Sarah shifted uncomfortably. At 38 weeks, she'd been checking in with Elliot and Olivia daily and was at their house for dinner. Both of them had noticed her discomfort over the last several minutes and were eyeing her in concern. "My back has been increasingly sore the last few hours," she admitted.

"Do you think you're in labor?" Elliot asked.

"I can't tell," Sarah responded. "The back pain could be early labor, but I haven't felt any contractions yet. I just can't seem to get comfortable."

"Why don't you stay here tonight just in case?" Olivia suggested.

"I can go grab your bag," Elliot added. "Anything else I should get?"

"My phone charger, it's in my bedroom. And there is a small grocery bag of snacks in the kitchen. Moms are usually starving after delivery, and if it's the middle of the night, there aren't always a lot of options."

"Got it," Elliot said and headed out.

"Why don't we move into the family room?" Olivia suggested, noticing Sarah seemed done with dinner. "You'll be more comfortable on the couch." Olivia brought Sarah extra pillows to prop behind her back.

Noah was hopping from foot to foot. "I can't wait to meet the baby, Sarah! Do you think she'll be born tonight?"

Sarah laughed. "I'm not positive I'm in labor yet, and even if I am, it could take a while. Especially with a first baby, labor can take a day or two."

"A day or two," Noah exclaimed. "I don't know if I can wait that long!"

"Me either!" Sarah responded. A few minutes later, she gasped. "That was a contraction," she told Olivia.

"I think the baby is going to be born tonight," Noah said excitedly.

"I hope so!" Sarah answered. Several minutes later, she looked at Olivia. "I just had another one."

"That's pretty close together. Should I start timing them?"

"You don't need to until they're stronger. Those only lasted a few seconds."

Elliot took Noah and Eli upstairs once he returned so Sarah could have more privacy. "Good luck," Eli told her. Noah gave Sarah a hug.

"Can I visit you in the hospital and meet the baby?" he asked with shining eyes.

"Let's see how Sarah is feeling then," Elliot interjected.

"You can either visit in the hospital or after I get home," Sarah added. "I promise."

Olivia called to check in with Dr Hernandez's office, and they watched tv to help distract Sarah while Olivia loosely monitored her contractions. Sarah got up to go to the bathroom, and called out to Olivia a minute later. "My water just broke," she said, smiling. Olivia hugged her. Sarah changed into one of the extra sets of clothing she'd kept at their house, while Olivia called back the doctor's office.

"The nurse said to come in now and that Dr Hernandez is about to start her shift. Let me just give Elliot a quick update." She texted him, and he came downstairs a minute later.

"Do you want me to drop you and Olivia off?" he asked Sarah.

"Yes, thanks," Sarah answered. "Sorry about my water breaking on your bathroom floor."

"I've had five kids, and it's a bathroom floor. Please don't worry about it."

The triage nurse quickly got Sarah into a room, and her nurse, Alex, helped her get settled in. Alex was extremely sensitive, explaining everything she did to Sarah beforehand and anticipating things that might make her uncomfortable. She also had anyone coming into the room page her first so Sarah wasn't surprised.

Sarah mentioned how thoughtful Alex was and Alex explained that one of her friends had recently gotten pregnant after an assault. "I was her support person during labor. She has a 3 month old. I can't give her your contact information obviously, but If you want to meet her, I could check with her and potentially give you hers. I know she's felt isolated, and I think she'd be interested in connecting."

"I would love to connect to her," Sarah said. "In a few weeks maybe!" she added after another contraction.

Dr Hernandez came in, and Sarah was relieved to see her doctor. Even though she'd met the other female partners in the practice, it was reassuring to have her own doctor there.

"You're already at 5 centimeters," she told Sarah. "You're progressing really quickly for a first baby. You should be in active labor shortly," she said, "and my guess is based on how fast things are moving, I'll be the one delivering her."

Only two hours later, Sarah told Alex she needed to push, and Dr Hernandez came back in. "You're doing a fantastic job," Dr Hernandez told her. "You're fully dilated." Forty-five minutes later, Sarah was exhausted. "You're crowning," Dr Hernandez told her, "just another few pushes." With Alex and Olivia encouraging her, Sarah pushed again, groaning. "The head is out," Dr Hernandez said. "One more, Sarah." Sarah pushed again, and a second later felt the baby come out and heard her crying. "She looks great," Dr Hernandez said as she cut the umbilical cord.

"6 pounds, 2 ounces, Alex said. "19 inches long. She was born at 11:57." Sarah looked at Olivia. "Noah was right about her being born tonight," she said. Alex gathered the baby in a blanket and gently handed her to Sarah.

Sarah stroked the baby's head and looked at her in awe. "She's perfect," she said tearfully. "I love you," she murmured to the baby. "I love you so much, Emmeline."

"What a beautiful name!" Olivia said.

"Emmeline Rose," Sarah said. "I'm going to call her Emmy."

"Welcome to the world, Emmy," Olivia said. "She looks so much like you, Sarah."

Sarah ate some snacks while Olivia called Elliot. When Alex brought Emmy back in after cleaning her up and examining her, Sarah brought the baby to her breast, and she latched on for a few minutes before falling asleep.

"That's great for the first time," Alex said. "Why don't both of you get some sleep?" She helped Sarah get settled with ice packs and showed Olivia how to pull the chair out into a bed.

"How are you doing?" Olivia asked, once Sarah was settled in bed and Emmy in the bassinet. "So happy," Sarah told her. "Totally in love. And exhausted," she added with a yawn.

"Sleep well," Olivia told her. "I'm so thrilled for you and Emmy."