Sweet Little Angel Girl: Less Than Two Weeks!

EEEEEEE........ (As my friend Sarah says)Such an exciting and scary time all together. We had our last dr's appointment yesterday. There really was no change made to the scheduled section. Miss Ava actually cooperated with the dr's yesterday and let them take all the pictures of her heart that they wanted. Made me wonder if she was mine there for a little bit. We met with the anesthesiologist to review my previous sections and discuss the possible causes of complications. We did not come up with any concrete reasons, I'm sad to say. Looks like we will be winging it again and praying for the best. Bryan and I also took a tour of the NICU. We were initially told that since we would not be intubating her that she would go to the regular newborn nursery. Well, as of yesterday, that did not seem to be correct. We were told that she would be taken to the NICU, since the nursery does not provide oxygen, IV therapy, feeding tubes, etc. if needed. So when we went through all the do's and don'ts of the NICU and stepped inside, instantly I lost my breath. This kind of upset me as I knew what to expect. I have worked in a smaller NICU before and I knew what complications I would be looking at. Ironically, the baby that we stood beside 80% of the time had just had surgery for spina bifida. How weird? This was a little different as this infant probably weighed 7 pounds and my little angel only weighs 3lbs. 2oz. She is growing slowly. I seriously doubt that she makes it to 4 pounds. I thought wow, is this a sign that we SHOULD do the surgery on her back? Then a friend of mine was telling me about a lady that wanted to talk with me regarding her son had SB surgery a little while back and now he is 4 months and super smart. "Is this another sign?" I thought. In case you don't know me that well, it is safe to say that I am a little superstitious and look for signs. Not crazy signs, just listening and looking for ways that the Lord may be talking to me. Anyway, as of right now, we are just waiting for her arrival to see about the surgery. Neither of us want her to be in a incubator for 3 weeks fighting to hang on when we can be holding and loving her if this is her only time on earth. Not to mention, that at 3 months she will need to be evaluated for heart surgery. Bless her little heart, she is such a trooper already. Right now we are going to focus on the here and now. We are scheduled at 6am June 18th for her arrival. We pray she arrives kicking and screaming (in a good way).In other news, let me tell you about all the positive things/events my little miracle has brought into my life recently. First of all, we (Ava and I) had a pamper party the other day. My awesome family and friends spoiled me. I received the awesome "FIGHT FOR AVA GRACE" bracelets, prayer bracelet, Ronaldo bracelets, Spa gift certificates, etc. A dear friend gave me a printed song with a knitted crown. I cried. All of these gifts were so fantastic and heart felt. Ava's little crown will be way to big for her tiny head, but hey, what princess wouldn't like a large crown? I try to stay optimistic and pray that she will grow into it one day. It is so hard at times. I never think that I should have gave up on her when I had the chance. She is my little angel and she will always be my little girl. I must admit that a couple of other people have touched me in such a deep way. A friend of mine has a husband that is in Afghanistan. He is scheduled to return soon for a short period and then back to fighting he goes. This is super bittersweet. Thank you for this by the way. Anyway, he wants to take a few bracelets to his troop in Afghanistan. Men wearing pink and fighting for our country and my little girl!!! Wow!? Now my miracle is being supported in another country. How wonderful and touching. This literally made me cry and believe it or not, I don't do that very often. My other friend saw a picture attached to my facebook page of a billboard with a picture of a little girl with Trisomy 18 that just turned 2. It said something to the effect of "Fight for Trisomy 13 & 18" and "Happy Birthday...". The little girl on the billboard touched a life of a marketing rep and they produced a billboard for her 2nd birthday. The friend of mine asked if she could sponser a billboard for Ava Grace. **Breathless**. She wants to put it in Jackson, where AG will be born. Wow, another person advocating for my miracle. These are some of the most touching gestures I have received yet. The irony is that before Ava Grace, I always saw the bad in the world and all the self absorbtion that it produced. Now, the Lord is opening my eyes to all the people that want to help and show their goodness and selflessness. Maybe this was the purpose or the reason the Lord chose me. See, once again, looking for a sign. For all of my fellow Trisomy moms, I absolutely must tell you about Icing Smiles. Lauren told me about this company that partners with local bakeries to produce a "dream cake" and other special occassion cakes for your terminally ill child or siblings. All for free! They normally don't take a case where the child is not born yet, but they took Ava! The Sweetery Bakery in Cleveland has partnered up with Icing Smiles to do Ava's dream cake. There work is phenomenal! An example is sweet Hayden's cake. It was truly a dream cake. My plan is, when AG comes home, to have them make the cake and have a "celebration of life" party. She will be the present! I am super excited. You can see their work on facebook. All I can say is wow.Please continue to pray for, not only Ava Grace, but her dad and her brothers. I do fear that they will take any bad outcome really bad. Landon already brags about his little sister, talks to her in my belly, sings to her and has truly never lost anyone this close to him. He and my brother had just started getting close when he passed away. I watched him at the funeral and it upset him a bit. I can't imagine what goes through a child's head in a situation like that/this. The neonatologist says that he is too little to go into the NICU to see her, so I am on needles praying for him to be able to see her (doing good of course). He tells me all the time, don't have her while I'm at my daddy's house. :) My sweet husband, well he is my rock and even though I think I could skip him across the water sometimes, I love him with all my heart. He has already been through so much by losing his sister at a young age, it breaks my spirit to think he would have to relive losing that kind of love again. Guarded optimism is my route of choice. I choose to be positive until I absolutely have to be negative. Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers for my family. We are truly blessed to have such supportive friends. We draw our strength off of your prayers and positivity. Please keep it up and we will keep lifting up our gift of each day to the Lord. He is the ultimate physician and He has the last call.