Hello lovely readers,
Thank you so much for all of the lovely reviews left on the last chapter. I know I say this a lot but it really does mean so much so a huge thank you to you all!
This chapter was requested by a guest and it's fair to say I got very much carried away with this one so thank you so much for requesting. I loved writing this and hope you all enjoy reading it too. It's another labour/birth one so if that isn't for you, I totally understand.
I know Emily's birthday isn't around Christmas time but I thought given the holiday season it would be cute to change it up a bit. I also realised as I was reading through it that in this prompt Emily is actually born today so it seemed a fitting day to post.
Enjoy everyone.
"That one was 12 minutes," Sheldon announced as he watched Amy pull herself up straight from where she had been leaning on the kitchen counter, her arms folded and her head buried in to them, it seemed to be the only position that brought her comfort. He didn't know why, to him it looked anything but comfortable. With shaking hands, he clicked the stop button on his stopwatch which he was wearing around his neck, being somewhat insistent on doing this. This was his distraction, his little way of coping, this was something he could do, he needed something to do, no matter how small.
"They've been 12 minutes for hours," she wasn't exaggerating, for the last two and half hours her contractions had stalled at a steady 12 minutes apart. Sheldon watched as she sighed, clearly frustrated already as she blew a piece of her that had fallen from her ponytail out of her face. With her hands placed on the bottom of her back, she began pacing the open plan living area.
"You told me that first babies are slow. All the books say that the first stage of labour can last between 12 and 19 hours," Sheldon recalled the information he had read. The thought of being a father, the thought of this very moment, watching Amy in pain terrified him but he knew he needed to do something about it. If Sheldon Cooper was going to do a job, he was going to it properly. He had attended every class with Amy and made an extensive amount of notes, he had read every baby book going, prepping you on each stage of pregnancy, each phase of labour and birth and everything that came after. Amy knew this as he liked to quote his findings to her at every opportunity he got.
"I'm not sure that helps" Amy sighed as she continued to pace the living room. She didn't want to think about this stage lasting for 19 hours, not to mention everything else that came after.
"Sorry" he was feeling nervous already, his heart thumping in his chest more than he'd ever been aware of and he had that horrible knotting feeling at the very bottom of his stomach. "Maybe, we could try getting some sleep" he suggested. "While the contractions aren't too close together, it might be good to get some rest while you can," Amy could tell he was quoting the books again.
Having just left 11pm, it was getting late and was already way past Sheldon's bedtime even though he doubted he would get any sleep. Amy knew that things were only going to get much worse and whilst the contractions were still far enough apart to at least drift off to sleep, she thought it was at least worth a try.
"Yeah okay" she nodded slowly, "You're right, we probably should head to bed," although Amy was a little sceptical of actually getting any sleep, she knew she would need all of her energy later.
—
Amy had thankfully been able to drift in and out of sleep without much trouble from the contractions. It didn't take her long to fall asleep, clearly she was more tired than she thought. It was just after 2am when her eyes pinged open, the room was dark and still, she could hear Sheldon sleeping at the side of her, his breaths gentle yet shallow. She wanted to treasure this moment just for a little bit because she knew that very soon everything was about to change forever and their quiet apartment would suddenly be full with the chaos of a newborn.
She couldn't wait to a mother, this was something that had always been a dream of hers, a dream that on recent years she had come accept may not happen. Even when she met Sheldon, even when she married him, there was just a tiny piece of her that always thought this day would never come. To her surprise, it was Sheldon that brought up the subject of trying for a baby just over a year ago and now here they were.
She carefully sat herself up in bed, not wanting to make any sudden movements that could wake Sheldon. He was going to need his rest just as much as she was, she was relying on him so much to get her through this. Just as Amy was getting herself comfortable, that's when she felt it, another contraction. Her sleep had lulled her into a false sense of security, the peacefulness and calmness she felt was suddenly replaced by the contraction. The tightening of her stomach, the pain in her back and hips, it took her by surprise and she was amazed that she had been able to sleep through them if this is how bad they had been.
Inhaling sharply, she placed her hand on the spot, gently rubbing her bump. She wondered if once all this was over and this bump was replaced by a tiny little human being, whether she would actually miss being pregnant. She supposed she probably would, apart from the awful sickness she had suffered in the first trimester, she really had loved being pregnant.
There was no denying that the contractions were stronger, whether or not they were closer together, only time would tell but Amy decided she needed to move. Moving was good, if Sheldon was awake he would tell her that all the books suggested movement in labour is good. Just as she rose from the bed, Amy heard a popping sound and then before she knew what was happening, a gush of water hit the floor beneath her.
"Oh my god" Amy whispered. This was really it, this was really happening. Of course, the contractions confirmed this too but all of it together was just confirmation that she was very soon going to have a baby. Oh god, she was about to have a baby. The calm, composure that she was desperate to have suddenly started to vanish and she found herself panicking.
With her heart thumping in her chest, she made her way round to Sheldon's side of the bed. She wasn't bothered before with just the contractions but now with her water breaking she felt compelled to wake him, maybe she needed him more than she cared to admit. He looked so peaceful sleeping she almost didn't want to wake him, she carefully placed her hand on his shoulder, gone were the days when she could crouch down and shake him, if she did that now, there's no chance in hell she'd be able to get back up.
"Sheldon" she whispered. She had no idea how far apart her contractions were now but she knew he needed to wake up quickly otherwise she would be crushing his shoulder under her palm. "Sheldon" she tried again, a little more vigorous this time. It worked and he let out a groan, he was never very good at being woken up. Amy wondered how he would cope with a crying baby waking them up every hour. "Sheldon, wake up" she whispered.
"What's wrong?" he was awake but made no attempt to open his eyes.
"My water broke" she waited for those three words to sink in to see his reaction. Within seconds, his eyes pinged open and he suddenly sat bolt upright in bed, rubbing at his eyes, there was no denying now that he was very much awake. His eyes scanned her body looking her up and down, he couldn't believe she was stood before him so calm.
"Okay. What do we do? Are you okay?" he asked quickly, he had a million things he wanted to say but it was like his brain just couldn't keep up. "Oh god, this is really happening isn't it. We need to go to the hospital, don't we? Do we go now or?"
"Sheldon" Amy interrupted, placing her hand on his shoulder. She was now having second thoughts about waking him. "Will you stop panicking, I woke you up to help keep me calm and your just….oh…ow," this one completely took her off guard and although she hadn't been timing them she was sure they were closer than 12 minutes. "Ow" she whimpered, placing both of her hands down on the mattress before her brain supplied her with the information that she needed to breathe. This was definitely stronger, she was sure if it.
"Are they closer together?" Sheldon asked, seeming just as panicked as Amy felt. She quickly shook her head and made a noise that told Sheldon she wasn't sure if she could actually speak. "Okay, you just keep doing what you're doing" he told her. She wanted to yell at him, like she could really do anything else.
"That felt like a big one," she sighed once it was finally over and she sat herself down on the edge of the bed. "I don't know how far apart they are, I wasn't keeping track earlier but they're definitely stronger. Much stronger" she told him, answering his previous question as her hand ran along her stomach.
"Okay. I'll time them" he nodded, scooting past where Amy sat and rising from the bed. "Where's the stopwatch?" he asked glancing round the room. "We don't need to go to the hospital until the contractions are five minutes apart, that's what all the books say" Sheldon explained, talking to himself and talking it all through, even though it was driving Amy mad, it comforted him to say it all aloud.
"We don't need the stopwatch, just use the timer on your phone," Amy told him, if they wanted to get an accurate timing they needed to be quick. She watched him scramble for his phone, despite his panic she found it all rather amusing, he was definitely taking her mind off of the pain for sure.
"Okay" he nodded, phone clasped tightly in his hand. "You just let me know when there's another one"
"Come and sit down for a bit" Amy smiled up at him and patted the space next to her.
"I need to get ready. We'll have..,"
"Just sit down. We have time," Amy told him gently. She watched his face soften and before she knew it he was at her side. As soon as he was close enough, she laced her fingers through his and rested her head on his shoulder. She didn't know where it had come from or why she felt like this but she suddenly felt the need to be close to him, to just enjoy the quiet of the two of them in their apartment together for it was only a matter of time before their baby arrived.
—
"Try to relax Amy, nice deep breaths" the midwife instructed gently as she checked Amy's dilation. She was currently lying on a hospital bed, clinging onto Sheldon's hand for dear life and judging by the expression on her face, Sheldon concluded that what she was going through wasn't in the least bit comfortable. "That's it, you're doing great"
Their midwife was very young, she looked fresh out of training, maybe still even training. Amy knew that if Sheldon had been in the right frame of mind he would have questioned her qualifications. Amy liked her, she seemed sweet and had a kind, calming presence that instantly relaxed her. She needed that.
"Okay, so I'd say you're a good 3cm. Maybe very nearly 4," the midwife announced as she finished examining Amy. The look of disappointment on Amy's face was one she had seen many times before when delivering this kind of news.
"3?" She had to be more than that, she was so disheartened, so frustrated. This had been going on for ages already and she just assumed she'd be much, much further along.
"I know it might not be what you want to hear" the midwife placed a sympathetic hand on her knee. "But you're doing great, baby is doing great, you're progressing exactly as you should be," after a few final checks, their midwife left them alone for the first time since they had arrived at the hospital.
Since Amy's water had broken, it was fair to say things had gone up a gear. Not long after she had woken Sheldon the contractions became pretty close together and pretty intense and it wasn't long before they both concluded that they needed to head to the hospital. Amy had never been more thankful to have the elevator fixed, she knew there was no way she would have made it down the stairs and would have probably had to reside to the fact that she was having this baby at home.
"So what do we do now?" Sheldon asked, as Amy shuffled round to make herself comfortable. He needed to do things, he had to keep his mind busy in order to stop himself from freaking out about what was actually happening.
"If you find the iPad, we could watch a movie" she suggested, shuffling over in the bed to make room for Sheldon to sit beside her. Granted, it would be quite a squeeze but she needed to feel close to him. After rummaging around in the hospital bag, he finally retrieved the iPad and managed to squeeze his tall frame on the tiny bit of bed Amy had made. It was only when Sheldon loaded Netflix's and Amy saw the sudden array of Christmas movies that a thought dawned upon her. A gasp from Amy caused Sheldon to look at her with worried, concerned eyes.
"Another contraction?" he asked, he felt himself relax as Amy shook her head.
"I just realised that we're going to have a baby for Christmas" their little girl was going to be a whole week early. Amy had been so wrapped up in actually going into labour that she hadn't paid much attention to the date until now. "She's actually going to be here on Christmas Day."
"That's okay" Sheldon told her, as he scrolled through the movies, deciding which one to watch. "Isn't it?" he asked when Amy hadn't responded.
"It's her first Christmas. We don't have anything for her," Amy had pictured her daughters first Christmas numerous times in recent weeks, she would be a few days off being a year old, maybe slightly more into everything than most on their first Christmas. That Christmas child like magic would most definitely be in the air and every thing would be seen through their daughters eyes. Maybe even Sheldon would finally get on board with the celebrations. She hadn't pictured her first Christmas being like this, unprepared and completely unexpected.
"She'll be days old. She won't need anything"
"But I was supposed host. We have family coming over, I'm not going to be able to get anything ready" Sheldon knew she was panicking again, her need for everything to be perfect was overwhelming. Even though, she would be heavily pregnant, Amy had insisted on having Christmas at their place this year.
"It'll be okay. You know what my mum is like, she'll take over and have everything under control" Amy knew he was right, Mary's motherly intuition would be strong and she would insist that Amy didn't lift a finger. "We've got bigger things to worry about at the moment" he gave her a gentle nudge and she cuddled close to him as the Christmas movie played.
—
Amy didn't think much could change in five hours, but labour had definitely proved her wrong. She had never in her life felt a pain like this, it was intense and overwhelming and left her doubting whether it was even physically possible for a human being to actually go through this much pain and still remain in one piece. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced before and with each contraction that past she started to doubt her own ability to actually do this.
"Try to breathe through this one Amy," Sheldon told her from where he stood at her side. She was currently stood at the side of the bed, her palms pressed into the mattress, fingers twisted into the sheets as she rocked her hips back and forth. A long moan left her lips and Sheldon started to panic, he hated seeing her like this. "When we went to the class they said you need to breathe in for four second and…." he started to read from the notes he had made when they attended one of the many classes.
"Can you stop flicking through that notebook and just hold my hand," Amy snapped, almost growling at him as the contraction peaked. The tiniest thing was getting on her nerves and the flicking of the pages was driving her mad.
"Yeah. Okay. Yeah, sorry" Sheldon snapped the book shut quickly, discarding it to one side as he hesitantly reached for Amy's hand. As soon as his hand was wrapped around hers, she squeezed hard, really hard. He didn't even know she was that strong, that she could inflict that much pain upon him. "Oh ow. Ow, Amy" he yelped as he felt every bone in his hand almost reach breaking point. She didn't listen though, still she continued to squeeze his hand, lost in the moment and her own pain as she moaned with the contraction. "Amy please try and breathe, take some deep breaths, yeah" Sheldon tried to be a little encouraging this time, knowing that his outburst over the hand squeezing wasn't the most helpful. He just wanted her to be out of pain, he wasn't good at seeing her like this.
Looking over at the machine that measured Amy's contractions Sheldon saw the spike was now starting to ease and she started to take deep breaths, in through her nose and out through her mouth. Gone were the times just a few hours ago when the contractions were bare-able and they could cuddle close and watch a movie.
"It's easing off now Amy" he thought it might be helpful for her to know that, to know that it was nearly over however, he knew that this was far from over and in just a few minutes she'd be in pain again. Feeling her let go of his hand as she sunk back down onto the birthing ball below her, crossing her arms on the bed and burying her head into them, Sheldon took this opportunity to shake his hand about in a bit in order to restore the blood flow.
"Sheldon" he didn't even need to look at her to know she was already exhausted, he could hear it in her voice. It was so quiet and tired. By this point, he to had sat himself down in the chair at Amy's side, she had been in this position for a while now, sitting on the ball in between contractions and resting on the bed. At one point Amy had told him off for hovering over her so he figured grabbing a chair was the next best thing.
Keeping her head resting on the bed, she turned to look at him. Her eyes were tired and glazed over with exhaustion, she looked so worn out and just ready to go to sleep. He desperately wanted to find something, wanted to do something to make this easier for her. Gently, he placed his hand on back and began moving his hand up and down, he read this would help but he didn't dare mention anything like that.
"I really don't think I can do this," she always knew this would be painful, plenty of people had been more than happy to fill her in on what was in store but she always thought she could do it. Amy always thought her pain threshold was pretty high but this was really pushing her to her limits. Not only did she think she couldn't do this, she didn't want to do this anymore. She just wanted to go home.
Sheldon's heart broke for her and yet at the same time swelled with more love than he'd ever felt. People had told him watching Amy go through all of this, he'd never love her more and now he was starting to see what they meant. Suddenly, he felt the urge to look after her, a strong need to do whatever she needed him to do, he wanted to take her in his arms and help her as much as possible.
"Hey" he started to move his hand again on her back, this time it was also him reaching for her hand, her grip this time being nowhere near as scarily tight as before. "You can do this, you've come so far already. I really don't think there's long left" he told her as his thumb started to stroke circles on her hand. "Tell me what to do. What can I do to help you?" he needed her to tell him, he was a mess if left to his own devices.
"Just keep holding my hand" she gave him as small smile as she resisted the urge to yawn. "And promise me you won't go anywhere," Sheldon would never know this but just having him here, right by her side, whether he knew what he was doing or not was all the comfort she needed.
"I can do that" he nodded, suddenly gaining some kind of confidence that up until this stage he had been lacking. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise" he leaned forward and placed a kiss to her head, a long loving kiss that told Amy he was going to be there no matter what.
The sweet moment between the married couple was ruined when Amy felt another contraction. There was barely any rest between them now, just as she felt like she had gotten over the last, the next one started. It was vicious cycle of pain.
"Oh Sheldon, there's another coming" she groaned as she moved from the ball again and up on to her feet, regaining the same standing position as last time.
"Okay, okay" Sheldon helped her up, "squeeze my hand okay, squeeze as hard as you need to. I'm not going anywhere" he told her quickly. She was already starting to moan through the pain, deep and low. He couldn't begin to imagine what she was going through. "Breathe Amy, breathe" he tried to tell her, he was almost waiting again for her to suddenly snap at him but she didn't, she was following his advice and taking deep breaths. Sheldon felt rather proud of himself, like he'd finally achieved something, he could do this. "That's it, you're doing a really good job," he had no idea where all of this was coming from but it just felt right.
Amy continued to take deep breaths moving her hips from side to side whilst squeezing Sheldon's hand. It felt good knowing he was there but there was also apart of her that wished he'd stop talking. She was trying to be patient but in the mist of a contraction the tiniest thing he did she found incredibly annoying. Without any warning the contraction peaked, the worst one yet, breathing wasn't helping and she found herself moaning yet again.
"Oh things definitely sound like they're progressing" Amy had been so lost in the moment that she hadn't realised her midwife enter the room. Amy felt her place her hand on her arm. "You're doing great sweetheart" she heard her tell her gently.
"Is this normal? She's in so much pain" Sheldon asked finally able to offload his panic onto someone that wasn't Amy. Their midwife had seen this many times before, that nervous first time dad, terrified by everything that was going on around him and completely amazed at the pain endured by his wife.
"It's completely normal. Amy's doing great" she reassured him. "I don't think it'll be too long before you two are holding your baby."
—
If Amy thought labour and contractions had been hard and tiring, pushing was something else entirely. It required an energy that she didn't even know she possessed after being in labour for almost eighteen hours, yet here she was giving it her all despite being on the very brink of exhaustion.
"You're doing such a great job Amy, anyone would think you'd done this before," the midwife praised during a lull in between the contractions. She'd been pushing for just over an hour and she was now starting to grow frustrated at the lack of progress that seemed to be being made, despite being reassured that this was all perfectly normal.
"I'm so tired" she rolled her head to one side to look at Sheldon, he wasn't sure he'd ever seen someone look so tired before, it looked as if it was effort for her to even keep her eyes open.
"You're doing wonderful Amy" he kissed the side of her head and squeezed her hand as her head lolled against his chest. In the past few hours, he had been amazing. It was almost as if a switch had been flicked and he knew what to do, he had to be there for Amy, there was no question about it. How he felt didn't matter in the slightest, she needed him and he couldn't let her down.
When Amy felt the next contraction, she inhaled deeply and pushed down hard, squeezing Sheldon's hand in the process. Although tiring, pushing felt good, she felt like she was actually doing something useful rather than just sitting and enduring the contractions.
"Good girl, Amy keep going. That's it, well done" the midwife coached, keeping a stream of positivity going throughout the whole thing. Sheldon remained close by, his hand in hers and an arm around her shoulder, every so often saying something encouraging.
"Oh" Amy cried out when she felt the pain suddenly change, she knew she was close. She had to be. "Is she there?" she whimpered. "Can you see her? Sheldon can you see her?" she asked her voice high and panicked.
"Nice deep breaths Amy. We can see the top of baby's head" the midwife explained as Amy clamped her eyes shut and started to take deep breaths, panting through the pain. This really hurt, even though she knew it was nearly over, she wasn't sure she'd be able to make it. "Sheldon, would you like to see?"
For a moment he felt frozen to the spot. Did he want to? Did Amy want him to? She had asked him after all. He felt her let go of his hand, maybe that was her way of telling him to go. Before he knew what he was doing he found himself nodding and taking a peak. He wasn't sure why he'd looked, it had taken him months to pluck up the courage to look at the images in the books he was reading and they were just drawings, this was the real thing.
It was a decision he instantly regretted. He could almost hear the bloody draining from his body as the room started to spin around him. Feeling himself going wobbly, he placed his hands down on the bed to try and stop himself from toppling over. The room felt like it was getting smaller, closing in around him as the dizziness got worse.
"Can we get as chair for dad please" the midwife called out to the assistant midwife. As soon as she had looked up at Sheldon and saw that his complexion was that of a ghost, she knew instantly what was going on. She'd seen it may times before, it was nothing new. Before Sheldon knew what was happening someone was coming up behind him and pushing his shoulders down into a chair.
Upon hearing the commotion, Amy's eyes pinged open, looking between the midwife and her husband, who looked as if he had just been brought back to life as he sat slumped in the chair.
"Is he okay? Is he alright?" Amy asked whilst panting though the pain. She reached for his hand, his grip felt limp. "Are you okay?" she asked him.
"I'm fine" he tried to reassure her but his eyes and complexion were telling her a different story.
"He just went a little bit wobbly that's all" the midwife tending to Sheldon told Amy. "Are you okay? I can go and get you a sugary tea or something sweet" she offered.
"I'm okay, thank you," he nodded slowly. He couldn't believe he had nearly fainted, somebody with his caliber of intelligence should be able to handle things like this. Amy needed him to handle things like this. She was being so brave, she already had so much to focus on and now he had just added to that.
Another whimper of pain from Amy broke him from his thoughts and he immediately felt the grip on his hand tighten as he heard her inhale and start to push. He needed to be there for, he wanted to hold her but he wasn't sure he could physically stand without falling on the floor.
"Slow breaths Amy, we'll take this bit nice and slowly, okay. Lots of slow breaths and little pushes" the midwife instructed. Although she was starting to panic because of the pain, because she was about to have a baby and because her husband had nearly collapsed, Amy managed to somehow listen to the midwifes voice.
"You're nearly there sweetheart, I know this bit is horrible but she's nearly here."
She was so wrapped up in the moment, following the midwifes voice, trying her hardest to breathe and not cry out from the pain that she couldn't really focus on anything else. She wanted to check on Sheldon, she wanted to make sure he was okay but her mind was in another place entirely.
"You're almost there Amy" she had been so focused that she hadn't noticed Sheldon carefully and steadily rising to his feet, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his chest. He partly did this to support Amy but also to steady himself and keep his balance.
"It hurts so much"
"I know, I know" she wanted to yell at him again, he had no idea how painful this was. "Just a few more pushes, yeah" he looked at the midwife for confirmation, smiling as she nodded her head.
"Another few big pushes Amy" she repeated Sheldon's words and it suddenly gave her a burst of energy. She could do this, she was so close. As the assistant midwife started to remove the heart rate monitor from her stomach, she knew it was a matter of minutes before she met her daughter. The thought made her all emotional and she quickly found herself on the brink of tears.
"We're going to be parents" she looked up at Sheldon and smiled. Despite her pain, it was a genuine smile that reached her eyes and sparkled. Sheldon was still feeling dizzy and yet her smile managed to centre him.
"I know. I love you so much" he kissed the back of her hand, he couldn't have loved her more in that moment if he tried.
"I love you too" she rushed her words as she felt what would be the last contraction. With her hand wrapped around Sheldon's and her husband close, with everything she had she gave her final push and before she knew it a tiny bay girl was lying wailing on her chest.
—
"She's the most perfect thing I've ever seen" it had been a few minutes after the birth, the cord had been cut and their daughter had been measured and weighed and yet Sheldon was in total awe of his daughter. He imagined he would spend the whole of his life being in awe of her, of every little thing she did. It had been a matter of minutes and already this little girl snuggled into her mother's arms had completely changed his life, flipped all that he thought he knew on his head.
"I can't believe she's here. She's ours. Forever" Amy smiled, although tired she truly was on cloud nine. Without a shadow of doubt, today would go down as the best day of her life, she had never felt happiness, contentment and love like this. It was everything she had ever wanted. "She's got the tiniest little fingers" Amy was still drinking in every little detail of her.
"She's a pretty great Christmas present, don't you think?" Amy registered the date, December 23rd , the most perfect early Christmas present either of them could have wished for.
"The best gift ever" Amy kissed the top of her daughters head, everything was so delicate, so sweet and soft. She was so in love it was beautiful.
"I can't believe you nearly passed out and missed it all" Amy teased looking over and smiling at her husband, she had smiled so much recently her cheeks were starting to hurt. Sheldon couldn't believe it either, he would have never forgiven himself if, whilst Amy was giving birth he was out cold on the floor.
"Let's just keep that between us" he smiled as he leaned forward and gently stroked his daughters cheek with his finger.
"Oh sweetie. We're telling everyone."
Thank you so much for reading. As always reviews are always welcome and so appreciated!
This is going to be my last post before Christmas and before 2022 (please send prompts in though and I'll get round to them in the new year). I just wanted to say the biggest of thank yous to each and every one of you for all your support this year! The fact that you are all still enjoying my writing, have sent in prompts and left the loveliest reviews means the absolute world to me! I am SO grateful and appreciate it SO much!
I just wanted to wish you all the most wonderful Christmas. I hope however you are celebrating and whatever your situation you are able to enjoy the day! I hope 2022 is fabulous for you all!
Stay safe!
Sending you all so much love! xxxx