Baby Steps

The Storm- Part Two

They're getting closer together.

Around 1pm, the contractions had plateaued at 10 minutes apart and lasting about a minute and a half long.

"10 minutes apart," I said, "at this point she might be here by tomorrow."

"What can I do?" Brooke asks for probably the thousandth time. I just shake my head.

There's nothing that she can do. But I'm so fucking tired and damn it hurts so bad.

We decide to start heading out when the contractions settle at 8 minutes. Except the only car we have at the time doesn't start. I try not to panic. Brooke is panicking. I know she is, so I try to be the calm one.

"I'm going to call Nina." She yells.

I'm standing in the living room, pacing. I just groan in response. I'm so tired, and this pain, God this pain, I can't believe I'm going through this. It feels like my hips are broken, like I've got the worst case of food poisoning.

While we wait for Nina, I settle on another shower. When I come out, she's there, but it looks like it is going to storm.

Another contraction.

I paced around the living room. We are at 6 minutes now. I walked to the kitchen and leaned on the counter. That's when I felt it. A strange sensation. A popping feeling.

What the-?

Wetness. Trickling down the insides of my legs.

"Fuck." I said, kind of not quietly.

"What?" Brooke asked, getting up and coming into the kitchen.

"Uhm, either I just peed myself or my water just broke." I knew it was the latter, and another contraction hit me, "we need to go. We need to go now."

Shit. The weather is so bad. It's storming, and Nina's car isn't the greatest.

"There's no way we are going to make it in Nina's car, babe, the weather is terrible."

Brook calls the squad. Everything seems to stop when Brooke tells me what they said:

They can't get to us yet.

The roads were blocked in places and there were other obstacles they were trying to get around. They gave Brooke instructions on what to do though. Brooke lead me to the couch, and we continued to monitor the contractions. The contractions seemed to skip over 5 minutes and go straight to four minutes apart.

I was tired. So tired. I couldn't get comfortable. It was taking everything I had to not scream with each contraction. Nina sat with me while Brooke tried to call the dispatch again.

They still couldn't get to us.

I'm scared. I am so scared. I'm having this baby and I'm having her here at home. Brooke kissed my temple and brushed my hair out of my face for the millionth time.

"You're doing great baby." She whispered into the side of my head.

I could only half hear her. I couldn't focus on her words. Not when my body was being ripped in half.

The contractions got to two minutes, not even giving me a chance to breathe in between. There was still no ambulance.

"Baby, do you want to move to the bed or the tub or something?" Brooke asked, her voice breaking as she did so.

I just shook my head. No, I can't move. I sat on the couch with my legs propped up on the coffee table. It's the only way I had relief, even for a second.

Another contraction.

If I try to get up now, if I try to walk, I'm afraid that her head will fall out. That's how it feels, like her head is about to fall out, and it hurts.

God, does this kid have a head the size of an adult?

"I can't move," I said as soon as I could speak, "I can't get up. She's coming and she's coming now. I can't move."

My voice shook with sobs I was trying to contain. Tears streamed down my face.

I am terrified.

What if something goes wrong?

What if something happens to the baby? What if something happens to me? We didn't plan for this.

Brooke wiped away my tears and kissed my forehead.

"You're doing great, baby. I know you're tired but you're doing so amazing. So strong." Her words of endearment warm my heart.

"I am, Brooke, I'm so tired."

Finally, the medics arrived, but they said that I couldn't be moved. They said that I was literally about to have this baby. I felt like if I stood up, this baby was going to plop right out on her head.

With Brooke's full support, and the help of the medics, I was finally able to bring our little baby Emma into the world. It wasn't easy, and I'm sure that one day I will let her know what she put me through, but for now, she is here and healthy. There were tears, some curse words, and some screaming but I did it. I had removed my shirt sometime earlier, and they laid our new baby on my bare chest. She was shivering, but that subsided when she adjusted to the warmth of my skin, and her face was all wrinkled as she let out her first cries. The feeling was overwhelming. Brooke continued to whisper in my ear how proud she was of me. Everyone was crying. Me, Brooke, Nina, the medics, and little Emma.

They helped me onto the stretcher with the baby still on my chest. After covering us with warm blankets they loaded us into the back of the ambulance.

Once at the hospital, the nurses and doctors couldn't stop saying how perfect our baby girl was.

Yeah, she's pretty damn great! I'd think to myself every time.

They said that I was mostly fine. I had some tearing that they stitched up, which hurt like a bitch. Everything form the sternum down was hurting as my body started to recover from growing a human.

Emma was small. She was 6 pounds, 8 ounces, and 18 inches. For such a small little person, she sure held a big presence.

Brooke was asleep in the chair next to my bed. Emma laid in my lap. I sat staring at her. She had dark hair, her skin was lightly tanned as well, resembling what I looked like as a baby. She really was beautiful.

"Oh, Miss Emma," I said smiling, "you're so beautiful, and you are going to do great things."

Bringing the baby into the world was a wild ride, but I did it, and I couldn't be happier.