At 32 weeks, the baby was at 4 pounds now! It was considered viable to live outside the body now, but the lungs were still not developed to breath on their own.
The baby was starting to sleep more now, but it was still active at times. Leo's belly was extremely swollen now. It did make it hard for him to sleep when it was hard for him to breath.
The baby had mainly run out of turning room. Don confirmed it was in a head down position.
As temperamental as Leo was now, he still let his bros rub his belly. Mikey did it the most to try to comfort him. Plus he was trying to have a good start on being a good uncle. The belly rubs did kind of sooth the baby and Leo down. And it was crucial for Leo to stay calm now more than ever.
Stress could get the baby's heart to rise if he got stressed out, and he could even go into labor. Don was telling him that to keep calm. But Leo couldn't help himself at times. He wanted out of bed.
Leo managed to make it to 33 weeks. Then one day, he got a terrible stomachache. It felt like something was trying to eat him from the inside. "OWWWW!" Leo cried out. He grabbed his stomach.
His family ran into the room. "Leo, what's wrong?" Don determined.
"My stomach! It feels like something's wrong with the baby! It's- never hurt so bad- before!" Leo's eyes were shut tight, evident of how much pain he was in.
Don came over and put his hands on his bro's belly. Leo struggled to breath.
"His stomach's tight." Don said after a few minutes. "It's still too early, but I think his labor has begun!" He said.
"Raph! Go get Leatherhead! I think it's time!" Don demanded.
"Alright!" Raph said and ran out of the room. He was wasting no time.
"Mikey! I'm going to need your help in getting Leo to the infirmary." Don said.
"Ok Capitain." Mikey said.
Splinter stood by, helpless to help his son. There was nothing he could do for him but try to keep him calm.
Don and Mikey lifted Leo out of bed and helped him walk to the infirmary. Leo's face was grimaced in pain the whole time. "Just breath Leo. The way you practiced with April." Don coaxed.
Leo winced. "I'm- trying!"
They managed to get Leo to the infirmary and onto the surgical table. Now that he was there, now they just needed to do was mainly wait for Leatherhead. He was going to be bringing some more medical supplies.
Don called April. She said she and Casey would come over immediately.
Raph had made it to LH's in no time, he was in such a rush. The croc was now getting his medical supplies together. Once that was done, he said, "Let's go Raphael."
Back home, Leo was in excruciating pain. Don encouraged him to breath, but it wasn't easy when he felt the baby bearing down on his intestine. It was ready to go into his pelvis. But this couldn't happen. The baby needed to be born now!
And while they were waiting, Don went into his lab and turned on the incubator. What they had dreaded was coming true. And the incubator needed to be warmed up by the time the baby needed to be placed in there.
The baby's birthday was going to be falling on a late chilly day in October. October 25th. He or she was being born 7 weeks prematurely. Leo had carried his baby past his 28th week, but the baby was still very premature.
Though they were going to be using the incubator to keep the baby warm after birth, he or she would be constantly wrapped in blankets. And a few days after surgery, the turtles, Splinter, and their human friends were going to be heading up to the farmhouse. It was just getting to be too cold down here in the sewers. A warm house would be better for the baby to start its life in. So, this winter was going to be spent up in Northampton.
Leo cried out loudly feeling the pressure on his pelvis, the baby had moved and was positioning already.
"D-Donny... the... AHHH! IT'S... TIME!" Leo screamed, the grip on the bed sheets tightening.
"I know, I know! Bear with it a little longer, please. Everything will be ok." Don soothed him.
"Don, LH is here!" Raph entered into the infirmary, being followed by Leatherhead.
"I came as fast as I could, my friend." LH panted.
"It's ok. I'm glad you're here." Don sighed in relief. Now he didn't have to deal with Leo all by himself.
"How's he doing?" Raph asked in a worried tone.
"How do you think he's doing?" Don snorted. Raph was about to reply but he preferred to ignore his genius brother's commentary for now.
"How do you feel Leonardo?" LH asked, checking Leo's vitals.
"H-hurts- hips." Leo moaned in pain.
"Must be the baby trying to position. Donatello, we have to start the surgery now." LH informed.
"Anything I can do?" Raph asked. He wanted to help so badly; he couldn't stand seeing his big brother in so much pain.
"I don't think so, Raph. Maybe... try to calm down Mikey. He's really worried and maybe he'll start crying any second." Don said while he prepared the instruments for the surgery.
"That ain't exactly the way I wanted to help." Raph mumbled.
"R-Raph..." Leo called.
"What is it, bro?" Raph moved to Leo's side.
"I'll be... fine. P-promise." Leo managed a weak smile, hoping that would calm Raph.
"Sure." Raph smiled back and left the room. He trusted LH and Don; they would do a great job. Still, he couldn't help but being worried about Leo's condition. He waited in the living room beside Mikey, who petted Klunk absentmindedly as a way to control his anxiety.
"GUYS! WE'RE HERE!" A voice came from the lair's entry. April and Casey had just arrived.
"Where's Don?" Casey asked.
"And Leo? How is he?" April asked too.
"They're in the infirmary, Miss O' Neil. Leonardo has already gone into labor." Splinter informed.
"I wonder if Don is gonna need some extra help." April said.
"He called LH. I think they're already starting with the surgery." Mikey said, still petting Klunk.
"So, we gotta sit and wait?" Casey took a seat on the couch near April.
"I fear yes, Mr. Jones." Splinter sighed sadly. The humans, the turtles and Splinter remained in silence. Now all was in Don's and LH's hands.
Inside the infirmary, Don had given Leo a strong sedative so he wouldn't feel any pain. The blue masked turtle started to surrender to the darkness that claimed him and finally closed his eyes in a deep slumber. That was the easiest part. Now, to the hardest part: the surgery.
Both Don and LH knew they couldn't perform a C-section because there was no womb inside Leo, the placenta was attached to the large intestine and cutting it off was definitely not an option; the bleeding could kill Leo. They settled for opening Leo's plastron through the middle line starting in the upper stomach area which had softened because of the baby.
"Ready to proceed, Donatello?" LH asked.
"Let's make it quick." Don said in determination.
LH made a perfect incision, Don cleaned the little blood coming from the wound and checked Leo's breathing. Everything normal for now. The baby had grown up a lot so it was easy for LH and Don to see exactly where it was. The placenta was in fact attached to the intestines.
LH cut the placenta very carefully but the bleeding was inevitable; there was so much blood coming out.
Don tried to stop the bleeding as best he could but he noticed the loss of blood had affected Leo's heart pressure lowering and it and making his breathing a little forced.
"LH, tell me you're almost done. Leo is getting worse by the second!" Don announced.
"Just a little closer." LH informed.
The placenta was cut open and the croc managed to gently help the baby get out. The little turtle's cries could be heard outside the lab.
April was so happy she was almost crying, Casey let out a sigh of relief, hugging April close to him. Mikey hugged his cat and finally smiled again. Splinter was calm, hearing the baby turtle's little cries. Raph, on the other hand, didn't want to wait any more to see how his brother was doing. Sure, he felt relieved and happy now that his nephew or niece was finally with them, but he was more worried about Leo.
Inside the infirmary, Don had checked the baby's sex while doing the cleaning. "It's a girl." Don smiled.
Leatherhead smiled as well and started closing Leo. The croc's smile disappeared when he noticed how pale the blue masked turtle was. They would take care of that later.
"I can't take it any longer!" Raph thought and made his way to the infirmary.
"Don, can I..." Raph knocked the door. He was welcomed by a smiling Don.
"Sure, Raph. We just finished the surgery." Don announced.
"How is he?" Raph asked in a worried tone.
"Uhmmm... don't you want to see Teng Shin first?" Don avoided Raph's question. He really didn't want his red masked turtle to make a big deal about Leo's condition, considering how pale he was now.
"Teng... a girl?" Raph exclaimed, remembering what Leo had said about the baby's name.
"Yep, and she's just like her dad. A very strong baby turtle. Wanna hold her?" Don asked.
Raph hesitated.
"Awww! Look at that little bundle of joy!" Mikey appeared behind Raph, followed by the rest of the family.
"Guys, Master Splinter... this is Teng Shin." Don introduced the new Hamato. The little turtle yawned, making the others "awww" for the tenderness of the baby girl.
"So where's the proud new daddy?" Mikey asked.
"He's..." Don tried to explain but someone was a step ahead of him.
In the little commotion, Raph had entered the next room where his unconscious blue masked brother laid, being assisted by Leatherhead.
"Leo!" Raph cried out.
"He's lost some blood Raphael, but we are going to give him a blood transfusion." Leatherhead said.
"I'll volunteer!" Raph snapped at the moment. He had feared something would happen!
That was when the others came in too after they had heard Raph's shout. "What's wrong with him, Don?" Mikey asked in a worried tone.
"He lost some blood. He just needs a transfusion. He should be fine when that's done." Don said.
"Raphael already said he'd do it. Can he, Donatello?" LH asked.
"Yes, but I'm not sure if his blood type matches Leo's." Don said.
"He's dying Don!" Raph said.
"Hold on. Let me look." Don said. He rushed to find the blood match results that he had done some time ago.
In the results, Raph was not a match. He had some disappointing news.
He came back in and said, "I'm sorry Raph, but you are not a match." Don said, "But I am. I can do it."
"Alright Donatello." The croc said.
April now held little Teng Shin in her arms, watching while they were now getting Donny set up to get some of his blood into Leo. He would need it if he was going to recover faster.
Once everything was set up, some blood started coming out of Don's arm and down into Leo's.
Within minutes, some color was starting to return to Leo. His heartbeat was returning to normal too.
When the needle was taken out of Don's arm, he checked his bro's vitals and he was happy that Leo was going to be fine. But Leo was going to be on an IV for awhile.
Special glue had been used to patch up Leo's incision. They would apply bandages later. Right now, Leo was stable.
Raph came over and took his hand. "Stay with us, Bro."
"He should come out of the anesthesia in half an hour or so." Don said. "Or an hour. Just let him sleep. But maybe someone should stay with him."
"I will." Raph said.
Well, if Raph couldn't give Leo blood, then he could do this.
"And we do need to get Teng Shin into the incubator." Don said. "Ok Raph. Keep an eye on him."
"I will Don." Raph answered, and went back to worrying about Leo.
I have a niece that was born 6 weeks prematurely, and she had to be in NICU for quite some time, but to this day, she is a normal healthy 4 year old. She is a bit taller than the average almost 5 year old though. hehe.