Chapter 57: Broken water
After breakfast, Dedyet usually went outside to enjoy the sunshine. This day, though, was different. The queen was sitting on a golden chair in her private quarters, her hands on her belly. The cramps were definitely still there, but Dedyet had a sudden feeling of hope. Maybe she should try it again? Just lie down in bed and try to fall asleep?
It was incredibly surprising, but Dedyet did as said, and managed to stay asleep for about four hours without waking up once. But the moment she woke up – ouch.
The pain had increased even more, and as soon as she opened her eyes, Dedyet felt a liquid between her legs. Immediately, the queen called for help.
Several nurses stormed inside, obviously panicking.
The pained look on Dedyet's face, and the wet dress and bed spoke for themselves. The nurses quickly got her up and walked her outside, reminding her to not forget to breathe.
It was only a minute later when Dedyet found herself in her birthing hut, being undressed.
"Breathe, your highness, breathe," a nurse commanded gently.
Dedyet looked at them in shock, realizing that this was the beginning of labor. "I'm not ready!"
"You are."
"No!"
"Of course you are. Your body will guide you."
"No, I can't do this!"
"Yes, you can."
"Where is my husband?!"
"At work."
Dedyet felt tears in her eyes, her heart beating fastly. Why was this happening so suddenly? She wasn't prepared!
The queen did feel a bit better once seeing Kija entering the small hut, but the feeling went away quickly after she felt her dress falling to the ground and her hair being opened. The nurses were determined, gently guiding Dedyet to a free space in the center of the room.
"Now squat," one of the women said.
Dedyet did as ordered. After that, two nurses supported her from the side and back while Kija kneeled down right in front of her.
Dedyet wanted to speak up, but felt a contraction coming.
"Breathe, breathe," one of the women said.
The queen felt in the need to just tell her to shut up, but the pain seemed unbearable. After just a minute, it was over. Dedyet looked up to see that the two other women had left. She was now alone with Kija and two other nurses.
"What time is it?" Dedyet asked, grateful to feel pain-free.
"It is almost lunch time," the women from behind answered.
"But I guarantee you that this will definitely take some more hours. This labor has just started," Kija stated calmly, looking between Dedyet's legs.
"I don't want this," Dedyet said in panic. "I didn't even have time to prepare! I just woke up and now I'm giving birth!"
Together, the nurses spoke out prayers for both Dedyet and the royal baby, begging them to make this labor quick and relatively painless, and to have neither mother nor baby die.
In her normal state, Dedyet would have found this wonderful. But she felt her uterus cramping another time, and she just wondered, why was giving birth so insanely painful?