CHAPTER 36

Eleven weeks later, Nicholas Cooper had grown considerably. Amy could tell this by the large proportions her belly had acquired. Now with 35 weeks of gestational age, and approximately 6.39 pounds, as Sheldon had calculated; Nicky, as Amy used to call him, seemed to find some fascination on giving rhythmic kicks to one of his mother's ribs.

Amy rubbed her belly gently, trying to relieve the mild pain in her right costal margin, while Nicholas allegedly was practicing some sort of soccer tactics in the limited space available inside her uterus. Who knows, maybe Nicholas was playing hacky sack, as his father used to do in that abandoned storeroom at Caltech.

Sheldon enjoyed watching Amy in silence whenever he had the chance; he just felt an immense peace that he never thought he could find. "He's quite restless today" Sheldon stated as he placed his hand on Amy's belly.

"Yes, he's been very active since I woke up; he just can't stop kicking, right Nicky?" Amy smiled tenderly. The night before Amy couldn't sleep well because of a mild discomfort and cramping on her belly that eventually subsided.

"Amy, I consider you should take your maternity leave now. You've been very tired lately and you're working too hard. Obviously carrying Nicholas within you, all day long, is not easy and if we add to it, your work at the Lab, well... you need a break." Sheldon was concerned about Amy; he wanted to be with her at all times, he felt the need to look after her.

"Don't worry Sheldon, I'm fine. I'll take my maternity leave, but in two weeks. I just need time to organize everything at work." Amy said as she rose from a chair with increasing difficulty. "Well Nicky, say goodbye to Daddy, it's time to go. We have a lot of work to do!" Amy loved her profession, which gave her security and stability. Although she'd never admitted it, she felt that in her current circumstances, she wasn't performing at 100 %.

"Goodbye Amy! Goodbye Nicholas! See you in the afternoon. I love you!" Sheldon said goodbye to his little family with a loving kiss. For the first time in his life, work and science weren't the most important for him, at that time Sheldon wished he could stay home with Amy and the baby. It was a shame, not being able to do that. Leonard was waiting in the car, ready to go to Caltech.

"You're awfully quiet today, is everything all right with Amy and Nicky?" Leonard asked Sheldon with empathy when he saw him so thoughtful.

"Oh yes, they're great! Nicholas has grown so much in the last weeks. In a month or so, we'll have our baby with us. I can't wait" Sheldon's eyes looked glassy, their watery brightness contrasted with the apparent optimism of his words.

"You seem a little worried, I don't know why. You can tell me if you want" Leonard told him sincerely.

"It's not important I guess. It's just that ... I feel Amy's working too much at the lab and at home, she pushes herself to the limits. I can see that she's feeling exhausted, sometimes her back hurts, her hips and her feet too. Nicholas is quite active and it seems he's run out of space. I wish she could take things slowly. I asked her to take maternity leave now, but apparently she didn't like the idea. Although she said she would do it in two weeks; I don't know ... I feel uneasy. I'm worried. Besides, I think she shouldn't be driving, being 35 weeks pregnant, but she doesn't listen." Sheldon sighed.

"I understand Sheldon, this is a difficult situation... but you know that Amy likes being independent, she loves her work ... and that's one of the reasons you love her, right? Give her time!" Leonard was moved by Sheldon's confessions. "Besides she's head over heels for that little boy. You both are!"

Sheldon just nodded "I'm telling you Leonard, the day you become a parent, your peace of mind ends abruptly". Leonard smiled; he'd never imagined Sheldon saying those words.

Amy was driving her car to work like every morning. She was glad it was Friday; it wasn't an easy week for her. In addition to her physical fatigue, she found it disappointing and unjustified the attitude of some of her co-workers.

The previous day Amy and her colleagues had received the preliminary results of their cooperative study with the University of Stockholm in which Amy had participated briefly.

Amy was much pleased to hear from Mattias Johansson and the excellent results of the project, but one of her co-workers had mentioned the following statement:

"I have nothing against people who unexpectedly decide to have children, but to me it seems unthinkable, the idea of quitting a project like this… for that reason. It's a shame that other colleagues with greater dedication to the study of Neurosciences didn't have the opportunity to participate in this project."

At that moment Amy had wanted to slap that reckless lab colleague in the face, it was obvious that she was talking about Amy and the way she got back from Sweden to be with Sheldon and their baby. She finally restrained herself from reacting angrily, thinking that she would gain nothing more than a disappointment.

Without a doubt, Nicky was worth any sacrifice that she had to do for him. "Some people just don't know how to deal with envy". Amy was absorbed in these thoughts when suddenly she felt her baby kicking strongly within her womb. She instantly came back to reality.

Without realizing it, Amy almost hit the car in front of her, but she pushed the brakes at the last minute. She felt her body being violently propelled forward and then back against the seat. Luckily she didn't hit herself with the steering wheel because she was wearing the safety belt. Amy breathed deeply, attempting to calm herself down; she tightly hugged her belly, instinctively trying to protect her son.

Upon noticing that her life had been in danger for those few seconds before Nicky alerted her with his sudden kicks, Amy realized that maybe Sheldon was right after all. "Seriously, I needed a break." She thought.

Though still frightened by almost having a car accident, she decided to continue driving. "I'm fine, Nicky is fine. I need to pay more attention while driving. That's all!" She told herself.

"Aw, don't be scared Nicky! Everything's fine, but ... we better don't say a word about this to your father, we don't want him to worry about something so trivial", Amy rubbed her belly gently trying to recover from the shock.

"You're late Amy! That's unusual!. Did something happen to you?" the same co-worker who had made that comment about her pregnancy, asked Amy. She was still mad at her.

"I had a problem with the car, but… nothing serious" Amy replied coldly, her face was pale and her hands were trembling slightly.

Amy continued working as usual, stopping occasionally to stretch her legs and feel the baby's movements. Nicky hadn't stopped moving since his mother woke up. That was a relief for Amy, as she was very afraid that something bad could happen to the baby after the unpleasant experience she had a couple of hours ago.

Twenty minutes later, Amy felt a sharp pain in her belly like she'd never felt before. It was as if she had a spastic contraction of her uterus during thirty or forty seconds, and then it relaxed completely. Not knowing what to do, she rose from the chair and had a glass of water. She walked a few steps, rubbing her back that was starting to ache as well. When she felt better she focused on the observation of brain cells under the microscope.

Another 10 minutes passed and the pain was back, and this time with more intensity. It started on her back, and then it radiated to the top of her belly, under the ribs where Nicky used to kick more often; it ended just below her pubic bone. This happened for about four more times, every ten minutes, stronger each time.

"Calm down Amy! These are Braxton Hicks contractions, they're normal in these weeks of pregnancy and they're not a true labor. You've read about this, although according to the book, they shouldn't be this painful. Ouch!" Amy tried to think clearly.

The head of the Department of Neurosciences, Janet Cox was a very intuitive woman. She was very fond of Amy, and considered her one of the best neuroscientist at her Department. When she observed the unusual behavior of Amy, she decided to ask her what was wrong.

Amy could not hide the truth. "Janet ... this morning I braked abruptly to avoid hitting the car that was in front of me and since then I haven't felt very well. I didn't injure myself at that incident but my belly gets really hard and tight, I don't know if this is a contraction, but… Oh boy it hurts!".

"If you excuse me…" Janet put a hand on Amy's belly felling how strong the contractions were. "How often does this happen?" She asked Amy.

"Every ten minutes or so, they come and go. I hope it stops soon. I don't think this is labor. It's too early. I'm only 35 weeks pregnant. And ... here it comes again. Ouch!" Amy had a high threshold for pain, but each time it was harder to tolerate this discomfort. Unable to remain standing up, she sat on a chair and rubbed her back.

"Amy, sweetie, I think you should go to the hospital now. I'm pretty sure this is labor and I had three children, so I know quite well what I'm talking about". Janet Cox looked at Amy with motherly eyes.

"Labor? But… it's five weeks too early. I have almost nothing ready for the baby. We have a bassinet, but his room isn't ready. We were about to paint this weekend. I haven't even bought diapers. Oh my God! We're not ready!" Amy's eyes filled with tears, not just because of the physical pain of labor, but the fear she felt when she realized that Nicky could be born five weeks earlier.

"Amy, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible. Come on! I'll take you to the hospital" Janet Cox stated with a firm tone. Amy nodded, she grabbed her purse and they headed to the hospital.

Like every day, at noon, Sheldon was at Caltech's cafeteria, ready for lunch with his friends. He had spent all morning thinking about Amy, he felt emptiness in his stomach and apparently it wasn't hunger because he couldn't eat at all. When his cell phone rang suddenly, he knew it was Amy. He got up from his seat and walked to a corner of the cafeteria, he wanted to talk to her in private. Sheldon didn't want his friends to tease him if he says something corny to his girlfriend.

"Hey Amy! How are you feeling? Did you have lunch? How's Nicholas doing?" Sheldon asked her.

"Hey Sheldon! Honey, I don't want you to be alarmed. Nicholas and I are fine, but ... it seems I'm having some mild contractions, nothing serious. I'm at the hospital just to make sure that everything is fine. We're going to be okay. Right? I love you!" Amy tried to suppress a moan when she had a particularly painful contraction.

"What? ... You're having ... contractions? Amy you have five weeks left until your due date. No, no, that's not right!. Nicholas isn't ready yet. He's premature ... Amy ... my mom isn't here yet" Sheldon swallowed nervously.

"Well, I really hope this isn't labor, but... it looks like Nicky has some other plans" Now the contractions were coming every five minutes, and the pain was so strong that Amy could barely feel her baby's movements between contractions.

"I need to see you right away! Please, stay there. I love you!" Sheldon ran to the door.

"I don't think I could go anywhere right now!" Amy tried to joke in that difficult situation, as she wiped out a tear falling down her cheek with the back of her hand.

Leonard, Howard and Raj looked at Sheldon from their table, although they couldn't hear him, they could see on his face that something was wrong. Realizing that he wouldn't get very far if he tries to run the hospital, Sheldon got back to the table, breathing heavily as his heart was beating wildly.

"AAAMY… Amy and Nicky, aaat… the hospital… now!" Sheldon couldn't articulate a complete sentence. He was about to fall unconscious to the floor.

"Breathe Sheldon! What happened to Amy?" Leonard exclaimed.

"They're at the hospital, I have to be with them" Sheldon's face had less color than a paper napkin, he was shaking uncontrollably.

"Isn't she only eight months pregnant?" Raj asked him. Sheldon nodded.

"Come on, let's go!" Leonard rose from his chair and ran to his car with Sheldon. Howard gave Sheldon and encouraging pat on his shoulder, saying "Everything's gonna be all right!."

Amy was waiting anxiously for Dr. Bowen to arrive. She looked intently at the clock on the wall of the maternity ward. "Yes, now they're coming every five minutes" she said.

Amy felt guilty for these circumstances, Sheldon was right. If she had listened to him and taken things slowly as he told her, she wouldn't have put her baby in danger. Amy considered herself a terrible mother. "I couldn't even carry you inside me all the time you needed. Please, forgive Nicky".

Amy was extremely afraid. What problems will her baby have if he was born premature? Will Nicky have breathing problems, neurological lesions? Will he stay at the hospital for too long? Amy didn't know. She had read about premature births before, but at the time, she wished she didn't know anything about it.

Sheldon couldn't help thinking that this situation was like a déjà vu from that first day he knew he was going to be a father. Once again he was running through the halls of a hospital, looking for Amy, his Amy.

When Dr. Bowen entered the hospital room where Amy was staying, he wasted no time and after checking the baby's heartbeats were within normal range; he examined Amy.

"Amy, I don't want you to worry too much. Your baby isn't so immature at 35 weeks of pregnancy. Although he's still premature, most babies do well when they're born at this time. Unfortunately you're six centimeters dilated now; I guess Nicholas has decided to arrive a little earlier than expected, and there isn't so much that we can do about it. The Neonatologists will take good care of him when he's born. Now, you have to concentrate, breathe hard and think that everything will be okay."

Sheldon couldn't think straight, all of his ideas intersected, forming a cobweb from which, not even one coherent thought could escape. Leonard tried to stay calm and after he asked one of the nurses, he managed to find Amy's room.

The minute he saw Amy, Sheldon rushed toward her and held her tightly. "Will Nicholas arrive today?", Sheldon inquired Amy with a halting voice.

"Yes! Please forgive me, I couldn't even carry him inside me, all the time he needed. This is my entire fault!" Amy burst into tears, feeling that she had failed as a mother.

"No, Amy! Please don't say that!. I think Nicholas just can't wait to meet you; he can't wait to be in your arms. And who could blame him?". With his thumb, Sheldon wiped away the tears streaming down Amy's face.