Maria's next conscious thought was strong hands on her knees and an
unbelieveable blindly pain. She didn't know what was happening to her, she
didn't understand how something could be this painful.
"Welcome back, Baroness," she heard a strong male voice say, "You sure shook things up today."
"Is the baby okay?" Maria asked, breathing hard against the pain.
"Everything will be fine, Baroness, you just leave that to me," Dr. Skinner tried to comfort, "sometimes first babies take their time and other times their in a hurry. And yet others seem to start off one way and end up another, that seems to be the case with Baby von Trapp here."
"It's all right, Mother," Liesl's soft voice spoke, "Dr. Skinner will take care of everything."
"How long is this going to take? Half hour, forty minutes?" Maria asked, pushing herself up in the bed a bit more.
"Shouldn't be too much longer, Baroness," Dr. Skinner comforted, "Liesl, why don't you get your mother a cool rag for her forehead and Frau Schmidt, why don't you get some ice? Now, Maria, I want you to breathe slowly, in through your nose and out through your mouth, breathing this fast will make you dizzy and we can't have the new mother being dizzy," Dr. Skinner told her.
"Since when does baby birthing rate a doctor, Sir?" Maria asked, her brow knitting, "There must be something wrong."
"Try and control your breathing," he responded, covering Maria with a light white sheet.
"Your lack of response is not comforting me, Dr. Skinner," Maria replied.
"Nothing is wrong, Baroness. Frau Gunther cannot make it up from Salzburg, too many things going on down there. Anyway, while I'm here, you might as well take advantage of it."
Maria rested her head against the pillow and tried to relax. Dr. Skinner was a nice capable doctor even if he was a Nazi. He was medical corp. that had some redeeming value.
"Is there anything else you need, Baroness?" Dr. Skinner asked, washing his hands in water and alcohol.
"Nothing you can get me, Dr. Skinner," Maria replied.
Dr. Skinner smiled in sympathy reading her thoughts, "I'll see to it that as soon as the baby comes a message is sent to the base so that as soon as the Captain docks, he'll know about his son or daughter."
Maria smiled and tried to stay calm and relaxed while Lisl tried to cool her down and keep her comfortable.
"I was so proud of Friederich, Mother," Liesl commented in between contractions, "It was like he was finally remembering he's part of this family."
"I'm glad, Liesl. Sometimes all you need is a kick in the caboose," Maria smiled and sucked on some of the ice Frau Schmidt brought.
"I wish Father were here," Liesl said, "He'd know what to do. Then we wouldn't need Dr. Skinner to..."
"Liesl," Maria stalled her, "Dr. Skinner is a good doctor. I'm glad he's here."
Liesl fell silent and when the next contraction came she helped Maria breath through it, "That's it, Mother," Liesl encouraged, "nice and slow, in and out, in and out."
Liesl's voice was melodic, hypnotic almost and soothing to Maria during the contractions. A combination of exhaustion, Liesl's voice and the horrid heat made Maria's eye lids droop and for a few moments she fell asleep.
Somewhere in the Aegean Sea
Captain von Trapp had been ill at ease all day. He was jumpy, fidgety, and at times downright distracted. His men knew him well; they knew this awkward behavior was very unlike their leader.
At breakfast they noticed the Captain put six scoops of coffee in his cup instead of in the grinder. At drills he never inspected the lines, and now at supper he moved his rice around on his plate, never touching a bit of food. The men voted amongst themselves to decide which one of them would approach him about his very peculiar behavior. Finally Lieutenant Schreiner volunteered.
After evening inspections, Schreiner sought the Captain out in his quarters for an audience, "Sir, might we speak?" he politely inquired.
"Yes, of course," the Captain replied, "what's on your mind?"
"Actually, Sir, I wanted to ask you that," the Lieutenant told him, "The men and I we noticed you seem, um, a bit off today and..."
"Oh, I do, do I?" the Captain asked, "And I suppose you have no other duty or work to occupy your time with discussing my moods."
"No, Sir, it's not like...what, I mean, Sir is, if one of us seems off our game you always check on us, find out why. We wanted to extend you the same courtesy," Schreiner explained.
"I'm sorry," the Captain apologized, "I have been out of the loop today. Something just feels wrong."
"You think someone's detected us?" Schreiner asked.
"No, it's not that, it's something else," the Captain replied, "its one of my children or..."
"Or?" Schreiner asked, his brow knitting at how tuned in his Captain was to his family.
"Maria."
Villa von Trapp
"And a deep cleansing breath," Dr. Skinner instructed, "Good job, Baroness."
"Doctor," Maria panted as Frau Schmidt gave her an ice cube, "considering the highly personal level on which we are presently working. I believe Maria would be a more fitting form of address."
"All right," the doctor replied, "but only if you call me Wladyslaw."
"Fine," Maria replied, beginning to breath again as another strong contraction seized her, "Ah, ow!" she cried out.
"How much longer, Doctor. She's been at this for six hours," Liesl asked growing worried, "none of the other von Trapp's took this long."
"Maria, after this contraction, I'm going to examine you again, all right?" Dr. Skinner asked.
Maria could only nod as she panted through the cutting pain. When the contraction eased Dr. Skinner took the sheet off and checked Maria's progress. Then he placed his stethoscope on her belly and listened to the baby's heart beat.
"Maria, your contractions are really close together and their getting kind of intense..."
"No kidding," Maria snapped, "Like you would know."
"Maria, please, listen to me. You're contractions are really close together and very intense and the baby isn't handling it as well as we'd like. It may become necessary to perform surgery to get the baby," Dr. Skinner explained.
"What?" Liesl gasped as Maria's cry of shock was over shadowed by a cry of pain.
"Fraulein, in order to deliver a baby successfully the mother's cervix has to dilate to 10 centimeters. Your mother only dilated to six. It's been six hours of active labor, I may have to do surgery to get the baby out," the doctor explained.
"How long can you wait?" Frau Schmidt asked, she knew the risks of c- sections.
"Not much longer," Dr. Skinner replied seriously.
Three Hours Later
"All right, Maria," Dr. Skinner, "the choice is yours. We can try and push the baby out at eight centimeters or I can anesthetize you and do a C- section."
"I want to try," Maria panted, "I don't want surgery."
"Okay, we'll give it a shot, but I reserve the right to reconsider the decision at any time if I feel it's beginning too risky," Dr. Skinner explained, "Now, Liesl, stand next to your mother and support her. Frau Schmidt, do the same on the other side. Maria on the next contraction you are going to push for ten seconds, rest for five, push for ten...get ready, push."
Maria followed Dr. Skinner's instructions, pushing and breathing at regular intervals. It seemed to go on forever, until finally he said, "All right, Maria, the baby's crowning. When I tell you give me a really big push. I know you have one in you."
"No," she protested, "I'm tired," Maria whispered too weak to really talk.
"I know, but it'll be over soon then you can rest," he promised, "Now, Maria. Push!"
Maria pushed with all her remaining strength to try and give her child life. She felt the burden expel itself partially from her body.
"Damn!" she heard the doctor swear, "Maria stop pushing. Shoulder distotia."
"What's that?" Liesl voiced everyone's question as Maria let out a cry.
"I have to push," she sobbed, "get it out."
"You can't," the doctor warned, "The baby's shoulders caught on the public bone. Maria listen to me, I'm going to make one more try at delivery. Liesl, Frau Schmidt, push her legs up near her head," he instructed reaching for a pair of forceps, "I'm going to try and free the shoulder."
Maria was openly sobbing with pain as Dr. Skinner tried to deliver the baby. The little one's scalp was turning blue and he was not achieving success.
"Let her go," he told them, "I have to push the baby back in," To Maria who was barely conscious he explained, "It's now or never. I have to go in and get the baby out. There's no time for anesthetic now, I'll try to be quick."
Frau Schmidt and Liesl held Maria's hands while Dr. Skinner hastily sterilized his scalpels and instruments, "I'm ready. On three...one, two..." He made the first cut before he said three and Maria screamed, "Georg!" as loud as her minimal strength would allow, before passing out from the blinding pain.
Somewhere in the Aegean Sea
"Maria!" the Captain shouted, then realized he was not in their bedroom at the villa but in his quarters on his submarines. The dream had been awful. He'd sen Maria, unconscious and bleeding as a doctor cut their child out of her womb.
He knew dreams were not reality, but this one felt real. He knew in his heart that at the moment Maria and their baby's lives hung in the balance and depended on the skills of a Nazi doctor and their was nothing he could do about it, but there was.
Georg crossed himself, and prayed as fiercely as he ever had, "Let them be all right, Lord. Let her be all right. If you have to choose, if you must choose, let he be all right."
"Welcome back, Baroness," she heard a strong male voice say, "You sure shook things up today."
"Is the baby okay?" Maria asked, breathing hard against the pain.
"Everything will be fine, Baroness, you just leave that to me," Dr. Skinner tried to comfort, "sometimes first babies take their time and other times their in a hurry. And yet others seem to start off one way and end up another, that seems to be the case with Baby von Trapp here."
"It's all right, Mother," Liesl's soft voice spoke, "Dr. Skinner will take care of everything."
"How long is this going to take? Half hour, forty minutes?" Maria asked, pushing herself up in the bed a bit more.
"Shouldn't be too much longer, Baroness," Dr. Skinner comforted, "Liesl, why don't you get your mother a cool rag for her forehead and Frau Schmidt, why don't you get some ice? Now, Maria, I want you to breathe slowly, in through your nose and out through your mouth, breathing this fast will make you dizzy and we can't have the new mother being dizzy," Dr. Skinner told her.
"Since when does baby birthing rate a doctor, Sir?" Maria asked, her brow knitting, "There must be something wrong."
"Try and control your breathing," he responded, covering Maria with a light white sheet.
"Your lack of response is not comforting me, Dr. Skinner," Maria replied.
"Nothing is wrong, Baroness. Frau Gunther cannot make it up from Salzburg, too many things going on down there. Anyway, while I'm here, you might as well take advantage of it."
Maria rested her head against the pillow and tried to relax. Dr. Skinner was a nice capable doctor even if he was a Nazi. He was medical corp. that had some redeeming value.
"Is there anything else you need, Baroness?" Dr. Skinner asked, washing his hands in water and alcohol.
"Nothing you can get me, Dr. Skinner," Maria replied.
Dr. Skinner smiled in sympathy reading her thoughts, "I'll see to it that as soon as the baby comes a message is sent to the base so that as soon as the Captain docks, he'll know about his son or daughter."
Maria smiled and tried to stay calm and relaxed while Lisl tried to cool her down and keep her comfortable.
"I was so proud of Friederich, Mother," Liesl commented in between contractions, "It was like he was finally remembering he's part of this family."
"I'm glad, Liesl. Sometimes all you need is a kick in the caboose," Maria smiled and sucked on some of the ice Frau Schmidt brought.
"I wish Father were here," Liesl said, "He'd know what to do. Then we wouldn't need Dr. Skinner to..."
"Liesl," Maria stalled her, "Dr. Skinner is a good doctor. I'm glad he's here."
Liesl fell silent and when the next contraction came she helped Maria breath through it, "That's it, Mother," Liesl encouraged, "nice and slow, in and out, in and out."
Liesl's voice was melodic, hypnotic almost and soothing to Maria during the contractions. A combination of exhaustion, Liesl's voice and the horrid heat made Maria's eye lids droop and for a few moments she fell asleep.
Somewhere in the Aegean Sea
Captain von Trapp had been ill at ease all day. He was jumpy, fidgety, and at times downright distracted. His men knew him well; they knew this awkward behavior was very unlike their leader.
At breakfast they noticed the Captain put six scoops of coffee in his cup instead of in the grinder. At drills he never inspected the lines, and now at supper he moved his rice around on his plate, never touching a bit of food. The men voted amongst themselves to decide which one of them would approach him about his very peculiar behavior. Finally Lieutenant Schreiner volunteered.
After evening inspections, Schreiner sought the Captain out in his quarters for an audience, "Sir, might we speak?" he politely inquired.
"Yes, of course," the Captain replied, "what's on your mind?"
"Actually, Sir, I wanted to ask you that," the Lieutenant told him, "The men and I we noticed you seem, um, a bit off today and..."
"Oh, I do, do I?" the Captain asked, "And I suppose you have no other duty or work to occupy your time with discussing my moods."
"No, Sir, it's not like...what, I mean, Sir is, if one of us seems off our game you always check on us, find out why. We wanted to extend you the same courtesy," Schreiner explained.
"I'm sorry," the Captain apologized, "I have been out of the loop today. Something just feels wrong."
"You think someone's detected us?" Schreiner asked.
"No, it's not that, it's something else," the Captain replied, "its one of my children or..."
"Or?" Schreiner asked, his brow knitting at how tuned in his Captain was to his family.
"Maria."
Villa von Trapp
"And a deep cleansing breath," Dr. Skinner instructed, "Good job, Baroness."
"Doctor," Maria panted as Frau Schmidt gave her an ice cube, "considering the highly personal level on which we are presently working. I believe Maria would be a more fitting form of address."
"All right," the doctor replied, "but only if you call me Wladyslaw."
"Fine," Maria replied, beginning to breath again as another strong contraction seized her, "Ah, ow!" she cried out.
"How much longer, Doctor. She's been at this for six hours," Liesl asked growing worried, "none of the other von Trapp's took this long."
"Maria, after this contraction, I'm going to examine you again, all right?" Dr. Skinner asked.
Maria could only nod as she panted through the cutting pain. When the contraction eased Dr. Skinner took the sheet off and checked Maria's progress. Then he placed his stethoscope on her belly and listened to the baby's heart beat.
"Maria, your contractions are really close together and their getting kind of intense..."
"No kidding," Maria snapped, "Like you would know."
"Maria, please, listen to me. You're contractions are really close together and very intense and the baby isn't handling it as well as we'd like. It may become necessary to perform surgery to get the baby," Dr. Skinner explained.
"What?" Liesl gasped as Maria's cry of shock was over shadowed by a cry of pain.
"Fraulein, in order to deliver a baby successfully the mother's cervix has to dilate to 10 centimeters. Your mother only dilated to six. It's been six hours of active labor, I may have to do surgery to get the baby out," the doctor explained.
"How long can you wait?" Frau Schmidt asked, she knew the risks of c- sections.
"Not much longer," Dr. Skinner replied seriously.
Three Hours Later
"All right, Maria," Dr. Skinner, "the choice is yours. We can try and push the baby out at eight centimeters or I can anesthetize you and do a C- section."
"I want to try," Maria panted, "I don't want surgery."
"Okay, we'll give it a shot, but I reserve the right to reconsider the decision at any time if I feel it's beginning too risky," Dr. Skinner explained, "Now, Liesl, stand next to your mother and support her. Frau Schmidt, do the same on the other side. Maria on the next contraction you are going to push for ten seconds, rest for five, push for ten...get ready, push."
Maria followed Dr. Skinner's instructions, pushing and breathing at regular intervals. It seemed to go on forever, until finally he said, "All right, Maria, the baby's crowning. When I tell you give me a really big push. I know you have one in you."
"No," she protested, "I'm tired," Maria whispered too weak to really talk.
"I know, but it'll be over soon then you can rest," he promised, "Now, Maria. Push!"
Maria pushed with all her remaining strength to try and give her child life. She felt the burden expel itself partially from her body.
"Damn!" she heard the doctor swear, "Maria stop pushing. Shoulder distotia."
"What's that?" Liesl voiced everyone's question as Maria let out a cry.
"I have to push," she sobbed, "get it out."
"You can't," the doctor warned, "The baby's shoulders caught on the public bone. Maria listen to me, I'm going to make one more try at delivery. Liesl, Frau Schmidt, push her legs up near her head," he instructed reaching for a pair of forceps, "I'm going to try and free the shoulder."
Maria was openly sobbing with pain as Dr. Skinner tried to deliver the baby. The little one's scalp was turning blue and he was not achieving success.
"Let her go," he told them, "I have to push the baby back in," To Maria who was barely conscious he explained, "It's now or never. I have to go in and get the baby out. There's no time for anesthetic now, I'll try to be quick."
Frau Schmidt and Liesl held Maria's hands while Dr. Skinner hastily sterilized his scalpels and instruments, "I'm ready. On three...one, two..." He made the first cut before he said three and Maria screamed, "Georg!" as loud as her minimal strength would allow, before passing out from the blinding pain.
Somewhere in the Aegean Sea
"Maria!" the Captain shouted, then realized he was not in their bedroom at the villa but in his quarters on his submarines. The dream had been awful. He'd sen Maria, unconscious and bleeding as a doctor cut their child out of her womb.
He knew dreams were not reality, but this one felt real. He knew in his heart that at the moment Maria and their baby's lives hung in the balance and depended on the skills of a Nazi doctor and their was nothing he could do about it, but there was.
Georg crossed himself, and prayed as fiercely as he ever had, "Let them be all right, Lord. Let her be all right. If you have to choose, if you must choose, let he be all right."
