hey everybody!

This is Amy’s 5th day in the hospital. Up until now, the doctors have said that there’s really no chance of Amy going home until she delivers. But this morning, we got some different news. Because Amy is responding so well to the medication that keeps her from contracting, they may let her go home sometime next week. She’ll be on bedrest, just like now, but at least it will be at home. Amy’s primary doctor gets back on Saturday, so we’ll know more then.

The doctors swapped Amy from an IV to an oral medication last night at 6 pm. So far, it seems to be working just like the IV med, but without the cumbersome IV tree following Amy all the time. Amy is feeling well. She’s had a few minor contractions throughout last night and one today, but they’ve all been very minor and completely isolated. When they start coming in waves, then the baby’s coming.

Sorry to keep everybody waiting. The hospital doesn’t have an internet connection, so I had to visit the office to do an update.

So here’s the story so far. Amy went into labor almost 7 weeks early. She didn’t really have any strong labor pains, just a really sore stomach. When the doctors checked her out, she was already at 5 cm. Since she was so early, they gave her some meds to stop the delivery and started her on some steroid shots to help the baby’s respitory system mature a little faster. Amy is stable, but in a sort of labor limbo.

We got to speak to Amy’s primary doctor last night. The ideal situation is for Amy not to deliver until 36 weeks (Aug 27). The critical period is until tonight at 6 pm, at which time the doctors will hopefully switch Amy from an IV to an oral medication. Whenever she does deliver, the baby will probably be in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) until that 36 week date.

So now it’s just a waiting game. Amy feels good right now. Hopefully, Owen will stay in a while longer.

I just talked with Amy and she’s still doing fine, holding steady at 5cm. I’m in Cincinnati now, about to board for a flight to Birmingham, which lands at 8:38 am. It looks like I might make the delivery!

It’s midnight in Tuscaloosa. Amy’s in pre-term labor and I’m in San Francisco. That’s right, San Francisco. On a last minute whim, my boss decided that he couldn’t attend a conference this week in San Francisco because of some health problems with his dad. The money had already been spent for the conference, so he was hoping I could take his place. I had not planned on attending the conference since it was only weeks before the baby was due. However, Amy was very healthy and reassured me that it would be fine if I went on the trip.

Amy dropped me off at the airport in Birmingham this morning. She was doing fine. Her stomach was sore, but it has been for the last few months, so neither of us thought much of it. I called her right before I boarded my connecting flight in Atlanta and she was doing fine. Then, when I landed in San Francisco, just hours later, I had a voicemail from my sister about Amy.

Picture this: a young man whose wife is pregnant with his first child listening to a voicemail about his wife in pre-term labor while everybody in a plane is trying to get their bags and get off the plane. I almost passed out, mainly because my sister forgot to mention that Amy was doing fine until the end of the message.

So I’m sitting here in the San Francisco airport waiting for my flight back to Birmingham. I’m supposed to land at 8:30 am. If we’re driving fast, we can probably make it to the hospital by 9:15 am. Hopefully, Owen can wait until then. The doctors are giving Amy some medications to help slow the labor, but she’s already at 5 cm.