Baby Update

When I said yesterday -- "my sister is REALLY TRULY HAVING HER BABY TODAY" -- what I meant was -- "my sister is REALLY TRULY GOING TO BE ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL HELL TODAY."

Because that would be more accurate. And as a former journalist, accuracy is everything to me.

(Corey, I can see your eyes rolling.)

The saga started yesterday morning, when Emily showed up at her doctor's office for a scheduled ultrasound. Measurements showed the baby is growing, but she's still small. So Emily's doctor told her, in no uncertain terms, to head straight to labor and delivery to have that baby. She wasn't even allowed to go home to get her bag. "Go straight to the hospital. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200."

So Emily dutifully shuffled over to the hospital, where she was stashed in an observation room, seeing as all the L&D rooms were being used. "It will only be a few minutes," the staff promised her.

She sat there about four hours.

When a L&D room finally opened up, a nurse came in, started a pitocin IV and left. Emily wasn't in any pain; she was mostly just hungry.

As is usual, her pitocin was upped every 30 minutes, to no avail. A doctor finally came to see her -- 10 hours after she checked into the hospital. Emily hadn't progressed at all. So they decided to turn off her IV for a bit and try again.

(At this point, I would have begun to weep a little. Mostly from hunger, because good night, people, who can be expected to birth a baby after fasting for 24 hours?)

They turned the pitocin back on at 2:00 AM, starting again with the minimal amount and upping it every 30 minutes.

Last time I talked to Emily, she wasn't even having any real contractions yet.

And she'd already been in the hospital for 24 hours.

The good news? The nurses had pity on her and let her have some applesauce.

The bad news? That's her food allowance for the day. And today is her (and Luke's) anniversary..

If I was in California right now, I'd totally be sneaking that girl some In-N-Out and a People magazine. And maybe for Luke, a steak and some rhubarb pie.

Stay tuned here at Love Well for the latest on this breaking situation. We'll update as soon as news becomes available.