Dear friends,
I'm afraid this particular journey has come to an early and unfortunate ending. 

After Monday's scare, we returned to the doctor on Tuesday for a follow-up scan. All seemed to be more or less okay at that point; we got all 8 "points" on the biophysical profile (a checklist of all the things the baby ought to be doing, e.g. practice breathing movements, kicking, normal heart rate, etc.). The ultrasound tech mentioned that she still felt that something was different about how he was moving compared to previous visits, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. 

Wednesday was a fairly normal day. I could feel him moving around a lot early in the morning as usual, and off and on through the day. He didn't do his usual exercise routine at bedtime or the next morning, though.

Around 1 pm on Thursday, July 19, we returned for our next scheduled checkup. Because of the earlier scare keeping us at the hospital for hours, Andrew came along to help with the boys, who opted to stay in the waiting room watching cartoons instead of accompanying me into the ultrasound room.

When the tech turned on the machine, we realized within seconds that the monitor was very still, and she called the doctor and Andrew in immediately. We confirmed that there was no heartbeat. 

Within two hours, my sister was on the road from New York, my mom had airline tickets from Georgia, and Andrew's parents were at our house to watch the boys. Andrew and I headed to Memorial hospital around 5 pm, and they started induction around 7 pm.

Labor went fairly smoothly, and David Morgan Thomas Craker was born around 3:30 pm on Friday, July 20 at 32 weeks, 6 days gestation. He weighed 2 pounds, 9 ounces and was 16 inches long-- a long skinny noodle baby just like his brothers. We were able to hold him for several hours, and in the evening or families came to visit. The Rev. Susan Haynes held a small informal baptismal ceremony in our hospital room.

We said our goodbyes and were discharged from the hospital this morning. David will be cremated by Palmer funeral home, and interred in the columbarium at the Cathedral of St James where we were married. We plan to hold a small memorial service in the near future and will let people know more as arrangements are made.