Another BIG Milestone- the Bottle!

Asher will be 35 weeks this coming Tuesday, and about 34 weeks is when babies can start getting and working on their sucking reflex. So, at the end of the week, we started giving Asher "oral stimulation" during his feeds. That means we gave him a paci, and then started to drop milk onto it so he can start to associate the feeling of his full tummy with needing to suck. He also tried a bottle! The first 2 times it really was not something he was in to. It's much bigger than his paci, and so it was stressful for him the first few times. Then, today..he took it and did not get stressed! And he took 10 cc's! That's about 2 teaspoons. It was small amount, but pretty good step. He gets 26 cc's every 3 hours right now. So, he almost took half of that in a bottle! It was a pretty neat moment. I kept watching him and was asking "is he really doing it?" I just couldn't believe he could do it! This will be one of his biggest challenges..learning to eat. It's a lot of coordination for preemies to suck, breathe, and swallow at the same time. It also makes them very tired! So, we will only try a bottle once a day for a while until he gets a little better at it and stronger.

I am just continually becoming so aware, and so blown away at how God perfectly creates babies! I don't think I would have EVER appreciated all that they know how to do if we had not been through this. The fact that most of them come out knowing how to breathe, and how to eat while they do that just is awesome, and it all points to God! The detail with which he creates babies, and how it all works, and how mom's milk is the perfect food..all of it is just so cool. So, we are thankful right now- we've always been thankful, even in the hard moments..but ESPECIALLY grateful and thankful to be in the "grower/feeder" stage as the nurse practitioner put it the other day and not to be so critical anymore. Again, another place I didn't think we'd ever get to! They tell you you will..but it's hard to believe in those hard moments and hard days where you wonder when things will get better.

It's also been so fun to dress him- it really has. And anyone who really KNOWS me, knows that's how I feel- I've always loved outfits and clothes! So, I had to include a picture of him in some "big boy baby" clothes. It's so fun that he can wear clothes now, and that we found some that fit!

We are still praying for his development..his lungs, brain, stomach and of course eyes are some of the big prayer requests right now. He should have his next eye exam this Thursday, and our hope is that he STILL has stage 1 or 2 (or none at all) and it has NOT progressed to stage 3 ROP.

God has been SO good to us, and continues to be. I was reminded today, again, of God's PERFECT plan for our family. His plan was for us to just have Asher right now, although we do miss Titus often. We don't always say that to each other, but I think we both do..especially as Asher hits all these milestones. It's hard not to wonder what it would have been like for Titus to reach them as well. But, I have to remember that Satan wants to convince me that things would have been better that way, and that I'm missing out. And that's NOT truth. I think one prayer of every christian parent is that one day their child will truly live a life that glorifies God and impacts the Kingdom for His name. We can truly say, in his short life, that Titus did that..and may still be. And so, God has blessed us more than I think we fathom or give credit for in that way. And that's true for Asher as well..He's impacting people for the glory of God- how cool is God that He can use a tiny baby to do that?! I pray that that Truth just keeps sinking in further and further in my heart!  I'm truly so grateful and just blown away at the story God has started for our family, and I just continually pray for the ability to REMEMBER these Truths and all God has done. I think that's one of the crafty things Satan does is help us forget or distract us from those things we've learned, and from the experiences and the encounters with God that have nourished our souls. He doesn't want us to remember that. I've been trying to be more purposeful about going into each day praying for God's protection over my spirit and heart. It's a battleground in there, and Satan knows it. He will not win this heart over to his lies! So, bottom line- we are just thankful for our story- even when it's hard, it's GOOD. It's more than either of us ever imagined.

Thank you for continued prayers for our little man!