On a mid-August evening, we excitedly watch a clear plus sign appear on the pregnancy test, confirming that we need to plan for a new life to enter our home! For various medical reasons, this will be the last child in our already busy family, but little do we know what twists and turns await us. We look forward to welcoming a new baby into our lives!

The pregnancy begins in a familiar way, and the first few months play out in largely the same way as we had experienced with our other kids. We go to town, shop at stores, go on road trips, attend social events and church functions — all the while brainstorming names for a boy or girl. So far so good!

The first ultrasound marks the beginning of a series of many prenatal appointments. Mom sits on the exam table as the children watch with great interest while our OB/GYN performs an ultrasound of mom’s uterus.  Her morning sickness takes a momentary backseat while she marvels at the wonder of the new life growing inside her.  The children all gather round, eager to catch their first glimpse of this sweet new soul who will soon make his or her way into our waiting arms. They are checking for proper implantation in the uterus: our baby is in the right position and doing well, being about the size of a pinto bean. The doctor says that everything seems fine and with that encouraging news, we set appointments for subsequent visits and for the second ultrasound.

The 18-week ultrasound date seems to take an eternity to arrive as mom battles the common complaints of fatigue and nausea while homeschooling our very active children. Attending the 18-week ultrasound has always been one of our favorite parts of the pregnancy journey:  the time when we get to see our baby’s sweet little body, and learn whether we will be stocking up on pink or blue outfits.  We crowd into the ultrasound room and are delighted to see our baby swimming around in mom’s tummy.  We collectively hold our breaths waiting for the moment — and then we finally find out we’ll be having a little boy!  As we leave the doctor’s office, we begin planning for the things that we will need for the baby, what his name will be, and many other details. But mom can’t quite shake the feeling that the ultrasound tech seemed unnaturally quiet and uneasy during the visit.