Chapter Thirty Six
"Just in time" said Lila reaching out for anyone's hand.
"In time for what?" asked Steven, as Jamie set the suitcase down against the wall in the far corner of the room.
"Contraction," said Lila, reaching out for her husband. "Get over here!" The nurse was just about to check Lila's cervix when it hit, so she stepped back and let Steven in to take Lila's hand. It had been almost exactly 14 minutes since the contraction she'd had on the way into the hospital.
"That's good," Steven coached. "Just breathe…" Lila didn't say anything this time, instead concentrating on her breathing as best she could.
"That wasn't too terrible" she said once the pain let up. "Bad enough, but I know they'll get a lot worse before we're finished."
"You did good, babe," said Steven, bringing her hand up to kiss it. "I'm glad I got here in time so you didn't have to do that by yourself."
"I could've done it," said Lila, the Reagan in her shining through.
"I know you could've done it," said Steven. "But I want to be here for everything, just like I promised I would be."
"I know you do, babe," said Lila with a smile. "Oh hey, did they page Dr. Mianni yet?"
"Yes, Lila," said the nurse, "She should be up within the hour. Can I check your progress now?"
"Sure." The nurse pressed a button on the bed and lowered the head several inches.
"Just lay back and relax as much as you can," said the nurse. "Might be a bit less uncomfortable that way."
"Okay," said Lila, laying back and holding tight to Steven's hand. Jamie and Eddie stepped into the hallway to give the young couple some privacy.
"Ow!"
"Sorry, Lila," said the nurse as she moved her fingers around slowly. "Feels like you're about 4 centimeters dilated right now, and the baby's head is at about a minus two station."
"That means we've got six centimeters to go before she can push, and right now the baby's head is still two centimeters above the cervix, right?" asked Steven.
"Very good, Steven!" exclaimed the nurse as she finished the exam and pulled the sheet back down over Lila's legs. "I can see someone paid close attention in childbirth class!"
"I tried to," said Steven. "I wanted to come into this knowing as much as I could."
"Impressive, huh?" Lila asked the nurse.
"Very," she said. "I've been doing this for 5 years, and never have I seen a dad who knew that much this early in labor." Steven smiled and blushed a little.
"So what do we do now?" asked Lila.
"I need to get your IV started," replied the nurse. "Dr. Mianni will be up shortly and she'll want to check you then, and we'll be keeping a close eye on your blood pressure and the baby's heart rate. Aside from that, we'll just let nature be nature."
"Is there any mention of our birth plan in the Lila's file?" asked Steven.
The nurse opened Lila's file and looked through several pages before she found the birth plan. "Yes, Sir," she replied. "Right here. It says you'll ask for pain medication if you feel it becomes necessary. Is that still your plan?"
"Yes, it is," answered Lila. "I'd also like to walk around as much as possible and maybe get in the whirlpool after a while."
"I think we can accommodate you there," the nurse replied. "Let me go get what I need to start your IV, and once we get that going, you can walk around the corridor if you want to while we wait for Dr. Mianni."
"Okay, great," said Lila. As the nurse left the room, Steven walked over to his jacket and fished his cell phone out of the pocket.
"Who are you calling?" asked Lila.
"For starters," he replied. "My parents and Sully. I think your folks called everyone on your side of the family."
"Oops. We promised your mom we'd call as soon as we left for the hospital, and we forgot."
"Yeah, but she'll understand." said Steven. "I've got to go outside to use this, will you be okay for about 10 minutes?"
"Sure. My folks are right outside if I need them. They should have the IV done by the time you get back, and then we can make laps around the halls, should be real exciting!"
"Okay, I'll hurry back, don't deliver while I'm gone, got it?"
"Go make your calls, goofball!" laughed Lila. Steven gave her a big smile as he headed out the door. Shortly thereafter, the nurse returned to do Lila's IV.
"Would you prefer it in the back of your hand?" asked the nurse. "Or the back of your forearm?"
"Forearm, definitely," answered Lila. "I'll never understand how people can stand having those things in the back of their hands!"
"I guess it doesn't bother some folks as much as others, Lila" replied the nurse as she rubbed Lila's left forearm with an alcohol wipe. "I'm going to inject a little numbing agent first, so that should be the only needle stick you feel."
"Okay" said Lila, looking the opposite direction. She felt the little stick of the numbing agent, and she felt the pressure of the IV going into her arm, but it wasn't really painful.
"All finished, Lila," said the nurse as she applied the last piece of tape to Lila's arm to hold things in place.
"Great. I need to use the restroom."
"Sure, Lila, go ahead." Lila went to get out of bed just as the next contraction hit. She laid back down in the bed and grabbed a fistful of the sheet with both hands.
"Breathe, Lila," said the nurse. "Do you want your Mom?"
"I'm breathing!" Lila snapped. "This isn't the first contraction I've had, you know!"
"Sorry," the nurse replied gently. "Would you like me to do anything for you?"
"No," said Lila in between breaths. "Steven will be back any moment."
"Yeah, she's still go a while to go," Steven told his mother. "I'll call you when she gets a little closer. I love you too," Steven told his mother as Danny hurried into the hospital with Frank. "Hey, Steven, how's my little bit?" Frank asked patting the young, soon to be father on the back.
"She's okay, only four centimeters," Steven sighed. "Get comfortable"
"Let her take her time, you better get back, they get really touchy if you are gone too long at this stage," Danny advised settling Frank down in a comfortable chair.
Steven hurried back to Lila's room and found her contracting. "Oh Lila," Steven exclaimed. "I'm sorry!" He set his phone down on the bedside table and Lila reached out her hand towards him. He took her hand and held it in both of his own, and within another minute, the contraction was over.
"What took you so long?" asked Lila as she laid her head back onto the pillow.
"My mom wouldn't stop asking questions," he admitted. "I finally had to cut her off and tell her I'll call her back later. Then I ran into your uncle and grandpa, I'm sorry I didn't make it back up here sooner, babe."
"It's okay," replied Lila. "Is the rest of my family here yet?"
"Yep" he said, "Your Mom and Dad are just down the hall. Danny and your Grandpa just got here and Joey went with Erin to get everyone coffee and juices. Jack is at 1 PP and Sean's on duty but he'll be here soon. Everyone is where they need to be for as long as we need them to be here."
"I'm trying not to think too much about how long it might take," said Lila.
"Just keep in mind what we'll have to show for it when it's over, babe," said Steven with a smile. Lila smiled and rubbed her tummy just a bit.
"How about we go for a walk?" she asked him.
"Sounds good. Can you get up by yourself?"
"Yeah," Lila replied "And in fact I was getting up and heading to the restroom when that last contraction hit, so that's my first stop before we go anywhere!"
"Understood." Lila got out of the bed and rolled her IV pole beside herself to the restroom.
"Can you get my robe out of the suitcase, please?" she asked him when she came out of the restroom.
"Yeah," he answered. He went over and opened the suitcase, moved a few things out of the way, and pulled out her light purple, terry cloth robe.
"I'm not sure we can get this on you with that IV, babe" said Steven as he thought about it a little.
"Oh, crap," said Lila. "Maybe the nurse can come unhooked it so we can get the robe on?"
"I'll go ask," he said, "hang on." Steven walked to the nurses' station, and returned a moment later with Lila's nurse, and she was carrying another hospital gown.
"I've got something that'll work better than trying to put your robe on, Lila" said the nurse. "We can unsnap this at the shoulders and put it over your arms from the back, then re-snap it. It'll accomplish the same thing as the robe and it'll be a lot easier to get on and off."
"Fine with me" said Lila. "As long as I'm covered up, I don't much care what it's with!"
The nurse helped Lila get the second gown on, and then Steven took the IV pole in one hand and Lila's hand in the other as the two of them began their walk. They walked passed another couple who was doing the same thing they were.
"Must be a popular pastime," joked Lila as they rounded a corner.
"Hey, it must work or nobody would do it," said Steven. Lila squeezed his hand really tightly and stopped walking.
"Here, Lila," he said, letting go of the IV pole and taking a hold of her arms. Remembering what they'd learned in their childbirth class, he pulled her arms up around his neck, and she leaned the top of her head against his chest. She looked down at the white tile floor and concentrated on breathing.
"Oh, God this hurts," she whimpered.
"I know it does, babe," said Steven softly. "But you're doing great, just keep breathing." Lila nodded as she slowly let out a breath.
"There," she said a minute or so later. "Over."
"Great job," Steven praised as he leaned down to give her a kiss on the lips. "Wanna keep going?"
"Yeah," said Lila, and they began walking towards the end of the hall. As they were almost back to their room, they saw Dr. Mianni at the nurses' station.
"Hello, Lila," said the doctor when she noticed Steven and Lila approaching her. "How are you doing?"
"At this moment," said Lila. "Good. Ask me in another 10 minutes or so, and you'll probably get a different answer!"
Dr. Mianni laughed. "So you're still contracting about every 10 - 12 minutes?"
"Yeah," replied Lila. "Is that good?"
"It's fine this early on," said the doctor. "Of course you know that the further along your labor goes, the closer together and the stronger we need your contractions to be, but for now you're doing fine. How are you doing, Steven?"
"I'm fine," he replied. "But then I'm not the one in labor!"
"No, but as things really get going," said the doctor. "You'll find yourself doing a lot more than you might realize just yet."
"I'll be glad to do anything she needs me to do." Steven kissed Lila's brow.
"He's been great, doctor," said Lila. "So far, I haven't had any urges to hurt him!"
"Again," laughed Dr. Mianni. "Give it time! Why don't we head back to your room so I can check and see how you're progressing?"
"Okay," said Lila, and they all made their way a short distance down the hall. Once in the room, Steven helped Lila out of the second gown and into the bed.
"Better hurry, doctor," said Lila as she laid down and bent her knees. "We've got about 4 minutes until the next contraction."
"I'm all set" replied Dr. Mianni as she sat on the edge of Lila's bed and moved the sheet aside. "I'll be gentle and quick, I promise."
"I know you will," said Lila. She winced and jumped just a little as the doctor examined her, but it wasn't anything she couldn't tolerate. Steven stood beside her and caressed the back of her hand.
"Well," said Dr. Mianni as she pulled the sheet back over Lila's legs. "No change from before, still dilated to four centimeters and the head is still at minus two."
"Are you serious?" asked Lila in a tone of surprise combined with disappointment.
"I'm serious, Lila," replied the doctor. "Don't worry about it though, it's still very early and your pattern of contractions is well within the normal range."
"What about everything else?" asked Steven. "Blood pressure, baby's heart rate?"
"Everything so far is just fine, Steven," answered the doctor as she glanced again at the printout from the fetal monitor and at the screens on the others.
"Can we walk around some more?" asked Lila.
"Sure, go right ahead."
"At what point would it become a problem to still only be dilated to four centimeters?" asked Lila.
"I'll give you another couple of hours," said Dr. Mianni. "And if the next time either I or the nurse checks you we find you haven't progressed any, we'll talk about a couple options for helping things along, okay?"
"Okay," said Lila.
"Anything else you'd like to ask me?' said the doctor.
"Not that I can think of," said Lila. "Babe?"
"Nothing here," replied Steven.
"Okay then" said Dr. Mianni. "Go ahead and walk as much as you'd like to and unless you feel we need to check you sooner, we'll do it again in a couple hours."
"Thank you, doctor," said Steven. Dr. Mianni left the room, and Lila began to cry.
A/N: So far so good for Lila's labor. She's working hard to bring the newest Reagan's to the clan. We are in the homestretch of this story now, there are a total of forty one chapters…One of Our Own – the next story in the series will debut shortly after this one concludes.
Next Update – June 22nd – Lila's labor continues and Lila and Steven try to move her labor along.
