Welcome to the World

She had spent the last couple of months adjusting back to life on her own. She moved out of Chang Hai and Rong Ning's apartment into her own condo much closer to the Hospital where she worked. She'd been working as a doctor for 3 months now, getting acquainted with their processes and procedures. She would do this until the baby was born. After delivery, she'd work on her methodology and training materials until she was ready for "active duty" again.

She worked hard to make this her home. She got a new cell phone that wouldn't need a converter and had local phone number, she furnished her condo and set up the nursery. She made friends with her neighbors. She made it a point to get to know some of the local street vendors and shop owners. She was putting down permanent roots, laying the foundation on which she would build her new life.

When she lived with Chang Hai and Rong Ning, she shared a room with Yin Shi, even watching her when they were at work. She missed them terribly now. It helped that they still got together every other Saturday, but the days in between were hard. She clung to cherished stories about her parents and looked forward to the birth of her own child, a precious little someone she would love, nurture and raise in this new world.

She wouldn't have to wait long. On her last visit, her doctor had told her it could be any day now. She felt her belly tighten and then relax. For good measure, the baby kicked. It seemed the baby didn't like her uterus giving it the warning that time's about up. She had a feeling that today might see the onset of labor, so before her shift began, she called Rong Ning to put her on alert.

The day turned out to be a busy one. There was a 12 car accident on one of the freeways during the morning rush, with all the injured coming to them. Seven critical, four major, eight minor and they were neither staffed nor equipped to handle the load. They lost three. It was still difficult for her to deal with losing patients this way. She would change that. She would introduce them to true trauma procedures, from triage to treatment, and she would make improvements that would save lives and keep families in tact.

It would have to wait, however. At the moment, she was beginning to feel cramps that started in her back and radiated around to her belly. There were coming every ten minutes pretty consistently. Her coworkers encouraged her to go home and take it easy. She needed to rest up for active labor. One of them insisted on taking her home, so home she went.

She tried to get some rest but couldn't sleep through the contractions, they were progressing quite quickly. She called Rong Ning to tell her the contractions were about 6 minutes apart. Maybe it would have been better if she stayed out her shift. She'd still be at the hospital now. Though just blocks away, she knew she couldn't walk it. "Stay calm" she told herself out loud "stay calm", "breathe". The clock ticked a couple of hours away. She called Rong Ning again. She and Chang Hai were on their way. "Hurry" she told them, "the contractions are coming three to four minutes apart now. Use the key if I can't get to the door."

Suddenly, there was a gush of water between her legs. Her bag of waters burst with such a force that it ran down her legs and onto the floor. She thought about trying to clean up, but the contractions were coming too quickly, lasting too long. She went into the bathroom and grabbed her night shirt. She got undressed before having to stop for a contraction. She put on her night shirt before the next contraction. It came with such huge intensity, she could not stand. Her body buckled over the sink and all she could do was breathe through it.

Just a few contractions later she felt the overpowering urge to push. Oh my God, she thought, I'm having this baby right here, right now. God she needed to introduce the concept of 911! Breathe! Breathe! "Whooooooo" she let out a long exhale as the contraction ended. She tried thinking back to her first labor, she imagined herself at County, in a nice bed, John at her side, holding her hand and saying "squeeze my hand, squeeze my hand" as she went through each contraction. She could hear his voice in her head, calm and caring. With the next contraction she looped through the comforting words "squeeze my hand", "squeeze my hand", "whooooooooo" she exhaled as the contraction subsided.

"Get her! Lay her down!" Rong Ning had just arrived with her husband and was giving him direction. As he helped her to a prone position, Rong Ning positioned her legs in an up and spread 'em fashion. "The head's out Jing Mei! The head's out!"

With the next contraction she continued to hear John's voice "squeeze my hand", "squeeze my hand", as she beared down to push hard "whooooooooo".

"It's a…Girl! You've got a beautiful baby girl!" Rong Ning exclaimed. Chang Hai reached for a towel and handed it to his wife so she could wipe up the newborn. He dashed to the bedroom to get a pillow to put under Jing Mei's head. Rong Ning tenderly placed the new born baby on Jing Mei's chest. Tears of joy fell like rain as she held her new born daughter for the first time.

"Let's get the afterbirth out before moving you to the bed, okay" Rong Ning suggested. Jing Mei nodded. She wasn't ready to release her daughter from her arms even momentarily.

Chang Hai felt the need to snap a few pictures right there. Rong Ning admonished him, but he insisted his new niece would want to see the exact place she was born someday. The comment made both women laugh.

Rong Ning helped Jing Mei change into a clean nightshirt as Chang Hai prepared the bed with extra blankets and pillows to keep her comfy and warm through the new mama shakes. They helped her into bed and handed her new daughter to hold. Jing Mei gazed at her child nestled in her arms and whispered "Thank you John, more than you'll ever know". She looked up at Rong Ning and Chang Hai who were unabashedly smiling at her new addition "and thank you both so very, very much!"

Chang Hai immortalized the moment with another picture and then declared "Now all you have to do is name that beautiful little girl of yours!"

"She is so beautiful!" Rong Ning chimed in.

"She is beautiful, isn't she? That's what we're going to name her." Jing Mei smiled lovingly at her daughter as she lightly stroked her angelic face "Welcome to the world Mei Li."