Home Is Where the Heart Is (Brittana)

Chapter 11

CW: Somewhat graphic descriptions of birth

---

Santana's POV

Three days after her due date, Brittany went into labor. It was progressing very slow, so for the first few hours after I got home from work, we watched TV in our bedroom and ate a small meal, all while timing Brittany's contractions.

By the time the sun was setting, she was still a far ways away from active labor, and while she was clearly in pain with every contraction, the time between them was so long that we continued to watch TV, soon switching to walking around the apartment with music playing from the speakers.

"Why does this have to take so long?" Brittany complained around 10 o'clock in the evening. "I already had to wait past my due date and now this!"

I giggled a little. "This is the part where you're supposed to prepare and relax," I said. "But since we're already so over-prepared, there isn't much to do. You could try to sleep?"

"I don't want to sleep; I want to meet my baby! But, sure, I can try to sleep."

I helped Brittany change into a comfortable pair of shorts and a t-shirt before laying down beside her in our bed. I knew I couldn't sleep, but I hoped she would be able to. I knew we were in for a long day ahead of us, and likely, not much would happen during the night.

Once Brittany had fallen asleep, I got out of bed to set aside the clothes she'd chosen for after the birth as well as the baby necessities and everything else that was in our "prep bag." Then, I opened up my bag with all my midwifery supplies just to check again that I had everything. I took a few things out before hearing Brittany moan in pain, waking up.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "I just can't sleep with a contraction."

Brittany's labor progressed slowly. She spent some time on the exercise ball and even took a bath, but all she could do was sit this part out.

The closer her contractions got, the more pain it appeared she was in, and while I'd delivered babies before and mostly knew what to expect, it was a lot harder to watch it happen to the woman I loved.

I held her hand as she cried and tried my best to reassure her as time passed. I helped her take off her shirt at one point, but she resisted when I asked her if she wanted me to take off her bra. Soon, she forcefully shoved off all her clothes in the middle of a contraction, sweat dripping from her body.

As she moved into active labor, she asked to move to the bedroom with the exercise ball where she got on her knees and leaned on the ball.

She gasped loudly, her water breaking onto the floor with her next contraction.

"Is the baby coming soon?" she asked once her contraction was over.

"Listen to your body," I replied. "It will tell you what to do."

When she started pushing, I knew that we would soon get to meet the baby. I observed in order to let Brittany follow her instincts, despite how much I wanted to help. My emotional brain kept trying to cut off my logical brain, the one that knew everything I needed to know and had assisted births many times, by telling me that this was different. The woman I loved was having a baby that would also be mine. I tried to remain calm.

Brittany was pushing as her body told her, breathing through it, as relaxed as she could be. I smiled watching her, even though I knew she was in pain, since there was something so beautiful about birth.

After a few pushing contractions, she asked, "Can you help me move?"

She stood up slowly and I helped support her body as she shifted towards the bed where she used it as support to squat on the floor. She pushed again, and I watched as the baby's head started to appear.