At our 13 week ultrasound, the bleed was still there but was much smaller and less concerning so we finally got to announce that we were expecting. Our family and a few close friends had already been told when we first found out, so that we would have a support group praying for us.
We had to wait 4 more long weeks to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. Michael was really pulling for a girl. As much as I would love to have a little girl, I just had a feeling it was another little boy. And it was....
At our 17 week appointment, the ultrasound showed that it was a boy. It was very hard to tell because his legs were together and no matter what the ultrasound tech did, he would not change positions. She finally said it was a boy, but I didn't see anything that indicated boy OR girl. She's the tech though, not me! At this appointment, the ultrasound also showed a spot of concern on the baby's heart. After meeting with my midwife about it, I was told it was called an Echogenic Focus. Basically it's a calcium deposit on his heart that's concerning. It could be nothing and end up going away eventually. Or it could be a soft marker for Downs or something like that. Of course, this is not news you expect to hear at an appointment. I walked in to the appointment so excited to find out the gender, and I'm not going to lie, I walked out not excited at all and very concerned and overwhelmed. We told a few close friends what we had found out and urged them to pray for us and for the baby. I struggled with the news for the first two days and then through lots of prayer, I knew God was telling me I needed to let Him take care of the baby and that I needed to focus on the NOW and not the what ifs of the next appointment.
January 7th finally came and it was time for our advanced ultrasound. The morning of the ultrasound was a mess. Our appointment was set for 8:15 and I had someone lined up to watch Micah so Michael could be with me. At 7:15, I found out that I needed to find someone else to watch Micah. I had to leave the house in 30 minutes in order to be at the appointment on time so Michael and I were frantically messaging and calling people to see if anyone could watch Micah last minute. We were literally pulling out of the neighborhood as a plan came together for Micah and we still made the appointment on time, thankfully.
Once they started the ultrasound, the tech showed us the long list of things she would be looking at and taking pictures of to send to the specialist. It was good to get to see our baby that day but we knew some of the things she was looking at and why. We also knew that she probably couldn't tell us much since the images had to be sent off to a specialist. She did tell us though that even though the Echogenic Focus was still on his heart, his heart itself was working perfectly and was strong. She also told us that two of the things they look at in this situation is the pinky finger and the nose. Our baby did NOT have the markers they look for in the pinky and the nose. There is another marker on the neck, but the tech didn't tell us anything about that one. Overall, we walked away feeling encouraged and optimistic but continuing to pray as we waited for the results from the specialist. We also finally walked away knowing for SURE we were having another boy so we finally have a name!
Meet Asher Nathaniel Buffaloe!
Today was the day we met with the specialist. Again, unexpected changes came up. The doctor's office called around 11:00 to tell us they needed to move our appointment up to 1:00 instead of 3:30. It was move it up, or wait until next week. I couldn't get ahold of the friend that was going to keep Micah for the appointment so we started looking for someone else that could watch Micah earlier than expected. The appointment was being moved to Micah's nap time so thankfully we found someone that could just come to our house and be here while he napped.
In the parking lot of the doctor's office, we prayed before going in. There had of course been a lot of praying going on over our new little man. Once inside, we met with the specialist and were told that Asher's heart was strong and healthy. Nothing at all seemed wrong with his heart itself. The Echogenic Focus was still there but NO other markers for Downs or anything else were present. She told us that Asher was healthy and there was a 99.99999999% chance that everything was just fine with Asher and his health!! We were excited to get the good news!
We've been very thankful for the prayers of our immediate family and the few friends that knew, and to those that were praying even though they didn't know all that was going on. We are very appreciative of the support. Continued prayers appreciated for the rest of this pregnancy, birth, and health of baby Asher!
