How was Ginger doing through all of this?

Of the frequently asked questions that form the titles of these posts, this is the one that is most important to me.  The fact is, she was amazing.  If there is such a thing as "the right amount of courage," she had it.  Of course, anyone who has delivered a baby before 32 weeks will look with disdain on all of this.  "Thirty-two weeks?  Pikers."  When it comes to fetal development, not all preterm infants are created equal.  A 32 week baby is actually going to stand a very good chance of "a positive outcome," as the doctors euphemistically say.  But it means time in the NICU.  There is no question about this.  It's not as if some babies with a gestational age of 32 weeks are somehow capable of doing the things a 35 week old or full term baby can do.  So it meant no birth whatsoever in Burlingame, no "rooming in," and no happy time of going home as a family after a two-day recovery period.  These things were decided by a gestational age of 32 weeks.

But some things weren't yet decided.  Could we still have the birth we wanted?  Was it going to be an emergency c-section?  Were there going to be other medical problems for our kids?  These were unknown.

The things that helped us get through this have names:  Christa and Jen.  At some point in the early afternoon, I sent out a text message to a bunch of folks asking for their prayers.  Christa and Jen answered it by coming to CPMC that afternoon.  And staying until 10.  And coming back at 7:30 the next day.  And staying again until 10.  If Ginger and I had the option of stepping outside and going home, we would have taken it.  Christa and Jen had that option, and they stayed anyway.  And that's what helped Ginger get through all of this.