Warning - somewhat graphic descriptions of labour and childbirth and Morgana being high on gas and air
This is where these winding roads have led. I can see a day of gold ahead. Cant be done impossible they've said. But I'll get there, I'll get there. I will rise up. I will not fall. I will stand up. I will not fall. I will stay strong. I'm never giving up faith. I will go on, go on the way. This will be the day, this will be the day
4th August 2020
The baby had still not arrived although he was finally showing some signs of moving, Morgana having had minor cramps all day, with mild contractions coming and going. The house was as pristine as it could be by now, Morgana having been nesting a lot over the last few days. Cot was fully assembled and had new bedding freshly made, pram built, hospital bag and freezer with colostrum in the car and ready to go. Morgana was going to have her (hopefully!) final midwife appointment at forty-one weeks. They'd all been over the phone due to covid, the last time she'd actually been seen by one of the midwifes at thirty-seven weeks. Baby was growing well and all seemed fine, he was head down although not yet engaged into the pelvis.
Merlin tapped his foot as he waited in the car. Amhar was sat in the back seat happily kicking Merlin's seat which was beginning to get annoying. Usually Amhar's seat was on the passenger side, but it was recommended for the rear facing kid to be behind the passenger so Amhar was now behind the driver seat. Though it was almost dinner time, four-thirty, so he was just glad Amhar wasn't grouchy. The baby seat was now in the car. They'd had the base in there for a while, yet never the actual seat and Amhar had shown an interest in it, wanting the baby's bunny to be strapped in while his own one was strapped in the middle seat.
"Where mummy?" Amhar asked.
"Mummy is in the toilet, then we're going to her appointment to check the baby" Merlin said. The passenger door opened and after arranging her pillow, Morgana sat down with a sigh.
"Right. Let's do this" Morgana smiled as she held Merlin's hand. "Last baby appointment".
"The end is in sight" Merlin said. "And I'm bloody excited, albeit nervous".
"Me too" Morgana agreed. "Well, time for the final countdown! Let's head to Avalon!". As they had often, Merlin left over an hour early. It took around forty minutes, yet he knew that they'd need time to pull over for Morgana's to throw up (the hyperemesis had lasted the whole pregnancy) and the hospital had absolutely shit parking. Though it had been better as of late due to covid, Merlin was not in the mood to take any chances.
Morgana waddled off into the antenatal outpatients, waving bye to Amhar and Merlin. Merlin unbuckled Amhar and put Cocomelon on his phone. He wasn't the biggest fan of it yet needed something to keep him occupied, and screens would suffice for now.
Morgana was called through by the midwife into a room. She had to keep her mask on while she talked to her and had her weight and blood pressure taken again.
"And how are you feeling in yourself?" The midwife asked.
"I'm just fed up" Morgana sighed. "I mean, it's bloody boiling with this heatwave, I'm uncomfortable and it feels like I've been pregnant for ages".
"There is an end in sight dear" the midwife smiled sympathetically. "Is it okay if I listen to baby's heartbeat with a Doppler and then we measure your womb?". Morgana nodded and the midwife got on with it, happily taking the heart rate of baby and then beginning to measure Morgana's uterus.
"Okay, so from what I can tell, baby is doing perfectly fine in there, is he moving OK?".
"Non stop" Morgana sighed. "I mean, he's always wriggling left right and centre bless him. Though getting punched in the lungs fucking hurts. Likewise with having a tiny foot wedged in your ribs".
"That's good" the midwife said. "From what I can see on your notes, your uterus hasn't grown since your thirty-seven week appointment so we're going to squeeze you in for a scan, I'll go and sort that out. It may mean that you might need inducing but we'll have to wait and see". Morgana was unsure of what to say, nodding as the midwife had left the room. She didn't have the most massive bump, it was rather small and petite. Most overdue women's bumps would be rather large, yet Morgana's had barely changed in the photos as she browsed the photos in front of the cot. Not much change at all.
She pulled her mask down and phoned Merlin.
"Is everything okay?" Merlin asked.
"I'm not really sure" Morgana admitted. "Everything seems to be okay. They measured my uterus and they said it's the same as it was at thirty-seven weeks so they're going to do a scan".
"Hopefully everything's alright" Merlin said.
"I hope so too" Morgana sighed. "I mean, they might induce me in which case birth plan is out the window. On the other hand, we get to see baby sooner. Oh I don't know Merlin".
"Look babe, everything will be okay" Merlin reassured her. "I'm going to make sure that my parents are on standby, I'll ask Mithian and Leon if they can take Amhar too"
Morgana inhaled shakily. "Thank you Merlin. I have to go now, I think".
"Good luck" Merlin offered. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. He's been moving like mad".
"But I have been having cramps now". Morgana hung up as the midwife came back into the room with the sonographer. Morgana anxiously looked up at the screen as they conducted the exam.
"Okay, baby seems to be doing well in there yet he is rather small for your dates, he doesn't seem to have grown since thirty-seven weeks" the consultant explained.
"What!" Morgana gasped. "But he is okay? Isn't he? Will I need inducing?".
"Now, we know your birth plan involved being in the midwife led unit, and provided that you go into labour overnight you still can have the birth you wanted seeing as it is attached to the hospital".
"And if I don't?".
"In that case we'll induce you tomorrow morning".
"Is it okay if, can you check me?" Morgana asked slightly blushing. "I think I've been having contractions but I can't be sure as I'm hypnobirthing and it's my first".
"Of course" the consultant replied as she washed her hands and put some gloves on. Morgana lay down on the couch to allow her to examine her. "You're about four centimetres dilated".
"Already!" Morgana gasped.
"Yes" the consultant confirmed with a smile under her PPE. "We're going to move you to the midwife led unit in that case. Congratulations mama".
"Can my husband come?" Morgana asked. "He's in the car with our toddler but he's arranging childcare and all".
"Of course, once the toddler's been sorted out that's okay. We've lifted the restrictions a bit now so birth partners can stay for more than an hour after the birth and also visit".
"Thank god" Morgana sighed. "Would it be possible to store my colostrum somewhere?".
"Of course, we have a milk kitchen make sure you label it and we can put it in a freezer in there. I'll go see if there's a bed ready" the consultant and midwife left the room. Morgana phoned Merlin once more.
"It's go time!".
Merlin's eyes widened and he gasped. "Already!".
"Yeah" Morgana sniffed lightly. "They uh, they were going to induce me. But I'm already four centimetres so they're looking at moving me to the unit".
"Oh my god!" Merlin squealed. "Mithian and Leon are on their way, around twenty minutes away I believe they said. We're having a baby!".
"Right now, it seems" Morgana grinned. "They said that they'll move me up to the unit soon, so I'd better go".
"I'll call you back when Mithian and Leon are here and have taken Amhar" Merlin said. "I'll see you soon".
"I love you" Morgana said.
"I love you too" Merlin replied. Morgana still hadn't phoned back by the time Mithian and Leon had turned up.
"So it's baby time then?" Mithian grinned.
"It is" Merlin smiled. "Anyway, here's his bag he has his toys and uh, yeah I gotta go".
"What's the car seat called?" Leon asked as he took it off merlin. "We can sort that out, find a video on YouTube and all".
"Britax king" Merlin replied as he took the hospital bag out the boot. "I have to go".
"Yeah, of course" Mithian said. "Good luck!".
Merlin went through to the entrance, stopped by a security guard. He phoned morgana and they then let him through and into the antenatal department, Morgana was sat in the waiting room. The midwife came back soon and took Merlin and Morgana's up to the birthing suite after swabbing Morgana for coronavirus, a rather spacious room with beanbags, an exercise ball, birth pool and a separate en-suite.
"Check out the sick bucket" Merlin grinned as he put the cardboard bowl on his head. "Okay, it's not that funny".
"Just stop being a fucking idiot for goodness sake! Oh my god!" Morgana gasped as she grabbed her stomach. "Oh my fucking god! That bloody hell!".
"Are you okay?" Merlin asked.
"Do I look fucking okay Merlin!" Morgana hissed. "Oh wow, I am having a contraction. Check out the monitor". There was a knock at the door and the midwife came back in.
"How you doing Morgana?" she asked. "I'm Lily, I'll be looking after you".
"It's okay" Morgana huffed as she practiced her breathing. "It hurts a little but not too much".
"Okay, so from what I've been told it's still rather early, is it okay if I look at your birthing plan?".
"Okay" Morgana huffed. She sat on the exercise ball and began bouncing on it while whining simultaneously.
"So no pain relief except paracetamol and gas and air".
"Yeah" Morgana nodded. "I'll try that later but for now I think I can cope".
"Okay, that's good" Lily said. "So for now I think just make yourself comfortable and we can see how things go from there".
Morgana remained on the ball for a while, the contractions soon getting closer together and lasting longer as the sun began to set and it actually became dark. Nonetheless, they remained over five minutes apart and were lasting less than a minute, although were there all the same. Morgana was still able to eat, having a huge pack of skittles while bouncing on the ball.
"Heh, I could go to the moon!" Morgana decided. "Oh shit shit shit, ahhhhh fuck fuck that hurts. I think I'd like to go in the pool".
"Okay let's practice the breathing" Merlin said as Lily began to fill up the pool. He was sat on a chair opposite Morgana and she leant her head onto his shoulder. "In".
"I'm breathing in!" Morgana screeched.
"And out" Merlin said.
"I feel sick" Morgana announced. The midwife heard and went to get a sick bucket, Merlin didn't think anything of it until there was a fresh stream of vomit going down his back. Merlin backed away and let the midwife hold the sick bucket for Morgana while he looked around in horror. He caught sight of himself in the mirror, a rainbow falling down his back.
"Heh, who said eat a rainbow!" Morgana laughed. "More like puke a rainbow".
Merlin turned around to look at Lily. "Unfortunately they ran out of the white skittles from pride month".
"That was two months ago Merlin" Morgana scoffed. "At least you don't look boring".
"Touché" Merlin shrugged. His t-shirt was a plain white one, the skittles adding more colour to it.
Morgana began to suck on the gas and air pipe. "This is fucking amazing! I feel amazing".
"Good" Merlin smiled. "Going in the pool?".
"Yeah" Morgana said going in there with her Entonox. The pool was rather relaxing, Morgana stripped down to stark naked while Merlin held her hand on the side. "Feel a bit woozy".
"That's normal with the gas and air" Lily chuckled as she took some more notes. "Many people get high".
"Did you know" Morgana began giggling. "That he killed me".
"Yes, a thousand years ago" Merlin chuckled nervously.
"Right" Lily said slowly.
"He also poisoned me" Morgana added. "Twice".
"What!" Lily gasped.
"I didn't know you had a nut allergy" Merlin exclaimed.
Morgana sighed and sucked in more gas and air. "Bit late love but I might be a lesbian".
"What!" Merlin looked at Lily worriedly.
"Don't worry, we see this all the time" Lily reassured him. "Gas and air does funny things".
"Thank god" Merlin muttered.
"Okay, it's around ten o'clock" Lily said. "Morgana is it okay if I examine you?".
"Yeah of course" Morgana said. "Stick your hand up my fanny, can you check if I've got piles too? Actually don't I'll probably fart in your face".
"You're five centimetres" Lily said as she washed her hands.
"Only five!" Morgana exclaimed.
"First labours tend to be rather long" Lily smiled sympathetically. "That's half way! I'll be back soon".
"Merlin, you should try this gas and air! It's amazing!" Morgana grinned.
"Listen" Merlin breathed on the gas and air. "I'm Darth Vader".
"Emrys Vader" Morgana said as she continued to suck on her gas and air. It was going to be a long night. Morgana decided to take a paracetamol and then sleep on the bed in the room, Merlin choosing to sleep on a beanbag. The day their son would be born was soon upon then, and they needed to sleep while they could.
5th August 2020
Morgana woke up in absolute agony. For the first time since finding out she was pregnant, she felt well rested and refreshed. Lily handed her the gas and air pipe and she immediately latched onto it.
"Huh, what!" Merlin said as he woke up. He glanced around and realised where they were. "HOLY SHIT I'M ABOUT TO BE A FATHER".
"Well done you blithering idiot" Morgana rolled her eyes. She got out of bed and made her way to the en-suite to brush her teeth and freshen up before she went back on the birthing ball.
"So he'll come today?" Merlin asked.
"Let's see how dilated you are Morgana" Lily said as Morgana went back to the bed. "Six centimetres".
"So that doesn't mean it's long now? Though only one centimetre in four hours" Morgana asked as she stood up. "OH FUCKING HELL".
"Hopefully not" Lily sympathised. "That's nothing to worry about, it's more like if you don't dilate 0.5cm over four hours is when things get worrying. My shift's ending soon so you'll likely have another midwife when you have the baby".
"Okay" Morgana sighed. "It hurts like hell. Can I have some paracetamol?".
"Of course" Lily replied as she went to get some. Morgana spent the majority of the morning between the birthing pool, birthing ball, bed and Merlin's arms. Lily's shift ended at eight o'clock, her new midwife taking over being someone called Kara. Oh shit. It was that Kara. Mordred's ex.
A/N: I heard the song in the Im a celebrity finale and then I couldn't not add it here I found it so fitting!