I've had a bit of a restless night, my back has been playing up, I guess yesterday was a bit too much after all.
Eventually I decide to get up at 4 in the morning and take a warm bath, because I don't want to wake up Daniel with my tossing and turning. He's going to need his sleep more than ever for the race.
The water definitely eases the pain in my lower back, so I just soak in it for quite a while.
I notice that my bump is also quite tight the entire time, so even though I loved being at the track yesterday, I think I really shouldn't have gone. But today I stay at home, relax and then hopefully during the day it will all get back to normal.
"Today is not exactly the best day to decide to be born peanut. Daddy will be away and he has to focus on the race. So behave yourself and just wait at least until he's home." I talk softly to our baby that is still inside me, but I know that he won't be in there for much longer.
I hope maybe tomorrow, because then at least Daniel will be home and we can go through it all together.
"I am really looking forward meeting you. I hope that if you're a boy, you look like your daddy. He's so handsome, I'm sure you'll be as well. A tiny version of your dad, how cute would that be."
The water starts to cool down so I decide to get out, I my hands are all wrinkly, I've been in here so long I'm turning into a prune.
I first get on my knees, otherwise I can't get up. Then I push myself up in a squatting position before I am finally up on my feet again.
There's a slight cramping in my lower back and bump when I step out of the bath and wrap myself into a big towel.
But before I really have the time to think about it, I can feel it fade away again.
It was probably just from getting out of the tub, so I just ignore it and after putting on leggings and a oversized hoodie from Daniels Enchanté merch I go to the living room.
It's still only 5, way too early for Daniel to get up, so I head to the living room to just relax on the couch. I won't turn the tv on, because I don't want to wake him. I play some games on my phone, watch some TikTok's and suddenly I'm woken up by Daniel who is coming into the kitchen.
"Baby, what are you doing on the couch? Our bed is much better for you." He pushes some strands of hair behind my ear.
"I couldn't settle so I took a bath and then ended up here. I didn't want to wake you, but I wasn't going to sleep here either. Can you help me up?"
He takes my hands to carefully pull me up until I'm back in a sitting position.
For a minute I have to try to relax as my back cramps up again.
"You're probably aching now. The couch is no place for you to sleep on silly."
"I know, I just didn't expect to fall asleep. What do you want for breakfast?" I try to get up, but Daniel holds me back.
"You're not making breakfast. I got it. Just sit for a bit longer." He heads into the kitchen to prepare breakfast, I'm not actually hungry, but I manage to eat some toast and scrambled eggs.
"You'd better take it easy today alright?" Daniel really looks worried so I promise him I will. I can even watch the race in bed as we have a tv in the bedroom.
About an hour later Michael comes to pick him up. But Daniel decides to take the Vespa, in case he needs to come back quickly. Traffic might be a bit of a problem today with the race.
"Please be careful today, I need you back in one piece. I love you." He gives me a kiss and puts his hands in my bump.
"It's a bit tense isn't it?" He notices and I shrug.
"There's no cramping, it's just a bit tight, but I'm sure it's because of my nap on the couch. Don't worry about me I'll keep you up to date until you get in the car."
I can tell he doesn't really want to leave, but this race is more important than ever. With no points for him and Max in Italy they both need a good result today.
Michael is finally able to drag Daniel out and I sigh, I might have lied a bit. The tightness actually is a bit painful. I feel like I'll be having my period soon and I realize it might not be from my nap on the couch.
But the pain is still only a very light cramp and I don't think I can actually call this contractions.
I head back to bed to rest up a bit more. Who knows things will subside again and this is all false alarm.
I put on Netflix and decide to start again with Outlander. A little bit of Jamie Fraser will definitely keep my mind off things.
Every now and then I feel the cramping feeling come back, my bump feels rock hard during those 'contractions' if they even are that.
They are not regular and when I time them they only last for about 30 seconds.
It's still only a light pain, maybe not even pain, it's more uncomfortable than really painful.
Around lunchtime I text Daniel that I'm doing fine and I'm enjoying myself some Scottish hotness. He immediately knows what I'm talking about and texts me back: 'As long as it's Aussie sexiness you want when I come home it's all good.'
I'm still not very hungry, but I decide to have some fruit with yoghurt, at least I'll have some vitamins in my body.
I've barely finished my lunch when a stronger cramp suddenly takes a hold of me. I even have to use the breathing technique I learned to breathe through it.
It lasts for about 40 seconds according to my stopwatch, before it subsides again.
"Peanut please don't do this to me now. Just wait a bit longer. Only a few more hours than we're good to go."
I know it's no use, if he decides he wants to come out, he will. But I just need him to wait a bit longer.
My phone starts to ring and I see it's Jenna FaceTiming me.
"Hey momma, how are you doing today?" She asks cheerful and I decide not to tell her anything yet.
"I'm good, just waiting for the race to start so I can hopefully watch my man win. It's almost time."
Bri also comes on the screen, "Bri! Hi! It's really nice to see the both of you. Do you want to FaceTime during the race? That could be fun." I propose and they agree. So I turn on the tv, where I see the cars are already on the grid, but it's a buzzing of people around for final preparations.
Daniel is against one of the signs, squatting in his signature pose with his headphones on. Michael is nearby and I see he has Daniels phone as well as his own.
I decide to send a quick text telling Daniel to keep it on the black stuff.
The camera is still on the two of them when Michael looks at Daniels phone and he smiles.
He holds it in front of Daniel to read and his huge grin breaks through the sturdy focused look he just had.
He spots the camera and blows a kiss towards it, I know he does that for me, because he knows I'm watching.
Another contraction starts to tighten my belly and I breathe through it again.
"Skylar? What's going on? Is it Braxton Hicks again?" Jenna asks when she sees me pull a face as this time it's a bit more painful than the first one.
"She never has to breathe through Braxton Hicks. You're having contractions aren't you?" Bri asks and I nod.
"But they are really light and they only last for about 40 seconds. The first one was like 10 minutes ago, so it's nothing serious yet. I can manage." Once it fades away I look at the screen and I see both my friends looking at me with tears in their eyes.
"What are you crying about?"
"You're going to be a mommy soon. Shouldn't you let Daniel know. He's about to get in the car. Once the race starts they can't just tell him to stop."
Bri looks worried but I shake my head.
"No it's only the second contraction I had and as I said they are very far apart and don't last long enough to actually be anything serious. We've talked about this with Claire, my obgyn and I don't have to call her before they are less than 5 minutes apart and last for 60 seconds. So I'm nowhere near that. Let's just watch the race." I sit down, but even though I might have sounded confident and convinced. Inside I barely am.
I'm terrified things will go wrong or Daniel not making it in time, but I also know he cannot miss this race. He needs all the points he can get, the race is only 2 hours. I can manage that. It's not like this baby is going to be born within the next two or three hours.
Just before the lights go on I feel another contraction come up. I can tell Bri is timing it, but it's still only 42 seconds and the previous one was 10 minutes ago.
The pain isn't too bad yet either, I can easily breathe through it, so far so good I would say. Obviously I know things are only going to get a lot worse than this. But I just go with the flow and we will have to see what happens.
"It's lights out and away we go!" I hear on the tv and I focus on that to see how they get away.
Daniel shoots away like a rocket, Max has a good start as well, Charles is very close behind Max as they reach the first corner.
A couple of laps in I get hit with another contraction. A bit stronger than the previous ones and it lasts about 45 seconds this time.
"That was 8,5 minutes since the previous one. Are you sure you shouldn't let anybody know?" Jen is also getting worried when she sees my face during this contraction.
Once it subsides I manage to answer, "you know, I'm not calling anybody just yet. This is nothing, I'll be fine."
Every couple of laps my belly tenses up and I have to breathe through another contraction. They are still about 7 or 8 minutes apart. So nothing regular and they don't last long enough either.
During lap 17 we see Lewis struggling and over the board radio he is telling Bono that he is losing power.
"Oh no! His car is going to stop. Shit!" I shout at the tv, I really wanted Lewis to do well. The cars haven't been anywhere near a podium, but I really think he deserves more than this. He's a fucking 7 time world champion and he is now driving a rubbish car.
"Auw, fuck this one hurts a bit more." I clench my jaw breathing through a contraction and I get up to walk around a bit, hoping that might help.
The safety car is deployed as Lewis wasn't able to make it to the pit lane and I groan. This means the race will be a bit longer as they take longer to do a lap behind the safety car.
"Skylar? That one was 7 minutes after the previous one and it lasted 48 seconds."
Ok that only means it's slowly picking up, but still I don't have to call anybody just yet. They drive behind the safety car for 4 laps until he gets called in. Everybody made a pitstop during that time, so they are all ready to get going again.
I quickly send a text to Lewis to let him know I feel bad for him and I'm thinking about him.
He won't have his phone just yet, but once he gets it back he will see I've send him something.
Another painful contraction hits me.
"Oooow, not nice." I'm rocking from side to side, for some reason that just feels nice as I turn into myself breathing through it as I rub my hand over my tightened bump.
This goes on for quite some time I think, I'm not even keeping track of time anymore, but Bri and Jen are still on FaceTime with me and they are timing still.
I receive a text back from Lewis telling me he's bummed, but these things happen. He wants to know how I'm doing, but I get hit by the strongest contraction yet, so I can't reply right now.
"That was 6 minutes after the previous one. Let me know when it's gone." I hear Bri's voice somewhere, but I'm to concentrated on my breathing to say something back.
Once it goes down I look back at the girls.
"I'm good, they are just getting a little bit stronger."
"Sky, this one was 55 seconds. It's getting real now." Jen tells me, but I wave my hand at them, saying it's not so bad. I have plenty of time.
For another 30 minutes things stay pretty much the same. Every 6 minutes or so I have a contraction that lasts for about 50 to 55 seconds. I'm able to breathe through them pretty well, but it's definitely getting more and more painful.
The race is about halfway done when I suddenly hear a knock on the door.
Seriously who can that be, everybody I know is at the track. I can't deal with visitors now, so I decide to open the door to tell the person standing there now is not the right time.
When I open the door I see Lewis standing there.
"What the hell are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with your team?"
He walks inside just when I get another contraction, I grab his hand for support until it's gone.
"Bri send me a text telling me you were having contractions, but that you don't want the team to tell Daniel yet. So I told Toto I had to go. He understood. I'm here to help you until Daniel comes home."
He helps me to the living room where my phone is still on the couch with the girls on there.
"Hey Bri and Jen, I'm here, how much time is there in between?" He asks them.
"About 6 minutes and they last almost a minute, look after our girl ok?" Bri tells him and he nods.
"I will, talk to you later."
They hang up and he grabs his phone to start timing.
"Can I get you anything? Some water or tea?"
"Some water would be nice."
I feel so weird having Lewis here, but I'm also glad I'm not alone. I was getting a bit scared actually so I'm pretty thankful Bri contacted him as he was out of the race anyways.
He comes back with some water and starts the stopwatch when he can see on my face that I have another contraction.
During them I am able to shut everything out, I just turn into myself to deal with the breathing and the pain.
If I thought getting my period was painful, I'll never complain again. This is much, much worse.
My back is starting to get really sore and I'm actually longing to get in the bath.
"Lewis, could you maybe fill the bath for me? My back is killing me and I hear it can help ease the pain a bit."
"Sure, I'll be right back." He runs to the bathroom where I soon hear the water fill the bath.
I slowly make my way there, only to pause halfway there breathing through another one.
I hear myself moan softly, which makes Lewis come out of the bathroom again. His phone in his hand.
"That was 5.5 minutes, when do you have to call your doctor?"
"When they are 5 minutes or less apart and last 60 seconds or more. So not yet."
I almost forgot about the race when I get into the bathroom, so I ask Lewis for my phone so I can watch it while I'm in the bath.
"I'll give you some privacy, but just shout if you need me." I slowly take off my clothes before lowering myself in the warm water.
This feels so good, the weight is lifted of my back and I finally relax.
That is until I get hit again. It's definitely getting stronger every single time I have a contraction.
The race is nearing the end when I feel like walking around again. The thing is, my body is already shaking a bit and I can't get out myself.
"Lewis, I need help getting out." I call out and he comes in, his hand in front of his eyes.
"Oh please, it's not like you have never seen a naked woman before, just help me out please." He drops his hand and even though his skin is darker I can still see him blushing a bit.
"Are you blushing? That's adorable. Ooooh shit!" I grab the edge of the bath until it's gone and I can get out with Lewis his help.
He gives me a towel and a long shirt so I don't have to put on leggings anymore.
"Maybe it's time to give Michael a call, so Daniel can come home straight after the podium." With only 5 laps to go, Daniel has a secure lead, Max is still second and Charles third, so in the front nothing has changed.
"I'll give him a call." Lewis uses my phone as he has his for the stopwatch.
"Michael? It's Lewis. I'm with Skylar, she's having contractions, can you make sure Daniel comes straight home after the podium? They're almost down to 5 minutes apart and lasting a minute, so I guess once she gets to that point we have to call her doctor. But she doesn't want to do that just yet."
"Jesus fuck! Hmmmmm ooowww." I start humming through the pain.
"That was 5 minutes. So it's getting closer, but it's not lasting long enough just yet."
I am now back in the living room where I see Daniel passing the checkered flag. Winning the Monaco Grand Prix, but I know he'll get the biggest prize later today.
I'm leaning over the back of the couch, rocking from side to side as another strong contraction makes me feel like I'm being torn apart from the inside.
"Maybe it's time to call Claire. Michael please get Daniel home as soon as the podium is done." I cry out. I just really want him here with me.
On tv I see Daniel rolling into the pit lane. One fist in the air celebrating his victory. Oblivious that he is going to be a father soon.
Michael is still on the phone with Lewis. I don't feel like talking to anybody as I'm just focusing on myself and getting through the contractions as they are suddenly really rushing through me.
I see Michael say something in Daniels ear as the camera is focused on him. Daniels eyes are huge and it seems like he wants to make a run for it right away.
"Let me talk to him real quick before I can't anymore." I tell Lewis and he hands me the phone.
"Michael! Put him on."
It's actually funny to see Michael handing Daniel the phone while I'm on the other side watching him on tv.
"Baby! I'm on my way!" Is the first thing he says.
"No go on that podium, you know you have to. Just come home as soon as you can afterwards." I tell him right before whimpering because it hurts like hell.
"Fuck the podium, you need me more."
"Babe please, do the ceremony, let Blake arrange things for afterwards, but just get up there."
He gets called away for weighing and I get Michael back on the line.
"I'll stay on the phone, so I can keep Daniel updated. How are you feeling? Stupid question you're in pain, but oh my god Sky, you're going to be a mom soon."
"I know, I aaaaaaah damn."
Lewis takes over the phone after calling Claire with mine who told him she will be on her way.
"She's actually getting less time in between now, she was 5.5 minutes before we called you and now there were only 3 minutes in between." He tells Michael when I see the cool down room where Daniel is pacing, Max grabbing his arm asking him what's going on.
We can't really hear what they are saying but by the looks on the faces of Max and Charles, Daniel has told them what's happening.
They are being called onto the podium and when Daniel gets on I can see him looking worried at Michael. The camera follows his look and I hear Lewis tell Michael there's only 3 minutes in between.
Michael puts up 3 fingers to Daniel and I can tell all Daniel wants is to get off that podium and get home.
I hear a phone ring and Lewis answers.
"Yes? Shit really? Yeah I understand, just do what you can to get here, she's moving really fast now."
He comes over to me, "that was Claire, the entire city is clogged with traffic and she doesn't know if she will make it in time. But she is trying really hard. I'm sure she'll be here soon."
Tears start rolling down my face and my legs give in when the strongest contraction I've had up till now hits me.
"Michael, get him home! Now!" Lewis shouts through the phone.
I manage to look up at the tv and I see Michael signal to Daniel. It's halfway through the national anthem when I see Daniel jump off the podium and rush down the stairs.
"What the.. this has never been seen before, they haven't even handed him his trofee yet and he just takes off. Crofty, are you thinking what I'm thinking this could mean?" Martin Brundle says on tv.
"I think this might mean our own Danny Ric is about to become a dad. But that's speculation, we won't know until they confirm it. But let's hope we will have some baby news to share later today." Crofty answers.
"It might be hell getting through traffic right now. But I think we saw him arrive on a Vespa this morning, so he should be able to get through it a lot easier. Let's get back to the podium. I'm curious to find out what the FIA will think about this."
I manage to get back on my feet, but as I stand up I feel warm liquid dripping down my thighs.
"Oh shit. Lewis! My water just broke."