Tuesday July 3rd, 2007

For the first time in days I finish a full day at work. I don’t gets 8 hours of work done, but the lights stay on and the bills get paid. I run out of work like Bart Simpson runs out of school at the end of the day. Daytona here I come.

Walking into the hospital I walked past that damn nursery again. This time I stopped at the bulletin board where they had pictures of some of their ‘graduates’. The pictures are all of little babies. Really little ones. About half of them weigh less than two pounds. The oldest picture is of a two pounder born the same year as me. The smallest weighed just under a pound. Our doctor estimates that our baby is just a shade over a pound based on his length. It’s time we have a heart to heart about our baby with the doctor. According to these pictures, he may be OK here even if he was born today.

The doctor had already done his rounds by the time I arrived. There was no change in the mama Ali’s condition. Another day down. I start to actually believe that the mama Ali can hold out for a few more days. When I get there, she had spent some time watching TV, but as usual spent most of the day napping. I feel a little guilty about being up and about, but then again I felt that way all week. Her hair had been done by her mom and her nurse had wiped her down. The baths always made her feel better. Lying under the covers all day caused her to sweat to various degrees. Also it seemed as if they moved the IV around daily and her arms would swathed in iodine. For some reason I forget, they had her wear special tight leggings which were taken off during the bath. I spent most of the evenings in the hospital talking about stuff outside the hospital. I didn’t know the gossip at her job so I just kept her up on current events. Her mother kept her up on family gossip during the day while I was at work. Seeing her in good spirits raises my mood. I walk out of that hospital feeling more confident than I have felt in days. Who knows? A 40 week pregnancy isn’t possible, but if we take it a day at a time, maybe we can make 30 weeks.

When I get to the house I’m feeling good enough to do something I haven’t yet done. It’s time to call family and friends. Of course the parents knew and they called and told some people. However, most of the family didn’t know yet. I haven’t called from the hospital because they would want to talk to the mama Ali who is rarely in the mood to talk to me let alone to the rest of the family. Besides, the nurses get real picky about being on cell phones around all their fancy equipment. I would have done it earlier, but tonight is the first night at the house without crying. Everyone of course offers their sympathy and support. I have single handedly made today a bad day for about a dozen people. Tomorrow I will go for another dozen when I call the rest of the family.