Matthew Efird and his wife, Hannah, were joyfully expecting their second son when the word "abnormalities" during a routine ultrasound changed everything. What followed was a journey into anticipatory grief after their son Noah was diagnosed with Trisomy 13, a condition often described as “incompatible with life.” 

In today's episode, Matthew shares what it was like to walk through the remainder of the pregnancy with that knowledge—holding both hope and heartbreak at the same time. He talks about how he and Hannah navigated those months together, how they learned to communicate in the middle of grief, and the intentional ways they chose to spend their time with Noah before he was born.

Matthew also shares about Noah’s birth and the unexpected gift of 57½ hours together — time to hold him, to introduce him to family, and to fully experience what it meant to parent their son on this side of heaven.

In this episode, we discuss:

  •  The joy of expecting a second child after a season of waiting 
  •  The moment everything changed at a routine ultrasound 
  •  Processing the word “abnormalities” and a Trisomy 13 diagnosis 
  •  Walking through anticipatory grief during pregnancy 
  •  How Matthew and Hannah supported each other in their marriage 
  •  Two simple but powerful questions that helped them communicate in grief 
  •  Choosing to be intentional with the time they had with Noah 
  •  Noah’s birth and the gift of 57½ hours together 
  •  What it meant to parent Noah during his brief life 

Be sure to join us next week for the second half of this conversation, when Matthew shares what life looked like after Noah’s passing and offers insight into grief from a father’s perspective.

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** IMPORTANT** - All views expressed by guests on this podcast are theirs alone, and may not represent the Statement of Faith and Statement of Beliefs of the While We're Waiting ministry. 

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