Gasping in surprise she ceased moving, waiting until it passed. Emotions swept over her like a tidal wave: fear, nervousness, excitement, and total and utter panic, and she began to cry.
BJ woke when heard this. Concerned, he threw the blanket off and stood up. Turning on the light, he found Kristy doubled over with her head in her hands, crying uncontrollably.
He went over to her and sat down beside her. "Hey," he said rubbing her back, "what's wrong?"
She was crying too hard to speak, so he put his arm around her, drawing her to his bare chest for a hug. She took a deep breath, knowing she had to tell him. He was the only one who could help her here what with a blizzard just outside! She took another deep breath and was about to tell him she was in labor when another pain struck. She moaned deeply.
Realization struck him like a slap in the face. "Hey, you're in labor, aren't you?" he asked incredulously.
She nodded, "my water broke," she managed to tell him on a moan.
"How long ago?" he asked with a gulp.
"30 minutes, I think," she replied. She took a deep breath as the contraction ended.
"Was that your first pain?" he inquired.
"No, my second," she informed him. "I'm scared," she whimpered pitifully against his chest. He hugged her again, rubbing her arm, reassuring, "Everything's gonna be ok. I'm right here, we'll get through this together."
She nodded still huddled against him, sniffling.
"Ok, first we gotta get you out of these wet clothes," he said gesturing to her sodden sweatpants. "You got a nightgown or anything like that?"
"A big nightshirt in my suitcase," she told him as he helped her to stand. He got it for her. Handing it to her, he added," Holler if you need anything."
She agreed, heading into the bathroom to change. She changed as quickly as she could, which wasn't easy with a belly the size of Texas. When she emerged from the bathroom she saw that BJ had removed the soiled bedclothes and had replaced them with the comforter she had tossed on the floor earlier.
He looked up as she came out of the bathroom. He walked to her, planning on escorting her back to bed when she froze, reaching out she wrapped her arms around his neck, attempting to work her way through the pain. She held her breath, every muscle in her body tensed.
"Don't fight it," he told her. She had a death grip on his neck! "Take deep breaths," he instructed. He took her chin in his hands, making her look him in the eye, "like this," he demonstrated breathing in and out through his mouth deeply. "Hoo, Hoo, Hoo."
"Hoo, Hoo, Hoo," she mimicked, breathing a sigh of relief when it finally ended.
"Is it over?" he asked.
"Yeah," she responded.
He wrapped an arm around her, walking her back to the bed and helping her in.
"How long's it been since each pain?" he wanted to know, sitting beside her.
"About 20 minutes, I think," she told him, terrified. "I don't wanna do this," she confided in him," not here and not now. I'm not even due yet."
BJ wanted to tell her she didn't have much choice, but wisely kept that thought to himself. Instead he tried to reassure her, "Hey it's not the first time I've delivered a baby, you know. Last Christmas, I delivered a healthy baby girl in the sleeper of my truck." He wiped the tears streaming down her face with his fingers.
She closed her eyes against the tears, trying to take deep breaths in order to calm down.
"It'll probably be a while yet," he told her.
She nodded, closing her eyes in near exhaustion. He decided to gather supplies, just in case this baby decided to come sooner rather than later. He went to the bathroom and grabbed all the towels and washcloths he could find. He saw the first aid kit and grabbed that too remembering there were alcohol wipes in it. He wet down one of the washcloths before returning to the bedroom so he could wipe the sweat from her brow. He was just exiting the bathroom when she groaned, moaning deeply in pain.
He unloaded the supplies beside her legs and sat down beside her, facing her on the bed. He grabbed her hand, reminding her to breathe. "Come on, nice and deep and easy," he coached when she squeezed his hand with an iron grip. She did as he coaxed, taking a deep breath when it ended.
"They're getting stronger," she declared with a gasp.
"Yeah, closer together, too," he added, looking at the clock. "15 minutes apart."
She reached to brush her hair back with trembling hands. BJ noticed and tried to comfort her. "Everything's gonna be ok. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you," he promised.
She gave him a half-hearted smile, closing her eyes, resting up for the next contraction.
They sat in silence for a moment. Bear who was awake now, grabbed the remote and turned it to a wildlife channel, chattering in excitement when monkeys appeared on the screen.
All of a sudden, Kristy let out a whimper. "Oh, my back!" she cried miserably. "Oh, my gosh!" she exclaimed arching her back trying to ease the intense pain that seemed to be shredding her lower back. She started to wail inconsolably.
"Here, roll on your side," BJ said helping her roll over, digging a hand deep into her lower back trying to ease her pain.
Kristy's moaning ceased, as she was now only whimpering slightly as she gained some relief from his massage. He kept kneading her back until another contraction struck and she grabbed his bicep, digging in her nails. He timed it with his pocket watch. The contractions were now 7 minutes apart and apparently, judging by Kristy's screams, becoming unbearable. He tried to urge her to breathe, but she was having none of it, the pain in her lower back and stomach literally felt like it was ripping her apart at the seams. She let out one heart-wrenching scream after another, barely having time to catch her breath between the contractions.
BJ knew it was getting close and informed her he was going to get ready. She finally was allowed a break from the torturous pain and wheezed, trying to catch her breath. She nodded in agreement and watched as he wiped his hands with the alcohol wipe.
"Lift your knees," he directed, helping her raise them into position. He threw one of the towels over her lower half and looked down, trying to see if he could see the baby's head.
Pretty soon a new contraction started, this time bringing with it an urge to push and she grunted, starting to bear down. He looked up quickly when he heard this. "Don't push," he ordered, "I can't see the baby's head yet."
He held her hand, letting her squeeze it through the contraction and they breathed together, trying to keep her from pushing. "It's over," she told him at last, relaxing her grip.
The next contraction started soon after and she yelled, "I gotta push!"
He looked down, seeing the tip of the baby's head appear. "Go ahead," he instructed.
She strained with it, pushing hard, moving the baby's head down easily. It wore out and she gasped for breath. He grabbed the washcloth and reached up to wipe the sweat from her forehead as the lay there huffing and puffing. She grunted as another contraction started and he turned his attention back to the baby.
Kristy screamed in anguish as the baby moved to a full crown, finally knowing why they called it the "ring of fire." "OWWW, IT'S BURNING!" she screamed starting to panic.
"Push!" he yelled over her screams, "Go on, push through it," he said, applying slight pressure to the baby's head as she eased it the rest of the way out. She screamed when she felt the release. "Is it over?" she asked deliriously, puffing like the little engine that could.
"Almost," he reassured her, "just a couple more big pushes and you'll be done."
She blew in and out trying to stay ahead of the next contraction. She screamed, straining with the contraction, but the baby didn't move. She pushed again, turning red with the effort. She panted, "What's wrong?" wailed, "Nothing's happening," she panted.
"The cord's wrapped around the baby's neck," he told her trying to unloop it, "try not to push," he urged as he worked feverishly to unwrap it from the baby's neck. She panted, fighting the urge, waiting for him to tell her when it's safe.
He got it over the baby's head; it had wrapped twice around it, and was pretty tight. "Ok, push," he instructed, "push hard." She bore down, screaming as the baby emerged, throwing her head back, she gasped for air, breathing heavily. The baby came into the world with a gush of fluid, small, but crying strongly. BJ wrapped him in the towel and placed him on Kristy's stomach, waiting to cut the cord until she got a look at her son.
"It's a boy," he told her, tears forming in his eyes. She was laughing and crying with tears streaming down her face. He looked around the room as she held her son, trying to find something to tie off the cord with. He noticed her shoes by the door and unlaced them, using the shoelace to tie the baby's umbilical cord. He grabbed another alcohol wipe and sterilized his knife, finishing the separation of the baby from Kristy's body.
She marveled over the little body, examining all 10 fingers and toes. Pretty soon though, the fun was over and she felt another pain. "BJ, take the baby," she whimpered, trying to endure the pain. He took the baby quickly; laying him beside Kristy, he grabbed the pillow off the floor and laid it beside the baby so he wouldn't roll off the bed. He went back to kneel at the end of the bed as she started to push with her next contraction.
She wailed as it peaked, pushing hard. BJ started to see something, but it wasn't the baby's head. "Hey, hold it, hold it," he told her urgently, "stop pushing."
She lay panting, resisting her body's natural instinct to bear down.
He made sure the cord was not coming out first, dread setting in as he had only delivered two babies before this: once in the Hanoi Hilton where he was held prisoner during the Vietnam War and once a year ago, at Christmas; both had been normal deliveries. "Keep takin' deep breaths," he told her, trying to figure out what to do.
"What's wrong?" she howled in pain and fear.
"The baby's breech," he told her gently, "I can see a foot."
"Oh my gosh," she cried. "What do we do now?"
"On your next contraction, push as hard as you can," he instructed, quickly deciding there was nothing else to do but let nature take its course.
She nodded in agreement, wincing when the next pain began to build.
"Push, push, push," he coached.
She pushed, wailing in anguish as the baby's feet emerged.
BJ grabbed a towel, preparing to catch as she moaned pitifully. The next contraction hit soon after, and she let out a torturous scream as she pushed the baby's butt and waist out. BJ wrapped the towel around the baby's hips, supporting it carefully, letting her do all the work.
She lay there like panting, like a fish out of water gasping for breath. She pushed once more thrusting the rest of the baby's torso out to the neck. The baby dangled from her body supported gently by BJ's strong, capable hands. "One more push," he encouraged softly, "and then you're done."
She didn't acknowledge him, just waited for the next wave of pain to finish the painful job of giving birth. She cried out again in agony as the next one came upon her like a wave crashing on the sand and pushed the baby's head halfway out. Taking a deep breath, she pushed again and the rest of the baby came flopping out in a rush of amniotic fluid, soaking BJ's pants. She cried tears of joy, waiting for BJ to tell her the gender. Panic started to creep in as she lay for what seemed like hours but was only a few seconds, as she waited for the baby to cry, signifying that he had taken his first breath.
BJ looked down at the limp life in his hands, turning purple. He turned the baby upside down in his arms, but the baby still didn't breathe. Laying him on the bed, he quickly checked the tiny airway, making sure it was clear and covering the baby's mouth and nose with his own, breathed into the tiny body.