Asher’s 1 month Birthday! May 18, 2013

Big Strong Boy Sitting Up

I can’t believe our sweet little miracle Asher is 1 month old! To celebrate, he was able to get his feeding tube out! Continue to pray that he will eat well and grow over the next few days. The doctor’s are talking of possibly sending him home on his “whiff” of oxygen next week, if he masters the feeding by bottle and is stable in his growth (his is 6lbs 12oz now!) over the weekend. (It would be great to have him home by my birthday on Wednesday. That would be a perfect birthday present for this mom!)

God has been challenging me this week to continuing to trust Him and not worry as new challenges arise. My Bible study this past week was over Philippians 4:4-9:

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

How can we set aside any worry or anxiousness and have the peace of God which surpasses all understanding? These verses tell us to pray, give thanks, rejoice in the Lord, and think on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.

There is no shortage of things to pray about, give thanks for, and rejoice in the Lord because of in my life when I am focused on God and His goodness to me. I have been challenged by these verses to take hold of my thoughts and make sure that the things I allow my mind to wonder to are things that fall into that list. There are many things in this world that want to draw us away from God and those “excellent” things if we allow them to. But those things that draw us away do NOT bring us true peace and joy in our lives. Even in the midst of battling cancer twice in the past 2 years, the second time while pregnant, a job loss, and having our baby Asher in the NICU, I have found peace and joy from God in turning to Him in my time of need. God has given me amazing blessings and opportunities in that time, and I wouldn’t change it even if I could. My journey through cancer has been and continues to be filled with blessings as I trust in God! Are you trusting in God in your challenging circumstances and seeing the blessings only He can give?

Asher hanging out with Mom

I did receive a special blessing today. I went in for my BIG chemo day (5+ hours including my appointment and receiving all 3 of my chemos) and was given the week off! I am having some new side effects from my new chemos that my oncologist would like to see resolved before giving me a 3 week dose of each that would most likely make things much worse. I did still get my steroids before I left today, because that will help in resolving my side effects as well. So instead of an entire day getting treatment, I was able to see my sweet Asher in the NICU and attend Field Day at school with my other kiddos! At the end of the day the entire school held a Mini Relay for Life Walk in conjunction with the American Cancer Society. They recognized 16 individuals who were present that were students or relatives of students that have battled or are battling cancer, including me! The school students, families, and staff raised over $1,300 for cancer research! Everyone at the school and in the community of Bennington has been such a support and encouragement to our family these past 2 years! What an unexpected blessing to take part in this special day!

Having my steroids means I still will have energy this weekend to “catch up” on things around the house and in my weekly responsibilities (including updating all of you on what is going on so you can continue to pray! Thank you all for your continued love and support in so many ways to our family!) Having no chemo this week hopefully means I will be feeling good this week for my birthday and the possibility of adjusting to having Asher home with us!

We are also continuing to see really good results from the new chemos! The cancer is shrinking! The tumor on the right side continues to get smaller week by week, as well as the “rash-looking” cancerous area on the left side. And we are still amazed and in awe of the miracle that the cancer did not spread anywhere else in my body while I was pregnant and couldn’t take these particular chemotherapy treatments. Our God is an awesome God!

In the NICU with Asher :) May 11, 2013

Asher is now 3 weeks old and 6 lbs 3.2 oz!

Our sweet Baby Asher in now 3 weeks old (or 37 weeks, adjusted gestational age) and has broken the 6 pound mark! He weighs 6 lbs. 3.2 oz and continues to grow and develop each day! Praise the Lord for “His excellent greatness!” (Psalm 150:2)

I want to thank each of you for your prayers and support during this busy time for our family! We are diligently trying to balance time with our family and Asher, as well as our daily responsibilities and commitments. Our days consist of getting Faith and Adam off to school and heading up to the NICU to see Asher! When we don’t have other appointments or meetings, we are usually there for Asher’s Cares at 11am, 2pm, and 5pm each day, occasionally staying for his 8pm cares too. We are able to give him his bath every third day as well! We stay in his room and do any work we have on the computer, phone, and other things while Asher is sleeping, and are there to help him if he wakes up and needs something. It is wonderful to spend time with him when he is awake or just needs to be held, and we are so grateful for the wonderful nurses and staff that take care of him when we can’t be there. We are so thankful for Eric’s mom, Linda, spending her days taking care of our house and Ethan and often bringing the kids up to the hospital after school to see their baby brother and mom and dad! We are also so thankful for all the delicious meals and restaurant gift cards being provided that keep us well fed each day! We could not do this without all the love, prayers, and support being shown to us! You are each part of Team Wilmeth and have greatly blessed our family!

Faith helping Mom feed Asher

In case you were wondering, Asher’s Cares consist of taking his temperature, changing his diapers, and feeding him if he is ready for a bottle at those times. He gets to have a bottle four out of eight times each day at feeding time if he is cuing and if his respiration rates are not too high. We let him eat as much of his bottle as he can until he won’t take any more or he falls asleep from all the effort, and then he gets the rest through his feeding tube. If he’s too tired to bottle feed, he gets it all through his feeding tube. He is now taking 54 milliliters of donor breast milk 8 times a day. He is doing really well with learning to drink from a bottle by coordinating his breathing, sucking, and swallowing, which can be very difficult for a baby with breathing issues. His respirations per minute continue to decrease bit by bit each day toward the normal rate, but he is still breathing shallowly, causing his low oxygen saturation levels. It is exciting to see him do so well at taking a bottle despite these issues, and he is taking in more and more of the food he needs that way each day!

(We qualified to receive donor breast milk while we are in the hospital, and we have a dear friend that gave us about 4 gallons of breast milk to use when we go home. If you or someone you know is interested in donating breast milk to Asher, please let us know! We are so thankful for how God has provided in this way so far!)

Asher did have to go back on some low flow oxygen given through his nose, and he is currently not wanting to give that up. Without this extra “whiff” of oxygen, his oxygen saturation levels drop too low. We have ruled out anything else in his body that may be contributing to his breathing issues, so now we just wait for his premature lungs to develop and be able to work without the help of extra oxygen. It is hard to say how quickly he will progress and how much longer he will need to be in the NICU, but it could be another 2-3 weeks before he can come home.

Six weeks in the NICU may seem like a long time to us, but there are many others who will be here much longer. Will you join us in praying for the other 25-30 babies in our NICU and their families? It is absolutely amazing that a little baby weighing a little over one pound can survive and be so perfectly made! And God has given doctors and medical professionals the knowledge, ability, and technology to help these babies grow and develop to the point where they can go home with their loving parents. These little lives truly are miracles!

God has burdened us to reach out to these NICU families, so on Mother’s Day we are sending each of them a Mother’s Day card along with tissue paper flowers that our church Growth Group made for them this past Wednesday as we prayed for each of them. We want them to know that we are praying for them as they face this difficult time with their little ones. Pray that we will have opportunities to encourage others and share with them the hope of Christ that we can have in any situation or circumstance that lies ahead. God loves each of us and in His power will work those things for good when we trust Him! Are you trusting God and His sovereignty in your situation or trial? I’ve shared it before, but I love the message in the song Sovereign. I pray that you will trust in Him and remain steadfast under your trial, counting it joy!

James 1: 2-5, 12 says:

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

Our “Little” Miracle! April 30, 2013

Asher Bright-Eyed

We are so thankful to all who are praying and supporting our family! We have been so blessed to receive many meals, visits, calls, gifts, cards, flowers, messages, emails, and texts over the last two weeks! It is so encouraging to hear that you are praying for baby Asher and our family and to see God’s answer to those prayers!

Each day Asher has been improving! It’s amazing the difference a week can make. Asher was taken off the CPAP machine that was giving him oxygen through his nose on Saturday! He is now breathing all on his own and doing well! He is still breathing faster than the doctors would like, but is making progress little by little each day. Eric and I were able to give him his first bath on Thursday. He looked so cute with all his fluffy, clean hair after his bath! He also moved out of his incubator and into a regular crib on Sunday night! So far he is doing well at keeping his temperature in the normal range. Asher has seen a lot of changes and made a lot of progress in just a short amount of time!

The next step for Asher will be to start bottle feedings. He is still getting his milk through his feeding tube every three hours. Once his breathing slows down a little more, he should be able to start learning how to eat from a bottle. The average time for mastering bottle feedings is about 10 days. This should be the last step before we can bring our sweet little miracle home from the hospital! We are so thankful for all the doctors, nurses, and staff that God has brought together to care for Asher in the NICU. They are so very caring and willing to do whatever they can to help Asher. What a job they have caring for 25-30 babies in the NICU each day. Join us in praying for these medical professionals as well as those little babies and their families that are facing a difficult time. Pray that God can use us as His instruments to help and encourage those that we meet each day.

Asher Sleeping Peacefully

It has been such a joy for us to hold Asher more often and see him more awake and alert each day! He also sleeps very peacefully now, not struggling just to keep up with breathing. I could spend hours just watching him sleep so peacefully and seeing the little expressions on his sweet face. As I look at the sweet little boy that God has given us, I can’t help but reflect on what a miracle he is. God orchestrated all the details first to give us this little life, and then to allow my pregnancy to get to the point where Asher could be delivered just as we reached the point of needing to change our attack on my cancer. This was God’s perfect timing! We trusted that God had a plan for this little life he had given to us, knowing that might mean making difficult life and death decisions during my pregnancy, complicated by my battle with cancer. We are rejoicing that God, in His goodness and loving-kindness, made a way for Asher to be born AND for me to fight the cancer!!! Praise the Lord for this amazing miracle!!!

God’s timing was perfect. His hand of protection and healing was on Asher AND me throughout my pregnancy and delivery. We know that whatever the future holds for Asher or for my battle with cancer, God has a plan and will work things out for our good as we continue to trust in Him!

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

Continued Showers of Blessing! April 23, 2013

Asher sleeping in Mom’s arms

I have so many wonderful blessings to share, I will see if I can remember them all for this update! God has been so good to us!!!

More good news from my CT Scan

I shared before that we are rejoicing that the CT Scan shows my cancer has NOT spread to any other area that we don’t know about, praise the Lord, THE Great Physician! We did find out some more information on the two areas we are seeing cancer. The tumor on the right side that developed back in February has not grown since switching to the new types of chemo at that time, but has not shrunk either. After seeing the scan, the Radiologist says it looks like the tumor is dying on the inside! I didn’t know it could do that, but when I hear the cancer is dying, that is music to my ears! Also, the rash-like area on the left that developed at the end of March does not show up on the scan. This is good news, because it means the cancer has not invaded the muscle and tissues in that area and there are no tumors. It is most likely just in the skin layer, where we have already seen good response to the Herceptin!

We are so thankful God answered our prayers and I was able to deliver Asher naturally (no C-section to recover from), allowing me to continue my chemotherapy treatments right away! When I was released from the hospital on Friday, we made the trek a few blocks over to the chemo office to receive my Herceptin and Taxotere before going home. This coming Friday I will receive a new drug called Perjeta that also targets HER2 positive breast cancer. There have been very good results using these 3 drugs in combination, so we are very eager to see how the cancer responds!

Asher update

And now what you’ve all been waiting for, an update on our precious little miracle, Asher! He continues to do well in the NICU and improve each day. His kidneys are having good output now; they were just a little slow to get going at first. We are thankful that it appears there will be no lasting affects on his kidneys due to the Herceptin I took!

Asher has been on a ventilator since Thursday to help him not work so hard to breath and help him learn to take deeper breaths. He is still breathing faster and shallower than the doctor would like, but improving each day. Yesterday (Monday) was a very exciting day for Asher, as he had progressed enough that they came and took the ventilator tube out late Monday afternoon. It was so wonderful to hear our little boy’s voice as he cried. While on the vent, you can see him crying when he gets mad or upset, but there is no sound. It was so special just to hear his little tiny cry and sweet little baby noises.

Amy holding Asher in NICU

What came next was even more special, if that is possible! I was able to hold my sweet little boy in my arms again!!! I had gotten to hold him for a few brief moments following delivery, but he had to be quickly whisked away to the NICU. We have been able to reach into his incubator to touch him and help with his cares, but have not been able to hold him while he was on the ventilator. It was such a joy just to hold him in my arms for nearly an hour, as he slept, wiggled, cried, and looked up into my eyes. What an amazing miracle God has given to us!

Asher also began receiving breast milk through his feeding tube on Saturday and they have steadily increased his feedings since then with no issues. Keep praying that Asher will improve daily and not have to go back on the ventilator. We are continually amazed by God’s love, grace, and mercy! He continues to shower down new blessings each day! Thank you all for your love, prayers and support!

God, in His great, steadfast love, has given us our heart’s desire in our little Asher. David, in Psalm 21:1-7, reflects on how trusting in God leads to receiving the desires of our hearts:

“O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices,
and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
You have given him his heart’s desire
and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
For you meet him with rich blessings;
you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
He asked life of you; you gave it to him,
length of days forever and ever.
His glory is great through your salvation;
splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
For you make him most blessed forever;
you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
For the king trusts in the Lord,
and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

Baby Asher in the NICU April 22, 2013

Showers of Blessing! April 19, 2013

Free Celebratory Steak Dinner from the hospital!

On Wednesday morning, as I waited to begin our Baby Day, I watched an impressive thunderstorm go through. As I watched the rain shower down, I couldn’t help but thinking of the song There Shall Be Showers of Blessing and how blessed we are by God. Little did I know what He had in store for the rest of this week!

First of all, as I’ve already shared, Asher was born on Wednesday night. (If you missed that post, click here to read about that amazing blessing!) Asher continues to do well in the NICU and made great strides on Thursday. He was put on a ventilator on Thursday morning to help him with breathing, since he seemed to be wearing himself out with his breathing. He is still breathing too fast, so pray that he will learn to breath more slowly and deeply to get the oxygen his little body needs. His lungs do sound good and he continues to breath a lot on his own with the help of the ventilator. They have been able to wean him down little by little throughout the day as he does better. Pray that Asher’s lungs will continue to develop and he will be able to breath normally without wearing himself out. This is a very common complication for babies born at this stage, so we are praising God for the ways they can help him through this medically!

Next, we were all so excited when Asher peed today! (It’s so funny the things you get excited about with a newborn!) He had already had some poopy diapers, but had not peed at all. We were concerned about his kidney function and whether his kidneys had been affected by the Herceptin chemo that I was given for my cancer. He has now had a few wet diapers today, so we are very encouraged that the kidneys are functioning on some level! We hope and pray they continue to increase their output and not have any problems!

Finally, we had even more “beyond amazing”, great news this afternoon from one of my chemo doctors! I was able to have my CT Scan done here in the hospital this afternoon, and my wonderful chemo oncologist couldn’t even wait till tomorrow to see us when she saw the results. She was able to come to our hospital room and see Eric and I to share the news in person! The scan showed ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER CANCER anywhere else other than what we already see and know about! She was genuinely SHOCKED that the cancer was not anywhere else, as they would expect to find in most with a case like mine. WOW! What wonderfully amazing news-a miracle from God! I said this is what we have been praying for, along with so many, many others. My oncologist said to tell all of you that had been praying that IT WORKED!!! Praise the Lord for another HUGE blessing and answer to our prayers! What a great God we serve-truly He is THE Great Physician!

I am scheduled to be released from the hospital Friday, and then go to my chemo office to receive another dose of Herceptin before going home. It will not affect my blood counts, but will continue to attack and destroy the cancer! We have seen it working amazingly well just in these last two weeks I have taken it, and trust it will continue to do it’s job. It is truly amazing the advances in medicine God has given to be able to attack my type of HER2 positive breast cancer without attacking all my other healthy growing cells too, as most chemotherapy does.

We once again can’t thank you all enough for your prayers! Prayer is SO, SO important. Prayer Works! Do not forget what an important part of Team Wilmeth you are when you are praying for us! Thanks to God “who is able to do [and has done!] far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20)

Lyrics to There Shall Be Showers of Blessing:

There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need;
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.

There shall be showers of blessing-
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.

There shall be showers of blessing;
Send them upon us, O Lord!
Grant to us now a refreshing;
Come, and now honor Thy Word.

There shall be showers of blessing;
O that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!

There shall be showers of blessing,
If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
If we let God have His way.

He’s Here!!! April 18, 2013

Asher James Wilmeth
born at 7:18pm 4.17.13
5 lbs 5 oz
18 in long

Announcing the birth of Asher James Wilmeth! Praise the Lord for the safe delivery of our precious little miracle! Thank you all for your many, many prayers for our sweet little boy! We can’t thank you enough for your part in our precious gift from our wonderful Lord!

We did get off to a late start due to other deliveries before us. We finally got started around noon with my OB breaking my water and starting me on pitocin. Things were slow at first, but my body responded and God protected Asher throughout the delivery. Praise the Lord, we were able to deliver naturally as we had been praying, and Asher was born at 7:18pm on 4.17.13 weighing 5 lbs 5oz and measuring 18 inches long. I was able to hold him and look into his beautiful eyes as he grasped my fingers. Then he was whisked away to the NICU for evaluation. If you remember, Asher means happiness and joy, and at that moment I experienced such happiness and joy in seeing our precious little miracle that God had given us!
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17

Asher is on oxygen and other helpful measures have been taken. Please continue to pray that he will be stable, grow, and develop as he needs to so he can come home. He is expected to be in the NICU for at least 2 weeks at this time. We are still waiting to see how he does through the night and if any other issues develop.

I am doing well. I was very tired at the end of delivery and afterward for a bit, but God definitely gave me the strength I needed at those times! “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13) and “The Lord is my strength” (Psalm 28:6) kept going through my mind as labored, as well as thoughts of all those that were praying for Asher’s safe delivery. Thanks to our wonderful God who keeps His promises and hears and answers our prayers!!!

Baby Day! April 16, 2013

Once again God has answered our prayers for wisdom and directed our path, giving us a clear direction to go. The amniotic fluid has not changed since yesterday, so THE Big Day will be TOMORROW! We will welcome our little 5 pound blessing and joy, Baby Asher, into the world on April 17th!!!

Thank you to so many for your prayers and words of encouragement! Pray that our BIG day will go well tomorrow. Asher will have to go to the NICU, as any baby born before 36 weeks is taken there for evaluation. Pray that his lungs will be developed and he won’t have to stay there long.

The plan right now is to induce at 6am. I’ve never had to be induced before. I was already 2-3 cm dilated yesterday morning at my appointment and I am having contractions when they monitor me, but I don’t feel them yet. They monitored for a half hour this morning and said I had 4 contractions in that time. I would love it if I didn’t have to use Pitocin to get things going, but that is the plan right now.

Pray that we will be able to deliver naturally and not require a C-section. If I do have a C-section, I will have to heal up before I can start some of my aggressive cancer treatments. We want to get started attacking the cancer as soon as possible after delivery, so a natural delivery will make that much easier.

Yesterday my 4 year old, Ethan, brought me his memory verse from Jr. Church on Sunday and I have been reading it, praying, and giving thanks to God as we look forward to meeting our precious little miracle, Baby Asher, face to face!

“Rejoice always,pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thessalonians 5:18

Baby Update: Low Amniotic Fluid! April 15, 2013

We had our biophysical profile (ultrasound) this morning. Baby Asher is doing great, but the amniotic fluid is very low.This was one of the possible side effects of taking the Herceptin chemotherapy, so I will not be able to take any more Herceptin until after Asher is delivered.

My OB had me admitted to the hospital for monitoring and fluids. They are going to keep me overnight and evaluate the fluid levels again around noon tomorrow (Tuesday.) If there is an increase in fluids, we hope to be able to get them up to a good amount to continue the pregnancy as long as possible to give Asher the chance to develop more fully in the womb. If the levels do not show any signs of increase, we will have to consider delivering early, even possibly tomorrow.

Asher continues to be very active in my tummy today, and the ultrasound shows good movement and blood flow! He is doing great other than the low amniotic fluid. Please pray that we will see the fluid increase and that God will give the doctors, medical professionals, and us wisdom in the decisions that come tomorrow.

Little did we know yesterday, when Eric was preaching on having joy amidst trials, that our next trial was waiting for us today. God continues to give us joy and peace as we look to what the next step is on this journey! Thank you all for your prayers!

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4

Joy in Cancer?

Many have asked how we can have such joy and peace in the midst of battling cancer. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

It is only by God’s grace that we can have this inexplicable joy and peace that passes all understanding while facing cancer or any trial in life. My husband explained it SO well (by the guidance of the Holy Spirit) in his sermon on Sunday on this passage in James! Please, please take the time to go and listen: http://www.benningtonbaptist.com. You will be so blessed and encouraged to begin your next trial with joy and God will be faithful to bring you through with joy, build your endurance, and make you complete, lacking nothing!