Here Comes a Son

Austin and Sam walked into the hospital, with Sam's contractions getting more painful by the minute. There was absolutely no doubt that this was it.

"Name?" asked the hospital receptionist.

"Samantha Montgomery."

"What brings you here today?"

"Contractions."

"When did they start?"

"Early this afternoon." As Sam said this, another contraction hit. She had to wait for it to pass before she could answer any more questions.

"How many weeks are you?"

"Thirty-seven and a half."

"Have your membranes ruptured?"

"I think they may have, but I'm not sure."

"Okay," said the receptionist. "Let's get you back into a room and get you checked out."

"Okay."

Soon Dr. Carlson came in to check Sam out and see if this was real labor or not. Sam hoped this was it. If this was this painful and not the real thing, she didn't even want to know what the real thing would be like.

"All right," said Dr. Carlson. "We've gotten you checked out. You are completely effaced and a good three-to-four centimeters dilated. And the baby's head is much lower than it was a week ago."

"What does that mean?" asked Austin.

"It means that you'll be having a baby tomorrow at the absolute latest. This is definitely the real thing."

"All right!" said Sam.

"Do you feel like you need anything for pain?" asked Dr. Carlson.

"Yes, epidural," said Sam.

"Okay, I'll get your IV started and call in the anesthesiologist, then."

Austin stepped out to call his dad while Sam got the epidural. He hadn't wanted to call him if he wasn't sure it was it, but now he knew it was.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Austin, what's up?"

"Sam went into labor today."

"What?" asked Austin's dad, a little surprised.

"Yeah, it caught us off guard, as well. The baby decided it wanted to be a little vacation crasher."

"Apparently. I'll be on the next flight out there."

"Okay," said Austin. He hoped his dad would make it in time.

"I just called Dad," said Austin, as he walked back in the room.

"Great," said Sam. "Now all we have to do is wait." She was hooked up to two monitors-one to measure her contractions and another to monitor the baby's heart rate. Dr. Carlson had said that the baby's heart rate looked excellent, and Sam thought it was cool to see how strong her contractions were now that she couldn't feel them. She also called Carter, and Austin called Ryan, to give them the news as well.

After a couple hours, Dr. Carlson came back in to see how Sam's labor was progressing.

"Okay, you are now five centimeters," she said, after checking. "Halfway there." Both Sam and Austin were glad to hear that things had progressed.

By 9:00 that night, Sam had progressed to six. Soon, shortly after midnight on Monday, she was seven-to-eight. Dr. Carlson assured both Austin and Sam that first-timers often went slowly, and things were progressing slowly, but they were progressing. Sam and Austin both napped, as they knew they would need to store up their energy for what lay ahead.

At 3:00 AM, Dr. Carlson checked Sam again and said she just had a little rim left and that it would be time to push very soon. And the baby was still tolerating things very well. Sam was nervous and excited. So was Austin. They would soon get to meet their baby and find out if it was a boy or a girl!

Around 4, Sam paged Dr. Carlson and said, "I'm feeling a little pressure."

"Okay, that could be a sign that you're ready," said Dr. Carlson. She checked Sam and said, "You're fully dilated. It's time!"

Just then, Austin's dad came in.

"Dad!" said Austin. "Just in time! We're ready to push, so you'll need to step out, OK? Sam only wants me and the doctors in the delivery room."

"Okay," said Austin's dad. "I'll wait."

Dr. Carlson gave Sam a crash course in pushing, and told her not to be discouraged if it took a couple hours, as first-timers tended to take the longest with pushing.

"Okay, push!" Sam pushed, and Dr. Carlson said, "Great job! Push again!"

After about half an hour, Dr. Carlson said, "We're making some progress. I can just see the head."

"Wow!" said Austin.

"Once the head and shoulders are out, we're pretty much home free, right?" asked Sam.

"That's right," said Dr. Carlson. After a few more pushes, Dr. Carlson said, "I'm seeing more of the head with every push. And its not slipping back, either. We'll be getting the head out very soon." A few more pushes, and the baby's head indeed was out.

"Okay, Sam, the head is out," said Dr. Carlson. "Look down." Sam did, and the head was out. She could see that there was a small amount of dark hair. It was amazing! Dr. Carlson suctioned out the baby's mouth and nose and told Sam, "Okay, we've got one shoulder. Rotate for the other. And..." She lifted the baby out and placed it on Sam's chest. "You have a baby!" The baby started crying, and Sam did too. She was so full of love for her child.

Austin was also looking at the baby and smiling. "Hi, I'm your daddy," he said, and smiled at how right it sounded. "Yeah, I'm your daddy!"

It was right then that Sam realized that they still didn't know what the baby was. She said, "Austin, we still don't know if it's a boy or a girl!"

"Then let's check," said Austin. He and Sam looked.

"It's a boy!" said Sam. "I was right! It's a boy!"

"Wow, it's a boy," said Austin. "I have a son."

"Dad, do you want to cut the cord?" Dr. Carlson asked Austin.

"Yes," said Austin. He cut the cord and told his new son, "Okay, you're a free man now."

"Let's get the baby cleaned up, weighed and measured now," said Dr. Carlson, picking up the baby and taking him to the warmer. He started crying again. Sam thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

"Six pounds, five ounces, 19 inches," called Dr. Carlson, handing the baby, now bundled in a nice warm blanket and little blue hat, to Sam and Austin.

"Oh, he's so cute!" said Sam.

Austin knew he had to tell his dad now that the baby was here. He walked out of the room and to where his dad was waiting.

"Dad," said Austin, with a big grin on his face, "it's a boy! We have a son!"

Austin's dad gave a big grin as well, and asked "How's Sam?"

"They're both great!" said Austin. "He's so cute, too. Six pounds, five ounces." The two walked back in so Austin's dad could see his grandson.

"Hi," said Sam, holding her new son.

"Hi, Sam. Let me see my grandson."

"Okay," said Sam, handing the baby to Austin's dad. The baby yawned. "Oh, he's tired," said Austin's dad.

"Can you blame him?" asked Austin. "He's had a big day."

"What time was he born?" asked Sam.

"5:05," said Dr. Carlson.

Sam then realized what today was. May 31. She told Austin, "This is exactly one year since I moved in with you."

"Wow," said Austin. "We've come a long way since then, haven't we?"

"We sure have," said Sam. "And it's also Memorial Day. Our little guy wanted everyone to remember when he was born."

After a little while, Austin's dad left so the new family could get some sleep.

"What should we name him?" asked Austin.

Sam looked at her son. They had discussed both boy and girl names throughout her pregnancy, but didn't want to set anything in stone until the baby was actually born. But now that he was here, Sam knew the perfect name for him.

"Austin Michael Ames," she said.

Austin was very touched by this. It was a way to honor Austin's dad as well, whose middle name was Michael.

"Dad will be so happy," said Austin. Then he saw Sam crying a little. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I just wish my dad could have seen Austin Michael," said Sam.

"I know," said Austin. "But I'm sure he's looking down and smiling."

Austin's words gave Sam a little comfort. Soon, it was time for Michael to go to the nursery so Sam could get some rest. Before Sam went to sleep, she thought how amazed she was by Michael, that he was half of her and half of Austin, and that he was the same baby that had grown in her all those months and that she had seen on the ultrasounds. How could it all be the same baby? she thought in amazement. And she knew that once they brought Michael home in a couple days, the real fun would begin as they would start their lives as a family. She couldn't wait.