“Shut up. Bacon and Lucky Charms always sound good.”
He made me what I’d asked for and set it at the table. While he was doing all of that, I’d had a contraction. So far they were tolerable. I was okay with pain, but I knew they would get bad. When I got to the point that I’d really have to breathe through them, or the contractions were two to three minutes apart I’d say we need to go.
I ate about half a sandwich and only a few bites of my cereal. Dodger was sitting across from me, his fingers steepled under his chin, and his leg was bouncing under the table.
“What did I say?” I asked, licking some mayonnaise under off my finger.
“What?”
“Breathe.”
“I’m breathin’, Macie.”
I smiled at him. “I love you, but lies don’t look good on you.”
“Woman, you’re making me a nervous wreck. I’ll breathe when my body makes me.”
I sighed. “Okay, grab the bags. We can head in so I can get checked.”
He slid the chair back so fast it screeched on the wood floor. As fast as he was gone, he was back in sight with my duffle bag slung over his shoulder, a pillow under his arm, the diaper bag on his other shoulder, and his suitcase which was only half zipped.
“Ready.”
Dear God, grant me the strength to not kill this man that I love so much, or touch his pretty boy face in the midst of my pain. Amen.
I silently said a prayer. Pushing myself up from the table, I paused for a brief moment because another contraction hit me. I inhaled through my nose, and exhaled through my mouth. I knew the song and dance. I preached it to women every day that I worked. Before I walked out the door and Dodger locked up behind me, I had the distinct feeling preaching it and feeling it were definitely going to be two very different entities.
On the way to the hospital, my contractions picked up in pace and length. I felt an “I told you so” coming from Dodger, but he kept his mouth shut. Which is was fortunate for him that he thought better of it. He asked if it was okay to call his mom, and I nodded. I could hear her enthusiasm over the phone. Dodger asked his mom if she could hold off on coming for a couple of hours though so we could get settled in. She agreed before he hung up. I asked him to call Keegan because I knew I was going to want her there. When I found out she was on shift already, I felt incredibly relieved. I’d be requesting her to be my nurse. Before we got there, he made another call to my parents, and they said they would come when we asked them to. My poor dad was likely a wreck with worry.
Dodger parked the car and helped me out. I told him to leave everything except the pillow and he could get it later. We got inside and registered and we headed upstairs to the labor and delivery floor. People I knew smiled at me and wished me luck. I couldn’t believe it was time. I thought I had another two weeks before I’d start feeling much of anything. Apparently, little man had other plans.
Once upstairs, Karen, one of the nurses on call took me to my room where I found Keegan preparing and setting everything up. She looked up and smiled at me, before the tears spilled over and she came over to me and hugged me.
“You doing okay?” she asked.
“I’m getting a little uncomfortable,” I admitted. “You sure you’re okay being in here for me as my nurse and not just a spectator?”
“No other role I’d rather take than this. I’m thrilled to be here with you.” She looked over at Dodger whose eyes were scanning the entire room. “You doing okay, Daddy?
“Hmmm? Oh yeah, I’m great,” he said.
We both gave each other a knowing look.
“He’s freaked,” I told her.
“I am not.”
“Dodger, you’re good at a lot of things, but lying isn’t one of them.”
“It’s okay, she’s in good hands. And myself and Dr. Carrie will explain everything to you as it happens.” Keegan tried to reassure him. “All right, let’s get you set up.”
She handed me my gown, and let me go in the bathroom to change. When I came out, I frowned at both of them.
“Someone really needs to come up with something a little more flattering than these things.” I picked up a corner of fabric and dropped it. “I look like a whale hiding under a sheet.”
Dodger laughed. “Nah, you make that sheet look incredible.”
“What did I say about lying?” I grumbled. Shuffling over to the bed, Keegan helped me lie back so the fetal monitor strap and contraction monitor were right where they needed to be.
She explained to Dodger what she was doing as she put a squirt of gel on my stomach in two spots. “This little thing here will show us just how strong each of Macie’s contractions are, that way we can decide if we need to kick on some medicine to help her out, or to back off from it. And this one will allow us to listen to the baby’s heart beat throughout the labor.”
He nodded and watched with rapt attention. Being on this side of things, I almost felt like a newbie myself. It’s all pretty intimidating when it’s happening to you. Going through all of this will probably help me be a little more empathetic with my patients when they come in looking terrified.
I was sitting back on the bed while Keegan moved around me, typing in my information in the computer, which would show at the nurses station out front. They could monitor us from there without having to be in here the whole time. When Keegan grabbed the cart, I knew it was IV time. She was good at giving them. We used each other to practice on when we were in school and learning. I closed my eyes and turned away when she stuck the needle in my hand. I wasn’t afraid of them really, but they never feel good either.
“Okay, I’m going to go out and call Dr. Carrie to give him an update and see what he wants to do. Do you need anything right now?”
I shook my head no. She looked to Dodger who was sitting in a chair keeping quiet.
“I’m good,” he replied.
When she walked out, he got up and came to my side. Grabbing my hand, he put it to his mouth and he kissed the back of it. He looked at the monitors and saw when I was starting a contraction.
“Does that hurt?”
I breathed. “A little. But I can still talk through them, so I’m not doing too bad. I’ll probably get an epidural soon though. I’d rather not feel anything if I can’t help it.”
The sound that I’d really grown to love that I’d miss hearing was in the background as he and I spoke. The familiar whoosh whoosh of my baby’s heartbeat reassured me he was doing good and tolerating labor okay. Before Keegan came back in, I had a few more contractions.
“Dr. Carrie wants me to check you to see how far you are. Are you good with that, or would you be more comfortable with Karen doing it?”
“Keegan, when I start pushing, none of this is going to matter. You’ve seen me naked before, so go ahead.”
She laid me back and pushed my legs open further than I’d opened them myself. She started talking to Dodger.