We found out I was pregnant with Asher almost 2 months after losing Olivia. We weren't trying to get pregnant and we weren't expecting it either. I knew I was pregnant before I could even take a test. I was craving Pepsi and chicken tenders and I wasn't a huge chicken fan. When we took the test, we were so excited and so nervous at the same time. I did a ton of research to find a good OB at a different hospital. When we went for our first appointment, we were so worried that there wouldn't be a heartbeat. We were so thrilled when we hear the heartbeat for the first time and the doctor we had picked was so amazing. We had decided that we were going to keep it a secret for awhile but after hearing the heartbeat we were so excited that we didn't want to hold it in. I think we kept it a secret for a couple more days but then texted everyone right away to let them know.
I was so excited for this new life growing inside me that I started documenting everything with this pregnancy. Every week, every milestone in case it all ended too soon.
By the beginning of the second trimester we had our names picked out and were so excited to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. We decided on Asher James for a boy and Nina Delilah for a girl.
During one of our appointments, we were hoping to find out what we were having but the baby would not cooperate so at our next appointment, we asked our OB to do another ultrasound to tell us what we were having. The baby planted it's legs against me so that the doctor couldn't tell what we were having. We ended up going to have a 3d ultrasound done so that we could know before our next appointment which was at 21 weeks. As soon as the technician did the ultrasound she said Oh I can see what it is. We knew right then that it was a boy. I was more excited than I thought I would be about having a boy.
I had a Gender Reveal Party all planned out but since Asher wasn't participating in this idea, we ended up taking this photo and sending it to everyone. On our 3rd attempt to find out, we kept it a secret so no one even knew we had the appointment.
So far everything had been going great with the pregnancy. Because of losing Olivia, I was considered high risk and had appointments with both my OB and high risk fetal specialist every few weeks if not sooner. I was being watched very closely. With weeks 25 - 27 coming up, I was getting nervous that something bad would happen and that we would end up losing Asher like we had lost Olivia. We went to our 26 week check up and they did a full anatomy ultrasound. The ultrasound tech kept focusing on the heart and I had this feeling that something wasn't right. She left to get the doctor and told us that she just wanted to see if the doctor wanted to come look at anything. I guess that is their way of not scaring you. The doctor came in and told us that they saw some things wrong with Asher's heart but wanted to get a second opinion and that we needed to go see a fetal cardiologist. He called the specialist and she got us in right away.
We went directly over to see the fetal cardiologist and she informed us that Asher had critical Aortic Stenosis. She suggested that we go to Boston Children's to have a fetal intervention done to save his heart but first they had to send over our records to see if we were a candidate for the procedure. The procedure is only done at 4 hospitals in the entire United States and can only be done up to a certain point in a pregnancy. The fetal cardiologist also sent us to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago to meet with the surgeon and to tour the floor Asher would be at when he was born. If we chose not to have the fetal intervention, Asher would need 3 surgeries after he was born Or so we thought.
I tried to stay so calm during this appointment and tried to take in everything that the doctor told us. As soon as we walked out of her office I collapsed in my husband's arms and cried. I couldn't go through this again.
The following week, we found out that we qualified for the fetal intervention but the doctor that performs the intervention was out of the country and would not be back in time to perform the procedure. They referred us to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. One week after learning about Asher's heart condition, we found out we needed to be in Houston the next day for a full day of testing and the procedure. We called family and made arrangements for our dogs and all the arrangements to get to Houston. My sister-n-law took our dogs along with my husband's younger siblings and my mother-n-law came to Houston with us. Around 11pm that night we boarded a plane for Houston.
We went directly over to see the fetal cardiologist and she informed us that Asher had critical Aortic Stenosis. She suggested that we go to Boston Children's to have a fetal intervention done to save his heart but first they had to send over our records to see if we were a candidate for the procedure. The procedure is only done at 4 hospitals in the entire United States and can only be done up to a certain point in a pregnancy. The fetal cardiologist also sent us to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago to meet with the surgeon and to tour the floor Asher would be at when he was born. If we chose not to have the fetal intervention, Asher would need 3 surgeries after he was born Or so we thought.
I tried to stay so calm during this appointment and tried to take in everything that the doctor told us. As soon as we walked out of her office I collapsed in my husband's arms and cried. I couldn't go through this again.
The following week, we found out that we qualified for the fetal intervention but the doctor that performs the intervention was out of the country and would not be back in time to perform the procedure. They referred us to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. One week after learning about Asher's heart condition, we found out we needed to be in Houston the next day for a full day of testing and the procedure. We called family and made arrangements for our dogs and all the arrangements to get to Houston. My sister-n-law took our dogs along with my husband's younger siblings and my mother-n-law came to Houston with us. Around 11pm that night we boarded a plane for Houston.
We arrived in Houston around 1am and had to be at the hospital at 8am for the beginning of all the testing. We met with doctors, counselors and more doctors. We did an ultrasound to check all of Asher's organs and to recheck his heart before we could do the fetal intervention. After all the testing was done, the doctor took us into a little room and went over the results with us. She told us that Asher's heart was much worse than originally diagnosed and that without the fetal intervention he would not live until birth. The doctor began to cry and told us that she didn't understand because Asher had no idea that he had anything wrong with him. She told us he was strong with his kicking. After that we had to make a decision on whether we would go forward with the procedure. We had to meet with other doctors that told us that if I was to go into labor that they would not do a c-section to save Asher. We decided to go forward with the procedure. I was calm the entire day. I was 27 weeks that day and I knew there was no way that we could lose two babies at the 27 week mark.
During the procedure I was supposed to have an epidural but since I was taking baby aspirin they couldn't give me one. I was awake through the whole procedure and had anesthesia. Asher and I made it through the procedure without complications.