Sitrep

I won't be blogging much for the next few days, except to post updates to the following:

Last night, somewhere between 11:00 and 11:30 PM PDT, The Feared Redhead called me in to our bedroom to tell me, "My water just broke". This was expected EVENTUALLY, but not last night, as last night put TFR at 34 weeks into the pregnancy on the nose. I assure you, we wasted no time getting to the hospital.

As it stands, she is not in labor -- no contractions at all, not even Braxton Hicks. However, because of the increased risk of infection, she will remain hospitalized until she does go into labor. This could be up to two weeks. Unless she shows signs of an infection or the baby shows signs of stress, they will not induce.

TFR's sister drove down from Portland and arrived at 3:30 AM, so I managed to get three hours of something akin to sleep. All things considered, I am functioning well, and will return to the hospital to take my shift as TFR's company as soon as I've picked up some DVD's for her to watch. I'm quite proud of myself, I managed to avoid breaking down in tears until I was nowhere near here. I know 34 weeks is fairly far along and the morbidity rate is almost nnil, but it's still a shock to the system, and a little scary to realize your child has decided to enter the world even less prepared than most other infants. But I know that I need to project an air of confidence in my wife's presence, neither she nor the baby need the added stress.

What also concerns me is practical matters. We had not come even close to completing the preparations involved in having a baby -- our church is throwing us a shower for the baby in February, it might also double as a birthday party. We haven't purchased a stroller or a carseat yet, and had to ask TFR's sister to bring a camera down, since we planned on buying one in February. Furthermore, those six weeks premature include at least 4 in which TFR planned to work, four weeks of income lost at a time we can ill afford to do without them.

All in all this is not my best day, but I am resolved to do my duty as a husband and father-to-be and support my wife. I leave now coveting your prayers and well wishes.