Welcome back to another chapter everyone, I hope you're having a wonderful day and staying safe.
I'm really sorry once again about the long wait for this chapter. The last week has been a lot busier for me than I originally thought so I haven't had as much time to concentrate on writing this chapter as I would've liked to. But I really am hoping that I can produce these next few chapters after this one a lot quicker.
If you haven't already read it, I uploaded a new upstead one shot just over a week ago, so feel free to give that a read if you want to.
It was a bitterly cold November evening in Chicago, Hailey had just started her 39th week of her pregnancy and Sophia's due date was only 6 days away now. Over the last couple of weeks, everything was pointing to an imminent arrival of Sophia, Hailey's bump had dropped as her baby pushed deeper down into her pelvis and had 'engaged'. There had also been a few scares over the last few weeks, particularly in the last couple of days, as Hailey had experienced Braxton hick's contractions, thankfully after moving position and having a glass of water they subsided. The last couple of weeks had been quite difficult for Hailey, she was definitely feeling the effects of late pregnancy, she was finding that she was feeling tired for a large majority of the day, cramps and aches in her body were becoming more frequent and more intense, causing her to find it increasingly difficult to get a good night sleep.
It was a little after eight in the evening, it had been another tough day for Hailey, the intense ache in her back had been prominent throughout the day, and she just felt drained of energy after another rough night of sleep. The two of them had just finished off a meal that Jay had prepared for them and Hailey was now relaxing into the softness of the couch after running to the bathroom for what felt like the hundredth time today.
"Hails, Do you want me to do you a bowl of strawberry's and raspberry's with your yogurt?" Jay called out from his position in the kitchen, a wide smile of his face as he settled his gaze on his fiancée.
"Yes please, baby. Not too many though, I'm feeling rather full after that meal." Hailey replied, returning a wide smile to Jay as she turned her head and looked over her shoulder towards Jay. Jay joined Hailey on the couch a couple of minutes later, his arm stretching around her shoulders as she leaned her head against his shoulder, slowly working her way through the berries. "Thank you baby, I love you." Hailey whispered, snuggling into his body a little tighter.
"I love you too Hails." Jay whispered against the top of her head, lowering his lips to kiss the top of her head a couple of times.
They had only been settled on the couch for a few minutes, watching an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, when Hailey felt a pain at the back of her abdomen. Hailey's hand clutched onto Jay's, as her scrunched up and she gasped and groaned as she powered through the pain that had now moved to the front of her abdomen, the pain of the contraction a lot more intense than she had experienced before.
Jay clutched onto Hailey tighter as she powered through her latest contraction, trying his best to comfort her as there wasn't much else he could do for her. "Are you okay baby? That one seemed more intense than others you've had lately." Jay questioned softly, worry laced clearly on his voice.
"I'm good Jay." Hailey replied, tilting her head to smile up towards Jay. "It was probably just a Braxton hick's contraction that was a little more intense. But, let's keep track in case I have some more tonight, and then we can speak to Natalie if something changes." Hailey suggested, lifting her head up to give Jay a quick kiss before settling back on his shoulder, turning her attention back to the TV.
Over the next hour it quickly became apparent that Hailey's contractions weren't Braxton hicks and that she was going into labour. Hailey had powered through three more contractions in the last hour, the time between each one becoming progressively closer together. The intensity of the pain of the contractions was increasing with each contraction as well as the length of each contraction, Hailey's latest one lasting for close to forty seconds.
Jay was upstairs collecting all of the bags they needed to take to the hospital when Hailey's next contraction hit, only 15 minutes since her last contraction. Hailey's face scrunched up and she cried out in pain at the tightening pain in the front of her abdomen, the pain being the most intense out of the contractions Hailey had experienced tonight. As Hailey struggled against the pain she felt her underwear suddenly dampen, the colourless fluid trailing down her bare legs as her water broke.
"Jay, we better get to the hospital, my water just broke." Hailey called out, breathing slightly heavy as she calmed down after her latest contraction.
Hailey was instantly joined by Jay, who rushed down the stairs with multiple bags hanging off his shoulders. Jay carefully helped Hailey up off the couch and helped her put on one of his hoodies and a pair of sweatpants, protecting Hailey from the bitter cold of a November evening in Chicago. The two of them carefully made their way to Jay's truck, setting off in the direction of Chicago Med, both of them nervous but excited for the long night ahead of them.
The ride from their house to Chicago med wasn't a long journey, but in that time, Hailey had been through two more contractions, the intensity of the contraction continuing to increasing while the time between them was now down to twelve minutes. On the journey over, Jay had called Natalie to alert her of their imminent arrival so as they pulled up to the hospital, Natalie and a couple of nurses were ready with a wheelchair for Hailey, wheeling her straight upstairs to the room where Hailey will give birth to Sophia.
After wheeling Hailey up to her room, Natalie and the nurses left the couple of get comfortable in their room that they would be occupying for the night, Hailey changing out of her hoodie and sweatpants and into an oversized top she had packed ready. Just as Jay and Hailey were sharing a cute moment to themselves, Jay wrapping Hailey in a massive hug as she nuzzled her head into his chest, another contraction hit Hailey hard, the intensity still increasing as she cried out in pain.
After a few minutes and another contraction, Hailey and Jay were joined by Natalie, the doctor explaining a few things to Hailey about what the next few hours had in store for her. Once talking through a few things Natalie set out to examine Hailey's cervix to see how far into labour Hailey actually was.
"You're definitely in active labour Hailey, your cervix has dilated to 5cm. The next few hours could be slow progress as your cervix continues to dilates as this is your first baby, one of the nurses or I will keep a close eye on your progress over the next few hours to make sure you're progressing at a good pace and if you're not we can always speed up the process if it's necessary. Before I leave you for now, are you still not wanting an epidural?" Natalie explained and questioned, her calming voice helping ease any nerves that Hailey and Jay might have.
"No, I still want to have a natural birth. I know you said the chance of any complications with an epidural is very low but I don't want to take the risk, I don't want to put my little girl in any risk." Hailey replied, earning a smile from Jay who tightened his grip on her hand, lifting it up to plant a kiss on the back of her hand.
"You can always request for an epidural if you change your mind Hailey, just let us know and we can get it sorted for you. I'll leave the two of you for a little while now, I'll be back to keep checking on your progress soon but please don't hesitate to ask anything from me in the meantime." Natalie followed up, sending the couple a massive smile before she left the room.
The next couple of hours were long and painful for Hailey, her contractions were increasing in intensity with each one that passed, Hailey only now having 3-4 minutes to relax in between contractions, which were now getting close to a minute long each time. Jay and Hailey had been doing laps of the maternity floor as Hailey tried to stay active to fight against the backaches and the discomfort in her legs. Jay had been right by her side since arriving at the hospital, his arm was wrapped around her shoulders as she leaned against his body as they made their way around the maternity floor, he was constantly whispering compliments and words of encouragement in her ear, knowing that it always made her feel special whenever he did that.
It was only a few minutes before midnight when Hailey decided she needed a long break from all of the walking that her and Jay had been doing, her aches and pains in her back and legs causing her a lot of discomfort. Hailey was sitting in between Jay's legs on the bed as he gave her a back massage when Natalie returned to the room to check up on Hailey's progress.
"Hey guys, I'm not disturbing anything am I?" Natalie questioned as her head peered into the room, a little smile on her face as she saw the couple close together on the bed.
"No, you're fine Nat. Jay's just giving me one of his amazing back massages." Hailey replied, her voice calm as a small moan escaped her lips as Jay continued making his way down her back with his skilled hands.
"That's definitely something I'll be getting Will to do when this little one arrives, it was something that I could've done with when I had Owen." Natalie chuckled, earning smiles from Jay and Hailey. "I've just come to check up on your progress Hailey, you have been progressing well so let's make sure that's still the same." Natalie smiled as she moved up to Hailey's bed. Jay stopped his movements on Hailey's back for a moment to allow Natalie to complete the examination, Jay hoping that Hailey was still making good progress as it was becoming harder and harder for him to watch Hailey in pain, especially as there wasn't a lot that he could do to take that pain away from her.
Just as Natalie finished with her latest examination Hailey was hit with another contraction, this one being the most painful and longest she had experienced so far. Jay quickly moved to clutch her hand and whispered words of encouragement in her ear as he supported her through the latest contraction.
"You're still progressing well Hailey, you're currently at 7cm dilated so you're moving onto the next phase of labour. This next stage won't be as long as what you've been through so far but it's definitely going to be the most intense so far. Your contractions are only going to be 2-3 minutes apart and up to 90 seconds long from now on but you've been handling it really well so far so just keep it up. I'll leave the two of you alone again, I'll be back shortly to check your progress." Natalie explained once Hailey had relaxed after her latest contraction, leaving the room just after finishing her words.
"We should probably let your parents know you're in labour Hails, I'm sure that your mom is going to go crazy when she hears that you're in labour." Jay chuckled as he gently pulled Hailey back to lean against his chest, her head resting against his shoulder as she chuckled at his comment.
"Yeah we probably should. She's probably going to wake up the whole house when we tell her." Hailey chuckled, Jay laughing as well as they both knew exactly what Jennifer was like when she received some good news about her family.
Jay reached over the table besides Hailey's bed and grabbed her phone, quickly finding her mom's number, Jay putting the phone on speaker as he settled back in his position behind Hailey. It only took a matter of seconds for Hailey's mom to answer the call. "Hey darling." Jennifer was cut off by a big yawn. "Is everything alright Hailey?" Jennifer questioned, even though her mom sounded half asleep, Hailey could recognise the worry in her voice.
"The baby is coming mom, I'm at the hospital with Jay." Hailey blurted out. Hailey could instantly hear her mom's phone drop and the sounds of Jennifer waking up Hailey's dad, telling him that their granddaughter was arriving tonight. Hailey leaned further back into Jay's body as the two of them shared a big smile with each other at her mom's antics, knowing that this reaction from her mom was tame compared to what they had expected.
A couple of minutes passed before they heard Hailey's mom pick her phone back up, just before either of them got a chance to speak, Hailey cried out in pain as another contraction hit her hard, Jay staying calm and supporting her through it just like he had been doing for the past few hours.
"I'll let the two of you go and concentrate on what's going on there. We will be on the first flight to Chicago in the morning Hailey, I'm already so excited to see my little granddaughter. I'm so proud of you darling, I love both of you so much." Jennifer finished off, hearing her mom say she was proud of her brought a tear to Hailey's eye. Just like Jay, one of the main things she wanted to achieve in life was to make her parents proud of her, hearing the amount of times her parents had said they were proud of her throughout her pregnancy would always make Hailey so happy and emotional.
It was close to 1:30am in Chicago, nearly five and a half hours had passed since Hailey arrived at the hospital. The last hour and a half had been the toughest so far, Hailey was absolutely shattered from the continuous intense contractions she had been fighting through, each one feeling more and more painful. Hailey was now on the final stretch of the labour process, she was now fully dilated and ready to push to bring Sophia into this world.
Jay was sitting behind Hailey as she prepared to give birth, it was a position that they had agreed on after attending classes and talking to Natalie about her experience. Hailey felt comfortable and calm in Jay's arms, Jay's presence right by her side was such a calming influence for Hailey, all of Jay's quiet compliments and words of encouragement bringing a smile to her face, keeping her spirits high just when she had doubts that she could do this.
Natalie and two nurses were in the room, the two nurses holding Hailey's legs up and providing her with anything that she needed. Natalie was calmly guiding Hailey through the last stage as she prepared to deliver Sophia. "Hailey, I know you're in a lot of pain and you're exhausted but keep pushing with each contraction." Natalie calmly encouraged.
Just as Natalie finished her words another contraction started and Hailey put all of her effort into pushing, crying out loudly in pain as she used all of her remaining energy to push and fight against the pain. "You're doing amazingly Hails. Breathe with me Hails, nice steady breathes just like I'm doing." Jay whispered encouragement in her ear. Feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest was really helping Hailey to keep calm and regulate her breathing. Both of their hands were joined together as Hailey leaned into his body, relaxing into the soothing warmth of his body.
The next 15 minutes were relentless for Hailey, each contraction that came she found herself pushing harder and harder and she had now reached a point where she felt completely drained of energy and losing belief that she could do this. "You're so close Hailey. I need you to push hard on this next contraction Hailey, I know you're exhausted but you can do this Hailey, just push hard." Natalie firmly encouraged.
"Hails, you're are the strongest and toughest person I have ever met, you and I both know you can do this. You're so close now Hails, just keep pushing for me Hailey." Jay whispered in her ear, clutching her hand even tighter as he did his best to encourage Hailey.
"I can't Jay, I can't do it." Hailey groaned out in between heavy pants as she attempted to regulate her breathing in the short break between contractions.
"Yes you can baby. There's is nothing that you can't do and that will never change. You just have to push for a little longer Hails, you have the strength to do it, everyone in this room knows that. Believe in yourself Hails."
When the next contraction came around, Hailey put more energy into pushing than she had done so far, she could feel more and more pressure building up in her body as she screamed out in pain, she could hear the faint sounds of words from Jay's mouth but all she could concentrate on was pushing as hard as she could.
"I can see that baby's head. Hailey, I need another big push just like that last contraction, you're so close now Hailey." Natalie directed.
Hailey felt like she had a new burst of energy when her next contraction came, just hearing that Natalie could see the head of her daughter spurred Hailey on to push harder. With Jay constantly encouraging her with his calm words, Hailey pushed harder than she ever had before, she could feel the pressure increasing rapidly in her body. For god knows how long Hailey poured every last bit of energy left in her body into pushing, and just when she felt like she had nothing left to give she left a sudden release of the intense pressure and she instantly knew what that pressure release meant.
The whole of the room went silent for what felt like a lifetime, when it was only a matter of seconds, but then the sound that they had all been waiting for filled the room, the sound of Sophia's first cries. "You did it Hails, you did it." Jay whispered in her ear, his voice cracking as the moment got the better of him, tears starting to stream down his face.
Tears were streaming down both of their faces as Natalie lifted Sophia up in her arms and their eyes settled on their daughter for the first time. Neither one of them had ever felt this happy before in their lives, both of them had been dreaming for ages now what it would feel like to see their daughter for the first time, but they couldn't have imagined that it would feel this good. They could both feel the happiness radiating off each other's body as their eyes remained glued onto their daughter as Natalie and the nurses completed the necessary check-ups and quickly cleaned up Sophia ready for skin to skin contact with Hailey.
"Congratulations you two, you've got a perfectly healthy little girl." Natalie announced, smiling from ear to ear as she approached Jay and Hailey with Sophia in her arms.
Hailey's eyes never left her little daughter's frame as she watched Natalie lower Sophia onto her bare chest. Hailey had never felt something more precious and perfect than the warmth feeling of her little daughter's skin against hers. Hailey leaned back further into Jay's body, her arms keeping her daughter tight against her chest, and rested her head against Jay's shoulder. Hailey took her eyes off her daughter for a moment and looked up towards Jay, finding him almost crying his eyes out as he looked down at his daughter for the first time.
The two of them sat silently for a few minutes as all they could do was look at their daughter against Hailey's chest, no words at this moment could do justice to how happy they were feeling in the moment. Hailey reached out for Jay's hand, finding it and interlocking their fingers and moving their joined hands to rest against Sophia's back. "That's our little girl, Jay. The little girl you've always dreamed of having." Hailey broke the silence, her voice weak and quiet as she fought against the sobs that wanted to leave her mouth.
"I love you so much Hailey. I don't think I could ever thank you enough for what you've given me over the last year. I am so lucky to have two perfect girls in my life." Jay spluttered out as he struggled to contain his emotions. Jay lowered his head down and placed a couple of kisses on the top of Hailey's head, Hailey carefully tilting her head up without disturbing Sophia and she captured Jay's lips, the two of them sharing a quick and gentle kiss before turning their attention back to Sophia.
"Trust me babe, me and Soph are the lucky ones. I've got a fiancé that would go anything for me and Soph has got a perfect daddy that will love her with everything he's got." Hailey whispered while looking down at her daughter, her smile grew wider as she felt Jay kissing the top of her head again.
For the next couple of minutes, the two of them continued sitting in silence as they stared down at the little girl resting against Hailey's chest, tears still slowly trickling down both of their cheeks. Jay was teaching over for his phone when Sophia's eyes slowly opened for the first time, Hailey gasping quietly as her eyes settled on her daughter's ocean blue eyes for the first time. "Jay, look." Hailey whispered, tears started to form and trickle down her cheeks quicker.
"Wow, she's definitely got your eyes Hails." Jay replied, his voice quiet and soft to make sure he didn't disturb Sophia as he looked down over Hailey's shoulder at his daughter who was starting to move her head and arms slightly on Hailey's chest.
"Take a quick photo of us babe, I'm sure my mom is going to want to know that her granddaughter was arrived with no issues." Hailey spoke quietly, leaning her head back against Jay's shoulder and smiling as Jay held up his phone and took the first photo of them as a family of three, a photo that will be one Hailey will never get tired of seeing in the future. Jay quickly typed a message and after showing Hailey, sent it off to Hailey's parents.
It was just past four in the morning, after spending a little longer with their daughter straight after her arrival, Sophia was taken to the nursery to have a complete paediatric exam, her shots and her first bath. Once Sophia had been taken to the nursery, Hailey had gone through the less painful process of delivering the placenta and after that had fallen asleep straight away, completely exhausted after a few hours that she would never forget for the rest of her life.
Ever since Sophia had returned to Hailey's room, tucked into a bassinet next to Hailey's bed, Jay had been able to sleep as he didn't want to take his eyes of his little daughter. Jay had never seen a cuter sight in his life as he watched his daughter quietly sleeping, Sophia was wrapped up in a little pale pink onesie and a matching woolly hat that Vanessa had brought for her.
After checking with one of the nurses to make sure it was ok, Jay carefully lifted his daughter out of the bassinet and slowly made his way over to the window in the room, that had a perfect view of the hustle and bustle of Chicago. Jay slowly rocked Sophia in his arms, the sway of his arms gentle as he watched her sleep peacefully in his hold.
"This is your home Soph, the best damn city in the world. You've got so many people out there that love you so much, that will protect you and always be there for you. Not only have you got one family, but you've got a big second family out there that will always look out for me, you and your mommy, and I know that all of those people are going to love you just as much as me and your mommy will." Jay spoke to his daughter quietly, his eyes not leaving her face once before stopping himself to sit back in the chair beside Hailey's bed, Jay smiling at the sight of Hailey peacefully fast asleep.
"Let's talk about your mommy for a moment Soph. Your mommy is absolutely amazing, I've never met a person that is stronger, tougher, kinder or more caring than your mommy is. I'm so lucky to have your mommy in my life, from the first moment we met I knew she was special, she was that one person that I knew was the person who I needed in my life, and I know you are going to be just like your mommy and I couldn't be happier. I can't wait to watch you and your mommy spend time together and create the best memories of your lives with each other as you grow up." Jay paused again just to make sure he wasn't waking up Sophia, he smiled as he still saw Sophia fast asleep in his arms.
"There's one special person you'll unfortunately never get to meet Soph, and that's my mom, your grandma. Your grandma was such an amazing woman, she helped me through so many tough times in my life, she would always put my needs before her own even she it was becoming harder for her to do that. Even though you'll never get to meet your grandma, she will always be such a massive part of your life, she will always be looking over you and protecting you for the rest of your life. Your middle name is named after you grandma, Christina, she always wanted a little girl of her own and when that wasn't possible, she dreamed of having a granddaughter. I know she will be sitting up there so happy that her dream has come true, but not only has her dream come true, mine has to. I dreamed of having a little girl of my own and now that you've arrived, I couldn't be any happier. I know you won't realise yet how happy you've made me and your mommy, but you've made us the happiest we've ever been over the last 9 months and now that we are a family of three, I know things are only going to get better and better." Jay confessed, tearing up throughout his words as he talked to Sophia about his mom, a subject that he was finding easier to talk about but it still broke his heart to think back to all the memories he had of his mom.
Jay slowly got up from the chair and rounded Hailey's bed to the bassinet besides, slowly and carefully lowering Sophia and tucking her into the cosy blankets. "Goodnight little one. I love you so much, Soph." Jay whispered, gently brushing Sophia's check with one of his fingers, needing to feel the warmth of his daughter one last time before returning to his chair.
Jay quickly dozed off into a much needed sleep. Over the last few months of Hailey's pregnancy, there had been so many moments that he would never forget for the rest of his life, but today topped all of those memories. Nothing could ever beat the feeling in his body as he heard the first cries of his daughter, the moment that he looked into his daughter's eyes for the first time, or the first time he held and spoke to his daughter for the first time. Even though he hated seeing Hailey in pain today, it was a day where he wouldn't change a thing. He felt closer to Hailey than he ever had done before, seeing her go through all of that pain to give birth to their daughter only made him love Hailey even more and finally, he finally had the family he's been dreaming of for the rest of his life, himself, Hailey and Sophia.
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, I was really nervous about writing this chapter as I didn't want to screw it up after building it up for so long. I'd really love to know your thoughts on this chapter, I really do love reading all of the feedback that you guys leave on this story.
If any of the medical parts of this chapter were wrong or inaccurate I'm sorry, I did my research to try and make this as accurate as possible but there are probably a few little mistakes in there.
Thank you all so much for reading this chapter. Next chapter will be Sophia meeting the rest of her family for the first time, so look out for my next update to this story. I hope you have a wonderful day, stay safe and healthy out there, I'll be back in a few days hopefully. :)