Groundhog Day

I'm sitting in the "crow's nest" at Bongo Java, upstairs, sipping a "mood elevator" and just trying to catch my breath.  It's 9:30 p.m. and J.P. is in bed.  Jude is down for the night and I'm almost down for the count.

We spent the morning at Baptist Hospital - again - before getting released to come home early this afternoon.  Although the nurses there are great, we are so happy not to have to stay overnight again.

A quick recap - this morning, as I waited in the drop-off line at Children's House, my cellphone rang and I saw it was Jude calling.  Ignoring my entreaties to stay home from work today, she planned to go to work, so I was surprised to hear from her so early.  I thought maybe I had left something at the house.  When I answered, she asked me where I was, then said "I think you need to come home."  My heart sank.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I feel dizzy and I think I might pass out," she replied.

"Are you having contractions?"  I asked.  "Yes," she said.  Shit, I thought.  Shit.  "I'll be there in a minute."

I raced home and opened the front door to find Jude in my chair, reclined, feet up, white as a sheet.  She had put a bag together in case we had to stay overnight at the hospital again and was waiting on a return call from the doctor's office.  About 9 a.m., we got tired of waiting and decided to go on to the hospital.  I packed a bag of my own, helped her down the sidewalk and into my truck.

As I started the engine and pulled away from the curb, I looked at her and said, "how fast do we need to get there?"  "Fast," she answered.  "I can handle that," I said, as I mashed the accelerator and sped up Acklen Avenue.  I weaved in and out of traffic (sorry Mom) and easily busted the speed limit (sorry Mom) as I drove down Blakemore, then cut over to West End and, finally, Church Street.  We parked in a handicapped spot in the parking garage, right by the door to triage, and walked inside.  Within minutes, we were in a triage room and being attended to by a wonderful nurse, Jennifer.

Although Jude was having contractions again, the results of a couple of tests (the details of which I will spare you) revealed it was highly unlikely she was in labor.  We also got a good, solid heartbeat on our baby immediately, which was reassuring in and of itself.  The on call doctor (Dr. Forbes) was nice enough to walk over to triage and spend some time with us.  She reviewed with us the results (which were good) of the ultrasound that was done Wednesday afternoon.  Jude was given IV fluids again, but just for a little while, and we were out of the hospital by 12:30 p.m.

It was a long day at the end of a long, stressful week.  If I had a dollar for every silent prayer I said today along, asking for Jude and our baby to be healthy and for her to carry him to term without complications, I would be a rich man.  Then again, I am a rich man.  My pregnant wife and our son, J.P., are safe at home asleep.  And we're going to have another son in a couple of months.  I'm a very rich man.