~Skylar's POV~
I couldn't believe it and looked down at my legs.
"My water... I- I think it just broke..." I said.
"Shit um... what do I do?" He asked me, I could tell he was freaking out.
"Um.. can you get me my purse and drive me to the hospital?" I asked him, grabbing his arm because I was in so much pain.
"Ok yea... here, just stay right here..." he said, putting me on the couch.
He went to my room. I stayed on the couch. Trying to breathe through the pain.
I looked around and found my phone to call Daniel, but before I could even turn my phone on, the pain got worse.
"Oh my god... Maxx! What's taking so long?" I yelled out.
He came back out with my purse and helped me off the couch. We got down to my car and Maxx got in the drivers seat and I was in the passenger's.
"Ok.. which hospital?" Maxx asked.
"West- West Field..." I said, grabbing the arm rest of the car. Everything was hurting.
"Ok, how do you want me to get there?" He asked, panicked.
"I don't care! Just drive!" I yelled out.
He got on the road and I got my phone to call Daniel.
"Hello?" He said when he answered.
"Babe, hey, can you meet at WFG?" I told him, trying to keep my voice steady.
"What's wrong? Are you ok?" He asked me.
"U- Um... no, I'm in labor, Maxx is driving me to the hospital." I told him.
"What? Ok, I'm gonna drive there now." He said and hung up.
I felt like Maxx was driving so slow. The hospital is a 20 minute drive from the apartment.
"Maxx can you go any faster?" I asked him, these cramps were getting closer together and more painful.
"I don't want to start speeding and get a ticket." He said.
"You're literally with a cop, anything happens, I'll deal with it, just get us there quick." I told him.
He went faster and once we got there I saw Daniel waiting at the front of the ER doors. He opened the door and grabbed the hospital bag from the trunk and her car seat from the backseat.
"What do you want me to do now?" Maxx asked.
"You can come upstairs if you want." I told him.
He thought about it and nodded his head.
"Yea, I'll just park the car." He said.
Daniel and I went inside and we got in a room. Maxx came and then the doctor came in shortly after.
"Ok Skylar, you are 4cm dilated. If you want, we can give you the epidural right now and then we can let you rest." Dr. Collins told me.
"What's that?" Maxx asked.
"It's basically a shot that we put into her spine to help ease the pain." Dr. Collins explained.
"Nope, call me when that's over." Maxx said, going into the bathroom of our room. I chuckled. Maxx hates needles, always has.
I got the epidural and Dr. Collins left shortly after it started to work.
Daniel sat in the chair next to the gurney, stroking my hair, as the epidural was working more, the pain was slowly getting better and I could feel my eyes wanting to close.
"Are you excited?" I asked Daniel. He smiled and nodded his head.
"I can't wait to meet her..." he smiled.
"Does anyone else know I'm in labor?" I asked him.
"Pretty much the whole unit..." he laughed.
"Oh my god, seriously?" I laughed.
"Yea, and Liz was wondering if she could be here with you? She told me that you said that she could be in the room." He told me.
I nodded my head.
"Yea, she wanted to be here, I told her yes. Is that ok with you?" I asked him.
"Yea of course, whatever makes you comfortable." He told me.
Then almost on command, we heard a knock on the door, and Liz came in.
"Hey, how you feeling?" She asked me.
"I'm ok, I just got the epidural not too long ago." I told her.
-4 hours later-
It's been 4 hours now. Daniel has been sitting in the chair next to my bed stroking my hair and squeezing my hand. Maxx is on a sofa, and Liz is either right next to me, sitting with Maxx, or walking around the room.
"I'm gonna go check out the vending machines. You guys want anything?" Maxx asked, getting up.
"I'll take a redbull and some fruit gummies." Liz told him.
"I'll take a Diet Coke and some potato chips." Daniel told him.
"Ok... Sky, what about you?" He asked, writing the orders on his phone.
"I'm ok... I don't really want anything." I said.
"Alrighty then. I'll be back." He said.
He walked out of the room and I saw he went the wrong way.
"Other way, Maxx." I called out.
"Maybe it's better if I go with him." Liz chuckled, getting up and leaving as well.
Once they both left, it was just Daniel and I together, alone in the room.
I was hooked up to a couple different monitors, and so was Gracie.
I kept staring at them, trying to read them to make sure nothing was wrong.
"You think she's going to be ok?" I asked Daniel, with my hand on my stomach.
"Yea of course she's going to be..." he told me.
I looked back at him and started to tear up.
"Hey it's ok... she's going to be ok..." he told me, giving me a kiss and squeezing my hand.
"But what if she isn't? Remember what Dr. Kallie said? There's a chance she could be born stillborn..." I said, tears were now starting to run down my face.
"Baby don't talk like that... look at her monitors, she's ok. As long as those monitors stay the way they are... she's going to be ok." He wiped my tears.
I nodded my head. And he kissed my forehead.
After 20 minutes, Liz and Maxx came back.
"All the vending machines were either down, or they didn't have anything good in them, so I went to the 7-11 across the street. Skylar I still got you some stuff, just incase." Liz explained.
"Thanks, but I'm good... I feel like if I eat something, I'll throw up." I chuckled, sitting up in the bed.
"How's your pain now?" Maxx asked me.
"It's better now. I can barely feel them now.." I said.
"We also found Dr. Collins, she was busy but she should be coming soon." Liz said.
Just then, Dr. Collins came in.
"Ok Skylar, how we doing?" She asked me.
"Alright I guess, I'm just tired." I said.
She went to my legs and checked me.
"Ok, so you are now 6cm dilated. You are making slower than we would like to see, but we'll give you a few more hours, then we can start looking at different things to help you progress faster." She explained.
It was a whole another hour later now. It was now just past midnight. Liz was sitting next to me and Daniel was on the other side. Maxx was at the sofa, on his phone.
Liz was looking at my monitors, since she used to be a paramedic, she can understand them.
"Looks like you're about to get another contraction.." Liz told me. I haven't really felt them the past couple hours with the epidural, but with this one, I started feeling some pressure.
"Oh wow, I actually started feeling that..." I said, surprised.
"Really?" She asked me.
"Is that a good thing?" Maxx asked.
"Yea, that means she's almost there." Liz said.
I looked at Daniel.
"Home stretch baby.." he chuckled.
I sat up on the bed.
"I'm so tired but I cannot get comfortable..." I sighed.
"What if you get up and walk around? Get some energy out?" Maxx asked me.
I looked at him.
"What energy?" I chuckled.
"You know, he is right though. When the doctor comes back in here, if you haven't progressed, she's probably going to make you walk around the floor. That or she might bring in some ball for you to bounce on." Liz explained.
"Sounds eventful..." I tiredly laughed.
I sharply inhaled as I started feeling another contraction come on.
"Yup, contraction in 3... 2... 1..." Liz said, looking at the monitors.
This one was so painful that I had to grab Daniel's arm and I leaned on him, scrunching my face from the pain. I felt him kissing the top of my head.
"Alright, it should go away in 3... 2... 1..." Liz counted down, I felt her rubbing my shoulder.
As the contraction started to subside, I pulled away from Daniel and took a deep breath.
"Is the epidural wearing off or something?" I asked her.
"It's not that, it's because your so close to labor, the contractions get more painful and the epidural can only mask so much pain." Liz explain.
"Oh great..." I said, leaning back into the bed.
-2 more hours later-
It was now two in the morning. Maxx was passed out on the couch, Liz was almost passed out on the opposite side of it. And Daniel was next to me in a chair next to my gurney. He ended up falling asleep about half an hour ago, after fighting with himself to stay awake.
I still couldn't fall asleep myself, so I was basically by myself awake, Liz was awake, but she basically wasn't because she kept passing in and out of consciousness. And the contractions have been up and down. They get really close and painful, and then they start spreading back out a bit and being not so bad. But that just keeps repeating.
Daniel fell asleep holding my hand, and I didn't want to let go of his hand. I leaned back on the bed and looked around the room, and then out the window. I looked at all the lights from the city and how busy the city was, even though it was 2am.
I noticed Liz picked her head up and looked at me. She walked over to my side.
"Hey... have you slept?" She whispered.
I tiredly shook my head.
"I don't know what's wrong with my body, I just can't sleep..." I whispered.
She looked at Daniel sleeping and laughed under her breath.
"Hold on." She whispered.
She went back over to the couch and threw a pillow at his head.
"Yo, what the hell?" Daniel groggily said.
"Rule for any husband who's wife is in labor, if she's not asleep, you don't sleep." Liz said.
I laughed a bit and so did Daniel.
"She said I could sleep." He laughed.
"It's true, I did." I said.
"Basic rule, wife not sleeping, husband definitely not sleeping." Liz said.
-Half an hour later-
It was now about to be 3am. Liz and Daniel were both up, and Maxx was still asleep on the couch.
"So, you guys gonna tell me the name?" Liz asked us.
I laughed and shook my head.
"Not until she's here." I said.
We all sort of laughed before I sat up and was starting to get a massive contraction.
"Alright... yup... no warning there.." Liz said, looking at the monitors.
I was hunched over on my bed as this contraction was taking over my body.
"Just breathe..." Daniel whispered, moving the hair out of my face to have his face be right next to mine. I felt him rubbing my hand with his thumb.
After one of the longest minutes of my life, the contraction finally stopped.
As I started to lie back down, I started crying. I can't do this. There's no way. This is the worse pain I've ever felt in my life. And what about when she's actually here? Will I be a good mom?
"Hey, what's wrong?" Daniel asked me.
"I can't do this... there's no way I'll be able to do this... the labor.. be a good mom... what if I'm not a good mom?" I cried.
Daniel looked at me and shook his head.
"You're going to be a fantastic mom... don't worry... and you are the strongest person I know. If anyone can do this, it's you..." he told me.
I smiled at him and he stroked my hair and kissed me.
"Ok Skylar... 3... 2... 1..." I heard Liz say before I left another contraction.
I took some deep breaths. And as soon as the contraction was over, I relaxed my body again and sunk back into the pillow.
All of a sudden Maxx woke up and walked over to the foot of the gurney.
"Yo what time is it?" He asked us.
"3am. Did you sleep alright sleeping beauty?" Liz teased him.
He rolled his eyes and shook his head as he went over and stole her seat that she wasn't sitting in.
Then the door opened. It was Dr. Collins.
"Ok Skylar, time to check you again. Have your contractions been picking up more? Been more painful?" She asked me while getting some gloves on.
"Yea, one literally just finished before you came in." I told her.
"Ok and... it looks like you're at the full 10 centimeters. Baby is head down. Contractions are consistent and close. Let's get ready to have a baby." Dr. Collins smiled.
I looked at Daniel, Liz, and Maxx surprised.
"Wait really? She's coming now?" I asked the doctor to make sure I heard her right.
"Yup, come on, let's get you in position." She said.
They got me in position and had me start pushing.
After 15 minutes, I threw my head back in pain.
"I can't... I can't do this..." I cried, out of breath.
"Yes you can, you're so strong. You can this." Daniel kissed my hand that I was squeezing.
"No... I can't... can I- can I have a C-Section?" I asked the doctor.
"I'm afraid it's too late for that, her head is coming." Dr. Collins said.
"Oh my god..." I groaned as another contraction went through my body.
I started hearing some beeping, but I was in so much pain to even comprehend what was going on.
"Hey Skylar, Skylar look at me." Liz said. I heard her, but I wasn't retaining what she said.
"Let's get her on some oxygen." I heard the doctor say. Next thing I knew, I was given an oxygen mask.
"Ok Skylar, you need to push again now." I heard the doctor say.
I got ready to push again, and the doctor started counting down from 10 again, but halfway through my whole body just gave out from the pain and I stopped.
"Skylar I know this is difficult, but the longer you stay in this position with the baby like this, the greater chance of something being wrong when she comes." The doctor told me.
I was breathing heavy and everything was hurting.
"Here, just breathe this in..." I heard Liz say and felt her adjust the oxygen mask on me.
I started feeling another contraction start up again.
"Alright Skylar just start pushing in 3...2...1." I heard the doctor.
I pulled myself together and started pushing again.
"That's it, that's it, you're doing it babe." I heard Daniel tell me.
"Skylar almost there, don't stop." I heard the doctor the say.
All of a sudden, I felt all the pressure stop and then heard crying. Next thing I knew, I had a baby put on my chest. I looked down and saw our daughter. She's finally here.
"Oh my god.. Hi..." I cried. I looked at Daniel.
"You did it... you did it baby..." he smiled.
I saw him tear up at the sight of his daughter and I gave him a kiss.
"Hi Gracie..." he whispered to his daughter.
Then she was taken from us and she was on the other side of the room.
"What's happening? Why is she being taken?" I asked.
"They have to check everything, make sure she's ok." Liz reassured me.
"But- but she is fine. She was crying and everything." I said.
"It's normal, don't worry.." Liz told me.
Then the nurses took Gracie out of the room.
"Hey- w-where are they taking her?" I asked.
"Don't worry about that for now. You're loosing a ton of blood, let's get that fixed right now." The doctor told me. Then I was getting a blood infusion done and I still didn't have a baby. I looked at Daniel.
"Is she ok?" I asked him.
He looked up at Liz and he had a worried look on too.
"She's fine, I'm sure she's fine, baby." He faked a smile.
"Ok Skylar, how are you feeling?" Dr. Collins asked me.
"I don't care how I'm doing, I want to see my daughter." I told her.
"Yea uh, where is she?" I heard Maxx asked.
"She's up in the NICU getting some tests done. She'll be down here shortly." Dr. Collins said.
Half an hour later, the 4 of us were in the room, still without Gracie and Dr. Collins left about 10 minutes ago to take out my blood infusion.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"Uh... almost 4:30am." Maxx said.
I sighed and threw my head back.
"Where is she?" I asked Daniel.
"No news is better than bad news." Daniel told me.
Liz's phone went off and she grabbed it.
"Kyle wants to know how you're doing." She told me.
"Upset that I don't know the state of my baby." I said.
She looked blankly at her phone, debating on what to say.
"I'll just tell him that you had the baby..." She said, typing.
I looked around the cold, dark room. The only light that was coming in was from the moon outside shining through the window. I was laying there, staring out the window in thought, only to be stopped by the feeling of Daniel rubbing my hand and stroking my hair. I looked at him.
He smiled at me when I finally looked at him.
"I love you..." he smiled.
I sleepily looked at him and gave a slight smile.
"I love you too..." I squeezed his hand.
He stroked my hair and kept it out of my face. This made me more and more tired, but I couldn't sleep. I needed to know if anything was wrong with our daughter.
Then we heard the door open. We saw Dr. Kallie and Dr. Collins come in, rolling in a crib.
"Here she is.." Dr. Kallie lightly chuckled as she brought in our daughter.
I sat up on the bed as I watched them wheel in our baby.
Dr. Kallie gave her to me.
"So she's ok?" I asked, taking her.
"Yes, we ran a lot of extensive tests to make sure. As far as we know right now, she's a healthy little baby." Dr. Kallie smiled.
I smiled as our daughter was laying at my chest.
"We will let you guys have some time with her." Dr. Collins said.
I let Daniel hold his daughter and he has the biggest smile on his face. He was holding her hand with his finger.
"She's so small..." he chuckled.
Seeing him hold our daughter made me so happy.
"She has your eyes." He told me.
He leaned over and showed that she had bright blue eyes like me. I smiled as I saw that he was right.
"Oh my god she does... I kinda hoped that she had yours though..." I laughed.
He chuckled and kissed me.
"Can we know the name now?" Maxx asked.
Daniel and I looked at each other. He nodded his head before I spoke.
"Gracelyn Elizabeth Quinn..." I smiled.
"You gave her Ma's middle name... she'll love that..." Maxx smiled.
"You wanna hold her?" Daniel asked Maxx.
Maxx was hesitant and sort of stepped back, think we were talking to Liz.
"Are... you sure?" He asked us.
I smiled and nodded my head.
Maxx went over to us and sat down at a chair. Daniel carefully gave him Gracelyn and Maxx was so careful.
I looked at Maxx with his niece and he was so sweet and gentle.
"Now you guys have a built in babysitter." Liz chuckled.
I smiled as I kept watching Maxx with his niece.
"Welcome to the world Grace... I know it's probably not what you expected, but I promise we'll all keep you safe..." he whispered to his niece.
When I heard that, I started tearing up. He's barely even met her and he was already so sweet.
An hour later, Liz went home about half an hour ago, and Maxx just left 10 minutes ago. It was now almost 6 am and Daniel and I were by ourselves in our room with our daughter.
I had her laying on my chest. I was drifting in and out of consciousness, and then I woke up to Daniel taking her off my chest.
"What are you doing?" I sleepily asked him.
"I'm going to put her in her crib, and you rest a bit.." he explained. I was super tired to even say anything and I eventually fell asleep. But I couldn't believe it. We were both finally parents.
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