Luke's daddy came to us fresh out of college, the only male (at that time) on a staff of cynical (at least in one **ahem** case), female, veteran, very-much-set-in-our-ways educators. He had just completed his student teaching in a traditional classroom, teaching computer applications and other business courses, and then we threw him in a NON-traditional setting and pretty much said, "You'll figure it out as you go."
And figure it out he has. He has grown into a caring educator, a flexible colleague, and a firm but fair disciplinarian. The fact that he and I spend hours discussing baseball and football is just a bonus. He's a year older than my Sweet Girl, but he feels much more like an equal.
Yes, that is an affected pose.
He's just a good guy. And he married a good girl.
They are young but responsible, already completing their six-year specialist degrees (an educator's certificate that lands between the masters degree and a doctorate here in Georgia), planning carefully, fiscally sound. In other words, more mature than I can ever hope to be.
And now they are faced with an enormous, gigantic, stupendous, overwhelming challenge.
I won't go into all the medical terminology, mainly because I've already forgotten a lot of it, but Baby Luke, due January 4th, may be born very soon. As in the next two weeks. Mom's blood pressure skyrocketed and protein appeared in her urine, classic signs of preeclampsia. Her condition has already set Luke's growth back by about three weeks. Doctors say if she does not improve, then Baby Luke will be better off OUT than IN the womb. They feared they would have to go ahead and do a Caesarean section last Wednesday night, but mom's condition has stabilized somewhat. Doctors estimate Luke weighs about 750 grams right now, which is about 1.65 pounds.
Tiny.
Scary tiny.
I didn't get to see mom in the hospital today, but I visited with the daddy-to-be for a long time. He is calmer than his nature dictates, especially considering the circumstances, and he's WAY smarter about pregnancy and babies and medical conditions than he was this time last week.
Hospital personnel gave him a tour of the NICU, showed him a preemie baby born at about the same stage as Luke (he said it wasn't as scary as he thought it would be, further evidence that he's beyond his years), and they gave him a preemie diaper. He showed it to me, and it looked like a freakin' mini-pad - emphasis on MINI.
Mom is doing better, but the situation is literally day-by-day. They don't know at the beginning of each day if they will become parents that day.
If you could spare some prayers or warm thoughts or incantations or whatever you turn to in times of trouble for this family, I would consider it a personal favor.
2 comments:
Sending all my positive thoughts to both mummy and baby Luke. I have several friends who were in her position (though they were a little further along) and in every case things turned out all right in the end. Here's hoping the same goes for mummy and baby Luke.
I will certainly say some prayers.
Please do the math for me...she's how many weeks along? My niece had both of hers early (one at 30 weeks, the other at 32) and both are fine.
Keep us posted.
Post a Comment