Cari's perspective

First off, thank you all for your comments and concerns. We have had lots of old friends come out of the woodwork to let us know that they are praying for us and we really appreciate it.

After talking to the doctors on Monday, as Jeff said, we knew that we would be letting Ashley go. The decision was made long before Ashley was born that we would not try to hold on to her if Heavenly Father want her to come home and in her case, there was no point in delaying the inevitable. The problems that she had with her lungs had already started to effect other parts of her body. Jeff's sister had heard about a none profit company who would come take professional family pictures for families in our situation so we set it all up and got to have a fun little photo shoot with Ashley, Kaitlyn, Rachel, and the rest of Jeff's family before we said goodbye. I could tell that Ashley was enjoying her little moment in the spot light, especially when her sisters were close. We will post some of those pictures when we get them. After we had gotten all the pictures we wanted, it was time to let her go home. They took her off of all the machines and we got to hold her as we waited. She died in her Daddy's arms about 20 minutes later. We feel so blessed that we got to spend the time with Ashley that we had. She had such a sweet spirit and she touched so many people in the short time that she was here. All of the doctors and nurses were amazed at our family and how well we handled everything. We got to share our testimonies time and time again with the medical staff. We could not have asked for a more caring and qualified group of people to handle all of the issues that we have dealt with in the past couple of months. My recovery has been the easiest of the three pregnancies so far and I attribute that mostly to my doctors and the nurses who took care of me as well as the tender mercies of the Lord.

While this has not been an easy process, we are handling it very well. Jeff and I have felt so much peace and comfort as we have gone through this process. We were blessed to know early on that Ashley would have a lot of obstacles to overcome after she was born so it was not a surprise. Our testimonies have been strengthened as well as lots of others around us. I can't imagine how people would go through this without the knowledge of the gospel. We know that Ashley is with lots of other loved ones that have gone before her and that she is whole and perfect now. Most of all, we know that she will always be with us. She has already been such a blessing to our family in so many ways and we know that she will continue to watch over us from the other side.

Thank you again for all your prayers. We love you all and really appreciate all the support we have received.
Cari