January 9 - a day late

Seven years ago on January 9, 2003 Ryan and I walked into an appointment preparing for the worst but hoping for the best. We were going in for a level II sonogram to find out if our precious babe had spinal bifida.
A couple weeks prior I had taken the AFP blood test that would determine if our baby was at a higher risk of having neurological defect or downs syndrome. I remember clear as day getting the phone call from my doctor stating that the blood test had come back positive for spinal bifida. We had to wait nine grueling days before we could get in for a level II ultrasound to find out if our baby indeed did have spinal bifida. Ryan and I and hoped and prayed that our baby would be born healthy, but regardless we would love our baby like no other. To date, that nine days was one of the toughest times for us, but as a couple we grew closer to each other and to the Lord.
Ryan and I were a ball of nerves that day and were just anxious to know. As the technician was looking at our baby on the screen and was scanning over all the body parts I asked her if the baby was okay. She said from what she could see everything looked fine but the Perinatologist would have to be the one to determine by what he saw. At that point Ryan and I knew that our baby was healthy. She then asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby. We had not planned to find out the sex of our baby, but this was the fourth ultrasound we had and we were so excited to have a healthy baby that we caved and told her yes. I just knew we would have a boy, as did the majority of our family, but Ryan had a hunch our baby was a girl. Well, our lady like daughter was showing us all her glory and indeed we were having a girl!!

We thank God every day for the precious, healthy baby that has now turned into a healthy, sassy 6 1/2 year old.

Every year on January 9, I remember that appointment and then thank God for how blessed we are.