Expectant mom takes a Christmas break
CLEVELAND (AP) -- For the past 21/2 weeks, Angie Shefton has spent most of her time in a hospital bed.
Thursday, she took a five-hour Christmas break from her fetal monitor and the high-risk pregnancy floor to which she has been confined. Her doctor approved a temporary reprieve so she could celebrate the holiday, and also the birthday of one of her children, with her family.
"If anything happens, we'll be right back," Shefton promised Dr. Michael Gyves.
University Hospitals' MacDonald Women's Hospital has been Shefton's home away from home since Dec. 9. She arrived that day for a checkup and wound up being admitted for a disorder characterized by high blood pressure. She had been home only to see her three sons -- ages 2, 3 and 4 -- twice since then.
Husband Kenneth has spent every night but one with Angie, sleeping on a recliner in the small hospital room.
Circumstances added to Kenneth Shefton's stress. On Christmas morning, a man with a gun stole Shefton's cell phone, earrings and wallet -- with more than $300 and pictures of his children -- while he was waiting for a bus to the hospital after working a night shift.
The best present, the Sheftons said, will be the safe and healthy arrival of their fourth son. They've planned to name the baby Emmanuel Ravon.