"I never thought I would say this, and," she looked at him and pointed at him, "I will deny it if you ever say I did, but I think I'm really glad to be in the hospital," Lisa sighed. She rubbed her temple, "My head is killing me again."
"I'm sorry, and I know it is," he said with a sad smile, standing right next to her bed, where the nurse had just gotten her situated. They were waiting for the doctor to come in and update them. "Can I tell you I'm relieved too because you aren't looking good at all."
"Mmm, I can't believe this," she said, shifting to her side to get comfortable. The phone call she'd taken earlier was her doctor telling her that, yes, she needed to come to Calgary. The call hadn't been long; he'd told her he would see her there after she'd been admitted. Thankfully, when she'd stepped back inside, Val wasn't at the table, but Lisa had spotted her at the other end of Maggie's over buying something. When she'd walked, or waddled back to the table, she'd found Jack there with most of his BLT already eaten. He eyed her, and she had nodded at him, indicating that their suspicions were true.
Lisa had tried to eat some of her soup, but she'd been too much of a mess. Thinking back now, she may have managed a few bites, but she felt so awful, it wasn't much, and she really wasn't hungry. Now, she was just really worried and looked to Jack to tell him that.
"I'm terrified, Jack," she stated very matter of fact without his asking. He'd been pacing around the room some, and when she'd blurted that out, he had met her gaze and walked over, stepping closer to her and looking down, worry in his eyes.
"We are at the hospital. They are going to do what they do. They'll get things stabilized, Lise," he nodded. "At least we aren't in Montana."
"Oh gosh," she sighed again, shaking her head. "Harry. I was supposed to meet with him-"
Jack cut her off, "I'll call him," he told her. "He'll understand. Lise, you are allowed to take care of yourself. You need to take care of yourself and just let things be. Those horses, nothing needs to be done today or tomorrow with them. Harry has worked for you for years. He can handle this."
Lisa nodded as she listened to Jack and reached for her phone, but even now, looking at it, made her almost dizzy. She really felt awful. Jack put out his hand, a silent plea for her phone, and she gladly handed it over. She gave him a small smile, and he returned it, opening up her phone to call Harry. She closed her eyes while he was on the phone and tried to drown out even just that conversation. She opened her eyes when she heard him finish.
"Harry said to just feel better and take care of yourself and the baby," he reached out and squeezed her shoulder, making eye contact. "That's all everyone wants."
"Thanks for calling him," she smiled softly.
"Anyone else?" Jack asked, gesturing with her phone. She shook her head, and he put it back on the nightstand by the bed.
"Okay you two," they both turned to the door and saw her doctor step into the room. He had a tablet with him, Jack complaining about all of the technology in the hospital during Lisa's last visit, and he appeared to be looking at some of Lisa's latest info. "Lisa, I don't want to ask how you are feeling because I have a pretty good idea what the answer would be."
"My head hasn't hurt like this before," she said, frowning at him. "Incredible pain."
The doctor listened and nodded, glancing to Jack, "How is she looking to you?"
Jack frowned and looked over to Lisa, not taking his eye off of her as he answered the doctor, "She was not nearly as swollen a couple days ago. She's been really hot, and I think the headache has intensified even since this morning. She hasn't been able to eat much, and I know she's miserable."
He nodded and looked back to Lisa, explaining, "Okay, well, with the blood pressure, everything else considered, your age, baby's gestational age, we're going to ramp it up."
Lisa glanced to Jack, and he back to her, both with a puzzled look. Lisa gestured with her hand, "What does that mean?"
He nodded, ready to explain, "We're going to go ahead, start some meds, and delivery this baby. It's not safe for you or the baby anymore to continue like this. Your blood pressure, if it continues to rise, risks going into a very unsafe situation where you could stroke out or worse, and the same problems arise for the baby. I don't want to scare you," he paused, looking at both of them, as Lisa's eyes widened, and she looked to Jack, terrified, because we are planning to deliver the baby before things get worse, but we need to get start with the drip and hopefully, let things then progress. Worst case scenario would be way down the road, hours from now, to a C-section. It's now, what," he glanced to his watch, "4:00. I'll put the order in and have the nurse get things started. We will continue to monitor both you and the baby-so you'll need to be not on your side," he told her, "and we'll get monitors going on you both and see where we are in a couple of hours."
Lisa's eyes were full of tears that she was trying to not shed, "Is he going to be okay? It's too early, and he's not ready, but I'm causing him all of these problems."
"Hey," Jack reached over to clasp her hand. "Just let the doc do his work. They are going to monitor things." He looked to the doctor. "It's a month early."
"It is," the doctor nodded. "Full term is considered 37 weeks. You are just shy of that, so it's not horribly early. He might not be as big as he would have. Babies between 37 and 40 weeks tend to put on up to a half pound a week, so," he paused and shifted his head side to side, "that might be beneficial to you, Lisa," he said with a soft smile, "but it's nothing to dangerous for the timing. We will check his lungs and all when born, but babies at this stage are often just fine with no breathing issues. It's still considerably more dangerous to leave him in there now. When we get to where you are, where the risk of continuing the pregnancy is greater than the risk of an earlier birth with all we can do medically on the outside, we always deliver. We're there. I know you are scared, but this is what I do. I'd trust you both with any horse I had because that's what you do, so trust that I'm going to do everything to make sure both Lisa and the baby are safe."
"Okay," Lisa said, now clenching Jack's hand. He thought she was going to squeeze it off and had to look away with how tight she was gripping at it. He wasn't sure she was even aware she was holding it right now. She seemed to realize it when she looked up at him and then released his hand while making a face indicating she was sorry she'd squeezed the life out of his hand.
"Any questions at the moment?" The doctor looked between the two of them.
"How long do you expect this to take?" Lisa asked.
"Well, some depends on how quickly you move through labor. The nurse checked you when she got you situated, and good news for you is that you are 3cm dilated already and probably have been at least a couple days," he stated. "I'm not going home until you deliver, so I'm here through the night with you. I'll be on the floor."
Lisa's eyes widened, and she looked to Jack again. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Jack grumbled, "Already dilated. We were just down in Montana yesterday buying horses."
"Well, good thing you are back now or you could be having this baby there now," he stated with a firm nod. "Look, just don't sit here and think that you could have done something differently to avoid this. Babies come when they come, and he needs to come now. Your blood pressure has been a constant issue, and to be honest, I am impressed you got this far. When you were in here before, I thought we might end up having to deliver a preemie, but you made it through that. I know it is hard to try and relax, but try to do that now. Get some rest and let the meds get to work. You'll need that rest in a few hours. I really don't want this to go beyond tomorrow mid-morning, that is if your blood pressure doesn't continue to rise. If it does, I'm moving faster."
"So I just-"
"Try and relax," he told her giving her a small smile. "I know, I know," he raised his hands and nodded. "Easier said than done. You do need to decide if you want an epidural. That would come later, but it's something to think about."
Lisa held up her hand, "l'll stop you there because yes, absolutely, and start it the sooner the better. I feel this badly with a headache. I don't want to experience even worse pain when I'm allowed medicine to help with it. I'll sign whatever you need for that."
"Okay," he chuckled.
"I'll buy the anesthesiologist the biggest steak in town if he helps ease some of Lisa's pain," Jack interjected, and Lisa turned her head and mouthed a silent thank you.
The doctor chuckled and made some notes on his tablet about Lisa, looking to both of them, "Well, that is his job, so the steak isn't needed, but on that note, Lisa, no food, no drinks, just some ice chips from here until you've had the baby."
"Okay," Lisa said, wiping at her face and taking a deep breath as she nodded. "Okay," she said processing and nodding again. "I'm not the least interested in eating anyways, which Jack would tell you shows I feel terrible." The guys laughed and she looked to Jack, "I guess this is about to get a little scary."
"Nah," he shook his head, winking at her. "You are the strongest and most independent woman I know. You've got this. Doc," he looked to him, "let's get to work."