Baby Averi Mae and T-21
Averi Mae Zachery
We’re sitting in The Women's Hospital of Texas having just delivered our second child only three days prior. The storm weather from hurricane Harvey is currently ripping through Texas and even as I type there is catastrophic flooding happening in our city. With all that plus receiving the confirmation that our child has Down Syndrome, we have many mixed emotions but we wanted to share the news so it's not awkward as people meet her for the first time. The fact that our child will live her life with Trisomy 21 is not entirely recent information. It was months ago we were initially informed that our 2nd child might have T-21. So as we received confirmation from the test that had been done, we weren't taken by surprised. But for the many of you we may not get to speak with about our journey we wanted to give you a small picture of our journey through the 8 month process that brought us to this day. This is raw and real and our journey of how God brought us to a place of pure joy to meet our baby girl Averi Mae.
I remember the day we found out like it was yesterday. To be honest, we were absolutely devastated. We were confused. We were angry. We were afraid. Our minds were racing, trying to figure out how to move forward with the paralyzing information we had just received. Of course we knew as people of God we needed to pray, but in this moment what exactly do you pray? We prayed all kinds of prayers. Prayed for healing. Prayed the diagnosis was wrong and all signs of T-21 would clear up. We prayed that our child would enter the world as a typical baby. Yes, we asked why! I yelled at God and the devil. It was all apart of our process. We needed those moments to get our hearts to the place they needed to be in order to receive the blessing we were about to be given.
As the pregnancy went on, there were more doctor visits. Each visit the signs that showed our baby had downs were clearing up. We were optimistic! God was answering our prayers. By the 7th month of the pregnancy the signs were pretty much gone but early in our pregnancy a genetics test had already showed there was an extra 21st chromosome. Not only that but our doctor and the specialist we saw were both “confident” the baby had Downs. We were trying to be strong and confident too, that God would intervene! We felt like we had a few confirmations to stand on, and we wanted to believe that the diagnosis could change.
Fast forward to August 24th, 2017. Our baby girl is delivered. She’s here!! I was standing right there as she was born. I looked her straight in the face. I was curious. I was anxious to look at her. I was ready to see what God had done! As the doctor lifted her up I stared. I said to Dana “Aww…she looks like Jordyn”. As they were cleaning her up they moved her a bit and I could see her whole face and she definitely had characteristics of a child with Downs Syndrome. I still wanted to believe that she wasn't going to have to live with it, but it was literally written all over her face. The doctors knew for sure at that point, but couldn't say officially until some tests came back. Days later, on August 27th, we were told the initial tests came back and confirmed, our baby girl would live her life with an extra 21st Chromosome. With Trisomy 21. With Down Syndrome. And I was ok!!
Five days earlier I had a moment with God and I felt like He prepared me during that encounter for the final news. On the 22nd of August, I was praying about our baby Averi. I felt an undeniable urge to pray the words, “God, YOUR will be done” over our situation. I can’t lie. It took me about 30 minutes to get those words out of my mouth. But as I did it became one of the most life changing moments I have ever had with Jesus. My perspective changed that day. My heart changed. The next two days I still prayed and believed that God would do the miraculous, but it was different after the encounter in my closet. I still can’t really articulate what was different but I felt it deep. One thing that definitely changed was all the fear was gone. I was excited to see my baby, and no longer afraid of what the future held. When I thought of her after that day I smiled because I knew no matter what God’s will would be done and ultimately that’s what we have always wanted.
So here we are! We have a baby girl named Averi Mae who is living with T-21. She is a world changer. She will do great things and leave her mark on this planet. She is a champion and an inspiration. She is a leader. She is strong. She is smart. She will be wise beyond her years. She is a snuggler, sleeper and a great eater. She is peaceful. She is beautiful! She is ours. She is my sweetie and it’s an absolute honor to be trusted with her by God.
We still have questions, but we’re excited and looking forward to all this journey has in store! We still cry sometimes, but we are ok! We’re learning to put some of the best advice we've gotten so far into practice; to take it one day at a time. At the core of who we are, we know this baby is in God’s hands and we are privileged to be trusted to steward her upbringing. God has already used Averi to change our world and we can’t wait to see what else God does through her!