Chapter 19
The next sound was a baby's cry. Jed looked at the wet newborn being held so securely in Millie's hands.
"It's a girl, Abbey. A girl!" A broad smile came across Millie's face as she wiped the newborn off.
"Is she okay?" Abbey asked anxiously.
"Looks fine to me. Ten fingers and ten toes. Jed, want to cut the cord?"
"Uhhh,….," was all Jed could say as Millie handed him the scissors. He took them and hesitantly cut when Millie pointed. "Does it hurt her?"
"No, it doesn't. Do you want to hold her? I'm not finished with the delivery yet."
Jed nodded as Millie placed a towel-clad, wet newborn in his arms. He turned so Abbey could see her as well.
"A daughter. We have a daughter." Jed continued to look at the squalling newborn in amazement. "I have a daughter."
Abbey tried to watch his reaction. It wasn't a boy, but their daughter did appear to be healthy.
"I love you, Babe." He was leaning over to kiss Abbey as another contraction hit.
"Ugggh!"
This scared Jed. He thought her pain was over. "What's wrong? I thought the delivery was over."
Millie finally answered him. "Jed, its' okay. I'm just delivering the afterbirth. It's okay."
"Oh. Anything else?"
"No, Jed. It's over. Place the baby on Abbey's chest and help her to start nursing. That'll help to control the bleeding."
"Bleeding? Abbey's bleeding? How bad?" Nobody had told him of any complications Abbey could have.
Now it was both women's time to laugh.
Abbey responded first. "Jed, it's okay. This is normal. I need to nurse so the uterus will shrink and cut off the blood vessels that the placenta was attached to."
"Oh. Here's the baby. How do I place her?"
With assistance from Abbey, the newborn was soon nursing contently. "Ow! It's been a while since I've done this. This little one can suck." But only joy was expressed on her shining face.
Watching Abbey with the baby expanded Jed's heart with joy and love. 'Another girl is just fine with me. She's here safely and appears to be healthy. And the love of my life is going to be okay. Yeah, things will be just fine.'