Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
For the next few hours, we played Apples to Apples to bide the time. A nurse checked my progress regularly, but I was moving slow. Which the nurses explained was normal with your first pregnancy.
It was four a.m., eighteen hours into labor when I finally felt the urge to push. Max came up above my head, because there were just some things he didn’t need the knowledge of, and your sister’s vagina was one of them.
Gabe was at my side, holding up a leg, while Daina was on the other doing the same. Payton, Cheyenne, and Blaine were all at the back of the room, watching avidly. I didn’t mind in the slightest. My mind was wrapped around the fact that my epidural had worn off to where only my right side was numb instead of my entire lower half.
“This part is the part they call the ‘ring of fire.’ It’s where the baby’s head is crowning.” The doctor supplied.
He was right, too. It was the ring of fire. The left side was in agony. In the distance, I heard Payton singing “Ring of fire” by Johnny Cash, and I took enough time to grab the bed pan that was on the roller cart and chunk it at her.
Bitch.
It bounced off the wall and they all scrambled out of the way laughing. This was so not funny.
“There’s no coming back from that.” Cheyenne sniggered.
“In like a banana, out like a pineapple.” Payton laughed.
“Gabe!” I wailed. “Make them shut up.”
His look silenced them from the next comment they were about to make.
I was sweating like a hooker in a confessional. My hair was matted to my face, the gown was clinging to my chest, and I could feel droplets rolling down the sides of my temple.
Apparently, I wasn’t going to be one of those cute women who don’t misplace a hair during birth; nor would I have a wonderful afterglow. I was going to be lucky if I had any hair left after this.
“Okay, on your next contraction, I want you to push until Nurse Brady here gets to ten.” The Doctor Robinson said.
Gabe’s hand, and Daina’s hand hoisted my legs higher to my chest, and I pushed with everything I had. Anything had to be better than the pain I was feeling right now.
The doctor watched as the baby’s head came down, but then went back up again. Each contraction was like that, and it was damn frustrating.
“You know,” I panted. “I read somewhere women have orgasms during birth. I’m not feeling that right now.”
Snickering filled the room, but no one said anything. Gabe gave me a kiss on the forehead before watching the monitors, and then the progression of the baby out of my ravaged vagina. Payton was right; it would probably never be the same again.
The doctor exchanged a look I couldn’t interpret right before I started pushing again, but I didn’t have time to think about it before the contraction claimed me.
I pushed with everything I had, but nothing happened. I did it again and again, until I fell back in an exhausted heap.
Suddenly the doctor yelled, “Shoulder!”
The room became a flurry of activity. Gabe was pushed out of the way, a button on the wall somewhere behind my head was hit, and the room filled with a shrieking alarm. Nurses and doctors rushed into the room at a fast clip. The room was pandemonium.
I’d never seen anything like it.
I couldn’t see Gabe, I couldn’t see Daina, and all I had was the doctor between my legs. Two nurses were at my legs, and another doctor was at my stomach pressing down. The breath left my lungs, and I couldn’t breathe. The pressure was so intense that I felt no pain.
My heart was beating at a fast pace, and bile rose in my throat. The doctors were yelling at each other in some sort of code, and I just laid there helpless.
“What’s going on?” I demanded.
“It’s okay, honey. What is happening now is what they call “Shoulder Dystocia.” It’s when your baby’s shoulders are stuck on your pubic bone. They’ll get him out, don’t worry.” The nurse holding my right leg said.
The nurses at my legs brought my legs so far back that they were practically over my head. The doctor on my stomach pushed again, and the breath whooshed out of my lungs for a second time. I watched in horror as my baby’s face went blue. Dr. Robinson’s whole fucking hand disappeared up my vagina as he worked diligently to get the baby free.
“I’m going to have to break it.” Dr. Robinson said right before he used his hand to do something inside of me.
At the time, I wasn’t aware what it was, but the sound made me sick to my stomach. Once whatever he did was done, I was told to push again, and I gave it one more. The baby finally slid out of me, but he was limp and unmoving. His coloring was blue and grey, his body was floppy, and they rushed him over to the incubator.
Nurses and doctors crowded around him, and they worked hard to get my baby to cry. I was sobbing so hard at that point that nothing registered. They were still doing something to me, but I no longer cared. I closed my eyes and prayed.
“Got him back!” A booming male voice yelled.
Strong arms curled around my upper body, and I automatically curled into Gabe, breathing his scent.
“He’s okay, baby. He’s okay. Shhh.” Gabe repeated over and over.
I didn’t know who he was trying to convince, him or me, but it wasn’t working for either one of us. My eyes flipped open as I heard them rushing out of the room, and the voices disappeared down the hall. Glancing around the room, I saw my original nurse still at the doctor’s side, working on me down below.
Cheyenne had Cora in her arms, trying to soothe and calm her down. Payton had a fist up to her mouth, tears were pouring down her face. Max was in the corner sitting on a chair. His head was between his knees with his arms wrapped over the back of his head. Blaine was cradling Justin to her chest, weeping quietly.