COVID- When you hear that word; what comes to your mind? Maybe it is something negative or depressing. Covid wasn’t a happy time, was it? Did anything positive come out of covid? Maybe we all got to have more qualtiy family time and slow down a little during 2020 when we all had to be “quarantined” in our home. But when I think of covid and what was going on in our world during that time; I think about my life changing dramaticlly. I think about my familes life changing dramatically and one phone call that changed everything.

In 2020, I was pregnant with a sweet baby girl. I had already been twice blessed with my sweet teenagers. All I ever wanted in life was a girl. I wanted a girl so bad and I had already had my girl named picked out: Mary Elizabeth. Well God answered my prayer and my first born came to us in 2007. Then how lucky did we get and He gave us Annabelle in 2009. So my family was complete. I loved being a girl mom and my girls are my world. But then God said, ” Amanda you get a 3rd girl!!” Yea what a wonderful surprise, at age 39 I am going to have another sweet girl to dress in smocked dresses and beautiful bows. Our sweet addition was due in August.

In March; we were sent home and were introduced to this thing called ZOOM! I was teaching 2nd grade and we were required to email our class parents each day and learn how to have zoom meetings with our team and school. We tried to support our students at home with activities and packets. My 19th week ultrasound was during this time and I was excited to see our sweet girl and learn all about her measurements with this fetal scan. I can remember the ultra sound technician was trying to get pictures of the babies spine and she kept saying, “She will not stop moving!” She even had me get up and move around and go to the bathroom to see if that might help. The technician then left me in the room alone and I was like, ok that is kind of weird, but ok. She then came back and said I may need to come back for another ultrasound to get a better picture since she couldn’t get exactly what she needed. So I left and drove home to get on a Zoom meeting with my second grade teammates. As I was on my laptop zooming; my phone rang and it was my OB doctor. She asked me if it was a good time to talk because she needed to tell me some important information about the ultrasound. I told my team that I had to leave the meeting and I came back to the phone. This is a time I will never forget. My doctor said, “Amanda I am sorry to say but the ultrasound is showing that your baby may have something called Spina Bifida. Have you ever heard of Spina Bifida? I said, No I haven’t. She said well it is when your babies spine is still open and has not closed properly. She then went on to say that she was going to make me an appointment the next day at a maternal fetal medicine doctor to have a more extensive ultrasound and to confirm the diagnosis of Spina Bifida. When I got off the phone I started bawling crying and I immediately called my husband and mother. My big girls were upstairs and they came running downstairs when they heard all the crying. I told them because what was I supposed to do, I wanted to be truthful. My big girls and I have such a close bond anyway and we tell each other pretty much everything. The saddest part of all of this was when Mary and Annabelle ran back upstairs and were just crying so hard. They were so worried about me and their sister.