new found friendships

   From the very beginning of this journey of the unknown (starting around January 3), I had never felt more alone in my life. I literally felt that the only person who could even relate to me was Josh and other than that I didn't know how we were going to make it through. That was a low point and I knew I had to put my faith in Christ that He would carry us through when it really felt like no one understood, and that was because no one really did understand. We definitely felt the outpouring of love and support from our family and friends, but no one could relate to what we were feeling because no one had ever been there. I prayed that God would open our hearts to see why in the world we were facing this trial and to somehow let us know we weren't alone. When you pray big prayers, you get big answers - I know this because God has brought several new friendships in to my life with other moms who are/have experienced having a child with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD). 
   Shortly after posting my blog I received a Facebook message from a lady that used to attend church with my family when I was younger. She said that another young couple at their church were also pregnant and also had been given an in utero diagnosis of a heart defect for their baby boy. I gave her my information and told her it would be great if the mom could reach out to me if she was open to the idea, little did I know what a BLESSING this connection was and one that only comes from the Lord. Since me and the other 'heart' mom have connected via email and then texting, we have not stopped talking. We actually have all of the same doctors and live in the same area. Her son was born at the end of January with HLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome) and had is first surgery relatively soon after birth. We have been in contact throughout everything and she has been a great source of support and someone I feel very connected to because we can relate on so many levels. While the diagnosis aren't the same, the surgeries will be different, and every situation is different there is still a lot that we were able to relate to each other on. She understood the fear of the "unknown" and helped me not feel crazy for not really even knowing how to feel through all of this. Since we connected at the beginning of January and her son was born before the end of January, we didn't get a chance to meet until yesterday, but I felt as if I had known her for a million years! It was so nice to meet in person, enjoy lunch, and discuss life and how it is changing/has changed for both of us. I am so thankful that the Lord connected us and, whether she realizes it or not, that she has been a great source of comfort over these past few weeks. She was also sweet enough to make me a binder to keep all of our medical papers/questions/etc organized throughout baby Murphy's first few months of life! The front has his name, the verse Joshua 1:9, and a giraffe :) She had made one for her son as well and said that it really has been a life saver to have everything in the same place.

You all didn't really think I was going to post his name did you?! She gave me some stickers to put on there AFTER he is born and we have announced it to the world :)

   Another blessing from the Lord came this morning. We live VERY close to downtown Lawrenceville and will often walk to the shops on the square. One of our, well really mine, favorite shops was a little antique store, Magnolia's. The owner is the pastor of Annistown Road Baptist Church and both he and his wife are two of the nicest people we have ever met. Unfortunately they had to close the shop this past New Years but we kept in touch with them and were able to have breakfast this morning. They had shared our story with their church and one of the members is an author of some books who wanted to share one with us. The name of the book? "Hope for Families of Children with Congenital Heart Defects" by Lynda T. Young. I just couldn't believe it and was again so thankful for the Lord's blessings through those around us. These are just a few of the connections I have made and I have been blessed by them all!

   We had another doctor's appointment with Maternal-Fetal Specialists yesterday. They did a BPP (bio-physical profile) to see how baby Murphy was doing. This is just an ultrasound that gives the baby a score in a few different areas. They measure amniotic fluid (making sure it hasn't jumped a lot because it is already slightly over the 'regular' limit), check the heartbeat, make sure the baby is practicing breathing, and also the movement of the baby. Baby Murphy passed with a 100! He was being a little stinker though because we were trying to get some cute 3D pictures and he kept putting his hand up in front of his face! No idea where he gets his stubbornness from :P I text Josh to let him know how everything went and he replied "well he has to be a smart kid because he already got a 100 on his first test!" LOL. Thankful for another calm appointment. As we left I went ahead and scheduled all of the remainder BPP's until the day they are inducing me. Definitely makes it real that we are SO close to meeting our baby boy - only 6 1/2 weeks! 

   Unfortunately, due to all the rain, we had to reschedule our maternity pictures, but hopefully we will be able to do them in the next week! The next 6 weeks are anything but calm, starting with my first baby shower next weekend through my wonderful church. SO EXCITED! The weekend after that is Josh and I's one year anniversary, which seems so unreal to me. This past year has been quite the adventure for us - and one we never really expected. I am hoping to do a blog post on our story, especially for those who don't really know too much about us. Also, the nursery is ALMOST done. It is so cute, I might just have to dedicate a whole blog post to it for you all!

   Thank you all again for your continued prayers and support. A lot can change over the next 6 weeks and our goal is to make it to May 7 - but as I have said before, they are closely monitoring him to make sure he is staying 'safe' in there and they will make the decision if he needs to come sooner. 

Love to you all, 
Ashlyn