. Thanks Faith!

4 Months and Birthday Celebration!

4 months old already?!?!?!

Yes, he is surprised too!! I can't believe that he is four months old! To see where we have come from four months ago to now, is quite amazing to me! He is such a joy, and even though the first couple of months were different than we expected and very difficult at times, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! We have had fun watching him grow, and learning how to parent. He has completely stolen my heart!! I wonder how I could possible love another baby as much as him (people tell me all the time that I will just as easily)!

Yawning!
He plays with his toys, and this week learned that he can put them in his mouth! Little Flirt!He is 10 1/2 pounds, 22 inches long.
Size 0-3 month clothes, but transitioning to 3-6 month soon!
Size 1 diapers.
He smiles all the time.
He plays with his toys and is learning how to grab them and put them in his mouth.
He is taking 4.5 ounces every 4 hours.
He still sleeps from 8:30 p.m-7:30 a.m.
He goes to therapy twice a week to help with his development. (physical therapy and occupational)
He had a CT scan at his 4 month check up- it showed some fluid outside his brain, but there is no concern there, and they will watch it and assume it will go away on its own.
His acid reflux has gotten SO much better.
I can't wait to see his personality continue to develop!
We are praising the Lord for such a healthy baby!


Also this week, was my birthday! I had a great time with so many great friends (and some were missing)! Here are a few pictures:
Me, Leah (my sis), and Shannon

Amy, Me, Leah, Amy

My mom, me, and Amber

Aubrey, Kara, me,and Katie

And....as I am closing this blog post, I just have to put this on here just because it might be the sweetest thing in this whole world! He was snoozin' away!

Spring Makeup products coming soon along with my NEW BLOG DESIGN!!! I can't wait!!

"ASA" and update

We always knew we would use the name Asa, whether it was for the first or middle name. I love it. It is very different and not too many people have heard of it, but I love it because of the many great men in our family that he was named after.
During the Holiday's (which I never posted pictures from), we were able to see Joseph's Grandfather (Asa Ray). We don't know how far the name "Asa" goes back in his family, but at least about 5 generations. Here is a picture of 4 generations of "Asa's".

Asa James Ray, Joseph Asa Ray (my hubby), Terry Asa Ray (his dad), and Asa Melvin Ray (his grandfather. How cool is that?!!

Both Asa Ray's

We also got to look through some of Joseph's baby pictures. He is 6 months in this picture. At times, it's crazy how much they look alike!! The big head gives it away!!! :)

Asa is already 3 1/2 months old! He is starting to be so alert and smiling a lot!!
He has BIG blue eyes and BIG chunky cheeks! AND....you see that hair coming in on top?!?!? I promise it's there!!!! :) All my good pictures are on my phone, so here are some of the ones I have taken with my good camera:

Flirting!

Looking like his daddy!
And sometimes like his mommy... very few times!

A few fun things about Asa:

- He is about 10 1/2 pounds.
- He will be 4 months in just 2 weeks! Crazy!
- He takes 3 naps a day (2 big, one small)
- He goes to bed around 8:30 and sleeps until about 7:30
- He is in size 1 diapers, and fitting nicely in his 0-3 month clothes, and maybe a few newborn things still.
-He is smiling a lot and noticing his toys. He gets frustrated that his hand wont grab onto any of them.
-He loves to be cuddled and held. He is perfectly content just laying on your chest for the whole day. (I take all I can get, because I know it won't last forever).
-He still has acid reflux and HATES to be in any other position other than upright.
-He is still on iron supplements for his anemia. (he will get checked at his 4 month appt.)
-He is starting therapy 2x a week in order to catch him up to his age. He is 3 months, but his "adjusted age" is only 2 months (almost), which is the age of which his development level is on.
-He has no other health issues for being pre-mature which is such a BLESSING!

I can't wait to see his little personality develop more and more. He is getting out of that "newborn" stage and moving to a little baby boy! Does that make sense? He is our little miracle baby and I'm so proud to be his momma!!!

Asa's Nursery

Nurseries can be very overwhelming. So many options..... It was so fun, yet very stressful trying to figure out colors and fabric choices. Everyone seems to be doing "neutral" nurseries, which is great for future babies down the road. I loved all the neutral bedding I saw, but knew that it wasn't me. So, we went ALL BOY! Next time, if I have a girl, I'll have to start all over! Oh well!

I chose dark teal, lime green, white, and chocolate brown. The "sheep" mobile came from Joseph's grandfather (Asa). It was a very special gift! My sister in law made the "aRj" letters.

My changing table/dresser was found and painted by Emily Richardson. She did a great job!

My sister painted this for his room. She got the "tree branch" idea from the front of his baby book. The bottom says, "His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me." LOVE IT!!!!!!

I love the colors and I am pleased with how it all came together. He seems to like it too!! :)

Another post in one week- yeah for me!!! Holiday pictures to follow...

Home Sweet Home

Although I am REALLY LATE at posting this, I am proud to tell you that........Asa is a "NICU" ALUMNI!! He came home on Sunday, Dec. 5th, and I am LOVING every moment with him. I feel like I have to catch up for the 6 weeks I was without him. We have been super busy adjusting to life with a newborn, and learning what our new "normal" is. Everything now revolves around him and his schedule. We went down to Little Rock to be with our families for Christmas and New Years, and just now getting back to normal.

First carseat ride

The three of us!

Taking a nap after arriving home!

First Bath

Asa came home at 5.1 lbs, and went up to 5.8lbs at his first check up a week later. Ten days later he was up to 6.11, and as of today, January 3rd he is 7 pounds, 11 ounces!!!
He is growing like a little weed. He is on 3oz. every four hours (yes, I am blessed!), we supplement 1/2 teaspoon of formula in with his breastmilk for extra calories, and he takes an iron supplement in his bottle 2x a day for his anemia. He has acid reflux (just went to doctor today) and spits up and is very gassy. You can hear it in the back of his throat. Yuck! Any suggestions for this, I will take! I just got a prescription today, so we will see how he does with that. Even though he is almost 10 weeks old, he still acts like he is a week old. He was due December 26th, so that is what we go off of for his "development" chart. He is holding up his head better each day. He is noticiing his hands and can focus on people. I can't wait until he looks up at me and smiles intentionally. It's the same feeling of waiting for your baby to kick for the first time. Melt your heart!

I have more pictures to come from the holiday's and NURSERY pictures!!

Thank you for your continued prayers for Asa. We are very blessed to have him!

Asa James Ray

SURPRISED??

Yes, we were too!! Asa was born two months early, on October 28th. (I can't believe it's already been three weeks!) He is doing very well and currently in the NICU, but we hope to have him home soon!

I had gone in for my routine visit and an extra ultrasound to check my placenta on Tuesday, October 26th. In my ultrasound, they found that I had very low amniotic fluid and he was measuring about 2 weeks behind. They also found a little protein in my urine, and my blood pressure was a little higher than normal for me. My doctor said that I had not been drinking enough water, and because of that, I was just probably dehydrated and just needed 48 hours of I.V. Fluid and I would be on my way. So, we went home, grabbed our bags, and checked in to the hospital for 48 hrs. During this time, my blood pressure was slowly rising, but the doctor said she was still unconcerned at this point; however, it didn't stop rising. Thursday morning they repeated my ultrasound, and the news was a little different than we expected. Although my amniotic fluid had increased, Asa was measuring now three weeks behind. My doctor came in and explained to me that on top of everything that was going on (blood pressure, him measuring behind, ect.) that the umbilical cord blood flow was also decreasing and that would, in time, just get worse and eventually be bad and decrease oxygen to the baby. So....instead of going home Thursday, I was scheduled for a c-section about 3 hours later.

What was going through my mind....???? Hmm...good question. I was SO scared, anxious, but very excited to meet him. I knew with all the events that had happened, that Asa would be just fine. We lightly discussed delivering at UAMS, and she felt like it was not necessary and he would be perfectly fine in the NICU at Willow Creek. Great!

I had trouble getting pregnant. Then, when I did get pregnant, my hcg levels were not rising and we discussed a possible miscarriage- but he fought through that. We had trouble finding a heartbeat, and had to come back two weeks later, anxiously wondering, and he fought through that. There was a concern of too small of a sac and my placenta being too low, and he fought through that. I went into preterm labor, had an ovarian cyst rupture, and an appendectomy when I was 25 weeks pregnant. They gave him steroid shots for his lungs in case he was delivered, but he fought through that. Now this... he was sooo ready to be here. He is our little fighter! He is NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE FROM GOD. (exact words from my doctor). God is SO good!

Asa- Means "Doctor, Healer". Interesting, huh??

Here are some pictures of our sweet baby boy. I will update more often, now that I am healed and not quite as busy. :) For now...

Weight: 2lbs. 14oz.

Length: 16 1/4 inches

Currently, Asa is 3lbs. 10oz. He is up to 3 bottle feedings a day, although he still has his feeding tube for the rest of the feedings. He is almost in an open crib, which means he is maintaining his temperature well and weighs enough. He is about 2 weeks out from coming home as long as there are no set backs. He has been off all oxygen/room air about a week after he was born. His head ultrasound detected ZERO bleeding. What a praise!!! Please pray for his health and growth. We want him home!!!