~*~o~*~
Carly missed working at the hospital. Her work as a physician had always been one of her greatest loves. Now she only went to the hospital for check-ups and ultrasounds. With a high-risk pregnancy, she had a great deal of those. She and Lawrence had just met with a neonatologist for her twenty-week ultrasound. "Your baby looks good," Dr. Beaumont announced as they looked at the image of their baby on the monitor. "The growth is right on target."
"Is it a boy or a girl?" Carly questioned eagerly. She and Lawrence had decided they wanted to know the baby's gender. They wanted to get the nursery prepared in advance before their newborn arrived.
"It appears you are having a girl," Dr. Beaumont told them.
"You were right," Carly said as she looked lovingly into Lawrence's hazel eyes. "We are having a daughter."
A smile overtook Lawrence's face. "I couldn't be happier, Katerina," Lawrence said as he raised her hand up to his lips and tenderly kissed each of her fingers.
"Now we need to think of baby names," Carly said as the doctor ended the ultrasound and washed the gel off her belly.
"Everything seems to be going well at the moment," Dr. Beaumont said. "But you still need to remain on bed-rest for the remainder of your pregnancy. The placenta is low in your pelvis and although we have your blood pressure under control at the moment, this pregnancy is very high-risk."
"I will see that she gets plenty of rest," Lawrence promised the doctor.
"Good. I'll see you again in two weeks for your next appointment," the doctor said.
Carly's life consisted of one appointment after another and a great deal of time resting in bed in between. It would all be worth it for a healthy baby. Now they just had to see the rest of it through. They were thrilled to be having a baby girl.
Xxxooo
As they lay in bed together snuggling, Carly ran a bold caress down Lawrence's sexy body. "Please, Lawrence, I need you..." Carly murmured.
"Katerina," he said as he stared into her deep blue eyes. "We can't. I'd hurt you. The doctor said we should abstain..."
"No. I hurt inside because I CAN'T be with you. We'll be careful. I just need you so much," Carly pleaded.
"Please Lawrence. I need this..."
She took him in her hands, arousing him to his full, throbbing length. He expelled a hot breath as he finally gave in to her sweet charms. "Alright, we'll pleasure each other," he agreed. "But that's it. We can't go all the way."
Their lips met in an erotic kiss as they got lost in the sweetness of their love. After it was over, he held her and whispered in her ear. "I love you, Katerina. And this will all be over soon. We'll have our baby girl, and everything we ever wanted," he said as he caressed her silky dark hair.
When she awakened the next morning, a terrible pain tore through her lower stomach. "Lawrence!" she cried out.
He turned over in the bed, looking at her in alarm. "What is it?" he asked in concern.
"It hurts so much! Something's wrong!" she exclaimed as she clutched at her swollen stomach.
Knowing there wasn't time to wait for an ambulance, Lawrence lifted Carly into his arms so he could rush her to the hospital. As she moaned in intense pain, he prayed that she and their unborn child would survive this ordeal.
Once she arrived at the hospital, Carly was given a series of injections in an attempt to stop preterm labor. After a terrible scare, the medical staff was finally able to get the contractions to stop. "That was so scary," Lawrence said as he held Carly's hand. "Are you sure it was nothing we did... you know, when we ... ?"
"No, Lawrence. It was just one of those things. But Dr. Moreau did say that the contractions caused my cervix to begin dilating. I have to be very careful. They want to keep me in the hospital, so I can lay on my left side on complete bedrest."
"Then you should stay. I want only the best for you and our baby," Lawrence said as he raised her hand up to his lips to tenderly kissed it.
"What if we hire a private nurse to stay with me at all times? I really want to be home with you and Nicky," Carly pleaded.
"Alright, Katerina. As long as you get plenty of rest. We'll do what we must so we'll have a healthy baby."
"The baby needs to stay inside for several more weeks. If I have her now, it will be far too soon, and she cannot survive," Carly said as she fought back her tears.
"Then we will do what we can to make sure that our daughter survives," Lawrence said with determination. "I love you, Katerina... and I love this baby so much already." Carly trembled as he kissed her gently. She could only pray that the injections they had given her would keep her from going into preterm labor.
Xxxooo
Carly had been keeping a journal since the beginning of her pregnancy. She wanted to remember every moment of the time she carried her child. When she was lonely and the days were long, she'd write in her journal all her hopes and dreams for her child.
*Daddy and I love you so much,* she wrote to her little one. *We cannot wait to meet you. Just stay inside a little longer, and when the time is right, you can be born. We can all be together, you, me, your daddy, and Nicky.*
"Mom, what are you writing?" Nicholas asked as he seated himself at her bedside.
"I'm writing in my journal," Carly said as she gave her son a hug. "I'm glad you're here, Nicky. I've missed you."
"I missed you, too, Mom. I have fun at school, but I miss being here," Nicholas stated.
"Very soon the baby will be here. Then we all can be together."
"Could we go on a trip?" Nicholas asked hopefully.
"Where would you like to go?" Carly asked.
"I want to go to Disney World!"
Carly laughed at her son's enthusiasm. "We'll see," she said as she kissed his cheek.
Xxxooo
After many weeks of writing in her journal, day after day, Carly had created a lasting keepsake for her child. When she reached the last page and there was no more space to write, she jokingly said to Lawrence, "Now our baby can be born."
"Well, you did make it to 32 weeks, which is a miracle in itself. The doctors thought it would never happen," Lawrence said as he gently kissed her forehead.
"Do you think she's 'baked' long enough?" Carly asked as she tenderly caressed her stomach.
Lawrence laughed. "Well, I don't know... why don't we ask her?" he said teasingly.
He placed his hand over Carly's stomach and felt the baby move. "Hello, baby girl, it's your daddy. Are you ready to be born?" Lawrence questioned their unborn child.
"She kicked!" Carly said with excitement as tears filled up her eyes.
"She did," Lawrence chuckled. "She must be almost ready then. I can't wait to meet her, Katerina."
"But we haven't picked a name for her yet."
"When we see her, we'll think of the perfect name," Lawrence assured her.