Hi!! I was meant to update this yesterday but I kept trying to put it off because I am so nervous about this!
I've never written anything like this labour scene, please let me know how I did & if there's anything I should've done differently!
I'd love your feedback!
Here's the day you've all been waiting for!
Enjoy x
*Dakota's POV*
The next few weeks dragged, once we had gotten home from the red carpet event we packed mine and the baby's hospital bags, Jamie set the pram and the car seat up, which is installed into his car ready for when she comes.
It's July 31st so we have two days until my due date and everybody is getting impatient, each day I get a message from family asking if there's any sign of her yet. Jamie's nervous, I can sense it, the slightest move I make or slightest rub of my bump he's by my side asking if I'm okay. It makes me smile and love him more than I thought possible.
We have Dulcie with us for a few weeks, so when the baby comes she can adjust to her being here with us and so she can bond with her baby sister. "Dakota? Is my baby here yet?" She runs down the stairs and through to the kitchen to me as I scroll through Instagram on my phone.
"Not yet baby girl, but she is kicking.. wanna feel?" I reach for her hand and press it into my bump where her sister is kicking. She giggles softly and leans forward, kissing where her hand was. "Come on baby, you have to come now" she whispers against my bump and I grin watching, taking a photo of her. I send it to jamie;
*she's stood telling the baby they need to come now :') she's so cute! xx*
"What shall we do today?" I ask as Dulcie goes over to the fridge. "Can we play outside today??" She smiles cutely and I can't say no to that. "Go get your sandals on and we'll play outside then" I lean to kiss her head and she runs off. My phone vibrates;
*ahhh my girls ❤️ I'll be home shortly baby xx*
I smile. He's been out 'running errands' all morning apparently, part of me tells me he's up to something though. "Ready!" Dulcie runs back through to me then she runs straight out the door to the back garden, scaring Zeppelin in the process, causing him to bark loudly, which makes me jump.
"Zepp shhh baby, it's okay" I stroke his head, frowning as I get a slight twinge in my tummy. I rub it until it's gone and pout slightly, going outside to Dulcie. We play with her dollies for a bit, then she decides she wants to play in the pool, so we get her changed and put her arm bands on before she gets into the pool, I keep a close eye on her whilst I dangle my legs over the side of the pool.
"Dakota, when's daddy coming home?" She pouts, flapping her arms so she slowly floats over to me. "I'm not sure sweetie.. hopefully soon" I say, rubbing my bump again as I get another slight sharp pain. Dulcie swims off to the other side and I smile, watching her.
She soon decides she wants to get out, so we dry her quickly with her towel and decide to lay on the grass and colour in her colouring book whilst we have a few snacks. Whilst she's colouring I watch, and we soon hear the door go, Zepp barks and Jamie walks out to the back garden, holding a massive bouquet of flowers.
Pink and red roses, a mix of purple and yellow flowers and beautiful tulips in a big bouquet. I gasp as he bends to kiss my lips. "These are for you baby..." he whispers against my lips and I grin. "What for? They're beautiful.. I love them" i say as he slowly helps me stand up, I take them from him and take them inside before wandering back out to him and Dulcie; who is now looking up and watching me and her dad.
"Because I love you" he shrugs, sitting by Dulcie on the floor with his legs out straight in front of him. I sit between his legs and lean against him. "I love you" I say and smile sweetly.
"Daddy where's my flowers?" Dulcie frowns and I giggle. "Daddy forgot them baby, but I love you, I'll get you some next time we go out" he kisses her head. "Here you can have one of mine" I smile and pass her a rose from my bouquet, she grins and takes it. "Thank you" She giggles sweetly and soon goes back to colouring as we watch her, chilling in the afternoon sun.
As we sit there relaxing I get another pain in my tummy, rubbing it slightly until it goes. I turn and kiss Jamie's cheek. "I think the baby's coming..." I whisper against his cheek as I pull away. He gasps and turns to me fast. "What? Come on we need to go" he panics going to get up until I stop him.
"Don't shh.." I hold his hands as Dulcie notices him making a scene and frowns a bit before going back to colouring. "It's nothing major yet.. might not be anything at all.. I keep getting a few pains, not often enough to go hospital yet, let's not panic" I stroke his hands as he gazes at me, his eyes full with panic.
"And if you panic, I'll panic" I Well up slightly and he pulls me closer. "I'm sorry baby.. you're right" he kisses my head and holds me to him, I feel him relax after a couple of minutes and I relax into him, both of us watching Dulcie colour.
---
I decide on making dinner later that day, Jamie and Dulcie are in the pool playing and swimming together whilst I cook us a chicken pasta bake with salad and garlic dough balls. Throughout the rest of the day I got a few more pains, but nothing too much so I didn't mention to Jamie, though they were getting i tiny bit stronger. Though one was so strong I had to stop what I was doing until I managed to ride it out.
Whilst the pasta bake is in the oven melting the cheese on top I dial the midwifes number. "Hi you're through to Naomi" she says down the phone on the second ring. "Hi, It's Dakota.. I think I could be going into labour? Very slowly though" I chuckle slightly
"How often are the pains lovely?" She asks as I take a seat on the stairs. "Well this morning they weren't very frequent at all, I had like one every two hours.. but this afternoon they're a little harder and they're more like every forty minutes" I say.
"Okay, I'll need you both to monitor them closely for me, don't change your routine too much, do what you'd usually do in the afternoon; she might just be playing games with you" she chuckles. "Okay I will do.. Shall I just phone you if they get worse?" I ask.
"Please, I'll phone and get you a room set up ready, phone me as soon as you get sign of your waters breaking or your contractions become frequent, twenty minutes apart" she tells me, I thank her and soon hang up, taking a deep breath before going back to the kitchen and out to the garden.
"Dinner will be ready shortly, shall we go and get dried?" I say to Jamie and Dulcie, who climb out the pool and wander over to me. Dulcie wraps her towel around her and runs off inside. "Babe..." I stop Jamie as he's about to walk past me, my hand on the top of his arm.
"What's up baby?" He frowns slightly, rubbing his hand over my bump. "I phoned Naomi.. I think I'm in slow labour" I say nervously and he gasps. "Really?" He takes my hand whilst we walk inside, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Yeah.. she said to monitor for my waters breaking or the contractions getting to twenty minutes in between.." I smile shyly and he grins.
"Well you sit down and I'll sort dinner.. it can't be comfy for you" He goes to sit me at the table but I refuse. "No I'll be fine.. she said try doing things as normal as we would do usually and she'll do the rest" I giggle, kissing him gently. "So you can go get dry... I'll sort dinner" I stroke his cheek before shooing him up the stairs.
He kisses my cheek gently before going upstairs to dry and change. Him and Dulcie come back down together and I place our plates on the table, going to sit down just as I get another pain. This time it's so strong I have to curl over and bend down a little, holding my breath as I ride it out. Jamie comes through and straight over to me to rub the bottom of my back.
"It's okay baby, I've got you.." he repeats, calming me down as it passes. "They're getting stronger.. I'm scared" I chuckle a bit as we all sit down. "Don't be, you're going to be fine" he squeezes my hand before we start to eat.
We eat with a little bit of talk, Jamie washes the pots whilst me and Dulcie go to the living room and sit down to watch tv. But the pain is getting more regularly now and within twenty minutes I have another contraction and it's worse than the others I've had.
Jamie helps me through it, rubbing my back and telling it'll be okay. Once it's stopped I stand and pace the kitchen whilst Jamie and Dulcie watch tv, it's too uncomfortable to sit down, so I try to keep myself busy, instead of sitting still.
-----
It's later that night, I tried to sleep but the pains getting a bit too much, so I decide to walk around the bedroom for a while whilst Jamie sleeps.
I have the urge to pee so I wander to our en-suite. Just as I close the door there's a sudden gush of water between my legs and I gasp sharply, curling over as i get another sharp contraction. My eyes begin to fill up as I get panicky, going through my breathing techniques until it's done.
I take a deep breath, the tears falling from my eyes, as I slowly and awkwardly make my way back to the bedroom. "Jamie... Jamie" I nudge him and he mumbles something going to turn over away from me. "Jamie, please... my waters broke" I nudge him again and his eyes open, looking to me with a frown.
"What's wrong?" He asks as he notices the tears. "My waters just broke; we need to go.." I go over to the wardrobe and grab some shorts to put on, wiping my eyes. When I head back to the bedroom Jamie's changed and got the hospital bags ready.
"Calm down okay? I'll phone Naomi, you phone your mom and I'll go get Dulcie up" he says softly and I smile, leaning to kiss him gently.
Naomi tells Jamie I have a delivery suite ready for as soon as we get to the hospital. "Daddy, where we going?" Dulcie asks sleepily as he helps her with her shoes. "Your baby sister is coming, we have to take Dakota to the hospital" he says and she gasps, looking at me as I try to ride through another contraction. "Kota you want to hold my hand?" She runs over to me once her shoes are on.
"I'll be okay baby, thank you though" I take her hand and kiss it gently. She smiles and grabs her backpack Jamie has packed for her. She has a colouring book and a few toys to play with whilst she's at the hospital with Mel and a change of clothes as she's still in her pyjamas.
We go to the car and get in, Jamie drives us to the hospital whilst I phone my mom. "Hey coqui you okay?" She answers on the second ring, sounding like she's just woken up. I check the time, it's 3:30 in the morning!?
"Hey mama.. my waters broke so we're going to the hospital, will you come and watch Dulcie for us whilst we're there?" I ask and I hear her let out a squeal before giggling. "Of course, we'll meet you there" she says and we hang up.
I take a few deep breaths as I feel another contraction coming just as Jamie pulls up at the hospital. He rubs my knee and moves my hair from my face as I pant through it. Once I'm okay he jumps out the car, helps Dulcie out before coming round to me and helping me out.
"You want me to hold that?" I ask Dulcie as I see she has her backpack on and she's holding the bag with my clothes in. "It's okay 'Kota I got this" She smiles sleepily at me and my heart melts at her. Jamie takes my hand and we walk through the private hospital entrance.
We're met by Naomi and two female nurses with a wheelchair. Jamie helps me sit down in the wheelchair and we go to my delivery suite.
----
*Dakota's POV*
It's been seven hours since we arrived at the hospital. Nothing has changed except I'm now in a hospital gown, my hairs messy and all over the place, I'm sweaty and sticky, the contractions are really bad, Jamie is restless beside me because he hates seeing me in pain, we're both knackered and all my family are in the waiting room. My mom has also phoned Jamie's family so they're impatiently waiting half way across the world.
"How're you holding up?" Naomi wanders in with some water for me to drink. "It's getting worse, please can we check again, I feel ready to push" I say breathless, she nods and they raise my feet up and open my legs wide to see how far dilated I am. "Okay, you're ten centimetres. the next contraction you feel you need to push very hard for me okay?" Naomi says and I well up slightly, nodding.
Jamie takes my hand and kisses it a few times. "You've got this baby, I'm right here, just squeeze my hand as hard as you need.. you can do it" he kisses my head and I smile slightly, stroking his cheek.
When I feel my next contraction I squeeze my eyes shut, bend myself forward and push with every bit of energy I have in me, gripping Jamie's hand close to me as he showers me with words of encouragement whilst his other hand is on my knee.
I take a deep breath when it's passed and Jamie's straight there to pat my head clear from the sweat. "You're doing amazing" he whispers kissing my hair. It's then I realise tying my hair into a bun was the best idea I've had.
"I think just a few more like that and she'll be here! Make sure you keep up with your breathing, we don't want you passing out before you've seen your baby" Naomi says, rubbing my arm encouragingly. I nod and take a few deep breaths as I feel another contraction coming.
Again, I squeeze my eyes shut and grip Jamie's hand as I push, making sure I'm doing the correct breathing as I push as hard as I can. This is the weirdest feeling in the world. I've never felt pain like it. Once its passed I stop pushing, gasping for air. I have a few more pushes like that before I fall back against the bed.
"Jamie I can't. I can't do it.." I say, breathing heavily as tears roll down my face. I look to Naomi who's giving me a sad but sympathetic smile, then turn back to Jamie. "You can baby, you can.. she's almost here, just a few more pushes, then we'll have our girl in our arms. I'm right here, I love you and I'm so proud of you.. you can do it baby" he says and it makes me cry more. He softly wipes my tears away, kissing me gently a few times
"There's no way we're doing this again, you're not coming near me after this" I say through gritted teeth as I push harder again. Everyone in the room chuckles but I ignore them, focusing on getting this baby out of me.
Once the contractions gone I rest back against the bed, panting with my eyes closed "Okay baby, whatever you say" he chuckles and I pout. I hear one of the nurses ask Jamie if he wanted to take a look as we're halfway there, but I panic and grip his hand.
"Don't.. you'll go off me" I open my eyes, using them to plead with him. "You're having my baby, I could never 'go off' you" he kisses my head before taking a peek, causing me to cover my face. I spy him through my hands and watch as he wipes a few tears away.
"The last bit is sometimes the hardest, would you like gas and air to finish?" Naomi asks and I shake my head. "I want to try it all without" I smile at her, gripping Jamie's hand again as my next contraction comes.
"deep breaths and keep going!" Naomi says loudly, and I do exactly what she says. There's a deep pull from inside and an emptiness. A little high pitch cry announces our baby is here and I fall back against the bed, crying with happiness.
"You did it! She's here!" Jamie jumps from foot to foot beside me as he watches Naomi clear our baby's face before placing her over my naked chest so we're skin to skin. She cries softly and I rest my hand on her head, my whole body shaking. "Hello baby" I cry, Jamie kisses my head before leaning his head against mine. He too has tears falling from his eyes.
She soon settles, a hospital blanket draped over us to keep her warm. Her eyes are closed and she has a whisper of hair on her head; tiny ears and hands and a little button nose. Jamie rests his hand on mine, kissing her head ever so gently as i weep softly.
"Does daddy want to cut the cord?" Naomi asks, holding the scissors out to Jamie, who shakily takes them and cuts her cord. "I hope you don't mind... but I've taken a few photos on your phone from when we first gave her you, the three of you together" she smiles shyly and more tears fall. "Thank you.. you've been amazing thank you so much" I smile through my tears. She smiles and explains that she needs to weigh the baby and then wrap her properly.
She takes her and sorts her out whilst the other two nurses sort me out with my afterbirth. Jamie stays by my side but doesn't once take his eyes off Naomi and our baby. "Go to her.. you can bring her over to me when she's done." I say softly, kissing his hand. He smiles and kisses me gently, lovingly on the lips before going over and watching Naomi.
Once the two nurses have done and cleaned up they leave and I spot Jamie walking over with our bundle of joy and smile shyly. "She's perfect. Born a healthy six pound six at eleven forty eight A.M" Naomi says, smiling as she reaches for my hand and gently squeezes it. "You did great.. with no pain relief too, you deserve a medal!! I'll leave you both for a while, I'll avoid your family too so I don't have the urge to tell them" she giggles before continuing.
"I'll pop back down to see you all later on, we'll most probably move you to another room so you're more comfy" she smiles and I nod, leaning up slightly to hug her. "Thank you so much.. we'll see you soon" I say and she leaves, closing the door behind her.
"She's perfect" Jamie whispers, looking from her to me with tears in his eyes. "She is" I well up at the sight of him, gently leaning to kiss his lips a few times. I snap a few photos of him as he gazes down at her, the smile not moving from his face once. Tears form and fall from my face as I watch them, my whole heart bursting to the rim.
Comments appreciated as always!!❤️