One MckMuffin, coming right up!!!

UPDATED: Below, please find the updated prayer vigil information, or just click here to join Stellan's vigil without delay!

One MckMuffin, coming right up!!

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I don't know about you, but the night before Christmas, I barely slept a wink as a child. In my darkened bedroom, the excitement was always so thick in the air that I could barely breathe, much less rest. The thought of all those gifts that would soon be mine. It was too much to handle. I would toss and turn all night, sweating with anticipation and desire.

The feelings I am having these days are somewhat reminiscent of Christmas Eves as a child. However, there is an element that is also altogether different. Sure, there is the unspeakable excitement I have in meeting our new son. I quiver with delight just thinking about seeing his sweet face and cradling his tiny, warm body. I simply cannot wait to praise Jesus with Stellan in our arms.

Yet there is also the very real fear of the unknown that has been trying to grip me, too. Thinking about having surgery and all that entails is the small stuff. But chatting with the perinatologist this morning about what range of tests will be performed on Stellan as soon as he is born and about his enlarged heart and about what may or may not happen at the moment he is set apart from me and his heart begins to tick completely on its own makes me realize how very much is still up in the air.

Yet up in the air is a good place for things to be, really. After all, I cannot hold things that are up in the air. Only God can. So, this is all about Him and, since He is the Creator of the universe and all, I trust Him fully with our son's life!!

Excitement, anxiety, peace, jitters. The anticipation in my heart today is almost palpable.

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My amniocentesis went well! I was absolutely determined to be calm and peaceful and to not worry about the pain or the possible complications. In fact, when the perinatologist asked me if I wanted the numbing shot first, I declined. Just wanting to get it over with and not wanting another poke with a burn and then to still have to endure the pain of the second needle entering my uterus, I just decided to grin and bear it without anything. Well, I did ask for a towel over my eyes and breathed slowly and before I knew it we were done.

What a relief!

And my relief was only compounded when, less than an hour later while still in my doctor's office, we got the news from the lab that Stellan has passed his lung maturity test with flying colors! He needed at least a 44 for his lungs to be considered mature. Less than that, and they would have sent the fluid to the university for even more testing. But Stellan's numbers came in at 68.04!

And now, everything is a go for Stellan's birth tomorrow morning at 9:30 am, CST. Today, for the first time in literally months, this all seems real.

The miracle that God worked months ago in a tiny baby whose heart and body were "irreversibly" sick is preparing at last to make his grand entrance in tangible human form. Prince Charming and I will hold our baby tomorrow.

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I am so grateful and have been blessed beyond words by having so many prayer warriors out there! Thank you!! If you would like to be part of Stellan's birth day eve and birth day prayer vigil, please head over here to join in. Thanks to my bloggy friend Esther for setting up Stellan's vigil! You can also feel free to email her at ethanzachemma@gmail.com to formally be a part of the vigil. Of course, you can still pray without officially joining in, but it will be so neat to see visual proof that the hours before, during and after Stellan's birth are covered in prayer.

Please feel very free to pass along Stellan's need for prayer to your Bible study, neighbors, MOPS group, fellow staff members, email contact list or even to post about him on your own blog.

Let's bathe our baby Stellan in prayer as God guides him and his very special heart out into the daylight tomorrow morning.

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The next time you hear from me, it will be to tell you that Stellan is among us!! One MckMuffin, coming right up!!!!!