Amy knew she couldn't lie to Ty, so she just smiled and said, "Well, I think you have perfect timing, as baby Borden has decided it's time to make an appearance."
Ty looked at his wife and then it registered what she had just said. "Right now?" he asked in a panic.
"No," Amy assured him. "The contractions started earlier at the shower, and I'm pretty sure we have a while before you need to be concerned."
Ty let out a big sigh. "Do you want to head back to the loft?"
Amy smiled and leaned over giving her husband a kiss. "Yes, please, and thank you for being here for me. You always understand and I love you for that. I would really like to keep this quiet for a while, though, until we're sure it's the real deal. You know how Lou can get. Okay?"
Ty nodded. "That's fine with me. What do you think of the new truck?"
"It's really nice," Amy said. "I'll miss your old GMC, but I know we need more room."
"I understand completely," Ty said as they headed back to the ranch. When they arrived, no one was out in the yard, so Ty parked over by the barn and came around to help Amy out. They walked up the stairs to the loft and Amy went to change into something more comfortable.
When she walked back to the living room, Ty was hanging up from talking to Lou, letting her know they would not be over for dinner as Amy was tired. He had made tea so they sat on the couch enjoying the quiet time together. Amy put her mug down on the table and leaned back into Ty's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and could feel her relax.
She was enjoying being in Ty's arms and had just closed her eyes when another contraction hit her, this one much stronger than the others. Ty felt her tense up and he leaned over so he could see her face. Her eyes were shut and he could tell she was holding her breath. "Amy, you need to breathe." When it subsided, he said, "I think we should call Dr. Virani and let her know that things have started happening."
She sat there thinking it was too soon but then figured it wouldn't hurt to let Dr. Virani know. "Okay."
When Ty called Dr. Virani, she instructed, "Keep Amy comfortable and focused when she has a contraction. Don't let her eat much solid food. You should start timing the contractions so we'll have a better idea as to how things are progressing. And help her remember to breathe."
"Thank you," Ty said. "You'll be the first to know when things progress."
Ty was rubbing Amy's back and talking softly to keep her focused on breathing through the contractions. He was holding her and could feel her body slowly relax after each one, her breathing returning to an even pace. He knew it was going to be a long night, with not much sleep for either of them, and Amy would need him to be there for her.
They were both resting when Amy had to get up to pee. She didn't want to wake Ty so she was trying to get up without his help. As she moved to stand, she felt a warm gush of fluid and thought, Great, I just wet my pants. She moved as quickly as she could so as not to get the new couch wet and was standing there looking down at the floor when Ty heard his name.
"What's wrong? he asked as he sat up.
"I think my water just broke."
Ty sprang into action. He went to the bath room and grabbed some towels to mop up the floor and another one for Amy to sit on. He then went into the bedroom closet to retrieve her packed bag and grabbed a dry pair of sweats for her. As he was walking back over to her, he was dialing Dr. Virani's number. He let her know what had happen and Amy heard him say they would be there in about twenty-five minutes. He helped her change her sweats and smiled at his wife as he helped her stand.
"Ready to go? I think it's time to meet baby Borden."
Amy nodded and replied, "Ready as I'll ever be."
They moved slowly down the stairs and out to the new truck. Ty was so thankful when he turned the key and the truck started right up. It was the middle of the night and everyone was asleep and with the new truck being so quiet, even Jack didn't hear them leave for the hospital.
They arrived about twenty-five minutes later and the hospital staff was ready and waiting for them thanks to Dr. Virani calling ahead. Amy was wheeled into the room while Ty filled out some last-minute paperwork. The next time he saw Amy she was in a hospital gown hooked up to the heart monitor with a belt strapped to her belly monitoring the baby's heart rate.
Dr. Virani showed up fifteen minutes later to check Amy's progression and told them it would be a while as she was only dilated to 3. She instructed Amy to stay relaxed and to remember what she'd learned in pre-natal classes about her breathing.
Amy smiled and said, "Right. Easier said than done."
Dr. Virani smiled. "Don't worry. Things are progressing nicely and if they keep progressing, you'll see your new baby probably by morning."
Ty reached for Amy's hand and gave it a squeeze. He tried not to show his concern, but he didn't like seeing her in pain. He was worried for his wife; giving birth was going to be hard on her. Dr. Virani had even discussed the possibility of a C-section with them because of the baby's size. But she'd told them they would let the labor progress unless a problem developed that would put her or the baby in danger.
Several hours passed and the labor was not progressing as the doctor had hoped. Amy was only dilated to 4 and she was having severe back pain. Ty's hand was numb from Amy's grip with each contraction. Dr. Virani suspected the baby was face up rather than face down and the contractions were doing no good to move the baby into the birth canal. She reassured them, "The baby isn't showing any distress at this point, but if nothing happens in the next hour to move things along, it'll be time to make a decision."
Amy's back hurt so bad she could hardly stand it, and she lay there trying to breathe through the pain and control her emotions when Ty noticed a tear roll down her cheek. He reached up and wiped the tear away and asked her, "Amy, are you all right? I think it's time to talk to the doctor. Okay?"
She nodded and took a deep breath. She wanted so much to have this baby the natural way, but it didn't appear that was going to happen. As Ty left the room to get the nurse, the baby monitor started alarming and she panicked. Ty and the nurse came running into the room. The nurse told Amy they would be prepping her for surgery. Amy looked so frightened, the tears rolling down her cheeks. Ty held her hand and bent down to her. "Amy, I'm right here. It's going to be fine. The baby is going to be fine."
She looked up at Ty, into those bright green eyes of his and she could see the worry in them. She knew he was as scared as she was, but they would face this together. So she gave him her best smile and nodded.
From then on the room was a fury of activity, and Ty was told he had to leave so they could finish prepping Amy for surgery. He didn't want to leave Amy; she was scared and needed him to be there for her. He wasn't really sure why they ask him to leave, as this was his wife and he had seen all of Amy many times. Didn't they realize he was the one who had gotten her pregnant in the first place? So what was the big deal? But he reluctantly left the room and was shown to another room and instructed to put on a gown and cover his face with a mask so he could join Amy in the operating room momentarily.
While he was out of earshot of Amy, he placed a call to Lou. He let her know where they were and what was happening and told her he would call again as soon as he knew anything.
Amy was on the operating table when Ty saw her again. She seemed to be much calmer, even asleep, and he wondered what had happened to make her relax so much. The nurse explained that they had given Amy just enough anesthesia to relax her and then they had administered the spinal block so they could perform the surgery. This would allow them to get the baby out faster, as it was under duress and they needed to see what was going on. He was relieved that she was no longer in any pain but sad that she would miss the birth of their child.
He was holding her hand and tried to relax as Dr. Virani started the procedure and told Ty he could watch on the mirror above if he wanted to. He said, "Okay," but didn't watch her make the incision. When she was ready to bring the baby out, he watched in amazement as the baby was lifted out of Amy's womb. It was all fuzzy and funny looking from the fluid that had surrounded it for 9 months.
Dr. Virani asked Ty if he wanted to cut the cord and handed him the clamp. Ty was beaming as he stood up and could see his son for the first time. He was a little blue from the cord being wrapped around his neck. Ty cut the cord, and the nurse quickly wrapped the baby in a cloth and took him over to the bassinette. They suctioned out his month, and then Ty heard the sound every new parent waits for. The baby started crying, and it was the best sound he ever heard.
Amy opened her eyes when she heard him cry. She groggily asked Ty, "Is that our baby?"
He smiled and said, "Yes, Amy, it's a boy. We have a son."
She smiled up at him with tears in her eyes, and he bent down to place a kiss on her lips. "I love you," he said.
A machine started beeping loudly, and Ty watched as Amy's eye fluttered shut. Dr. Virani started shouting orders and Ty was ushered out of the room. He stood in the hall, remembering the last words he heard: "She's bleeding out."
It seemed like hours that he'd been sitting on the floor outside the operating room, not knowing what was happening to Amy. He didn't know what to do or where to go so he just sat there, staring into space until he heard his name. He looked up to see Dr. Virani standing there. She could tell Ty was in shock, so she sat down next to him and took a deep breath.
"Ty, look at me. Can you hear me?" He turned his head and nodded. "Amy is okay. She lost a lot of blood, but she is okay, understand?"
He heard what she'd said, but it took him a minute to process the information. "Amy is okay, right?" he asked.
"Yes, Ty, she is okay. I can take you to her if you want to go?"
Ty sat there for a minute longer, and then everything clicked into place. Amy's okay. Yes, he wanted to see her as he jumped to his feet. "Let's go," he told Dr. Virani as he helped her up.
The nurse was checking Amy's vitals when they found her in recovery. She was very pale, and her face was so calm it scared Ty. He had to touch her to make sure she was still alive. He needed to feel the warmth of her body and see her bright blue eyes. Dr. Virani explained, it'll take her a while to wake up; we had to put her under to control the bleeding, and the fact that she had lost so much blood made her body tired. But," she assured him, "she's okay, and she will wake up; you just need to be patient."
Ty was sitting by Amy's bedside holding her hand when his thoughts went to the baby. He jumped up and went running to the nurses' station. "The baby—how is the baby? Where is the baby?" he asked in a panic.
The nurse smiled and said, "It's okay, Mr. Borden. Your baby is in the nursery. He's fine, just fine."
Ty let out a sigh. "You're sure he's okay?" he asked. The nurse reassured him again and said she would take him to the nursery whenever he was ready to go. Ty nodded and thanked her. But he didn't want to leave Amy just yet. He needed to see her awake before he could relax enough to go see their baby.
Several hours later, as Amy was resting comfortably in her room, Ty sat holding his son, and marveling at how small he was but perfect in every way. He had two eyes, a nose and the cutest mouth, ten little fingers and ten little toes and a fuzzy head, because he didn't have much of any hair. He didn't know what color his eyes were because they hadn't been open long enough to find out. He was sitting in the chair with the biggest grin on his face when he heard Amy say, "Ty? Ty, where is the baby?"
He got up from the chair and walked to her bedside, carefully placing their son on her chest. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek and said, "He's right here, Amy, and he's fine. How are you feeling?"
Amy responded, "I'm tired, but I'm not hurting." She looked down at the baby sleeping on her chest and smiled. "He's beautiful, isn't he, Ty?"
Ty nodded and said, "Yup, just like his mom."
She got a strange look on her face and said, "Ty, did you call the ranch and let anyone know that I went into labor?"
"Yes. In fact, I called them when they made me leave the room, before you went into surgery."
She relaxed a little and then asked, "Ty, have you called them now to tell them that baby Borden has arrived and what he is?"
Ty nodded. "Yes, everyone at Heartland knows that you're fine and that this little guy is fine." He raised his eyebrows. "I would guess that probably most of the population of Hudson knows by now."
"That's good," she said.
The baby started fussing and Ty picked him up again. "I think he might be hungry, and you're the only one that can take care of that, Mommy." As he leaned in to kiss his wife and son, he asked if she was up to it. She nodded and asked him to press the call button for the nurse.
Just as the nurse arrived to help the new mom, the troops showed up. So Ty ushered them out of the room and closed the door and said, "Amy needs a little privacy right now, so let's all head down to the cafeteria for some ice cream. My treat."
Katie reached for Ty's hand and said, "Let's go, Uncle Ty." Everyone laughed and headed down the hall.
They had been gone about forty minutes and headed back up to the room. As they approached Amy's room, the nurse stopped Ty in the hall and said it was fine the family was there, but Amy was resting and the baby was in the nursery. He nodded, thanked her, and walked over to tell everyone that they would have to be content with seeing the baby through the glass right now. The adults understood, but Georgie and Katie not so much. They stood peering through the glass and commenting on how tiny and cute he was.
"What color are his eyes?" Lou asked.
Ty responded, "We don't know yet. He hasn't had his eyes open much. Seems he's a bit worn out like his mom. Hopefully they will both be rested up by tomorrow and we'll get to see his eyes open."
Everyone laughed and walked back to the room. Ty went in first to see if Amy was up for the visit. She was tired but said she would love to see them all for a few minutes. So everyone came in to say hi and tell her how cute baby Borden was. Georgie asked what his name was, and both Amy and Ty smiled. Amy said, "You'll have to wait till the naming ceremony to find out."
Lou asked how she was feeling and Amy smiled and said, "Like I just had major surgery."
Lou smiled, but took the hint and said, "Hey, guys, I think it's time we let Amy and Ty get some well-deserved rest. We can come back tomorrow to see them again." The kids moaned but said their goodbyes and thanked Ty for the ice cream. Jack and Lisa stayed a few more minutes to make sure that Ty and Amy had everything they needed, and then they left too.
It was finally quiet in the room and Amy was slowly falling back to sleep. She reached for Ty's hand and motioned for him to crawl in bed next to her. He smiled but didn't hesitate to lie down beside her and wrap his arms around her. She snuggled into his chest and was asleep in a heartbeat.
Ty laid there listening to the even breathing of his wife and reliving the events of the past twenty-four hours.
He had a family: a wife he adored and a new baby boy. Life didn't get much better. He kissed Amy's forehead and smiled. He was truly looking forward to the next chapter in their lives.