The Devil Never Wins! Our daughter was on the way...

I've mentioned my daughter in The Devil Never Wins! book and other places, so I'll share some more of our story here.

My wife Nicole had just finished dental hygiene school at AB Tech in Asheville, NC, and joined me in Chapel Hill where I was finishing my senior year of dental school. We had spent the first three years of our marriage more apart than together, with me mostly coming home on the weekends. It was so wonderful to be together all the time, and as things would happen, we were expecting our first child! I had personally been struggling with my faith shortly before Nicole moved in with me, and she was right there to help me get pointed back in the right direction. It was a good thing too, because I was going to need all the faith I could find in the coming months.

We went to a scheduled ultrasound appointment around 16 weeks into the pregnancy, and we were so excited to possibly find out the gender of our first child. The excitement was tampered down a bit though when the look on the ultrasound technician's face showed signs of distress. She didn't say anything but went to get the doctor. The doctor recommended coming back the next week without really explaining anything at that point, other than that we would be seeing a high-risk OB-GYN doctor affiliated with Duke University Hospital. We did find out though, that we were expecting a girl! She would be only the second girl born into the Lowry family in at least 4 generations, so our extended family was really excited as well.

The following week, we were in for a shock. The new doctor came in after the ultrasound and immediately recommended an abortion! "That's not an option," I responded.

Our daughter Avery in a 3D ultrasound

"Well, we don't really know what is wrong with your daughter at this point, but there is a large cyst of fluid in her abdominal cavity which shouldn't be there. Usually, when we see something so significant this early in development, it is associated with a genetic condition that will lead to lifelong challenges. I'd highly recommend you consider terminating the pregnancy. However, we will see you in two weeks to monitor progress if you decide to continue with the pregnancy."

"Okay, we will see you in two weeks then," I answered.

So we continued to go back to the high risk doctor every two weeks, and every two weeks we heard that the cyst was growing with no diagnosis. Additionally, every two weeks, we heard that we should terminate the pregnancy. We were both furious! This was despite the fact that Nicole and our daughter went through multiple tests to rule out genetic conditions and other things. No condition was determined, but then Nicole started having medical problems as the amniotic fluid around the baby became dangerously low for mother and baby.

The time between appointments was shortened to one week between visits, and then at week twenty-six, Nicole was admitted to the hospital on strict bed rest. Nicole was in so much pain and on so many pain killers, she doesn't remember anything that happened during that time in the hospital. Several of her friends came to visit, but she doesn't remember them being there at all. In two weeks' time, Nicole had gone from the normal size for a twenty-six week pregnancy to a size of forty plus weeks! Talk about stretch marks! Knowing the situation was becoming desperate, the doctors were preparing to do a C-section at week twenty-eight of the pregnancy. Our daughter Avery's lungs were severely underdeveloped for her stage of development because the abdominal cyst was so large that it was pressing into her chest cavity and inhibiting normal development there also. The risk to mother and baby was severe at this point, but we knew that Avery may not survive much longer in the womb or outside. So we set a date for the C section. Avery, however, had no intention of waiting for the doctors to intervene...

I was working in the senior dental clinic trying to finish up all my requirements before graduation when I got the phone call that the water had broken while Nicole was on the MRI table! I raced from Chapel Hill to Duke Hospital, and about four hours later, our daughter Avery was born into the world! The battle had just begun... More next week!

Digital Album: The Devil Never Wins

Buy Now

Song Audio File: When They Say Impossible

Buy Now