Lunar Eclipse

Chapter Thirty Two

"You're doing great, Gin. Just think, soon, we're going to have our baby girl," Harry dabbed a wet washcloth against Ginny's sweaty forehead. It had been two hours since they had come in to St. Mungo's, and it was now around four in the afternoon. The last that a Healer had checked about half an hour ago, Ginny was still only six centimeters dilated.

"Ginny," Padma spoke as she stood up. There was a slight frown on her face as she looked at the couple.

"What? What's wrong?" Ginny asked, noticing the look on Padma's face.

"It's nothing serious, and it can be easily fixed-" Padma began, but Ginny could feel her eyes welling up with tears and she gripped Harry's hand tighter.

"You've progressed to eight centimeters, but I've run an ultrasound charm, and it appears that your daughter is in a footling breach position," Padma told them.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked, shaking his head, not understanding.

"It means that instead of coming out head first, like she should be, your daughter is upside down and she will be coming out feet first," Padma explained.

"Will she still be alright? How do we fix it?" Ginny questioned, holding her stomach protectively. She knew she only had about a minute before another contraction came, but she desperately needed to know that her daughter was alright.

"We have two options. We can either do a cesarean section, and deliver her that way, or we can rotate the baby using magic, and you can deliver naturally. Neither option will hurt her, but the choice is yours."

Ginny let out a whimper as another contraction grasped at her midsection.

"If you choose to rotate the baby, we'll give you a potion to temporarily halt your contractions while we perform the charm, but I'll warn you, it is painful and the ingredients in a pain relieving potion do not work with the charm. There's a chance your labor will be slower after the procedure, but your recovery time will be shorter since you would be delivering naturally, rather than through a surgical procedure," Padma explained, and Ginny let out a low groan as the contraction began easing up.

"Thank you," Harry nodded to their Healer friend, before turning back to Ginny.

"You're doing beautifully," Harry whispered.

"Don' want surgery," Ginny panted. Everything about James' birth had gone completely opposite of how she had planned, and had ended up delivering via C-Section. She didn't want to go through that again. If she could deliver naturally, then that's how she wanted to do it.

"You're completely sure?" Harry asked, holding her hand, and with the other hand, brushing his thumb along her cheek.

"I'm sure," she turned to Padma. "Do the charm."

"Alright, let me call in a few other Healers, and we'll get you ready for the procedure. You're doing great Ginny, just hang in there," Padma told her with a smile.

"Thanks Padma," Ginny gave her a weary, yet thankful, grin.

"It's my pleasure."

*

Ginny wrinkled her nose at the foul smelling potion that had been handed to her by one of the Healers.

"I'm sorry, it smells like dirty socks, but I promise it doesn't taste as bad as it smells," the Healer gave her a sympathetic look.

Closing her eyes, Ginny tipped the vial into her mouth and downed the entire potion. While it was far from amazing, Ginny had to credit the Healer- he was right. It didn't taste nearly as bad as it smelled.