This last week and a half has been a steady week, a challenging week, and a little crazy in the midst of it all....
For me personally, it involved a lot of working....That's one blessing for sure.....Although Ron has not been able to work very much, at least the Lord has given me the strength to keeping pressing on, despite being super pregnant and with everything else going on....
Last week we had a surprise visit from Pop Kid and Paw Paw.....I worked another 12 hour shift on Tuesday and it was a crazy day...For some of you that live in other states, our area is running rampent with the Flu....working in a pediatric ER, where I am constantly exposed to it, pretty much makes me worried....I have been wearing a mask...but knowing that I have a sick baby at home makes it way worse...Not to mention, working 12 hour shifts in a crazy busy pediatric ER, well....that made me super moody especially all week last week....I have to admit I had a few moments where I just lost it and needed to kind of run away....but I managed to do that, thanks to my amazing husband
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| Time with Pop Kidd and Paw Paw (not pictured) |
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| MY SuperGirl |
Thursday I ended up teaching and we had a minor scare.....All day I was having contractions....and they were super close together and kind of painful....none of my other babies have ever come without getting an eviction notice....so I find it hard to believe Miss Avery will come on her own...but after all day long contractions, I ended up at the hospital to be monitored....My midwife is great and was really the one who pushed me to go in....After about 4 hours, we realized I was definitely having contractions...and consistent contractions...but I was not actually changing me or causing me to do any more dilating....we found out I am 1cm and 60% effaced, but not much more....Already that's more than I was with Addy and Alayna, but I still don't think she will come on her own. With the craziness of treatment, I have decided it's ok for me to be induced, and that it is ok, especially since we are trying to plan things around treatment...Now obviously she will come when she wants, but hoping to be able to be kind of prepared and that my mom will actually make it for the delivery...
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| Fun Times in L&D |
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| Avery looked Great! |
With all the working, it made time fly by and by Friday it was time for clinic. Our clinic visit was actually pretty laid back! We didn't need any blood and we didn't get any crazy news, so it was nice just to have a normal Friday...and weird that clinic is our new normal Friday...I left and ended up having my last day of teaching in the hospital and was so glad to have a great last day! Also, my amazing students blessed us with super sweet gifts, including a date night, and a coloring book for me for the hospital! They said it would help reduce my stress...They seriously were so willing to go with the flow, and for that, we are all so thankful! It was truly a blessing, sticking it out. and continuing to teach, despite the circumstances!!!
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| Great Clinic Day |
Saturday we had a great family day. My sweet Sister in Love and my twin brother came into town, and we got to spend the day with them. Amanda (amandasueannecom) has been wanting to take pictures of our family for a while, and I was so blessed by her, because she got to take pictures of us and she even did some maternity pictures for our nursery! She is amazing photographer and so we felt so blessed to not only have amazing pictures, but to spend much needed time with our family...I will post a folder on Facebook with all the pictures...but here's a few of my favorites....
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| Nickless Life |
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| This picture could not better some up this time of our life |
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| Love my sweet Big Girl |
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| My sweet girls |
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| just love this one |
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| Another favorite |
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| Swollen but still smiling |
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| yes he's good looking even with the beard |
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| that one tear |
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| My sweet girls |
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| Miss Avery Grace |
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| love!
Sunday was also another great day! I was able to help lead worship at church and we had a fun day just spending time with family as well. My husband has been encouraging to sing a lot before this new baby comes, and I am so thankful for him, because he really just thrives when he's able to serve at church...so it's a hard choice to figure out whose going every week..but thankful for our friends who help us out so we can go together on Sunday nights! And it's way fun jumping around worshiping this far into my pregnancy!!!
Sunday Singing and Super Preggo
The rest of the week was truly spent just adapting to life on steroids....We have been giving steroids twice a day, to help fight Alayna's leukemia, and the steroid life is so hard....She wakes up multiple times a night, after being such a good sleeper before all of this, wanting to eat...she is moody and irritable and downright mean...She is obsessed, beyond belief, with Taco Bell, and I am so thankful for $1 Chicken Quesadillas or I would go broke....The mean attitude is super hard on Addyson....and the swelling....don't even get me started on the swelling....it has been so hard to see her change right in front of my eyes.....She has gained over 5lbs and for this Mama's heart, it's been so hard to see her become this other person...she doesn't even look liker herself to me...so it's really been hard...I literally have been counting down the moments and doses, and tonight we got to give our sweet girl her last dose for a long time....She will have to take steroids again later in treatment, but never for longer than a week, so the swelling should not be as bad.....I am definitely ready to have my sweet girl back, even though she is pretty cute as a butter ball...
Sweet girls with sweet hats from friends at preschool
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Tuesday we also had a lab check up, and once again our counts keep rising, and we didn't need blood, although we did need some fluids...proabably because the steroids are raising her sugar level. We also haven't had as much movement on our house, but we got amazing news on Tuesday. We found out HGTV has chosen our house for a story in their May issue of their magazine as part of a story on homes across the country! This was a huge honor, and although it won't release till May, it was encouraging. We still have not had any offers....And this is so aggravating.....there's a lot of pressure to lower the price of our house and I am personally having a hard time with that. I just want the Lord to sell our house, without having to lower the house.....We even had another relator this week comment about how our house was priced way lower than other comparable houses....so we are faced with a choice to lower the price, or keep having to pay utilities and a mortgage for a house that no one is living in....So please continue to pray for us in this situation and just that we would have wisdom.....We have decided to wait to lower the price till the end of the month and pray about it till then.....Tomorrow we have another showing so we are hoping for good news tomorrow!
Having to wear her a lot because she is just so heavy
Deutoronmy 8:1
Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. 3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Tomorrow is a HUGE DAY for us....Tomorrow is our day 29....the last day of Induction Therapy...Tomorrow we will have another bone marrow biopsy and aspiration, along with another Lumbar Puncture where they will place chemo in her spine....we will also get IV chemo and the labs will be drawn to determine our risk stratification.....Although we will not actually receive results till next Wednesday, tomorrow is huge......We are praying the leukemia on the microscopic level will be 0.01%!!!!! We know that God can do this and we are going into this day expecting it! We know we are already high risk, but if the value is not below 0.01%, we will then be placed into Very High Risk....I feel like Daniel and His 3 friends, because yes we know the Lord can allow this to happen....but EVEN IF HE DOESN'T, we are still trusting and believing for Alayna's healing, making her beautifully complete....
Daniel 3:16
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18 But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”
So overall, things have been consistent and steady, and challenging all in one....Next week is an off week with no medicines and just the chance to help Alayna's counts rise so we can start the next phase of treatment next Friday....CONSOLIDATION!!! Ron ended up bartering some work with a sweet friend who has Disney Vacation Club Points and so we are actually going to get a one night BabyMoon early in the week next week at Animal Kingdom Lodge...which has always been my dream to go to and we will have finally get to have a date night and to have a night away before new baby comes....To say I am excited is an understatement....we will get results on Wednesday, so it will be a great distraction to help me not worry about our results...Also, if our counts are good on Wednesday, we might get to spend a little time with Alayna at Disney Thursday before her counts really start to drop in her next phase....
We received an amazing package today from our sweet friends in the Children's ER
We have also been blessed by so many people having fundraisers for us, and financially with all that has been going on with the house, and the medical bills starting to come in, it's so encouraging to have the help from friends and family....Currently we have the following fundraisers....
Our t-shirt fundraiser only has about 2 weeks lefts...These adorable shifts are a great way to give and receive something super fun that will help us share our story with the world and give God all the glory....checkout our Booster T-shirt Fundraiser
Also, we love that Alayna's middle name and second name is HOPE, because we are truly believing and standing on the Lord's Hope in our lives!!! Check out our necklace fundraiser Premier Hope Necklaces for Alayna Hope
Another sweet friend has an amazing headband company through instagram called adiandezzie....she is donating 10% of her profits towards Alayna...these headbands are super cute and we cannot wait to show them off! Feeling so blessed for this adorable fundraiser...check her stuff out...it's amazing!!!
Also we still have the GOFUND ME fundraiser going on and continue to be blown away by those who have given...this account is being used for this year's medical bills we have coming in....and it's scary, but so encouraging to know the Lord has already provided so much! Alayna Hope's GoFund ME
HERE'S OUR PRAYER FOCUSES
1. FIRST AND FOREMOST!!!! We are believing for the 0.01% MRD results that we will get tomorrow!!! Although we won't know results till Wednesday, we are believing we might even have favorable cells, which would be a complete miracle from the Lord, since we didn't have any on day 8! Join with us in praying that she will be at this level, which would put her in COMPLETE REMISSION!!!! Although it wouldn't stop treatment, it would set us up for a more successful treatment plan and better risk stratification!!!!
2. That our house would sell and we would at least receive an offer WITHOUT having to lower the price.....and that we would make the right decisions in all of this....we found out just this week we are having to pay $80 a month for sewer that we are clearly not even using and there's no way to turn it off, so the bills for this beautiful house keep adding up, and we NEED THE LORD TO SELL IT ASAP! Please also continue sharing the Zillow link and telling your friends about this gorgeous home that now, even HGTV has selected as a model home! Our lovely house for sale
3. Pray that our counts will continue to rise and we will be able to start treatment for Consolidation next Friday....and that we will be able to actually enjoy a night away from our girls....with no fevers or sickness while we are gone!!!! And pray for our sweet friends who will be watching our girls!
4. Pray for Alayna's swelling, appetite, and attitude, and that these steroids will quickly exit her system. Also that she will return to our sweet girl we know she still is, and quicker than normal!!! And for this Mama and Daddy's heart and sanity in all of it...it's hard to wake up in the middle of the night and we are tired. We know that with a new baby coming, that will start happening, but hopefully Alayna can go back to a great sleeper before new baby comes....And just that the swelling will go down even quicker than expected for this Mama's heart!
5. Pray for the timing of Avery....I found out this week I won't be allowed to be induced till 39 weeks, which is totally understandable...I was not wanting to be induced at all, but with all this going on, I realized it's ok for me and I need to just be ok with having to plan things based on Alayna's treatment...but I am soon uncomfortable and getting bigger by the day.....so it truly would be pretty amazing for Avery to come in her own timing, and in the right timing!!! We are constantly praying that the Lord knows better than we know and are going to be excited to welcome her whenever she does choose to come around! So prayers against the pain and discomfort, and that we can also get all we need to done before she comes...nesting is in full swing for sure!!! Psalms 139 has been such an encouragement to me this week....you should all go read it...but here's some of my favorite parts of it
Psalms 139
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
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You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
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How precious are your thoughts about me,[b] O God.
They cannot be numbered!
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I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
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