Army wives ease woman's burden
| • | Read Capt. Patrick Sherman's Postcard From Iraq |
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
Lynn Cooper-Sherman has had some anxious moments lately, not even counting when her husband, Army Capt. Patrick Sherman, left for Iraq on Jan. 20.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
The couple is expecting their first baby any day now, and while both she and the baby, little William Patrick Sherman, are healthy, all has not gone smoothly with her pregnancy.
Lynn Cooper-Sherman has been coping with a difficult pregnancy ever since her husband left for Iraq and is grateful to other military wives who have helped her.
"I started having contractions at 29 weeks, which is too early to have the baby," said Cooper-Sherman, 34, a licensed practical nurse. "And my cervix started dilating. So my doctor put me on total bed rest. It's like no other activities activities except being in the house — I can't cook, I can't clean, I can't do anything else."
She will reach the 36-week mark on Monday.
With her physician assistant husband away as part of 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, the mother-to-be says she is especially grateful to a number of military wives who have eased her through the tough time.
"The Wolfhound Wives have been bringing me dinner every day and taking me to my appointments," she said. "And the other physician assistant wives in my group have been a big help. Every time I have a bout of contractions and have to go to the hospital, someone comes to pick me up."
Meanwhile, Cooper-Sherman has been able to communicate with her husband — a 1985 Citadel graduate — on the Internet and via satellite phone.
"When he got to Iraq his older brother Frank, who is in Baghdad, passed a satellite phone off to him. Frank's wife had a baby in July while he was in Iraq, and he used the phone to stay in touch with her," Cooper-Sherman said.
On Tuesday Cooper-Sherman's doctor took her off bed rest. He told her she and the baby are both doing fine. That's been a relief to her. Still, she wishes her husband could be here when she has the child.
"I miss him," she said. "But he's doing his job. And he loves being in the military as a physician assistant. I'm very proud of him."
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
