CHAPTER 22
The holidays had come and gone and things were pretty much back to normal. Shelby was still bed ridden and Scott was supporting and keeping her entertained as mush as possible. She kept up with her schoolwork because Scott would pick up her assignments and bring back her finished work. They were both determined that they wouldn't let this interfere with Shelby getting her diploma.
As the days progressed Shelby was becoming more and more uncomfortable and couldn't wait to get the whole experience over with. She felt guilty that the burden of running the household fell completely on Scott. He looked exhausted all the time with School, track practice, homework, all the housework and the grocery shopping. He never complained and Shelby loved him more for it. He informed her that her time was coming to be totally exhausted once the baby came. Scott told her that she had better savor the pampered life while she could because it would soon end.
It was the middle of January and she still had until the end of March before her due date. Shelby was really getting antsy from boredom. She was tired of watching movies and reading books. She did a lot of letter writing to the Horizon kids that she missed so much. Susan couldn't be with her everyday and the days that she wasn't, Shelby liked to get out of bed for awhile and stroll around the apartment. She was out wondering around the apartment and had a real craving for peanut butter and chocolate ice cream. Scott wouldn't be home for hours and she decided that since the store was just right down the road that it couldn't hurt just to go out for about 10 minutes.
On her way back up to the condo from visiting the store Shelby received several sharp pains. Oh no, this can't be happening now she thought. She went straight to the bedroom and lay down. The pain seemed to subside so she relaxed a little and decided to just continue to stay in bed.
Scott came in from track practice that evening and saw the brown sticky mess of melted ice cream all over the kitchen floor. He ran into the bedroom to find Shelby sound asleep. Thank goodness he thought. Everything seems to be ok. He went over to cuddle up next to her. Shelby felt his body weight as soon as he lay on the bed. A quick smile came to her lips as the man of her dreams came and nestled up against her. Boy was she going to miss these times when the baby comes. She rolled over and became nose to nose with him as he gave her a strange glare.
"What?"
"You want to explain the peanut butter and Chocolate mess all over the kitchen floor?"
"Oh I'm busted. Sorry but I just had this craving and no one was here to help me out."
"You went out all by yourself? Shelby what were you thinking? So you go through all that trouble to get the ice cream and then you let it melt all over the floor? We do have a freezer you know. I know it's been awhile since you've been in the kitchen but it's that big white upright rectangular box sitting in the kitchen."
Shelby knew she had to think of something because she didn't want to alarm him. "Well when I came in the phone was ringing so I just put it down for a second but I became distracted that I forgot about it. So sue me."
"Ok I'll sue you for 100% of your ass-sets," he said grabbing her bottom. "All that trouble and now you don't have any to eat. Do you want me to go get some more?"
"No that's ok. I've actually lost the craving for it now."
"Well if you even anticipate any more cravings tonight could you please let me know now so I won't get stuck going out in the middle of the night. It's like below zero out their and its starting to snow again."
"She snuggled up against him. "I promise. Even if I have a craving I'll just suffer through it. Why don't you just order a pizza for dinner so you won't have to cook anything? That way you can spend more time next to me."
"Sounds good to me. Before you get to comfortable here's your homework."
Scott ordered the pizza and they lounged around in bed eating pizza and watching TV. Scott noticed that Shelby only ate half a slice and didn't look too good after that.
"You ok? You don't look like you feel to well."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just think that the pizza is not agreeing with me."
"Are you having pains?"
"No it's just a little heart burn from the pizza. I guess I shouldn't have eaten anything spicy."
"I can make you something else if you want."
He's so sweet. "No I'm really not that hungry. I'm just going to finish my homework and go to sleep."
Scott watched her because he could tell that she was trying to hide something. She eventually fell asleep so he just turned the TV down and let her sleep. It was 11:00 and Scott was watching the news about the winter storm coming in. He was pressed up against Shelby back with his arm wrapped around her when he suddenly felt something warm all down the front of him. The warmth gave way to wetness as he realized that his clothes and the bed sheets were soaking wet.
Scott quickly pulled back and woke Shelby up. "Shelby you need to get up and go to the bathroom because you just peed the bed." Shelby feeling the wetness suddenly jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Scott was busy stripping down his wet clothing and pulling the sheets off the bed when he heard Shelby yell, "OH NO."
Scott went running to the bathroom. "What is it? Shelby I'm coming in."
He saw Shelby standing there with a towel between her legs.
She looked at him with a scared look on her face. "Scott it's not pee. My water just brake. What do we do? It's too early. This isn't supposed to happen for another two months. Scott I'm scared." She began to cry.
Scott was trying to not sound frantic and tried to hold himself together. "The Dr. I'm calling the Dr. you just don't move. Sit there, don't move."
Scott ran and called the Dr. and the response was to get Shelby to the hospital a.s.a.p. He told Scott that once the water has broken then they had no other choice but to delivery the baby whether it was time or not.
Scott went back to the bathroom and looked at Shelby. "What did the Dr. say?"
"He said that we have no choice but to deliver the baby now so I need to get you to the hospital as soon as possible."
Shelby began to get hysterical. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have gone out. The baby's going to die and it's my fault."
Scott grabbed a hold of her and held her tight. "Shelby look at me. You don't know that for sure. Babies have been born a lot earlier than this and survived. Don't torture yourself like this."
"Why couldn't I have just stayed in bed like I was suppose too. I had pains earlier today and I never told you. I'm sorry Scott. Please don't hate me."
"Shelby stop it. I could never hate you. We are going to get through this together. All three of us. Now get focused. You need to put some drier clothes on and I'm going to go start the car so it will be warm for you."
"But Scott I keep dripping water. What do I do?"
"I don't know. Put another nightgown on and stuff another towel between your legs. They'll probably take everything off you as soon as you get there anyway."
As Scott grabbed his coat to go start the car he grabbed his cell phone and called his parents on the way out. They agreed to meet them at the hospital.
When Scott pulled up to the emergency entrance at the hospital, the nurses were already waiting for them with a wheel chair to take Shelby back to the delivery room. Scott parked the car and ran into the emergency room looking for Shelby but he didn't know where they had taken her. Scott began to panic and ran around the corner to ask for help. In the process of not watching where he was going he ran into and nearly knocked over a dark haired women. He grabbed a hold of her arms to keep her from falling over and became face to face with her.
"Scott is that you?" He couldn't believe it. Of all the people in the world he had to run into HER. It was Elaine. "What are you doing here and when did you get back from Horizon? Is something wrong with your father, is he here?" She was still holding on to him where she reached out to prevent from falling.
"What is this 20 questions? Let go of me. I don't have time to talk to you." He started to walk away but she reached out and grabbed him by the arm. " Scott I want to talk to you so . . ."
Before she could finish a nurse came up to Scott. "Are you the one whose wife is having the baby?"
"Yeah."
"Ok follow me. She's screaming for you."
"You're married and having a baby?"
Scott looked over his shoulder as he followed the nurse down the hall. "Get lost Elaine."
Elaine stood in the hall frustrated and fuming. That baby should have been mine.
Scott was taken in to the changing room and was told to put on the sterile gowns in order to stay in the room with Shelby. When he got in the room Shelby was a mess. The contractions were coming strong and hard. He tried to get her to focus on the breathing techniques that they had learned in childbirth class but Shelby didn't want any part of it. The tenser she got the more the contractions hurt. She had already dilated beyond the point of an epideral so she had to go through this complete natural.
The hours started ticking away and Shelby's dilation stopped at 9. Shelby was exhausted from dealing with the pain. Scott felt so helpless because there was nothing he could do to ease her pain. She would be yelling at him one minute and then needing him the next. Scott felt like a yo yo being pulled back and forth. It was now 5:00 in the morning and they had been there since 11:30 the night before. The Dr. was about to suggest a cesarean section when Shelby said she had the urge to push.
They checked her dilation and found that she had proceeded to 10. It was now time to push the baby into the birth canal. The prenatal I.C.U staff was ready and standing by to take the infant into their care as soon as it was delivered.
They made Shelby sit up into an incline position with Scott behind her propping her up. When she felt the contraction start and the pressure to push, she was to bear down as hard as she could while Scott counted off 1-10. Once the contraction was over she would take a breath and began the whole process all over again until the crowning of the head.
Scott thought that once you pushed then the baby were suppose to be out but things weren't going the way he had expected. The cycle of contraction, bear down push, and breath suddenly have lapsed into an hour and Shelby had no energy left to push. The Dr. was about ready to use forceps but Shelby said no. She would keep trying. To help Shelby out a little, a nurse pushed hard on her stomach when the next contraction started. This helped bring the baby lower and they were finally able to see the head.
""Ok Shelby, I can see the baby's head. Just one more good strong push and you're home free."
Shelby took a deep breath and Scott pushed her up. She pushed as hard as she could and she could feel the pain of herself tearing but at this point it didn't matter because she just wanted the baby out.
"Head is through. Stop pushing now. Just relax and let me get the shoulders through." Shelby was breathing hard trying to catch her breath again and Scott was still supporting her in an upright position. Shelby then felt all the pressure release as the Dr. pulled the baby the rest of the way out.
"Congratulations you have a baby boy."
Shelby reached up and grabbed Scott around the neck and gave him a big hug. He was bent over with her arms wrapped around his neck when they head the Dr. say, "Ok dad, cut the cord in between these two clamps." Scott was nervous but he knew that it had to be done by someone and he wanted to take part. As soon as he cut the cord the baby was immediately given to the ICU nurse and taken out.
Shelby began to sense that something was wrong by the way the nurses took her baby away. "What's going on? What's wrong with him? I never even head him cry. He's not alive is he?" Shelby started to go into hysterics crying and trashing about. Scott tried to calm her down but she was even punching him. The nurse came in a gave her a sedative to calm her down while the Dr. delivered the after birth and repaired the tears that she had experienced.
The combination of the sedative and exhaustion caused Shelby to drift off to sleep in no time. With Shelby asleep, Scott began the Q & A. "So what aren't you telling us. Shelby was right, he never did cry. Is he alive or not?"
The holidays had come and gone and things were pretty much back to normal. Shelby was still bed ridden and Scott was supporting and keeping her entertained as mush as possible. She kept up with her schoolwork because Scott would pick up her assignments and bring back her finished work. They were both determined that they wouldn't let this interfere with Shelby getting her diploma.
As the days progressed Shelby was becoming more and more uncomfortable and couldn't wait to get the whole experience over with. She felt guilty that the burden of running the household fell completely on Scott. He looked exhausted all the time with School, track practice, homework, all the housework and the grocery shopping. He never complained and Shelby loved him more for it. He informed her that her time was coming to be totally exhausted once the baby came. Scott told her that she had better savor the pampered life while she could because it would soon end.
It was the middle of January and she still had until the end of March before her due date. Shelby was really getting antsy from boredom. She was tired of watching movies and reading books. She did a lot of letter writing to the Horizon kids that she missed so much. Susan couldn't be with her everyday and the days that she wasn't, Shelby liked to get out of bed for awhile and stroll around the apartment. She was out wondering around the apartment and had a real craving for peanut butter and chocolate ice cream. Scott wouldn't be home for hours and she decided that since the store was just right down the road that it couldn't hurt just to go out for about 10 minutes.
On her way back up to the condo from visiting the store Shelby received several sharp pains. Oh no, this can't be happening now she thought. She went straight to the bedroom and lay down. The pain seemed to subside so she relaxed a little and decided to just continue to stay in bed.
Scott came in from track practice that evening and saw the brown sticky mess of melted ice cream all over the kitchen floor. He ran into the bedroom to find Shelby sound asleep. Thank goodness he thought. Everything seems to be ok. He went over to cuddle up next to her. Shelby felt his body weight as soon as he lay on the bed. A quick smile came to her lips as the man of her dreams came and nestled up against her. Boy was she going to miss these times when the baby comes. She rolled over and became nose to nose with him as he gave her a strange glare.
"What?"
"You want to explain the peanut butter and Chocolate mess all over the kitchen floor?"
"Oh I'm busted. Sorry but I just had this craving and no one was here to help me out."
"You went out all by yourself? Shelby what were you thinking? So you go through all that trouble to get the ice cream and then you let it melt all over the floor? We do have a freezer you know. I know it's been awhile since you've been in the kitchen but it's that big white upright rectangular box sitting in the kitchen."
Shelby knew she had to think of something because she didn't want to alarm him. "Well when I came in the phone was ringing so I just put it down for a second but I became distracted that I forgot about it. So sue me."
"Ok I'll sue you for 100% of your ass-sets," he said grabbing her bottom. "All that trouble and now you don't have any to eat. Do you want me to go get some more?"
"No that's ok. I've actually lost the craving for it now."
"Well if you even anticipate any more cravings tonight could you please let me know now so I won't get stuck going out in the middle of the night. It's like below zero out their and its starting to snow again."
"She snuggled up against him. "I promise. Even if I have a craving I'll just suffer through it. Why don't you just order a pizza for dinner so you won't have to cook anything? That way you can spend more time next to me."
"Sounds good to me. Before you get to comfortable here's your homework."
Scott ordered the pizza and they lounged around in bed eating pizza and watching TV. Scott noticed that Shelby only ate half a slice and didn't look too good after that.
"You ok? You don't look like you feel to well."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just think that the pizza is not agreeing with me."
"Are you having pains?"
"No it's just a little heart burn from the pizza. I guess I shouldn't have eaten anything spicy."
"I can make you something else if you want."
He's so sweet. "No I'm really not that hungry. I'm just going to finish my homework and go to sleep."
Scott watched her because he could tell that she was trying to hide something. She eventually fell asleep so he just turned the TV down and let her sleep. It was 11:00 and Scott was watching the news about the winter storm coming in. He was pressed up against Shelby back with his arm wrapped around her when he suddenly felt something warm all down the front of him. The warmth gave way to wetness as he realized that his clothes and the bed sheets were soaking wet.
Scott quickly pulled back and woke Shelby up. "Shelby you need to get up and go to the bathroom because you just peed the bed." Shelby feeling the wetness suddenly jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Scott was busy stripping down his wet clothing and pulling the sheets off the bed when he heard Shelby yell, "OH NO."
Scott went running to the bathroom. "What is it? Shelby I'm coming in."
He saw Shelby standing there with a towel between her legs.
She looked at him with a scared look on her face. "Scott it's not pee. My water just brake. What do we do? It's too early. This isn't supposed to happen for another two months. Scott I'm scared." She began to cry.
Scott was trying to not sound frantic and tried to hold himself together. "The Dr. I'm calling the Dr. you just don't move. Sit there, don't move."
Scott ran and called the Dr. and the response was to get Shelby to the hospital a.s.a.p. He told Scott that once the water has broken then they had no other choice but to delivery the baby whether it was time or not.
Scott went back to the bathroom and looked at Shelby. "What did the Dr. say?"
"He said that we have no choice but to deliver the baby now so I need to get you to the hospital as soon as possible."
Shelby began to get hysterical. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have gone out. The baby's going to die and it's my fault."
Scott grabbed a hold of her and held her tight. "Shelby look at me. You don't know that for sure. Babies have been born a lot earlier than this and survived. Don't torture yourself like this."
"Why couldn't I have just stayed in bed like I was suppose too. I had pains earlier today and I never told you. I'm sorry Scott. Please don't hate me."
"Shelby stop it. I could never hate you. We are going to get through this together. All three of us. Now get focused. You need to put some drier clothes on and I'm going to go start the car so it will be warm for you."
"But Scott I keep dripping water. What do I do?"
"I don't know. Put another nightgown on and stuff another towel between your legs. They'll probably take everything off you as soon as you get there anyway."
As Scott grabbed his coat to go start the car he grabbed his cell phone and called his parents on the way out. They agreed to meet them at the hospital.
When Scott pulled up to the emergency entrance at the hospital, the nurses were already waiting for them with a wheel chair to take Shelby back to the delivery room. Scott parked the car and ran into the emergency room looking for Shelby but he didn't know where they had taken her. Scott began to panic and ran around the corner to ask for help. In the process of not watching where he was going he ran into and nearly knocked over a dark haired women. He grabbed a hold of her arms to keep her from falling over and became face to face with her.
"Scott is that you?" He couldn't believe it. Of all the people in the world he had to run into HER. It was Elaine. "What are you doing here and when did you get back from Horizon? Is something wrong with your father, is he here?" She was still holding on to him where she reached out to prevent from falling.
"What is this 20 questions? Let go of me. I don't have time to talk to you." He started to walk away but she reached out and grabbed him by the arm. " Scott I want to talk to you so . . ."
Before she could finish a nurse came up to Scott. "Are you the one whose wife is having the baby?"
"Yeah."
"Ok follow me. She's screaming for you."
"You're married and having a baby?"
Scott looked over his shoulder as he followed the nurse down the hall. "Get lost Elaine."
Elaine stood in the hall frustrated and fuming. That baby should have been mine.
Scott was taken in to the changing room and was told to put on the sterile gowns in order to stay in the room with Shelby. When he got in the room Shelby was a mess. The contractions were coming strong and hard. He tried to get her to focus on the breathing techniques that they had learned in childbirth class but Shelby didn't want any part of it. The tenser she got the more the contractions hurt. She had already dilated beyond the point of an epideral so she had to go through this complete natural.
The hours started ticking away and Shelby's dilation stopped at 9. Shelby was exhausted from dealing with the pain. Scott felt so helpless because there was nothing he could do to ease her pain. She would be yelling at him one minute and then needing him the next. Scott felt like a yo yo being pulled back and forth. It was now 5:00 in the morning and they had been there since 11:30 the night before. The Dr. was about to suggest a cesarean section when Shelby said she had the urge to push.
They checked her dilation and found that she had proceeded to 10. It was now time to push the baby into the birth canal. The prenatal I.C.U staff was ready and standing by to take the infant into their care as soon as it was delivered.
They made Shelby sit up into an incline position with Scott behind her propping her up. When she felt the contraction start and the pressure to push, she was to bear down as hard as she could while Scott counted off 1-10. Once the contraction was over she would take a breath and began the whole process all over again until the crowning of the head.
Scott thought that once you pushed then the baby were suppose to be out but things weren't going the way he had expected. The cycle of contraction, bear down push, and breath suddenly have lapsed into an hour and Shelby had no energy left to push. The Dr. was about ready to use forceps but Shelby said no. She would keep trying. To help Shelby out a little, a nurse pushed hard on her stomach when the next contraction started. This helped bring the baby lower and they were finally able to see the head.
""Ok Shelby, I can see the baby's head. Just one more good strong push and you're home free."
Shelby took a deep breath and Scott pushed her up. She pushed as hard as she could and she could feel the pain of herself tearing but at this point it didn't matter because she just wanted the baby out.
"Head is through. Stop pushing now. Just relax and let me get the shoulders through." Shelby was breathing hard trying to catch her breath again and Scott was still supporting her in an upright position. Shelby then felt all the pressure release as the Dr. pulled the baby the rest of the way out.
"Congratulations you have a baby boy."
Shelby reached up and grabbed Scott around the neck and gave him a big hug. He was bent over with her arms wrapped around his neck when they head the Dr. say, "Ok dad, cut the cord in between these two clamps." Scott was nervous but he knew that it had to be done by someone and he wanted to take part. As soon as he cut the cord the baby was immediately given to the ICU nurse and taken out.
Shelby began to sense that something was wrong by the way the nurses took her baby away. "What's going on? What's wrong with him? I never even head him cry. He's not alive is he?" Shelby started to go into hysterics crying and trashing about. Scott tried to calm her down but she was even punching him. The nurse came in a gave her a sedative to calm her down while the Dr. delivered the after birth and repaired the tears that she had experienced.
The combination of the sedative and exhaustion caused Shelby to drift off to sleep in no time. With Shelby asleep, Scott began the Q & A. "So what aren't you telling us. Shelby was right, he never did cry. Is he alive or not?"