On June 8th, we went in for our 20 week ultrasound. We were thrilled to see our sweet baby and, ultimately, find out if we were having a boy or girl. The ultrasound tech was great. Very sweet, personable and kind. She asked questions about our family and what we'd like this baby to be (noting that we had three lively boys already) while sharing tid bits about her own. About mid way through our ultrasound though, we noticed she was spending a lot of time looking at the top of his head/brain/belly and measuring them more than a few times each. She would occasionally say that baby had a round little tummy or a cute button nose. (Awe!) It lasted for almost an hour and we finally got to the checkup portion of our appointment. Glen and I went with our midwife into a separate room and she closed the door behind us. (This was kind of a "hmm" moment for me..)
She sat down and told us that while he was measuring perfectly, they did find something they were a little concerned about. There seemed to be two spots showing up on the ultrasound. They concluded that they were cysts located on the ventricles of his brain. They were small in size, given that his little head was pretty small in itself, and pretty close to the same position on both sides. So, there wasn't a big difference in their size/shape/location on each side. One positive. Another was that they did not find any other "soft markers". These two things together led her to believe that there wasn't anything to worry about. She said that in cases she'd seen like ours, the cysts usually go away on their own and seem more like part of the developmental process than anything. But, just to be safe, we needed to schedule a follow-up ultrasound to check on him again.
Bam. It hit me like a rock. Something could be wrong with our baby? All at once, I was reminded of Blake's twenty week ultrasound. They'd found that he only had two vessels in his umbilical cord, instead of the usual three. There were numerous things to worry about with a case like that. Anything from no issues at all to still birth. Talk about scary. In the end, he was growing and developing perfectly (and at a faster rate than his big brother) and ended up weighing almost a pound more than Lucas at birth! An answer to prayer.
But, thinking about the worry I had for Blake, I just felt this knot in my stomach that it wouldn't go as well this time. There was talk of, if the cysts were bigger at our next ultrasound, the possibility that we would have to go to a specialist. Then hospital birth was mentioned if there continued to be issues. All in all, they needed to go away on their own or it could drastically change our family's future. I was beyond worried. But, I trust our midwife so much. Being in the business of birthing babies, both at hospitals and homes/birth centers, for more than twenty years, she has incredible knowledge and I highly regard her opinions. The fact that she was almost certain he would be healthy and the cysts would not cause any complications gave me great peace of mind when we headed home that day. Still, a few minutes into our drive, I got a bit emotional. There are no words to explain the hurting of a mothers heart for her baby. Especially when that baby is growing inside of her and there is nothing she can do to make their troubles better. Nothing, that is, but pray.
So, that's what we did. We told very few people about the findings in hopes that there would be nothing to tell at our follow-up ultrasound. I'd just begun attending a Bible study with some pretty amazing women so I, ugly tears and all, asked for prayer for our sweet boy. The love and support I felt from them was overwhelming. Most of these women hardly knew me and yet they stopped right there and said a payer over our baby. (Isn't it great to be a Christian!!) We also talked with our pastor and I asked two of my best friends to be in prayer for him. And, then something happened. All of my worry and stress about the situation just melted away. It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I wasn't carrying that burden alone and I could absolutely feel it.
I woke up Monday morning feeling a tad nervous again. Nervous for what they may find and what they might tell us. But, Glen assured me that morning, and more than once throughout the day, that everything would be fine. He's a rock, that one. And such a huge supporter. God knew what he was doing when he put us together.
When we began the ultrasound, I could tell that my heart was beating fast. I just wanted to know that he was healthy. The same tech was there and she got straight to the point. Measuring his head and belly and looking at his little brain for any trace of the cysts that were there the last time. Guess what? One was completely gone and the other was too small even to document. Praise God! Our prayers had been answered. He knew our need and took care of it exactly how we had hoped.
I know that prayer works. I feel like he had given me such a peace about the whole thing. From the moment we asked for prayer from fellow believers, I hardly thought about it again. And, that's all on God. So, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for thinking of our baby boy. For continuing to ask about him and about me. To see how I'm doing. But, especially for praying. It means the world to us that we have people in our lives, some we hardly know, that are willing to drop everything and go the Lord on our behalf. It's so moving and we are so unbelievable grateful.
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