NewCastle81:Thanks for the review! It'll get even more serious in the next few chapters.
After Landon's birth, practically everyone Matt and Julie knew assumed that they weren't going to have any more kids. People said, "You have a girl and a boy, so you have the perfect family." But they weren't done by any means. People thought they were crazy for wanting to go through it all over again, especially after Landon's difficult birth. But they didn't feel like they were done. So shortly after Landon turned one, they started IVF with the frozen embryos to try to have a third child.
The first attempt didn't take, but the second attempt was successful-times two. The initial sonogram showed that they were having twins. But two months later, a sonogram showed that one of the babies had died. Matt and Julie mourned, but were grateful that one baby was still alive.
About a week later, after Matt had taken Lily, now four, to school and put Landon down for a nap, he sat on the couch with Julie, a rare opportunity to be alone. A few minutes later, Julie said, "Matt, my water broke."
Matt said, "What? You're not even fifteen weeks!"
They rushed to the hospital, and Matt had somehow managed to get Landon out of his crib and into his carseat without waking him up.
The specialist did an ultrasound and said, "The baby is still alive, and your cervix is closed, but your membranes have ruptured. Amniotic fluid is crucial at this stage. Without amniotic fluid, the lungs will not develop properly, and the baby will probably be unable to breathe. Also, because the bones are still soft, the baby will probably be severely deformed. And you are at great risk for infection."
Julie asked, "What do you think we should do?"
The specialist said, "In a situation like this, the best option would be to terminate the pregnancy."
Julie immediately said, "We will never do that! I'd do that if I wanted to fail as a mother! The baby is still alive, and as long as he or she is still alive, I will fight for my child!"
Julie decided to go on antibiotics to prevent infection and hospital bed rest for monitoring. Matt knew he needed someone to help with the kids while Julie was hospitalized. He told Julie, "We need someone we know, someone we trust, someone with no life-Landry!"
Julie said, "This should be good!"
Matt gave Landry a list of instructions and said, "Thank you for doing this for us. This is a GIANT favor."
Landry replied, "What are friends for?"
Julie started her hospital bed rest, hoping to get several more months of development for the baby to have a fighting chance.
