With the admission of her labor, Logan sprung into action. He pulled her up and walked her to the car. While they made their way, Rory was panicking. "It's early isn't it? I definitely think it's early. I shouldn't be in labor right now. I can't believe I'm in labor!"
Logan tried to calm her, but it wasn't easy by any means. He helped her into the car and then made her way around. Once the car was on, he speed dialed their doctor. He picked up on the second ring and Logan was already on his way. The doctor said he'd be waiting for them there and Logan quickly hung up. Rory was pretty sure he was setting land speed records at the speed he was driving, but she found she didn't care. What she thought was uncomfortable earlier was now down right painful.
Thankfully, they quickly arrived and Logan pulled up to the ER bay. There were nurses outside waiting with a wheelchair. Logan got out and made his way around the car, helping Rory slowly get up. They waddled their way over to the wheelchair and Rory plopped down.
"Mr. Huntzberger, go part your car sir and we'll wait for you by the elevators. They've already prepped a room upstairs for her. But, hurry. We can't wait too long."
Logan nodded and sped off. Rory tried to concentrate on her breathing as they wheeled her inside and to the elevator. What seemed like ages, but was probably only several minutes, Logan finally joined them and the nurses called the elevator. Rory gripped his hand and tried to smile at her. But, it was probably really a grimace.
They quickly made their way up to the Labor and Delivery floor and Rory groaned when she got there, but it wasn't from the pain. "I forgot about the name of this floor!"
Logan looked at her quizzically until he noticed the name on the wall. "Something you need to tell me, Ace?"
Rory rolled her eyes. "It was named for my Great-grandmother, not me."
Logan laughed as they walked by the big lettering on the wall that said, "Lorelai Gilmore Labor and Delivery Wing." They were wheeled down the hall and into a room, where Rory was helped onto the bed. The nurses closed the privacy curtain and Logan helped Rory into the hospital gown and then helped her to lay back on the bed.
"Thanks, Logan."
"No problem, Ace. Are you comfortable?"
"Well, as comfortable as can be considering I think I'm being ripped apart inside."
They were silent for a few minutes before Rory asked, "Logan, have you called everyone?"
Logan's eyes widened. "I didn't even think about that. Let me go do that now."
As he was making his way out, he was met by the doctor and turned around to come back in. "Logan, go on and call. I'm sure this will just involved poking and prodding."
With verification from the doctor, Logan went into the hall while the doctor stepped closer. "So, Rory, how are you feeling?"
Rory glared at him and the doctor chuckled. "Well, I guess that was a bit of a stupid question. Let's take a look, shall we?"
The nurses helped Rory get herself situated on the bed and her feet in the stirrups. While it wasn't as uncomfortable as it used to be, Rory still wasn't quite comfortable to have someone looking at her lady bits. She could feel the doctor down there, but wasn't sure what was going on. After a few minutes, the doctor rolled back and said, "Well, it seems that your labor is progressing very quickly. Can you tell me when your pains started?"
Rory thought about it while she moved her legs out of the stirrups. "Well, I've had some stomach pains for a few days, but chalked it up to eating something bad or whatever."
The doctor nodded. "What about full labor?"
Rory shrugged. "I'm not sure. My stomach pains were worse this morning, but nothing that I couldn't deal with to be honest. I guess it was an hour or so ago that they worsened to the point that I thought I was just going to be sick."
"Well, that's a bit quick, but some women are just built for labor. You've already dilated 5 cm. I think you've probably been dilated for a while now, which is why you've progressed so quickly. We'll be checking periodically and when you reach 10 cm, you'll be ready to deliver. You need to decide now if you want an epidural. If you wait too much longer, you won't be able to get one."
Not pausing to think about it, Rory just nodded her head. "Oh, yes to that epidural. I wanted it yesterday!"
The doctor chuckled. "I'll get the tech in here in a few minutes then. I'll see you in a bit."
Patting her leg, the doctor walked out. A few minutes later, a nurse came in and got the fetal heart-rate monitor hooked up to her. They spent a little bit getting it set just right and Rory was amazed at the sudden whooshing she heard. "So, that's baby's heart beat," she said in awe.
"Yes, ma'am."
The nurse left her and Logan walked in. "I saw the doctor in the hall and he filled me in. Sounds like we'll have a baby today," he told her as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Yeah, looks like we'll have a baby. Did you get up with everyone?"
Logan nodded. "Yeah, I left a message for our friends, so I'm not sure when I'll hear from them. But, our families are on their way. Once they get here, I imagine they'll want to visit you for a bit. Is that okay?"
Rory grimaced as a contraction hit and sighed. "I guess. If I go on and get it out of the way, then there's less opportunity for them to come in at a really bad moment."
"That's the spirit, Ace."
Before Rory could respond, another technician walked in. "I'm here to give you your epidural," she chirped.
Rory's eyes widened at her perkiness, but didn't say anything, just followed her directions as they told her to roll on her side. Logan helped her and talked to her to distract from the very large needle being poked in her back. After a few moments, the needle was in and Rory was able to ease back onto there back. "It should kick in in a few minutes. If it doesn't, ring the nurse station and I'll come back to down to check it out."
Rory nodded and tried to relax. They both sat in silence until Logan's phone chirped. He checked it and told her, "My parents are in the waiting room. Can I go get them?"
Rory nodded and watched him leave. She tried to steel herself for whatever might be about to happen. Mitchum and Shira came in with a balloon bouquet and a small bunch of flowers. "Rory!" Mitchum boomed, "How are you feeling?"
"Well, a bit like my insides are being squeezed in a vise. Other than that, I can't complain too much."
Mitchum laughed. Shira piped in, "I feel your pain. Labor with Honor and Logan was horrendous for me. Until they got the epidural in I thought I was just going to throw up on everything."
Rory was taken aback at Shira's candidness. "Uh, yeah. It did feel a bit like that now that you mention it."
They stayed a few minutes longer and left when they Logan told them Rory's grandparents were outside. Richard and Emily came in and visited her for a minute, also bringing in balloons and flowers. They didn't stay long either because Lorelai arrived and Logan wanted her to have a chance to see Rory before things progressed too much further. Lorelai came in and gasped mockingly. "Wow, did you suddenly buy out an arboretum?"
"Ha ha," Rory said, rolling her eyes. "Grandma and Grandpa and Logan's parents brought them for me."
"How are you feeling kid?" Lorelai asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Well, Ive been better considering everyone that sees me asks that.
Lorelai winced. "Yeah, I guess you'll be getting that a lot in the coming hours. Do you need anything?"
Rory shook her head. "No, I don't. Logan's pretty much made sure I've got everything I thought I might want and he has people on speed dial to get things I haven't even thought of yet."
The doctor walked in then and smiled at Lorelai. "Mrs. Huntzberger, let's check you out again."
Rory scooted down the bed, but didn't place her legs up. She looked at her mom. "Mom, can you leave the room?"
"Rory, come on. We talked about me being here when you gave birth. We've always planned on my being in here."
"I know we talked about it, but I hadn't had a chance to talk to you about the changes Logan and I decided on."
"Logan and I? Logan and I? What happened to you and I, huh? I've been in your life way longer and I wanted to be here for the birth of my first grandchild."
"Mom! You're being childish. Logan and I want to have the most stress free environment that we can possibly have considering I'm about to push a watermelon out of my hoo-ha. For that to happen, it need to be just me, Logan, the doctor, and the nurses. I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings, but to be honest, I don't think I care. This day isn't about you. It's about me and the baby that is trying to force its way out. Something that you are impeding as we can't check the progress until you leave."
Lorelai's mouth hung open and she didn't respond. "I can't believe you're my daughter. My daughter wouldn't speak to me like that."
With that, Lorelai left the room and Rory breathed a sigh of relief. She placed her feet in the stirrups and waited for the doctor to tell her what was going on. After a few seconds, he said, "Well, it looks like you're still progressing quickly. You're sitting at 7 cm now. I'll be back in a bit to check again to see where we are."
Rory and Logan thanked him and settled back down. "So, want to talk about what just happened, Ace?"
"Oh, the 7 cm. Yeah, I'm a little freaked. I thought once I went into labor, I'd have a bit more time to get ready. But this is moving fast!"
Logan sighed. "You know that's not what I'm talking about."
Rory started to fidget and wouldn't meet his eyes. She softly filled him in on what Lorelai said earlier. "Well, that would explain your blow up with her, wouldn't it?" he asked.
"Yeah, I just couldn't deal with it, you know? I thought she was different. I thought she was accepting. But today just shows me that she's not. I'm not sure what's going on with her that she can't just grow up enough to realize that we're in it for the long haul and, if she's not careful, she won't get to see much of baby."
"I understand, Ace. Don't worry about it too much. Just worry about that little bundle of joy that will be joining us soon enough."
The next several hours passed in a blur. By 3 p.m., Rory was in a delivery room and Logan was suited up. Rory was being walked through the beginning stages of her pushing and she already wanted to quit. "Now I understand why some people choose to have a C-section or adopt," she sobbed as she did another big push.
Logan squeezed her hand. "Come on, Rory. You're doing great. Only a few more."
"I just don't know if I can."
"You're so strong. You can definitely do it. Just think about the little baby we're about to hold in our arms."
Rory continued to sob as she pushed as hard as she could. Finally, after what felt like days, she heard a small cry and her breath caught. The doctor held the baby up and said, "We have a healthy baby boy!"
Rory burst into tears and Logan hugged her. Eventually, Rory realized Logan was crying too. They both watched as they cleaned the baby off a bit and placed him on Rory's chest. "Say hi to mommy," the nurse said, stepping back.
Rory lightly touched the head, running her fingers through the little bit of hair there. "Can you believe it?" she asked. "We made this."
"Yeah, we did," Logan agreed.
"Well, Mom and Dad. Do we have a name," the nurse asked as she took the baby off Rory's chest for the rest of the cleaning up and weighing process.
They looked at each other. "We do," Rory said. "We want to name him Richard William Huntzberger."