Martin Luther King day is coming up on Monday. I normally don't give much thought to this holiday, unless I'm fortunate to be off of work, but it hit me tonight that MLK day is different for me now. Martin Luther King Day 2009 was the one of the scariest and happiest days of my life. On this day, we had to travel to Austin, to the Texas Perinatal Group for a Level 2 ultrasound, to find out if something was wrong with our little boy. Five days before, we found out that our last ultrasound came back abnormal. They listed so many things that could be wrong...polyhydramnios, which could be a sign of non-functioning kidneys, or IUGR, they thought his stomach was too small, they thought that one leg was significantly shorter than the other. They gave us so many possibilities to worry about over those 5 days.
Over those painfully slow days, so many of our friends prayed for us, and for Mason. People we didn't know had whole churches praying for us. Everyone was worried about our little boy, and I couldn't make it a minute without thinking of all the things that this abnormal ultrasound could mean. I will never forget going to work the next morning and barely making it into Alisa's room before I broke down - she was such a good friend to me that day - she hugged me and cried with me, and I am so thankful that God gave me her friendship, over those days, and always.
On Monday, January 19th 2009, Martin Luther King Day, Terry, my mom, and I made a very somber car ride to Austin. I know exactly what was going through our heads, and it still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. When we got there, the waiting room was packed. I was too nervous to do anything, but my mom always came prepared. She had her bag of knitting materials, and decided to start a new blanket. I told her that I loved the colors - beautiful pinks and browns. We waited at least an hour before we finally got in. I filled out tons of paperwork asking family history questions, genetics questions, etc., all of which scared me to death. At this point I really thought I was going to be sick.
When they finally called us back, the technician was so sweet and calm. The ultrasound was shown on a TV on the wall in front of me, so I didn't have to crane my neck to see. I was so happy to see my little boy in there, moving around without a care in the world, and I knew that no matter what happened, we would be okay. We would ALL be okay. The technician looked around for a while and finally said the words we had been dying to hear - she told us that she couldn't see a single thing to worry about. She did have the doctor come in and look as well, and he agreed. The only bit of concern was a slight excess of amniotic fluid (polyhydramnios) that could easily be monitored by my doctor. The tension in the room broke immediately, and we were all smiles. I cried, and I think my mom may have teared up too. The relief on Terry's face was obvious. Our baby was going to be okay! We cancelled our genetic consult appointment for the afternoon, called everyone we knew, and had a fantastic lunch.
Tonight, almost exactly a year later, my parents came over to see Mason. My mom brought with her the finished blanket to give me. In the moment, I was just so glad to have it because it's so beautiful, but as I rocked my healthy baby boy to sleep tonight, it all hit me. This blanket is such an amazing reminder of the scariest week of our lives, and how we got through it with a lot of prayer, and ended up with a healthy, beautiful baby boy. I will keep it and treasure it, and every time I look at it, I will be reminded of how blessed I am.
(Here is the link to my original post about this ultrasound.)
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