CHAPTER TWELVE REMEMBRANCE
The Characters, places and situations of Doc Martin are owned by Buffalo Pictures. This story makes no claim of remuneration or ownership, nor do I make any attempt to infringe upon any rights of the owners or producers.
Thank you for reading. I welcome your reviews and input. We continue with Louisa's reflections on Joan's birth.
CHAPTER TWELVE
"Emily, you can't put a baby in a tummy."
James has brought so much joy to our lives. I cannot imagine life without him. Every day is a surprise with our son. One day during our call, Natalie reminded me that we would both be doubling our fun. A daughter for the Ellinghams and a son for the Jacobs. Now and then Emily and James wanted to talk to each other. One of their surprises was the idea that we could trade babies so James could have a brother and Emily could have a sister.
I told Natalie about James asking Bert Large if he was going to have a baby. She laughed almost as uncontrollably as Bert. "I can't beat that Louisa but Emily accompanied me to our women's class at church last Wednesday. Class was over and we were having coffee and visiting. The children were grabbing cookies and generally making everyone aware that the child minder had to leave early. For some reason there was a lull in the conversation which turned out to be the calm before the storm. Emily's voice could be clearly heard. 'My mommy's belly button is really getting big. Do you know why Sam? It is getting big because the baby is trying to get out.' So, Louisa, till the coffee pot was empty the conversation focused on my outie and our little boy's exit from the same."
It was my turn to laugh. We so enjoyed going through our pregnancies together. Of course Natalie was due three months before I was. Our inquisitive son gradually learned about babies, especially from his physician father. Martin showed him pictures and diagrams and on one occasion when he accompanied Martin to the hospital in Plymouth, Martin took him to a museum where they had models of fetuses in utero.
We always tried to answer James's questions without more information than he needed. For some reason he never wondered where babies come from - or so we thought. I had been visiting with Natalie and had to visit the loo - every hour on the hour it seemed. I put James on the phone with Emily while I was gone. Getting back I overheard one side of a very interesting conversation. When Natalie was back on the phone she shared Emily's side and we pieced together a brief but very fun insight into our babies.
Emily: "James, do you know where babies come from?"
James: "The baby is just in Mummy's tummy."
Emily: "How does she get in your Mommie's tummy?"
James laughed and said, "Oh Emily, a baby can't get in Mummy's tummy!"
What is in the mind of a child? I suppose if Auntie Joan had still been with us James would have learned of storks and gooseberry bushes. James never brought up the subject so we did not feel compelled to address it. I told Martin that if he continued to visit his Uncle Al at the farm, all would be made clear. ****************************************************
The nursery was pinked and prettied for our little girl. A small bag was packed for the hospital. At 36 weeks into this pregnancy, all was well, and had gone quite well. I looked at James over supper one night and thought, "No pub birth for this baby."
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon and I felt twinges which I didn't take seriously. Then there was minor pelvic discomfort and some dull pains, none regularly spaced. I told Martin and he said it was probably just Braxton Hicks or practice contractions and would likely settle down. They continued off and on through the night and I slept very little.
Around six Monday morning they subsided and we thought that was the end of it. Martin went to his surgery and attended to scheduled patients. I went back to bed. By ten the pains began again and I called Martin. Still minor and irregularly spaced Dr. Smith told me to simply monitor them. He still thought it to be false labor, so called. By supper I was simply exhausted and barely touched the tomato soup and bread Martin had prepared.
"Mummy, you should have seen the tower I made with my blocks today. It was as tall as I am. I had a sausage pasty for lunch. It was really yum. And when we went to the store I heard Mrs. Poustie tell the store lady that you were big as a house. Are you big as a house Mummy? I think you just have a fat tummy, but you're not big as a house."
It was hard for me to be patient with James going on like that. Going on even more than his usual talkative self, I decided I needed to get away. "OK James. Mummy's glad you had a nice day. I am going to leave my boys to it and go back to bed. Martin, I am going to call Dr. Smith again."
I had passed the call on to Martin and he told me that Dr. Smith still did not think this was the real thing and suggested I take something to calm things down and allow me to rest. Martin gave me a small pill with a "v" on it. Fairly quickly I felt relaxed and drifted into a peaceful sleep.
I was in such a deep sleep I could have been asleep for days, but sometime in the middle of the night I was awakened by a sharp pain such as I had never experienced. It felt like the Battle of Waterloo taking place in my body and I was on the losing side. My scream must have awakened souls in the cemetery. Gratefully James stayed asleep.
In 15 minutes Martin had us prepared and me in the car. He had awakened Mrs. Northcott and settled her to be with James until Morwenna could be summoned. We were on our way to hospital with my contractions being very close together.
I pleaded with Martin. "Martin, will we get to the hospital? I do not want to deliver this baby in a car."
"If I have anything to do with it, we will get to the hospital." In the midst of all this violence going on in my my body I recalled these were the words he told Peter Cronk when were were on the way to hospital to save his life. It was the night my softened heart melted completely and knew this man was different and I loved him. Yes I did!
Some simpleton said one forgets the labor once the baby is born. Well I can tell you I remember every bloody contraction in the car that night with my husband pleading, "Do not push Louisa! Do NOT push!" As if you could command Victoria Falls to hold up for just an hour or so.
Finally at hospital I was on a trolley being hurried down a hall. I was only aware of a final huge contraction and pushing my demanding child into this world. I told the nurse scurrying by my side, "It's done Love." She lifted the sheet and saw that it was so.
In the delivery room Dr. Smith placed our Joan on my chest. "Mrs. Ellingham, you have a beautiful healthy daughter. Congratulations. Well done."
When we were finally in my room I was able to sleep. I awakened to see Martin holding our child. We had made a baby and we had worked together and we had brought her into the world. For all of my upset early on, a feeling that we were complete now overwhelmed me. Our home was complete.
It was still early in the day of course. Chris Parsons came through the door with a smile. "Mart! Louisa! A surprise this morning when I read the night report and there you were. Congratulations!..."
There was an interrupting knock on the door. Slowly it cracked open to reveal Chris's wife Jenny with a huge smile. "Oh Louisa. The baby. Chris called me and I could not wait to get over here. She is beautiful."
"Thank you Jenny, we had quite a night, but all is fine now. When things settle, I will fill you in. It was quite an adventure."
Chris looked at Martin and said, "Well old friend, you are a bit speechless. What do you think?"
"Well as Louisa said, all is fine now. She thinks the baby's head may be a bit misshapen."
"MARTIN! You did not need to bring that up. Actually Chris it is an inside joke harkening all the way back to James's birth."
"Martin, making a joke. The earth must have stopped on its axis."
Around noon the paediatrician came by to do a thorough postnatal check of the baby. Of course this was the back-up examination as Martin had checked this baby stem to stern. Not taking the nurse's word for it, Martin did his own Apgar assessment.
I was surprised that my having taken Valium did not affect this child in the crying department. Her lungs held forth mightily. Of course all she was saying was "Where's the milk? Where's the milk?" Once placed near my breast, all was well.
After a midwife checked me over she pronounced me fine to go home, but she added, "Don't do it Dearie. Spend the night and go home tomorrow. You had some stitches, right?"
"Yes," I replied. "A bit sore."
"Of course you are. I'll order a sitz bath. It will help a lot. Your husband can stay with you here if you like, and your wee 'un will be close in the cot."
Later in the afternoon a very vivacious nurse came by. I recognized her right away but Martin did not.
"Hello Dr. Elllingham. Ms. Glasson; I mean Mrs. Ellingham. I heard and just had to come by and see your new baby. And oh, Dr. Ellingham, I know you prefer expresso so I brought you a cup."
"Uhh, thank you."
Martin was confused so I brought him into the conversation. "Martin, this is Mandie Boskano. Used to be Mandie Cox. I'm sure you treated her at some point. How are you Mandie? It has been ages since I have seen you."
"We're fine Ms. Glass... I mean..."
"Mandie, please just call me Louisa. Would you like to hold our little girl?"
"Oh yes! You're not remembering me, are you Dr. Ellingham? A strange nurse come to fawn over your baby."
"No I don't recall Ms. Bosanko."
"Boskano, Dr. Elllingham. I married Billy Boskano. I was the silly teen who came to you worried about my tiny tits. I had taken a whole package of birth control pills, hoping to grow 'em."
"Well yes, now I do recall..."
"That cup of expresso is an overdue thanks. You were very kind to me. Actually you helped me turn things around."
"I try to treat patients with what is needed."
"No, Dr. Ellingham, you are a dab hand! A real dab hand! I'm just off shift and ready to get some sleep. I'll take my leave. Your baby is really beautiful."
After Mandie left I told Martin, "What do you know Martin a thoughtful and intelligent Portwennian!"
"Well, obviously an exception."
"Oh Martin, you are hopeless! Do you know how many people in Portwenn would tell you thank you if they thought about it, as obviously Mandie did? Some of them are alive today because you did your job as you always say. And some of them like Mandie, evidently, have a life for the same reason."
"I didn't remember the girl."
"What matters Martin, is she remembered you."
We did leave the next morning and I was anxious to see James. It was not a great night for sleep, but I did feel better with the baths the nurse prepared for me. Mr. Smith came by early and the paediatrician had cleared Joan to go home the night before. We were away by nine and drove straight to Havenhurst. Having called ahead, they were out to meet us - minus Al who was attending to some sheep.
Morwenna was over the top. James was a little reserved, which is out of character. "Oh, she's asleep. Louisa, she is so beautiful. Please come in."
"Morwenna, we really want to get home. Perhaps you could drive in tomorrow and we can visit. I'll tell you all about this little one's arrival."
"I understand, but wait while I go get a casserole I made for you. You don't want to be cooking today."
So just like the sweet lady who lived here before, Morwenna has taken to preparing food for people. We accepted her gift and got James into his seat which was next to the baby. The four Ellinghams would soon be home together.
As we drove along James was fairly quiet. I noticed he was holding his sister's hand.
"Know what Mum?"
"No James. What?"
"I'm glad she's not a puppy."
Note: The conversation between James and Emily is a precise quote I had with my 4 year old grandson.
