Here's another burst of edutainment. Mac is 51/2- 6 months into this... and knowing that she is at risk of going prematurely they are throwing her a baby shower. The first half of this is fun. the second part of this is informative.


Hypertension

"Oh... this is so cute!" Mac said holding the most beautiful little dress for her baby. "Rebecca is going to look so adorable in this." Mac had fallen in love with the name after watching Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms while on the bedrest that had been forced upon her by Rod's mother.

She and Rod had initially argued. He wanted to name her Ellie. Eventually Mac prevailed on the first name and they had compromised on the middle name. So their daughter was now, Rebecca Elliott Calloway. However, they still hadn't figured out what to name their son.

"Oh Mac, look at the booties!" Sue said picking them up from the ground. "Can you believe how tiny their feet are going to be?"

Mac watched Sue pick up the booties with ease. She was so tiny compared to her. They were both at twenty-two weeks. Mac understandably though, looked to be around eight months along. She could barely see the ground, let alone actually pick something up off the ground. But she smiled at her friend's wife. She felt so normal now that Sue's pregnancy didn't rub her the wrong way anymore. In a much happier place now, Mac had begun to enjoy her children. "Oh so cute!"

"Just wait until those little feet are running around your house." Kate said holding up a pair of booties herself.

"Oh not to mention the sleep deprivation," a slight blond said returning Mac's hug. "I've got another gift for baby boy. Tom got so excited and wanted to buy him the store."

"Living in a house with three women can be draining I bet," Mac answered grabbing the other gift. She opened it carefully and smiled, "Oh... how sweet." It was a matching outfit for boys.

"You're probably gonna find a whole lot of that," Allison said with a smirk

"After a good week of trying to get them in matching outfits, you're just going to put them in the first thing that your hands hit on... and you better hope you reach into the right drawer," Josie said with a grin. "Luckily, I came prepared to remedy that.

She handed Mac the next present. It was a large wicker basket. "Oh wow... a hamper," Mac said truly appreciating the beauty of the basket.

"Open it."

When she did, she saw it was filled to the brim with onesies, socks and jumpers, in gender neutral colors.

"This way you can dress them in your sleep."

Mac laughed, "Perfect."


"Mackenzie," Dr. Perkins said coming into her office, after having done her weekly examination. An older man that stood about six inches taller than her followed the young black doctor, into the room. "This is Dr. Rossman, the doctor I was telling you about."

All of the breath left Mac's body, as she realized what this meant. She turned to her mother, who had come to the appointment with her while Rod was in court. Kate took her daughter's hand and squeezed it for support. "Hello Miss Allen."

She only nodded.

"Mac... What happened just before you came to the appointment?" Dr. Perkins asked.

Mac shook her head. "Traffic. There was an accident."

"Were you angry or upset in any way?" Dr. Perkins asked.

"I got frustrated... but I did a little deep breathing and I felt calm." Mac paused and looked at her doctor. "Are you telling me it didn't work?"

"Your blood pressure was thirty-two points higher than your normal." Dr. Perkins, shook her head while sitting at her desk.

Dr. Rossman sat next to Mac on her other side. "Dr. Perkins called me to consult. And in my professional opinion, you need to be hospitalized so that we can monitor your condition."

"What does that mean?" Mac asked, knowing that this was probably not helping her condition any, no matter how gentle her doctors were trying to be.

"You are severely hypertensive, Mac. This may mean that you stay in the hospital for the rest of your pregnancy. We need your cooperation, so that your situation does not reach a toxemic level."

"Mac, honey," Kate said softly, "it's for the best really. Then you won't really have to do this again."

"Oh... okay. When do I go in?" Mac asked managing to keep her emotions in check. She really didn't feel sick, but if they said this would help, she would do it.

"You should drive out there after you leave here. Dr. Rossman has already made a space for your admission." Dr. Perkins looked at Kate. "Mom, you drive."

"Of course." Kate said taking the keys from her daughter's hands.

"I need to call Rod." Mac said standing and heading for the door. Just as she reached into her pocket book her phone began to ring. "Hey."

It was Rod calling to check on how the appointment went while he was on a short recess. "Hey, how did it go?"

"Are you sitting down?" Mac asked as she slid in her passenger seat.

"Oh no! I don't like the sound of that." Rod said. "Don't tell me there is actually three of them."

Mac laughed softly, glad from the distraction from her worry. "Thankfully, no."

"What's up Kiddo?" The concern in his voice was evident. Mac knew that he had court and that if she made this too big he wouldn't be able to concentrate, and either leave the court or not do as well as he would have had he been worry free.

"Nothing big, I'm going into the hospital for some diagnostic things, it will take a while. I'll call you later in the afternoon, okay?"

Kate looked at Mac, realizing that her daughter did not tell her husband exactly what was happening for his sake and agreed. She herself hadn't told Michael how toxemic she had been until the last possible moment, so that his mind would have been completely at the tasks at hand. She patted her daughter's hand and started the car, heading straight for the hospital.

"Okay hon, I should be out by three thirty."

"I love you." Mac said softly.

This gave Rod a pause. It wasn't what she'd said, it was the when she'd said it and the tone in which she did so. "I love you too, Mac." Then the line went dead. He looked at his watch and then made a few calls. He was going to try to get someone to cover his hearing. He wasn't going to wait around; Mac needed him. And after what happened before when they'd separated, there was no way he wasn't going to be there for her... right now.