Lehi family welcomes son prematurely, days before dad runs Boston Marathon

BOSTON — A Lehi family had an extended hospital stay in Boston due to the unexpected early arrival of their second son, who was born a couple of days before his dad was scheduled to race in the Boston Marathon.

Derek Bonney, a math teacher and cross-country coach at Skyridge High School, qualified to run the prestigious race and was in the famed marathon city last week with his wife, Amber Bonney, their 18-month-old son and both sets of in-laws. They wanted to spend a few days together before the race on Monday, April 20. On the Saturday before, however, the weekend plans took a turn.

"My wife woke up feeling labor pains, and we know from our first child that her labor progresses very quickly," Derek Bonney said.

The labor pains were unexpected because Amber Bonney was just 30 weeks and four days along. And while the early labor was unexpected, the couple had experienced preterm labor with their first child.

"Our oldest was also born at 30 weeks and four days, but through this pregnancy, we've done countless checkups and scans and meetings with doctors," Derek Bonney said. "We had two different doctors tell us the chances of this happening again were slim to none. Doctors said, 'Go on your trip. Enjoy your trip. Don't worry about that happening. Everything will be fine.'

"They'd always finish with, 'And if on the crazy chance something does happen, Boston does have some of the best health care in the world.'"

Knowing that they had to move quickly, the couple rushed to the hospital — and within an hour, they had their baby, whom they named James.

"Amber and the baby are doing really good," Derek Bonney said. "She was discharged from the hospital the day after giving birth, and James is doing everything that the doctors expect a baby at 30 weeks of gestation to be doing."

The baby was 3 pounds, 14 ounces, which Derek Bonney said, "is perfect for a math teacher's son."

"He's 15 inches long, which is a good size for how early he was born," he added.

The proud dad said that, after his son's premature birth and wanting to support his wife, he shelved the idea of running the Boston Marathon. His wife, however, didn't want her husband to miss out on the race.

"Two days after giving birth, (Amber) made me run the marathon, and she was out on the course cheering me on, and walked 6 miles that day. She's strong," Derek Bonney said. "If Amber hadn't forced me to run it, I probably wouldn't have done it."

He finished the marathon, and then the family returned to visit baby James in the NICU. The family is expected to remain in Boston for 10 weeks to give their son the time he needs to develop before being released from the hospital.

With a little less than a month remaining in the school year, Bonney said he will return to his classroom at Skyridge for a week, then head back to Boston to spend the rest of the school year with his family. He also said that the school administration and parents have been very supportive.

"The administration was very supportive of me taking the rest of the school year off, but after talking with Amber, I just don't feel right with the relationships I have with the students completely disappearing," he said. "I'm going to fly back on Sunday and teach one week, and then I'll fly back to Boston and spend the rest of the time here."

Derek Bonney said that he was surprised to find that a parent of one of his students had created a GoFundMe* to help with their expenses.

"It's not cheap out here in Boston, and we're still not sure how the insurance will work out," he said.

The family has extended their Airbnb reservation through the end of the month and is hoping to move into a nearby Ronald McDonald House until the end of May.

*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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