Here we are...

Ballard Swedish. Wife has been here since 10:30 am, yesterday. It turns out that the baby has an infection in the lining and has gone into labor. If the infection spreads to the mother, it would be a very serious thing, possibly resulting in the mother's death. The only way to prevent that is to induce labor. Unfortunately, the baby is only 20 weeks along and doesn't have the proper lung development that could sustain life.

A great deal of consultation was performed between our doctor and a perinatal (sp?) specialist. Though our condition is rare, the consensus is that there is nothing that can be done to save both the baby and the mother.

We stayed overnight, though I went home last night about 11:30 to get some things for today and to get some things to make the dogs comfortable in the car, where they were to stay overnight. I left early this morning for home to get the dogs fed. The wife called and suggested I take them to day care, which I did. I then returned to the hospital.

I expected today's events would transpire quicklyl, but it's just now noon, and they've just give the wife another IV in her other hand, into which they gave her a relaxant and pain medication. So far, there haven't been strong contractions, but I suspect that in the not-too-distant future they will give her something to start them.

They've asked us if we want to see the baby after he's born, if we want to bury him or have him cremated, do we want to see him after he's died. How do you answer any of those questions?

We've had a chaplain come to our room twice now; once yesterday, once this morning. Instead of being supportive, it seems more intrusive and I resent her presence. She says all the cliched things I expect someone of faith to say and it seems insincere to me (whether or not it is, I can't know).

We're in a birthing room where, normally, the occasion would be one of joy, but there's nothing of the sort in this room today. The nurses continue to provide her with water in a bottle that proudly proclaims "Born in Ballard". Maybe, for some, but not for us.

I don't have any timeline for what the rest of the day will look like, but I'm not looking forward to what I expect we'll be experiencing.