Positive When Positive

That's what we're trying to be right now.

The good news was that she hasn't had any contractions since 7:30 AM this morning. She's been getting the injections to prevent this every 4 hours, but all night long as it neared time for the next dose she would begin small contractions again - about 5 minutes apart. This stopped today, so we thought all would be well. Around 3:30 she received a second dose of the steroids to improve the baby's lungs, and then had what's called a Fetal Fibronectin test, or FFN for short. A negative result is great, and means that there's an excellent chance that the baby will remain in the womb for at least another two weeks. A positive result is more of a mixed bag, and could indicate that the fetal fibronection, which is essentially the "glue" that holds the cervix and everything together, thus preventing the baby from coming out, is beginning to disintegrate.

The title of the post should pretty much give away what our result was.

So what does this mean? It means that for now the Missus has to remain in the hospital where they can monitor her, and continue to look at what medical option they have in order to keep the baby developing for as long as possible.

It's possible that they can release her Monday or Tuesday, and either have her take the medication she's on orally every 4-6 hours.

If the contractions come back, and continue, they may have to hook her up to a pump at the house that would continue to feed the drug into her for as long as a week, in an effort to keep everything going. She may also have to have consultations with the people who performed the amniocentesis for us back in January.

The other option is, of course, that she has the baby. It's looking more and more likely that a mid June birth is turning into a mid May birth, or even sooner (thought we are both fervently praying to hold out at least two weeks more).

At any rate, that's where things stand. There are a million things that are jumping through our minds, a million scenarios that play out in our dreams, in our idle moments. I used to joke how lucky my wife was that when I went away for business she got to hog the whole bed, something I've never done since we've been married with the exception of immediately after the kidney transplant, and that didn't count because I was in too much pain to sleep. Now that I have the bed to myself, and am physically healthy, it's about the worst feeling in the world.

This is a picture of the Missus taken last night, when we thought she was coming home today. Neither of us wanted to take a picture today.

I'm tired, and have to get some sleep before getting back to the hospital tomorrow. More news as it comes.

Hospital Update

Another quick update. They moved her out of Delivery and Labor around 9:00 PM last night, which was a good thing since it meant she had not had a contraction for over 2 hours. The fetal monitor came off and, IV in hand we moved into the Maternity Ward for further observation. The stats so far:

• The baby's normal due date is 6/14, which means we're actually around 7 weeks early, not 8. He's about 4.8 pounds, and seems to be healthy in every way.


• The Missus still needs to have another steroid injection for the baby's lungs, but that won't come until 3:00 PM today. So we're going to be in the hospital for a while yet.


• No more work - she's on bed rest until the baby comes.

The hope is that they can release her today, ans she would be on bed rest and on an oral version on the contraction inhibitor for the next 3 weeks. Then, it's baby time whenever he's ready to come out.

Once they moved her into the Maternity wing I wasn't allowed to stay (I managed to weasel another 2 1/2 hours anyway), so I'm on my way back now. More to come (with pictures) as soon as I know any more.

2 Month Early Warning

Very little time. I was out in the city getting some jewelry for Mother's Day when the Missus called me. She was having a sonogram done when the doctor's noticed that they couldn't see her cervix due to the baby's head being extremely low. She was having contractions 3 minutes apart and was already beginning to dilate. They told her to immediately go the hospital and get admitted.

We're only at 32 weeks - 8 weeks early.

I got there about an hour later. They had already administered one dose of steroids to strengthen the baby's lungs on the off-chance that we actually go into labor and have to deliver tonight. The Missus is getting a does of liquid and medicine intravenously to attempt to stop the contractions from coming. So far they've decreased considerably, but she's still having twinges. We're stying overnight just in case.

The house isn't ready, nothing's been built, there's no stork outside of decorations inside.

We're not ready, and none of it matters one bit if he decides to come out now. I'm feeling 1,000 emotions all at once, trying to 50 things simultaneously, and can only think about my family.

Even if he doesn't come tonight, even if he goes the whole 40 weeks, I think I just got my first dose of what a father is.

More to come as soon as we know anything.

Year Zero

Last-minute issues with the kitchen floor and a massive house clean-up prior to tomorrow's baby shower for the Missus have prevented me from completing my review of GRINDHOUSE. Hopefully I'll have it up by tomorrow night.

In the meantime, I cannot stop listening to the new Nine Inch Nails record, Year Zero. It feels like the natural follow-up to The Downward Spiral, and although missing some of the vitriol of tracks like "March of the Pigs" and "Mr. Self Destruct," it has a cold bite that was lacking in With Teeth. There's a lot of history into how the record, a concept album about a dystopian society 15 years in the future, was launched into the public consciousness. You can read all about here.

BE A PATRIOT - BE AN INFORMER!!

Tidings to All

It boggles the mind that more than a few people contacted me to ask why I haven't updated the blog in a while. Ladies and Germs, you truly make me feel loved. Loved and needed. My head can no longer fit through doors, though some would argue that's been a problem for years (nothing like an inflated ego to isolate yourself from an angry world, folks!). So, very quick updates and then a regular post (a movie review, in fact) later on today.

Today marks the Missus's 30-something-ish birthday, and I am doing my best to take her mind off the fact that she's grown to 8 times her normal size in the belly area and that it's become more and more of a lie to consider herself in her "early 30's." The rest of this week and the weekend before it was spent ripping out the floor in the kitchen and laying down a new sub-floor for the ceramic tiles, which needs to be done tomorrow so we can finally move the appliances and table and chairs back in before the Missus's Baby Shower this weekend. And of course before that was the Week of the Virus, which is better left alone now, I think.

Life continues to spin in its decidedly off-center fashion, and I continue to wonder what to make of it. In the span of a week one of my idols passed away and someone decided the best way to deal with their reality was to kill 32 people and wound another 30. Don Imus apparently loses what little sense he had left and the world finally has something else to focus on other than who the father of Anna Nicole's baby is.

But I digress. There's still a lot of nifty neat fun stuff to look at and smile with amazement and wonder. Just the other day while lying in bed I was making fun of my wife when she told the baby to kick me. And kick me he did. I talked to my brother who made the move to Florida and seems to be doing more than okay. I saw GRINDHOUSE in the theaters and MON ONCLE on DVD and both for very different reasons made my smile wider than you would think possible. And of course today is the birthday of the most incredible person it's ever been my pleasure to know.

And on a wholly other note, it's also the birthday of this girl Samantha I used to know in high school. Why I remember that I have no idea. I haven't seen her in about 13 years. But on the off-chance she's browsing the ol' Information Superhighway and happens by pure chance to come across this post, Happy Birthday. You're in good company.

No reason for the Audrey Hepburn pic above. I'm in a good mood, and it's that kind of day.