*Thank-you for all the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much. = )
I was only able to sleep for about an hour and a half before I woke up in even more pain. I woke up crying and Dave heard me. "Tess, what's wrong?"
"It hurts," I said, "It really hurts." I couldn't help but to cry it was probably the worst pain imaginable but I still wasn't going to break and get the epidural. I was going to tough it out whether I was in tears or not.
"Shh.. It's okay," he said. "I know it hurts but it will be over soon."
"I hope so," I said.
"Is it your back still?"
"Yeah," I said. "It hurts so bad."
"All right, Tess don't cry. How about we get you more comfortable?" he asked getting up. Dave was being a real trooper through the whole thing. He was doing everything he could to make sure I was comfortable. He walked out to the nurses' station to get me some pillows. I was overjoyed when he returned with about 3 pillows. He put them behind my back and then began to rub my back again. "Better?"
"Yeah," I said. "Much." It wasn't long after that that I fell asleep once again. I know I wasn't exactly in a deep sleep but I was in a sleep. I could still feel the pain and it was tremendous but I could still sleep through it which mattered the most to me. I needed to rest up because from what I've heard and read the 2nd stage of labor could be pretty intense and exhausting. I wanted to be able to focus on having the baby and not being too tired so it was best that I was getting in my rest. I could also feel Dave rubbing my back as I slept. It was doing wonders even though I still had pain it wasn't as bad as long as he was rubbing my back. I also remember hearing the baby's heartbeat as I slept and just because I was sleeping didn't mean it was. It was working hard to get out because its heart rate was going fast at times and then it would slow down.
I managed to sleep for a while and ended up waking up at 2 in the morning. I looked over in the chair and Dave was asleep holding his cell phone out and out stretched in the chair. I had no idea how he could sleep like that. I got myself out of bed, covered Dave with a blanket and then went to use the bathroom. I came back out and Dave was awake. "Where'd you go?" he asked.
"I had to use the bathroom. I am still pregnant and I still have a baby pushing my bladder," I said. "When I have to go I have to go."
"Oh right," he said. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm in pain but I should be all right. It's been a while since the nurse has checked on me. Do you think I should buzz her in so she can check. Maybe I dilated some more."
"Probably," he said as he helped me get back into bed.
"Thanks," I said as I paged the nurse to come in and check on me.
She came in about 2 minutes later and said, "Yes, Ms. Montgomery? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah but I was just wondering if you could check on me. It's been a while," I said.
"Sure," she said, "just lay back and I can check you out."
"Thanks," I said as I prepared to be checked. At that point I just wanted to be able to start pushing I was in so much pain. I was really hoping I had reached that point.
I was very disappointed when she told me, "you're only 6 cm dilated and 65% effaced. You still have some time to go."
"Are you serious?" I asked, "I've been here forever and I'm only 6 cm?"
"I'm sorry but if you want to speed the process along you can walk the hallway a little bit. Do you want to do that?"
"Sure," I said. "I will do anything to get this baby out."
"Walk around for a little bit and then I will be back in to check on you. It's a little after 2 in the morning right now so at some point today you're going to have a baby."
"Valentine's Day," I said, "how sweet." I didn't mean to sound like a bitch but that's what pain can do to a person. I could care less if the baby was born on Valentine's Day or not just as long as it was out of me soon so Dave and me walked out of the room so I could walk the hallway for a little bit. I felt so bad for Dave because I could tell he was tired and just wanted to sleep but we were in this together. "So what happened to Zack?" I asked as we walked.
"He's sleeping in the waiting room waiting to hear word on the baby. He said he's not leaving until you have that baby."
"Wow. He's dedicated," I said.
"He is dedicated. He's taking the Godfather thing seriously," said Dave.
"That's good to know. I think he'll be a great Godfather," I said. I really did feel that Zack would be a good godfather. IF anyone was willing to stay at the hospital that long they truly deserved that honor. "So are you getting excited, Daddy?"
"Yeah," he said with a smile. "I am. Remember the night you got pregnant?"
"I think so," I said. "It's so weird because now that I think about it I knew something happened. It's weird how you know."
"I will admit when you started getting worried I was worried. I never planned on having another baby and I never planned on falling in love again but two things I never expected to happen happened. I have to say I'm really happy not only to be a dad but to be having a baby with the woman I love. I really can't wait to meet our baby," he said.
"Me either," I said. "Who do you think it will look like?"
"I don't know," he said. "I hope it looks like its beautiful mother."
"Thanks," I said blushing. It still amazed me that after all this time he could still make me blush and sometimes he could still give me butterflies. He took my hand as we walked down the hallway. It was pretty quiet except the lady in the room next to mine was already in the second stage of labor. We could hear her baby cry as we walked up and down the hall. "I wish that was me."
"It will be soon and if we keep doing this walking it will be you," he said. "Just be patient."
"I'm trying but you have no idea how bad this hurts."
"Honestly, I'm glad I don't know how bad it hurts. It's times like this I'm glad I'm a guy."
"Yeah.. Aren't you lucky," I said. "I wish I was a guy right about now too."
"It will be all right," he said. "Are you ready to go back to the room?"
"Sure," I said as we headed back to the room. I think we spent about 30 minutes walking in the hallway and after that there was NO way either of us were going to sleep. I was in too much pain to sleep.
About 30 minutes after we returned to the room the nurse came in to hook me back up to the monitor and then checked me out. I was only at 7 cm dilated. I was disappointed to say the least but at least I dilated a cm in an hour. If I could do that every hour it would only be three hours before I could start pushing. The nurse got me some ice chips while Dave went down to the cafeteria to get himself some coffee. He must have stopped at the gift shop on the way up because he bought a deck of cards for us to play some card games. I had to do something to take my mind off the pain and something to take my mind off of labor. We played a few games of rummy and a couple games of war. We must have been playing for about an hour and a half before I felt a gush of liquid. "Dave, I think my water broke."
"Are you serious?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said as I felt around the bed. "It did."
"Call the nurse," he said getting up.
"All right," I said as I paged the nurse. It didn't take too long before she came into the room. "Um. My water broke," I said before she could even ask.
"All right," she said. "I have to clean up the bed and then I will check your progress."
"Okay," I said as she helped me out of the bed so she could change the bedding while she was changing the bedding I went to the bathroom to clean myself up a bit and when I came back she checked my progress and I was at 8 cm and 100% effaced so I was pretty close but I still had some waiting to do.
It was a long night it was around 4:30 in the morning. I was in a lot of pain and I just started crying but it was too late for the epidural. I had made it that far so I would have to go the rest of the way. I was getting tired and I was cranky from the pain and Dave was getting tired from being up all night so we put the cards away and watched some TV. We attempted to watch TV but we couldn't agree on anything and honestly I wasn't in the mood for TV. I was just crying from the pain and Dave was helping me breathe through my contractions but they were getting worse as the early morning went on. He was rubbing my back and giving me ice chips to help me out. I could tell he was draining so I sent him to get himself some more coffee. He didn't' want to go at first but I insisted he go because it wasn't going to be long before I was in the second stage of labor which was delivering the baby. He came back and went back to rubbing my back again and helping me breathe. It was getting more and more unbearable and I could feel so much pressure. I was very uncomfortable to say the least.
Around a quarter till 6 in the morning when I could no longer take the pain Dave paged the nurse into the room. She came in quickly to see what was the matter. "She's in a lot of pain," said Dave, "can you help her? Or see if she's ready to push?"
"Are you feeling pressure?" she asked.
"Yeah.. On my pelvic bone. It hurts so bad," I said trying not to cry.
"Let me check you out and we'll see if it's time yet," she said as she got prepared to check. I was hoping and praying that it would be time. I remember I was laying there praying silently that I would be ready to push if I wasn't I didn't know what I was going to do. The further I got, the more painful it got and the more cranky I got. I cursed Dave a couple times for being the one to get me in that position. He took it well and just let me yell at him and blame him for everything. That was support if you ask me. He couldn't have been any more supportive. "I think it's time," she said, "you're 10 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Let me get the doctor and you can start pushing."
"Thank God," I said. And had I known how hard pushing would have been I probably wouldn't have been thanking anyone.
The doctor came into the room with the nurse and put on gloves. Dave stood up and took my hand as I got ready to start pushing. As the first contraction came I was told to push so I pushed and this continued on for a while. I was growing tired of pushing and nothing happening. I think the baby was being stubborn I don't know but 3 hours later I was still pushing. "I can't do this anymore," I said to Dave. "I can't."
"You can," said Dave. "You're almost there. You can do this, Tess. I know you can," he said holding my hand.
"You said that 2 hours ago and I'm not any more closer than I was."
"Actually," said the doctor, "after a few more good pushes your baby should be here."
"See, Tess? You can do it," said Dave. "Come on, Tess."
"I'm too tired. I can't," I said. It was really exhausting. I wish Dave could push for 3 hours straight without getting tired. Then he could tell me what I could or couldn't do. I couldn't push anymore. I didn't want to push anymore. I just wanted to sleep.
"Come on, Tessa," said the doctor. "PUSH!" I pushed as I let out a scream. "Stop."
"See you're doing it," said Dave.
"SHUT UP! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" I said before I had to push again. "DAMN YOU, DAVE. YOU DID THIS TO ME!"
"I know," he said as he ran his hand through my hair, "but you're doing so good. Come on, Tess, you can do it."
"All right, Tessa," said the doctor, "give me another big push." I gave her a big push and the pain had grown so much worse. I let out the biggest scream I had the entire night. "You're crowning," she said with a smile. "Would you like to see, Dad?"
"Sure," said Dave as he looked down. "Oh.. Wow," he said as he lost all color in his face.
"Mom, would you like to see?"
"I'm good," I said.
"All right," said the doctor, "I need you to give me a big push!" I gave the biggest push I could and the doctor told me to stop. "All right, Tessa, give me another one."
"I can't," I said.
"You're almost there," she said. "Come on."
"Fine," I said as I gave her another push.
"Good. Stop," she said with a smile. She picked up an aspirator and said, "the head is out. I just need one or two more pushes and it will be out." She suctioned out the baby's nose and mouth and told me to push again. Even though I was exhausted and tired I gave her the biggest push I could and the next thing I heard were the cries of my baby and her saying, "It's a boy!"
"A boy," said Dave with tears in his eyes.
"We have a son," I said trying not to cry as the nurse laid him down on my stomach to clean him off. He was so beautiful. As much as I was trying not to cry I ended up crying when I saw his tiny face. "He's beautiful."
"Yes he is," said Dave as he wiped tears from his eyes. "Good job, Tess. I love you," he said as he kissed the top of my head.
"What was the time?" asked the doctor.
"8:55," said the nurse.
"Dad, would you like to cut the cord?"
"Yes," said Dave as he took the scissors. The nurse helped him and he cut the cord off before the nurse took the baby to clean him up some more and to weigh him. "I am so proud of you, Tessa. You were a trooper. No pain medicine, over 12 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing. You did it."
"Thanks," I said. "I'm sorry for being a bitch."
"It's okay. I understand," he said as the nurse brought the baby over to me wrapped in a blanket.
"He is a healthy baby," she said, "8lbs 10 oz and 20 inches long. Congratulations."
"Thank-you," I said as she handed me the baby. "He is so precious. Hi, I'm your mommy," I said as he looked at me. He had blue eyes but I remember my mom telling me that all babies had blue eyes at first. His were a bluish grey from what I saw before he closed his eyes.
"He is so cute," said Dave. "Not much hair but he's cute."
"Just like his Daddy," I said with a smile. I kissed the baby's forehead and said, "I don't even know what to name him."
"Neither do I," said Dave as we looked at him. "and nothing is coming to mind."
"It's okay," said the nurse. "You have a couple days to name him. You don't have to come up with one right away."
"That's reassuring," I said, "because it might take us a couple days to come up with a name."
"It happens a lot," said the nurse. "Are you bottle feeding or breastfeeding?"
"Breastfeeding," I said looking down at the precious baby in my arms. He had fallen asleep. I guess he was just as exhausted as I was. He did have a busy night.
"All right. You might want to try him to see if he can latch on."
"Okay," I said as the nurse helped me out. She showed me how to do it and how to hold the baby. Luckily he latched on right away. It hurt but the nurse said most babies don't latch on as quickly as he did. I didn't know how to react. He was absolutely beautiful and he was so perfect. He had all ten toes and all ten fingers. He had the perfect little face and I knew he had Dave's mouth. He had little brown fuzz for hair but not much and so far he had bluish grey eyes. I never knew it was possible to love someone so much as I loved my son at that moment. I felt truly blessed and my life had so much more meaning now. I was someone's mommy.
After he finished feeding Dave asked, "can I hold him?"
"Yeah," I said as I handed him the baby. "Just hold his head."
"I know, Tess. I have a son at home."
"A son that's going to be super excited he has a baby brother. Max knew the whole time," I said as I watched Dave hold the baby. He looked so happy.
"Hey there Little Guy," he said, "I'm your daddy. I am going to be the best daddy I can be to you. I promise. Tess, he is so perfect. And he's looking at me."
"Aw," I said with a smile. "He is perfect."
"You're perfect too," he said with a smile as he leaned down to kiss my forehead.
After a few minutes he handed the baby back to me so he could call his mom to tell her the baby was here and he called Zack to tell him the news. I felt a little left out because I wanted to call my mom and my dad to tell them the news but I remembered they didn't want anything to do with him. I felt bad because my son was the cutest, most precious thing I had ever seen in my life. It was their loss and I know I shouldn't have been upset but I was because I wish I had family to share that moment with. The only person I had was Dave. Dave was so excited though. His face lit up as he told his mom, Zack, his best friends that he had another son but he was even more excited to tell Max that he had a baby brother. I could hear Max scream from the phone. He was so excited. Dave was excited and as much as he said he wanted little girl I could tell he was just as excited to have another little boy. As for me I was so happy and excited. After all the pain that I went through it was truly worth it all after he was born.
*A/N: So what did you think? Please review and thank-you for taking the time to read.