This story has kept going and going, anyways this is the final part to this story.
Over the next few days, Andy and Robert went to Andy's 24 week doctor appointment. They also worked on building the rest of the big furniture putting it in its official place. Online shopping for some of the finishing touches like a rug for in the nursery, a breast pump, and a bottle disinfect and cleanser.
Andy decided to invite Vic over to her place, while Robert was out at running a bunch of errands. Ordering pizza while waiting for Vic to show up, needing someone to fill her in on all the gossip around the station.
"Will you be this babys god mother, Victoria Hughes?" Andy asked looking over at Vic. Robert and her had talked long and hard about this decision, they knew how Vic was around kids, especially Pru, and that's what they wanted for their child if they couldn't be anymore.
"Yes I will, but why are you asking me now?" Vic said, grateful for being asked.
"In case something happens after she's born. We want to make sure she doesn't get put in the foster system. And we know how you are around kids and we want that for her." Andy said, Vic looking back at her with tears in her eyes.
Robert text saying that he would stay at his place tonight and he would bring over extra clothes after shift.
Vic ended up staying later then planned, falling asleep on the couch with Andy while watching a movie. Only waking up the next morning because Andy's alarm went off meaning that they needed to head to the station.
"Omg I don't have any clothes, and we need to be at the station in an hour." Vic said, freaking out.
"Relax you have plenty of time, you head home. I'll get ready and head to work and we will meet there." Andy said, making her bed.
During shift Andy talked to Beckett about working less days, something he was willing to do. Making up an agreement that she would work every other shift and be on desk duty for 3/4 of the time.
Over the next few weeks Andy and Robert prepared the nursery, setting up all the bigger items, cleaning the entire room and everything in it, not wanting to take any chances.
For being 30 weeks pregnant she didn't necessarily look it, being for the most part pretty small compared to what she expected, which she wasn't complaining about.
Robert and her were on good terms, having little disagreements, but for the most part they got along.
A couple days later, Andy woke up in a great amount of pain.
"Agh..." Andy said, crying out in pain, stroking her belly, trying to get the pain to stop.
Robert waking up, hearing Andy cry out in pain was immediately concerned. "What happened? What's wrong? Do we need to go to the hospital?" Robert asked, getting out of bed, grabbing clothes for them to put on.
"Yes, hospital." Andy said, trying to hold back the cries of pain.
Robert helped her get into sweat pants, heading to the vehicle slowly, helping Andy the entire way.
Getting the hospital in record time, they headed to the ER where a nurse immediately put her in a bed and called OB.
"Hello Mrs. Herrera, I'm Dr. Murray the one call nurse tonight, I'm going to do an ultrasound, to get a visual on the baby quickly." The doctor said, preparing the ultrasound.
As the ultrasound started the doctor looked at the monitor, zooming in and out of the picture.
"What's wrong?" Andy said, the look on the doctors face telling her it was bad.
"It appears you have partial placenta abruption, I'm going to page your regular doctor to come in, but until then just try to stay calm, as stress could cause the baby to go into distress." Dr. Murray said, getting up and heading to the nurses station.
Robert sat down on the stool beside her, to shocked to speak. He didn't know what was going to happen to his child, or to Andy. Beating himself up about not being their for the first bit of the pregnancy. Not getting to treasure time with Andy and the baby bump that was growing their baby inside. So focused on beating himself up he didn't hear Andy talking to him, or Dr. Brown enter the room.
"Robert? Robert!" Andy said finally getting his attention.
"What?" Robert asked, quickly coming out of his haze.
"Are you listening? Dr. Brown is about to come back in." Andy asked, still in tremendous pain, but also worried about Robert.
"Okay, I will need to do an ultrasound to quick on the baby, and look at the placenta. Afterwards I will determine whether the baby will be fine for the next couple weeks, or if we will have to deliver the baby in the next couple days." Dr. Brown said, moving the ultrasound closet to the bed.
"Is it even safe for her to be born right now?" Robert asked, worried for his little girl and for Andy. Knowing she must be feeling so many different things, but trying to hold it all in.
"At this moment in time it's hard to tell, but today I'll give you, Andy, a steroid to help baby's lungs mature faster, so it will be safer and a better chance of survival for baby." Dr. Brown said, trying to calm everyone's nerves in the room.
After spending hours in the hospital, waiting to find out what was going to happen Dr. Brown came back in the room. "It appears, that the reason you aren't bleeding at all is because all the blood is trapped in your uterus. We are going to start you on steroids, and give you a blood transfusion. We will monitor the baby, and if she goes into distress, we will have to do an emergency c-section. We will have the NICU team ready. She still has a very good chance at leaving a healthy life, so don't lose hope." Dr. Brown said, informing them on the news but trying to calm their nerves at the same time. Before leaving to go check on other patients.
Staying overnight, Andy had what she was pretty sure was the worst sleep of her life. Unable to fall asleep and when she was finally asleep the noise from outside the room was constantly waking her.
In the morning, Dr. Brown released her on a deal that Andy went to the hospital if she had any pain and they had appointments every week.
Over the next few weeks Andy and Robert were busy. Making sure that everything was ready for when baby girl came home. Packing the hospital bags, so if they had to head to the hospital they only had to grab the bag. Cleaning the apartment to many times to count, reorganizing the baby clothes.
At her 34 week appointment Dr. Brown shared with Andy that she would have to have c-section, scheduling it for in 2 weeks, as she didn't want to chance Andy going into labor. Also sharing all the complications that were possible because of Andy's condition.
Heading into the hospital that day, she was admitted under labor&delivery. 3 hours later, they were headed to the operating room, robert dressed in complete scrubs.
After Andy had gotten the epidural and was draped for surgery, Robert was able to come in and sit beside Andy's head, stroking her cheek, to try and show some support.
"Robert, Andy, I will warn you right now, their will be lots of bleeding, we have prepared for that. So don't get stressed or worried, it's normal and if we get more bleeding than expected we have a protocol we will follow." Dr. Brown said, with a mask over her face, before heading to scrub.
As the surgery started, Andy laid quietly waiting, she needed to hear her daughter cry. She didn't care about anything other than making sure her daughter was okay.
It had been a few minutes when suddenly the room was filled with a newborn cry. Bringing tears to Andy's eyes immediately.
"Robert would you like to cut the cord?" Dr. Brown asked, knowing it had been discussed but never actually hearing an answer.
"Are you sure your okay with me doing it?" Robert asked looking towards Andy. Andy nodding her head to Robert.
"Cut between these two clamps." Dr. Brown said guiding Robert through the process.
After cutting the cord the baby girl was placed on Andy's chest, for a couple seconds before being taken to the cot on the other side of the room to do the proper tests to make sure she was healthy.
"Doctor, shouldn't this bleeding should be stopping by now." The intern doctor said, who had been suctioning for a couple minutes now.
"Just wait a few more seconds, it should stop soon." Dr. Brown said, trying to be optimistic, but getting ready for the worst.
When the bleeding still wasn't stopping, Dr. Brown took action. "Someone get Mr. Sullivan out of here. Dr. Warner (the anesthesiologist) prepare a general anesthesia immediately."
"What's happening?" Andy asked, as a nurse guided Robert out of the OR, despite his protests.
"There's some extra bleeding, so we are going to put you under general anesthesia to get total control over it, and when you wake up you'll be able to see your beautiful baby girl." Dr. Brown said, as the anesthesiologist pushed the meds into Andy's IV, while a nurse got ready to intubate her.
Getting moved into the ICU after extensive surgery Andy was still asleep from the meds. Dr. Brown went to update Robert on Andy's condition. Heading to the NICU where she walked in to see Robert shirtless, holding his daughter in his arms. Multiple little cables connected to her, but yet it was still the sweetest thing she had seen today.
"Dr. Brown." Robert said, noticing her presence in the room.
"Robert, Andy's okay. She's in the ICU right now, still asleep from the anesthesia. She will need a blood transfusion for the next couple days, but other than that she is doing well. I can come grab you when she wakes up if you want to stay here." Dr. Brown said, understanding that Robert would probably want to stay with his daughter with as long as possible.
"If you could do that please, and before you leave I was wondering when Andy will be able to meet the baby." Robert asked, knowing Andy would want to know the second she woke up.
"As long as baby's vitals are good, we are going to move her down to Andy's room everyday, and then at night she can come back in here, so Andy can rest and recover without worrying about a baby crying." Dr. Brown explained.
Over the next couple days, Andy had gotten better, still a little sore, but was counting the days until she could be out of what she considered a prison.
"What is her name?" Vic asked, as she stopped by before shift started, the curiosity had been killing her, as Andy had never told her any name ideas and her and Robert weren't very close, after the whole situation.
"Elle Rose Sullivan-Herrera." Andy said, looking down at the beautiful little baby in her arms.
In the moment of peace, suddenly there was a knock on the door Robert entering soon after. He had gone home earlier in the day, to shower and get Andy some more stuff, as she was still expected to be here for at least one more day.
"I got you your book and your favourite blanket." Robert said, setting them down on the bed next to Andy's feet.
"Thank you, here is your daughter." Andy said, handing his daughter to him.
Robert stood in awe of his daughter, still unable to believe she was real. Sitting down in the chair beside Andy's bed, he looked at his daughter unable to take his eyes off of her. She was the cutest thing he had ever seen, most of her features reminded him of Andy, but her eyes were just like his.
For over an hour it was just silence, before a nurse came in to help Andy feed Elle. Vic saying goodbye, as Theo was waiting for her are their house. The first time breastfeeding been very painful for Andy, tears had fallen down her face while Elle struggled to latch on for the first 10 minutes.
The next morning Dr. Brown said they were free to go, just to come to their appointment in a couple days.
Thought the first night home Andy woke up multiple times to feed Elle, and calm her down when she was crying. Robert got up sometimes, but he didn't hear her every time. Around 6 Andy gave up on trying to sleep any more.
Someone from the team came over came over at least three times a week, to help them both out, letting them get some sleep for a couple hours. Not that Robert or Andy necessarily needed them to come over, but she wasn't going to complain about it. Only getting at most a couple hours of sleep every night, since Elle usually woke up every two to three hours wanting to eat and it takes a while to get her back to sleep.
Over the next few weeks this pattern continued to the point it was a miracle Andy and Robert could even walk.
"Okay you need to sleep." Vic said, grabbing Elle out of Andy's arms, sitting back down next to Theo.
"No, you guys are over to visit what kind of friend would I be if I went and slept." Andy said, trying to win a loosing battle.
"And we will watch Elle while you sleep, you need the sleep and we are happy to get more baby cuddles, so get going we are free for the entire day, so go sleep." Vic said shooing Andy to her her along with Robert who was already half asleep on the couch.
Vic and Theo cleaned up the apartment while they watched Elle and fed her. They did the laundry, washed all the dishes, and tidied up the rest of the apartment. Taking turns watching Elle and keeping her calm.
After six hours, Vic went in to check on Andy and Robert, to see them both passed out asleep on her bed. Quietly shutting her door, they decided to order pizza, warming up some milk to give Elle.
When it got to be around 11 at night, Theo headed out to their vehicle grabbing there emergency duffle bag bringing it back in, they changed into some pyjamas, falling asleep on the couch.
The next morning Andy woke up hearing voices outside her room. She instantly got up, before remembering that Vic and Theo were over. Heading out to the kitchen she noticed Vic was holding Elle, giving her a bottle, while Robert and Theo ate breakfast.
"Feeling better?" Vic asked, noticing Andy's presence in the room.
"So much better thank you both for doing this for me and Robert." Andy said, thankful for the amazing friends she had.
"It was no problem, I loved getting my baby cuddles in." Theo said, handing Andy a cup of coffee and pointing towards the food they had put on a plate for Andy.
The rest of the morning they enjoyed together, before Vic and Theo said goodbye, leaving Andy and Robert to cuddle with Elle.
Over the next few months Andy and Robert went back to work, still spending as much time as possible with Elle. Enjoying every second they got with her, because they both knew how quickly you could lose everything.
Hope you enjoyed!