Ana
"It's okay, babe," Christian rubs my back as I lay on my side.
I am officially a week past my due date, and I am miserable. I have had Braxton Hicks contractions for a week now, and Christian and I thought that I would be going into labor by now, but it hasn't happened. We have tried everything to speed up the process, and nothing has worked. Not even sex.
"No, it isn't. My back is killing me," I groan and rub my eyes, willing myself not to cry.
"I know baby. Here," he kisses my temple before sitting up and putting light pressure on my lower back.
I sigh and lay there trying to relax while Christian messages my sore back. I don't know how much time has passed, but before I know it my eyes begin to droop and then I'm asleep.
I wake up a few hours later and roll over to see that Christian is not in bed with me. I slowly sit up and rub my eyes before walking into the bathroom. After finishing up in the bathroom, I wash my hands and waddle out into the living room. I frown when I hear complete silence.
"Christian?" I call out, and he doesn't answer.
I walk into the kitchen to see a note on the refrigerator from Christian. I smile when I read it.
Went to go get ice cream. Be back in a few. XX
I have been craving pistachio ice cream for a while now, and every time I wake up from a nap, Christian has a bowl of ice cream waiting for me. I have been eating a lot of it, and we just ran out yesterday. I place the note on the kitchen island before opening the refrigerator and taking out a carton of orange juice. I pour me a glass before putting the juice back in the fridge.
I sigh when I slowly lower myself in Christian's recliner. I sit there in peaceful silence while drinking my orange juice. I put the glass down on the coffee table and groan when a contraction suddenly hits me. I place my hand on my stomach and breath deeply.
After it passes I relax back into the chair for a few minutes before another contraction hits. This one is stronger causing me to groan loudly. My eyes widen when another one hits five minutes later. I clutch my stomach and try to ride it out. I move around the chair trying to get comfortable.
"Oh, no," I groan and look towards the door willing Christian to walk through it.
I get up slowly after another one passes and try to walk towards the bedroom so that I can grab my phone, but I don't get very far. I cry out loud when a strong contraction hits causing me to hunch forward.
Tears spring to my eyes while I clutch my stomach. After the contraction passes my eyes widen in horror when I hear a faint pop and fluid starts to trickle down my leg. I feel more fluid gushing out and onto the floor causing me to start crying. I put my hand on the wall and cry out when another contraction hits. It's so painful that I nearly fall to my knees.
"Christian!" I yell out.
Before I know it, I am on my knees on all fours riding out another contraction. After it passes, I crawl forward before getting to the wall and placing my hand and slowly getting to my feet. I waddle towards our bedroom while tears fall down my cheeks. Amniotic fluid is gushing out at this point, soaking the carpet that is in the hallway. I get to the bedroom and see my phone on the nightstand. Before I can grab it, another one hits nearly knocking me on the bed.
When it subsides, I hear the front door open and Christian yelling out. "Ana?"
I burst out crying and clutch my stomach when I hear Christian running into the bedroom.
"Ana!"
He is by my side in a flash when he sees me bent over the bed with the phone in my hand.
"Oh, my God, Christian," I moan and place my head on the bed. Thank God, he is here.
"I'm here, baby. Let's get to the hospital," he panics while running over to the closet and grabbing my hospital bag.
He gently picks me up and tries not to run to the car while I bury my head into his chest and try to breathe in and out.
It takes us fifteen minutes to get to the hospital. Before I had gotten to the car, Christian quickly placed a few towels on my seat, and by the time we made it to the hospital, the towels were soaked.
A nurse comes out of the hospital with a wheelchair when she sees us pull up by the doors. She smiles at me and helps me into the chair while Christian grabs the bag.
"We will be checking her in, sir," the nurse says before wheeling me into the hospital.
Christian rushes to park the car and he is by my side under five minutes. I sigh in relief when he appears beside me. He grabs my hand and squeezes. The nurse is busy checking me in while we wait. The contractions are starting to get stronger, and I clutch my stomach and try to do the breathing exercises that we learned in Lamaze class.
"Are you ready baby?" Christian leans down and pushes my sweaty hair out of my eyes.
"Ready," I smile through my tears while Christian stares at me with love and a little bit of fear in his eyes.
"We're going to have a baby tonight," he beams at me while his eyes turn glassy.
"I know," I choke out and smile.
After the nurse checks me in, she wheels us over to triage so that they can get an IV in before wheeling me into the delivery room.
Here we go.
"When the next contraction hits, I want you to push, Ana," the doctor says.
I have been pushing for the last thirty minutes. I wanted an epidural, but since I was eight centimeters already, they couldn't give me one. I started to freak out when they told me that it was too late to have one, but with Christian by my side and giving me words of encouragement in my ear, I relaxed somewhat. I was still scared out of my mind with having a natural birth, though.
When the next contraction hit, I scream out in pain as the doctor continued to tell me to push harder. After a few more painful pushes, I hear the most beautiful sound in the world.
Our daughters cry.
I burst out crying when the doctor placed her on my chest. Christian has tears streaming down his face when he sees Ellie for the first time. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her head. Christian sniffles before kissing her shoulder.
"Would you like to cut the cord, daddy?" the nurse smiles at Christian.
He nods before taking the scissors. After he cuts the cord, the nurse gently takes Ellie from my arms over to the incubator to clean her up.
Christian leans over and puts his hands on my face and places his forehead to mine.
"I'm so proud of you baby," he whispers.
"Thank you. I can't believe she is finally here," I sniffle and fresh tears spring to my eyes when I look over at our daughter getting weighed.
"I know," he laughs and kisses my nose before walking over to Ellie.
When the nurse finishes and wrapping her up in a pink hospital blanket, she places her in Christians arms. He stares down at her in awe for a few minutes. He gently rocks her back and forth a few moments causing me to weep when I see a few tears roll down his face.
A nurse takes a picture and smiles over at me. I mouth my thanks to her before she nods back and goes back to the computer. The doctor finishes delivering the placenta, and one of the nurses gives me some pain relief in my IV. The doctor congratulates us, and after a light squeeze to my shoulder and a kind smile, she leaves the room.
After about fifteen minutes, the nurses leave the room after getting us settled in and handed us a bottle of ready-made formula. Christian walks over to me after he unwraps her and smiles at me before gently placing Ellie on my chest. Skin to skin.
"Hey there, you," I smile while staring down at her.
She is beautiful. She has a mop of copper-colored hair, and her eyes are a beautiful shade of blue with a hint of gray. She has my nose and ears, but other than that, she resembles Christian. She yawns before looking around almost curiously causing me to giggle.
Christian chuckles before sitting down on the bed beside me. "She is beautiful," he whispers before running a finger down her cheek.
"She is," I smile up at him before he leans down and gives me a chaste kiss.
Ellie starts to get fussy after fifteen minutes, causing Christian to get up to grab the bottle of formula. Christian unwraps the nipple and places it on the bottle before shaking and handing it to me. I sit up and swaddle her back up with the blanket before straightening my gown. I place the nipple against her lips causing her to open her mouth and starts sucking.
"You sure you don't want to breastfeed?" Christian asks before he kisses my hair.
"Yeah. I know I can pump and send them when she goes to daycare, but I would rather just feed her formula, so you can at least feed her too. I think it will be less stressful," I explain.
"I could still feed her with breastmilk in the bottle, though," he points out.
I sigh and nod. I know that breastfeeding is the best option, but I feel as though it doesn't matter if she is formula fed or breastfed. If she is healthy and getting the nutrients she needs, it shouldn't matter if she is breastfed or not. A happy baby is all that matters.
"Ana, whatever you want to do. I know that a lot of people are pressuring you to breastfeed, so I don't want you to feel like you have too. I am happy whatever you want to do," he whispers against my hair.
"I know. Thank you," I smiled softly up at him.
My mom and Kate are always saying how the breast is best and that I should only breastfeed Ellie. I have read up on it, and it took me a while to make a decision, but I feel as though that it shouldn't matter.
"The next six weeks should be interesting," Christian says after a moment of silence.
"Yes, it will. Then back to work," I sigh and kiss Ellie's forehead.
"It will be fine. Unless you want to stay home full time?" he says hopefully.
I roll my eyes and smirk at him causing him to pout. Christian wanted me to quit my job and stay at home full time, and as much as that option seems appealing, I decided not to. I love my job, and I have always wanted to be a teacher. Who knows, I might feel differently after my maternity leave is up, but for right now I am content with going back to work.
After Ellie is done eating, I hand her over to Christian, so that he can burp her. He puts her on his shoulder and pats her back gently, but firmly.
"Good girl," he says with a smile after she burps loudly.
I giggle and lay back and relax when he places her in the bassinet. Christian stands there and rubs her stomach while she peacefully sleeps. He straightens up and walks over to my hospital bag and gets out a pink headband that I packed earlier.
I smile when he walks over to the bassinet and gently places it around her head. He smiles over at me before getting his phone out of his pocket and takes several pictures.
"I need to call our parents." He says after a few minutes.
I look at the clock and see that it is 10:30 pm. I sigh and close my eyes when Christian sits down in one of the chairs and calls his parents first.
I put my hand on the side of the bassinet and try not to cry when I lay there staring at our beautiful baby girl. I drift off to sleep with a smile on my face, feeling overjoyed that we finally got our miracle.
AN: Ellie Jade is Here!
Sorry for the delay in updating. School has been keeping me busy, and when it finally calmed down, I got sick with a bad infection and got a cold on top of it, but I am slowly getting better, thank goodness.
There are only a few chapters left to this story, and I don't know when I will be updating next, so bear with me. I decided to go ahead and do the delivery since I didn't think it would be a good idea to skip it due to the whole Leila thing. Plus, I decided not to add anymore Leila drama. I want to focus these last few chapters on their family life with Ellie.
Thank you for reviewing and following. See you all soon.