Chapter 21
After a few days spent of Jade trying to give Beck space, she couldn't take the silence any longer. And her back couldn't take the couch.
"When is this gonna stop, Beck? I've given you three days of space. I've taken care of Paisley for the past three days. I've slept on the couch so you could stay in the bedroom. I'm seven months pregnant. Sleeping on the couch is killing my back. Paisley misses you. You need to go back to work. I get that you're upset about Kai, but you need to move on with life." Jade confronted him as she barged into their bedroom.
Beck gave no response except a sigh.
"You're really not gonna say anything?" Jade was starting to get mad.
"What do you want me to say?" Beck asked.
"I don't know, but you could at least acknowledge the fact that I just talked to you."
"Ok, thanks for your feedback." He said, sarcastically.
"You're not funny, Beck."
"I never asked you to give me space, and certainly not for this long. And I would never ask you to sleep on the couch at seven months pregnant."
"I thought that you wanted space."
"After we came home from the hospital, yeah, but not for days."
"Well, now that you've had ample space, are you ready to talk?"
"I'm pretty sure that's what we're doing right now."
"Stop it, Beck. Stop deflecting. You know what I mean."
"I don't want to talk, Jade. There's nothing to talk about. I thought he was my kid, turns out he isn't, oh well. I'm fine."
"Beck, you know you can talk to me about anything. I'm your wife."
"And I just told you there's nothing to talk about."
"Fine. When are you gonna take Kai's things back to Tori's apartment?"
"I wasn't going to take it back. I was just going to get rid of it."
"That's a waste of money, Beck. If you don't want to see Tori and Kai, fine, but don't waste our money. At least give the stuff to Goodwill."
"Fine, I'll take it to Tori's soon. Then we can start setting up for the baby."
"Good. Now, come and take care of your daughter. I have to get ready and then go to work. You're going back to work tomorrow." Jade left no room for argument as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door, leaving Beck sitting on the bed.
Beck made his way out of the room for the first time in three days, and immediately picked Giselle up and gave her a big hug and kiss. Her laugh made him so happy, and he wondered how he could be away from her for so long.
"Daddy." Giselle smiled.
"Hi, baby. I'm so sorry I was away for so long. Can you forgive me?"
"Yes, daddy. It's otay." Giselle patted his face before squirming around in his arms, signaling she wanted to be put down. Beck obliged, and smiled to himself as she ran off.
She came back a few moments later with her box of Barbies in hand. She wanted to play with him.
"Pway wif me, daddy." The young girl requested, sitting down on the floor and dumping out the box of dolls.
"Ok, I'll play with you." Beck sat down in front of his daughter, and followed the instructions she gave in broken English.
They played for a while until Jade came out. She smiled at them, and sat down on the couch to watch them.
"Mommy!" The young girl squealed, and then jumped in her mother's lap. Unfortunately for Jade, with the way Giselle landed, her bladder was compressed. Before she knew what was happening, her pants and the couch below her were warm and wet,
"Did your water just break?" Beck asked, starting to panic.
"No, I just peed myself. Giselle hit my bladder." Jade responded, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Oh, um, what are you gonna do?"
"I have to go take another shower. Just take Giselle off of me."
"Ok, get off mommy, Giselle." Beck carefully picked up his daughter, and readjusted his hold on her when he noticed she was wet. Beck offered his hand to Jade, and helped her stand up.
"Please clean Giselle up. I'll take care of the couch when I come back. I'm gonna call in sick. I'm not really feeling that great, and this isn't making it any better."
"Ok."
Beck carried Giselle off to the bathroom, as Jade made her way to she and Beck's shared bathroom.
30 minutes later, everyone was clean again and Jade was cleaning the couch.
"Babe, it's ok. I know you're embarrassed, but you have nothing to be embarrassed about." Beck said, lovingly rubbing Jade's back as she cleaned the couch.
"Beck, I'm almost 22 years old. I haven't peed myself since I was, like, 5. I got close when I was pregnant with Giselle, but I was able to hold it. It's embarrassing."
"You're 7 months pregnant. You already have a baby weighing on your bladder, and Giselle hitting you just put too much pressure on it. It's really ok."
"It's still embarrassing, Beck." Beck decided it was best if he did not say anything, so he just continued to rub her back.
Jade finished cleaning up the couch, and then stood up to go to the kitchen, but when she did, she felt a gush.
"Did I pee myself again?" Jade asked, to no one in particular.
"Oh my god, Jade, that's not pee." Beck gasped, staring at her pants. Jade carefully looked down and saw flood on the floor.
"Oh, fuck. What do I do? I don't know what to do. Beck, help me." Jade was starting to freak out.
"Ok, first, we both need to be calm. Go get changed so that we can go to the hospital. I'll grab Giselle's bag."
Jade quickly made her way back to the bedroom, while Beck gathered Giselle's things and threw them into a bag.
"What's wrong wif mommy?" Giselle asked.
"Mommy's ok, baby. She's just got an hour. We're gonna go see a doctor that's gonna make it all better."
"Otay." Giselle accepted the bag Beck handed her and sat down to play with her Barbies, while Beck went to check on Jade.
"Are you ok?" Beck asked, as he walked into the bathroom to see Jade sitting in the toilet.
"No. The bleeding won't stop. Beck, what if I lose the baby?" Jade was starting to lose a hold on her emotions. Her eyes welled up with tears.
"Babe, we don't even know what's going on. Don't jump to conclusions. Right now, we need to go to the hospital so we can get you and the baby checked out."
"Beck, I can't lose this baby." She cried.
"Jade, stop. Pull yourself together so we can go. Sitting here and crying about it is only making things worse." Beck hated the fact that he had to be stern, but he was terrified, and the fact she wasn't going faster was not making it any better.
It seems like that was all Jade needed. She sucked up her tears, cleaning herself up, changed, and the Oliver family was on their way to the hospital.
Once they arrived at the hospital, Jade was taken to L&D triage and put on different monitors. One for her heart rate, one for the baby's, a contraction monitor, blood pressure, and one for oxygen saturation.
"So, looking at your vitals, you seem to be stable. Your heart is within normal limits, your blood pressure's a little low, but that's to be expected, considering you're bleeding. Your oxygen saturation is perfect. You're not having any contractions, which is very good." The doctor said.
"And the baby?" Jade asked, noticing the doctor said nothing about the baby.
"The baby's heart rate is low. We'd like to see it at anywhere between 140 to 160, and it's at 110."
"So what do we do?"
"We're going to put you on IV fluids. You appear to be slightly dehydrated, so that could be the cause of the baby's distress."
"But what about the bleeding?"
"The bleeding seems to be the results of a subchorionic hemorrhage. You had a blood clot near the baby, and the hit to the stomach from your daughter mostly likely caused it to rupture. It shouldn't be a problem, and the bleeding should stop on its own."
"What if the baby's heart rate doesn't go back up?"
"If your baby's heart rate doesn't go up to at least 140, we might have to do an emergency c-section."
"What? It's way too soon. I'm only 29 weeks. The baby's too little." Jade did not want to have a NICU baby. Have a newborn scared her enough, didn't need the added stress of having a premie newborn.
"The if a c-section is needed, we can start you on steroids to strengthen the baby's lungs. The chance of survival after 32 weeks is much better than 29, but barring any serious complications, your baby should be able to live a healthy, normal life if born at 29 weeks. They might have to stay in the NICU for anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks, but other than maybe reaching their milestones a little late, premies usually are able to live full, healthy, and happy lives."
"I can't have the baby yet. We're not ready. It's too soon." Jade was panicking and that was causing her heart rate to rise and the baby's to drop.
"I know it's hard, but I need you to try and stay calm. The more you panic, the more distressed the baby becomes. We can discuss the possibility of a c-section more after you've received fluids. The nurse will be in soon." And with that, the doctor was gone.
"Beck, I can't do this." Jade squeaked out.
"Baby, if this baby is born early, it'll be ok. It'll suck and it'll be a long, hard road, but we'll get through it." Beck comforted, as he took her hand in his from his position in the chair next to her. His other arm was firmly secured around Giselle.
"What if the baby's not ok, Beck? What if they have lung problems, or mental deficits?"
"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Even if this baby has some physical issues, we're not gonna love them any less, right?"
"Of course not, but that doesn't mean I'm not worried they will. I want it baby to be healthy."
"I do too. Right now, we just need to calm down, wait for what happens after the nurse gives you the fluids, and hope everything turns out ok."
"God, I love you." Jade leaned in as far as she could to kiss him. She was so thankful he was the voice of reason in their relationship.
"I love you, too."
They waited a few more minutes until the nurse came in and gave Jade the IV. After an hour, the IV was empty and the doctor came back in.
"So, it looks like the baby's heart rate did go up, but not as much as I was hoping to see. The baby's heart rate is at 122. I think it's time to start discussing a c-section." The doctor said, as she sat down on a wheeled stool next to the bed.
"I'm not ready to have this baby. We haven't bought any of the necessary things, we haven't cleared out the room. This wasn't supposed to happen for at least 2 months. We still had time." Jade rambled out.
"No one ever plans for their baby to be born early. I know this is a tough situation. In order to give this baby the best chance of survival, we need to deliver soon."
"How long do you think the baby will need to stay in the NICU?" Beck asked.
"It's hard to say. My best guess is at least until your due date, so about 8 to 12 weeks. If the baby is relatively healthy and strong, it could be less. If there are complications, it could be longer."
"Can you walk us through where we go from here?"
"Yes, so, if you decide to do the c-section, we will start you on steroids to strengthen the baby's lungs. In that time, you can make arrangements for your daughter, and have family come. Once the steroids are done, we will prep you for surgery. You will receive a spinal block, epidural, and you'll become numb from the abdomen and down. Dad, you will have to put on some scrubs and sterile dressings to be able to go into the delivery room. Once the baby is out, depending on the situation, we will give you both a quick peek of the baby before the NICU team takes them. Dad, if you decide to, you will be able to go with the NICU team. Mom, you will be closed up and taken to recovery. You'll be numb for several hours, and once the anesthesia wears off, you'll be pretty sore. Usually it takes about 24 hours for you to be physically ready to go to the NICU and visit the baby. From then, you will stay for a few days to recover, and then you should be able to go home. You will be able to come visit the baby at any time, and there will be opportunities for you to stay over night. While you're in recovery, if you are planning to breastfeed, a lactation consultant will come and talk to you about pumping. The baby will most likely not be able to latch on properly for a while, so breastfeeding might take a little longer than usually." The doctor explained.
"Ok, we'll discuss." Beck said, trying to get the doctor to leave.
"I don't want to rush you, but the sooner you decide, the sooner we can start the steroids, and the better off the baby is." And with that, the doctor was gone again.
"I don't like this. It's too soon. The baby's not ready."
"It seems like the baby's ready, babe. I think we should do the c-section. The baby has a higher chance of surviving if we do the c-section now."
"What if something goes wrong? What if there's a complication? What if the baby dies? What if I die?"
"Jade, thinking like that is just gonna send you down a rabbit hole. It's not healthy for you, the baby, or anyone."
"What will happen, Beck, if I die. You'll be left to raise two kids on your own."
"I'm not going to let you think like that. You're not gonna die. The baby will be ok. Everything will be ok. Just please say yes to the c-section."
Jade took a few deep breaths before responding. She was absolutely terrified. She was terrified of having the baby 2 months early, and having a c-section, and what would happen if either she or the baby died. She was terrified of the whole situation, but she knew she had to do what was best for the baby and herself.
"Ok. Let's do the c-section."
"Ok. I'll go get the doctor." Beck carefully set Giselle on the bed before leaving the room to go find the doctor.
"Mama." Giselle said sleepily, as she tried to cuddle against Jade.
"What, baby? What's wrong?" Jade asked, as she hugged Giselle into her side.
"I sweepy."
"Ok. You can take a nap when daddy comes back in."
Jade lovely rubbed Giselle's back as she waited for Beck to come back with the doctor. A few minutes after he left, he came back with the doctor in tow.
"Your husband tells me you've decided to go with the c-section?" The doctor asked, as she entered the room. Jade gave a quick nod in response. "Ok. I need you to fill out the consent forms for the surgery. They state all the possible complications, and also have a DNR form. A Do Not Resuscitate form basically states that in the event your heart stops, you don't not want life saving measures to be taken, such as CPR, a ventilator, or defibrillation. You can decide. The nurse will be in soon to start the steroids through your IV. My goal is to have you go in for the c-section around 4." It was noon. 5 hours until Beck and Jade would become parents of two. Their lives would forever change.