Chapter 14

PART 1

December 18th,2011

Just like that, 2 more months had flown by, and Margaret was now 7 months pregnant. They had just gotten back from their latest

appointment earlier that morning. Thankfully, everything still looked good with both her and the baby.

Andrew had some errands to run, so, while waiting for him to return, she decided to just sit on, or at least try to sit on, the couch,

and read. At this point, she was really having trouble sitting down and getting back up, what with her rather large belly.

About 30 minutes later, he walked back in the door.

"Hey, honey" she said, looking up from her book.

"Hey, sweetie" he said, leaning down and kissing her--he then leaned down and kissed her belly, "Hey Josh" He stood, back up,

but just as he did, he saw Margaret kind of lean over a little bit, and touch her belly.

"Are you okay, honey?" he asked, worry in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was the baby--he's been kicking a lot more lately" "Here--feel this"she said. He gently laid his hand on her belly,

and within a few seconds, he felt the baby kick again--and a big smile spread across his face.

"Wow, that's incredible. I can't believe it" he said.

"Yeah, I know--it's pretty amazing" she replied. "And just think--we'll be able to actually hold him in just 2 more months."

"I know--and I can't wait" They both leaned in an kissed each other, and then just sat there,each with one hand on her belly, cuddled up on the couch

wrapped in each other's arms. Little did they know that these last 2 months would end up going by even faster than the last 2

2 exactly months later (on her due date)

It was now in the early,early hours of May 18th--she was now exactly 9 months pregnant--not to mention that today was her due.

She had been sleeping comfortably, or at least as comfortably as she could at this stage of her pregnancy, until around 12:30 am. It was at that

point that she felt a sharp pain shoot through her. She tried to go back to sleep, but another 10 minutes later, she felt another one, and then, she felt wetness.

"Oh crap" she thought. She turned to Andrew. "Andrew honey, you're not going to believe this, but my water just broke. The baby's coming"

"That's nice" he said sleepily. Then, like 2 seconds later, the realization of what his wife had just told him suddenly hit him, and he literally

jumped out of bed.

"How far apart are the contractions?" he asked, hurriedly running around getting ready, and helping her get ready, for their trip to the hospital.

"About every..10 minutes" she said, now starting to breath a little harder. "Owwww" she yelled, as another one hit.

"All right--let's hurry and get you to the hospital" he said, very quickly grabbing her bag in one hand, and carefully ushering her out the door

with the other. "Let's go have our baby"

PART 2

In the next 30 minutes, they had managed to drive to the hospital, really quickly get checked in, and get her in a room and ready. By this point,

the contractions had really started to pick up in intensity, and before anybody knew it, 5 1/2 hours had flown by, and she was now in the 6th hour

of labor.

"Where....is....the.....doctor?!" she screamed, breathing even harder now.

"She's on her way. sweetie" Andrew said, reaching over and gently pushing hair out of her face. No sooner had he said that, then

walked in.

"All right, Margaret," she said, putting on a pair of hospital gloves "let's see how far along you are"

She checked,and then looked up with a smile on her face. "Well, you're up to 6 centimeters already. It could still be a while, or it could be

quite soon" she said. "I'll come in and check on you again soon" she said. "You know how to get ahold of me if you need me", and, having said that,

she walked out of the room.

"Well, you're almost there--you're doing great" he said, holding onto her hand, and leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"Yeah? You...try...doing this" she breathed.

"Believe me, if I could--I would. I really hate seeing you like I know that you're in pain, and you may not be thinking this now, but once you hold

our son in your arms for the first time, you will realize that, in the end, that all this pain was worth it."

Despite the fact that she was still very much in pain, she couldn't help but smile."Maybe he's right" she thought.

2 -8 labor

Just when Margaret thought she couldn't stand the pain anymore, Dr. Matthews walked back in. "How are we doing here?" she asked.

"How..do..you think...I'm doing?" "How could she ask such a stupid question?" she thought.

"Allright, let's check and see how far you are now" She put a clean pair of hospital gloves, and checked again. "Good news--you're all the way

there" she said. "Now just let me get ready, and then you can start pushing"

While waiting for her to get ready, Andrew leaned down and whispered in her ear "You can do this,baby...I know you can"

turned back around, and sat down on her stool, in front of Margaret.

"Okay, now I want you to push down, and hold it for 10 seconds" "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10. Good" she said. "Now as soon as you

have another contraction, I want you to do that same thing again. Margaret waited fo a few more seconds, and then another one pushed down again.

"1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10--okay. Once more like that, and the head should be out" "Like before though, just wait until you have another contraction.

Again, a few seconds passed, and then another one hit, and again, she pushed down. "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10--excellent" "Now stop pushing,

because the head is out"

She suctioned out the nose and mouth, and then looked back up at Margaret. "Okay, 2 more pushes, and you'll finally have you baby" she said.

"Now--push" Margaret did as she was instructed, and really beared down. It was almost over. "Okay,now give me one more good push" she heard Dr.

Matthews say. She beared down again, with all her remaining strength--all of a sudden, she felt something slip out, and then heard the rather loud crys of

a baby--their baby.

"Congratulations--it's a boy!" announced, carefully placefully the baby on Margaret's stomach. She was exhausted, but that didn't stop

both her, and Andrew as well, from crying great tears of joy.

"Oh my God, honey--you did it! I'm so proud of you. He's beautiful." Andrew said, leaning over and kissing her sweat-drenched forehead.

Just then, looked up--"Well, would you like to cut the cord--Dad?" she asked holding up the scissors.

"Of course" Andrew replied, having calmed down a little bit, but still visibly emotional. He took the scissors from the doctor's hand, and carefully

cut the cord, thus severing this particular bond between mother and child.

"Okay, we're going to just clean him up,weigh him, and get him all ready, and then we'll bring him right back over" one of the nurses said, carefully picking

the baby up.

"Okay--thank you" Margaret said. She had calmed down a little bit, but you could see that she was still crying a little.

While they were cleaning him up, and doing whatever else they needed to, Andrew looked down at Margaret. "You did an amazing job. I really

do love you so much"

"I love you, too" she replied, as they both leaned in for a very brief kiss.

By this time, the nurses had finished what they were doing, and one of them brought the baby over, and gently placed him in Margaret's arms.

She looked down at him, smiled, and then started crying even more.

"He's...amazing" she said, looking up at Andrew and smiling, and then turning her attention back to the baby.

"Hey Joshua, I'm your Mommy. I love you so much"

Andrew just stood there, looking at mother and baby. He couldn't help but smile at the sight . "Can I hold him now?"

"Of course you can" she said, carefully handing him over to Andrew. "He's your son, too"

Andrew gently took his son in his arms. His son--he was a father. He looked down at him, and smiled. "Hey Joshua, I'm your Daddy, and

I love you so much" "He so beautiful...he's...perfect" Andrew said, looking up at Margaret briefly, before turning his attention back to

their son. He just couldn't help it--and he started crying again.

"Here, why don't you hand him back to me, and go and call your parents and your grandma. They should know that they have a new grandson/

great grandson" Margaret said.

"Allright,"he agreed, handing the baby back over to her. "I'll see you both again pretty soon" he said, before leaving the room.

Once he was out in the hall, and had located a phone, he picked it up and dialed his parents' number. It rang three times before someone

finally picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Dad. It's me, Andrew."

"Hey son, how are you?"

"I'm doing good" Andrew replied. "Actually, I'm calling because I have some big news"

"Oh? What it is it?" Joe asked

"Well, why don't you sit down, and I'll tell you...Grandpa"

"Grandpa?" (brief silence) "You mean...you mean...Margaret had the baby?"

"Yes. She went into labor at around 12:30 this morning, and gave birth to to a healthy baby boy at 8:30 this morning. 6 pounds 5 ounces,

and 20 1/2 inches long. He's absolutely perfect"

"Oh, that's wonderful. Congratulations!" Joe exclaimed. "Your mom and grandma are out running some errands right now,

but as soon as they get back, I'll give them the good news, and then we'll be on the first flight over. I'll call you back, and let you

know all the details as soon as get them ironed out"

"Allright, sounds good Dad. I guess we'll see you all later, then. Love you--goodbye"

"Love you too, son. See you guys later. Goodbye"

Andrew closed his phone, and headed back to the room. Margaret looked up as he walked back in. "So," she asked "did you tell them all

the news?"

"Well, Dad was the only one home at the time, but he's going to tell Mom and Gammy, and then they're going to catch the first flight over"

Andrew replied.

"That's good. I can't wait for them to see him" she said.

"I can't, either" he said, sitting down next to her on the bed. They looked at each and shared a kiss, then looked down at

their new son, smiling lovingly. There was absolutely nothing that either of them would have changed about that moment. It--like their

son--was absolutely perfect.