Chapter 5

I realize that Ultrasounds can be hard to see but without the fluid this was even more difficult. This was the only photo we had from this day.

For the ultrasound we invited Jud and Ann (Joey’s parents, A.K.A Granna and Pappaw) to come join us and help us with JJ and Kayla. The nurse called my name. My heart was beating so hard it hurt. I asked, “Could the family come back now too?” She announced, “You had better hurry, I only have a half-hour.” This obviously unsettled me. We went into the room and she put the gel on my belly and turned on the screen. The image of the baby appeared on the screen and I could see the spine. I started to point to it and show everyone, but the technician said, “Oh”, and glared at the screen. “Where’s the fluid?” she said. “There’s hardly any and, um, looks like a mass in the belly.” Ahhhh, I wanted her to be wrong. She said, “I need to get the doctor in here for her opinion.” She left to get Dr. Demchak. I looked at Joey and said, “I knew it - something’s wrong with the baby.” Jud and Ann took the kids out and the doctor came in. The doctor placed the wand back on my belly and started to study the screen. “The brain looks good and there are the four chambers of the heart. Um, the baby is measuring about 16 weeks not 18 and yes, too low of fluid. I can’t determine this mass. I can’t determine the kidneys. We’ll have to get you in with the specialist.” I asked, “Is this life threatening?” She did not know for sure. My heart sank. I was not shocked or surprised, but was disappointed that my fears were right. I felt like a failure. We walked out of the room and hugged our kids and Jud and Ann. They would take the kids on home and we would go to another room to talk it over and wait for a time to meet with the specialist. As we walked away I started to cry. I was heartbroken. Unfortunately, the specialist could not see us until Monday at 1:00 PM. It was Friday morning now so we would have to wait all weekend. The doctor told us to be cautiously optimistic. She offered to prescribe sleeping pills and other medication to help me cope. I said, “No thank you.” I knew God would help me cope and I had to put my faith into action here. We hoped that the next ultrasound would show nothing wrong or that it was a mistake, or at least that it would not be life-threatening.
We began to call our loved ones to let them know to begin praying for us. Immediately the prayer chain began - a chain that would stretch far beyond my wildest imagination. Friends of friends, family of family, churches, coworkers, organizations and on and on all began to pray.