Chapter Eleven
Maria's next conscious thought was of strong hands on her knees and an unbelievable blindly pain across her belly. 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."
It was Dr. Skinner. She was in her bedroom, in her bed, and Dr. Skinner was in the room. She looked around, eyes wide and wild, glancing from Frau Schmidt to Liesl and back to the doctor's chocolate brown gaze.
The baby. Something must be wrong with the baby. "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 the distressed new mother. He had seen the signs of dehydration earlier in the day but hadn't pressed it. Now that Maria was laboring so hard and so fast, it was catching up with her. He had to keep her calm. "Sometimes first babies take their time and other times they're in a hurry. 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 as some of her strength returned. Liesl held out a cup of water and Maria drank gratefully.
"Shouldn't be too much longer, Baroness," Dr. Skinner comforted, "Maria, I want you to breathe slowly, in through your nose and out through your mouth, breathing this fast will make you lightheaded," Dr. Skinner told her.
Something felt wrong. The doctor was too focused, too concerned. The plan was to have Frau Gunther up for the delivery. Maria didn't want to have a doctor during labor at all, and she certainly didn't want this particular doctor. "Since when does baby birthing rate a doctor, Sir?" Maria asked, trying to get an emotion to flash on the doctor's face. "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." It was best to keep her in the dark just a bit about the dramatic start to her labor. Talk of her passing out and bleeding when her water broke wouldn't serve any purpose.
Maria rested her head against the pillow and tried to relax. Dr. Skinner was a capable doctor even if he was a Nazi. He was medical corp. that had redeeming value.
"Is there anything else you need, Baroness?" Dr. Skinner asked, washing his hands in water and alcohol after checking Maria's dilation and effacement.
"Nothing you can get me, Dr. Skinner," Maria replied. Maria closed her eyes and thought of Georg. On their honeymoon, they had talked about children. He told her how he was with Agathe for any of the births he was home for. They didn't subscribe to the theory that the father should not be present while the mother labored. Georg had held Agathe's hand, spoke to her, sang to her…they dreamt of that moment for their own children, another unrealized fantasy.
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 Liesl tried to cool her down and keep her comfortable with cool wash clothes and as much water as Maria would take.
"I was so proud of Friedrich, 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 inhaled deeply.
"I wish Father were here," Liesl said.
Maria smiled gently, "I do too. Hopefully he can come home soon, after he docks, to see the baby."
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
The Captain 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 defensively. "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 preoccupied or upset, 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 on edge all day. Something just feels wrong."
"You think someone's detected us?" Schreiner asked.
"No, it's not that, it's something else," the Captain replied. "It's 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 held her hand. "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. "If you call me Wladyslaw."
"Fine," Maria replied, beginning to breathe again as another strong contraction seized her. "Ah, ow!" she cried out.
"How much longer, Doctor? She's been at this for hours," Liesl asked growing worried.
"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 heartbeat.
"Maria, your contractions are really close together and their getting kind of intense..." he began.
Maria snapped at him. "Like you would know."
"Maria, please, listen to me. Your contractions are really close together, very intense, and the baby isn't handling it as well as I'd like. It may become necessary to perform surgery to get the baby out," 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 hours of active labor but not much in the way of progress. I might have to intervene," 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. "You're fully dilated, but the space is still very tight. We can try to push the baby out, or I can go and get it."
"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. He took a scalpel from his medicine bag and quickly cut and episiotomy to try and widen the space for the baby to pass through.
"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..."
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. Ready, one, two, three and push…"
"No," she protested. "I'm tired," Maria whispered too weak to say much more.
"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!" Dr. Skinner swore as the baby stopped moving toward him. "Maria stop pushing, the baby's should is caught up on your pubic bone."
"I have to push," Maria sobbed. Her body wasn't giving her any relief anymore. "Get it out!"
"You can't push, Maria. Don't push until I tell you. '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. " As far as they will go, and pull them open, up and over. I'm going to try and free the jammed 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, it's not working. 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 submarine. The dream had been awful. He'd seen 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 there was nothing he could do about it.
Georg blessed 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 her be all right."