Praise God!

The morning started off not so great here. I called first thing this morning for an appointment and I was told I couldn't get her in until July. The doctor even called and they still couldn't help us any sooner. I immediately began searching for alternative places. All of the non-hospital options said they could not sedate a baby as young as Avery, because she would need to be watched afterwards. All the hospitals were booked through July and August. Finally, I spoke to a nurse at one of the children's hospitals on Long Island, and she told me to sleep deprive Avery and not feed her, and maybe she would stay still for the MRI without sedation. She said if it didn't work, then she would squeeze her in next week. So I was very happy about that. The Radiology place ended up squeezing her in this afternoon. I did not feed her and kept her awake. She is so good, that she didn't even cry about not getting fed. She just started falling asleep. So I called them back and said can I bring her now, because I am not going to be able to keep her awake. They were so amazing and said she would be the priority and to just bring her right then. We took her there and fed her the bottle and she fell asleep. They laid her on the cat scan bed, and she woke up. I picked her up, she burped, and went right back to sleep. The guy laid her down and strapped her in. The other doctor came in all excited and said I brought her some headphones with lullaby music, so they put these big headphones on her. It was so funny. Every person that worked there was standing outside the window watching to see if it would work. Sterling and I got to stay in there with her. The noise of the machine was so loud they offered us earplugs. When I heard it, I thought she would for sure wake up. But, too many people were praying for that to happen. Sterling and I prayed non stop the 15 minutes it took, and all our friends and family were praying as well, and let me tell you, Avery lay perfectly still the entire time. She never moved a muscle. She even lay still afterwards for pictures . All the techs and secretaries came running in afterwards so excited and in disbelief that it worked! They were all taking photos of Avery on their cell phones. They said they would hang it in the waiting room for everyone to see how amazing it was for Avery to have the MRI without sedation. God kept her still and at the same time gave me the so much needed peace I was missing. Midway through I kept praying but more praising than anything because I knew He was going to keep her still. And when I left there, I had peace that no matter what the results were, He was going to see her through all of it. We took the films to the doctors office so we could find out results faster, and thankfully, the doctor saw us with no problems. She said Avery does have moderate fluid on the outside of her brain, and mild fluid on the inner ventricles of her brain. Not enough for surgery. Praise the Lord! She said she would keep an eye on her by measuring her head circumference once a month. If her head seems to grow too rapidly for her age, then they will just have to do an ultrasound to check things and go from there. But, hopefully, and what we will pray for is for the fluid to go away naturally as her brain grows, which should happen by the time she is one and a half years old. So please pray in that way. My father in law and sister in law both said similar things to me today through email and texting. They said they believed this was happening to remind us how much we need God everyday. My sister in law said God was using Avery to bring me closer to Him. Wow! How amazing is that to think about. God is using my tiny baby to teach me. I love that. I love the fact that Avery is already being used by God and has been since she was born, actually since she was conceived. The very reason we gave her the middle name Hope. She has brought me great hope from the Lord, since the day I found out I was pregnant with her. I have grown so much in the Lord the past few years, and I have leaned on Him for many things, including Avery's premature birth. But, as things get easier, it also gets easier to rely less on God, and start relying more on yourself. And this was a wake up call for me. I am doing great and closer to the Lord than ever before, but I was not lately giving Him the quality time He so deserves. Sitting in that MRI room today woke me up to that fact. I don't want to miss a single day in His word and in prayer to Him. I want to stay in constant communication with Him every day, like I was today, and like I was while she was in the NICU. God is worthy of all my praise and my devotion. He is so big, and yet there is still so much more to know about Him. I look forward to a life of even greater freedom as I continue to release control over to Him. I cast my cares upon Him today, and He took all my burdens and filled me with peace. I could sit here all night and blog praises to God. This has been a day I will never ever forget. Thank you to all our family and friends for lifting Avery up in prayer. Please continue to pray the fluid will go away. I will keep you updated.