I accidentally missed out a chapter for uploading so please go back and read chapter 47 if you haven't already because I had to swap them around :)
Friday 6th December 2019
At 41 weeks pregnant, Sam was getting rather fed up being, well, pregnant. She had only just turned 41 weeks pregnant, but just like last time, she knew the importance of going into labour within the next six days because if she turned 42 weeks, it would no longer be safe for her to give birth at home, unassisted with just Tom to deliver the baby and she barely even touched paracetamol during pregnancy, let alone the drugs that they would use for an induction.
There was no point in Daniel being in the crèche, so when Sam had been forced on maternity leave last Friday, he had been withdrawn from the crèche, but Sam had booked him a three month placement between June, July and August of the next year because she would be returning to work in June, and Daniel would be starting school that September. Therefore, Daniel was going to be spending a lot of time at home with Sam for the next six months.
'I think my nesting instinct is kicking in :)' Sam sent in a text to her husband along with a picture of Daniel's bedroom which was usually a pigsty, looking immaculate. She had cleaned the house from top to bottom, and not because she had to, it was because she had felt impelled to do so, so maybe there was such a thing as nesting in humans after all.
'Blimey! I didn't know that Daniel had a carpet! But don't push yourself too hard x' Tom replied within a minute of her pressing the send button because with his wife overdue, Tom was watching his phone like a hawk for any news after Sam had had her show the day before. Sam sighed as she leant back in the sofa whilst she watched her four year old son pick up a box of building blocks - another thing she would have to clean up.
"Er Daniel, how about we go to the park?" Sam suggested to avoid the mess in the first place and that way she would keep things moving, get some exercise and the dogs would have a run about too. "You can play in the play area and-"
"Can I take my football?" Daniel asked eagerly.
"Yeah sure. Go and get your trainers and we can go." Sam smiled and Daniel zoomed up the stairs whilst Sam picked up the three dog loads.
Daniel kicked his ball as far as he could on the grass, ran after it and then did the same over and over again whilst Sam slowly walked around the path, occasionally throwing a tennis ball for Shadow, Alex and Panda to chase after when they were mainly chasing after each other. Her bump was massive, and she was even bigger than when she was overdue with Daniel, so few clothes fitted her anymore. Thankfully, she spent most of her time at home and she just lounged about in large onesies that had a big belly so they fitted her perfectly.
"When are you gonna come ou- ah." Sam gasped quietly in pain as she clutched her bump. It took a few moments until she let out a sigh of relief and she couldn't help but laugh slightly that their daughter was finally coming. "Thank you for answering my question." Sam smiled as she rubbed her bump. But she decided that labour wasn't imminent, so she was going to complete one last lap of the park to keep moving and hopefully, speed her labour up and luckily, Daniel had been far away enough that he hadn't heard her, and she didn't want him worrying.
3pm
"What's happening?" Tom demanded as he received a phone call from his heavily pregnant wife.
"Hi Sam. How are you? I'm fine thanks Tom, how are you?" Sam said sarcastically.
"Sorry. Are you alright?" Tom asked.
"Yep. Listen, it's by no means an emergency and don't worry because you've got plenty of time, but I've have a couple of contractions that're about ten minutes apart."
"Seriously?"
"No, this is a prank call to see how you'd react." Sam said sarcastically. "Of course I'm serious! Are you going to be able to leave work a bit earlier?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, course I am. I'm gonna leave now alright, just stay calm and-"
"Tom. You're the one that's panicking, not me." Sam stated bluntly.
"Right okay. I'll see you soon then."
"Yep, bye."
Sam put her phone down before she walked into the living room where Daniel was making a big stack of building blocks in various colours.
"Daniel, you know we said the baby could be coming any day now?" Sam asked and Daniel dropped the block from his hand listened attentively to his mother. "I'm in labour."
"But you're not screaming." Daniel stated confusedly.
"I'll only be in pain when I have a contraction, and I've started having them every ten minutes or so." Sam explained. "The pain isn't too bad just yet because I'm in early labour but it'll get worse later on." Sam stated. "So, the chances are, you'll go round to Fletch's house soon, sleepover with Noah, and you'll probably come home in the morning and be able to meet your baby sister." Sam stated.
3:30pm
"Right tell me everything that's happened from start to finish and don't miss out anything." Tom ordered as he walked straight in the front door and slammed it behind him.
"Well, you know I had my show yesterday, I haven't had anything since but I've had 7 contractions and the last two have been 9 minutes apart. And it's been 4 minutes since my last one. Tom please will you just calm down. You're stressing me out, alright, you know everything that I know and we've still got hours." Sam pleaded.
"Alright, sorry. I was just worried I was going to miss it." Tom admitted before he kissed Sam on the cheek. "How're you feeling? Any nausea?"
"Nope."
"And have you had any diarrhoea or loose bowel movements? Because that's what you had last time."
"No, nothing like that. I haven't been since yesterday- oh no."
"What?" Tom asked worriedly.
"That means I'm probably gonna crap myself when I'm pushing." Sam moaned.
"It doesn't matter. If you do, I'll just clean whatever mess there is up and we'll carry on." Tom said reassuringly. "Where's Daniel?"
"Um, he's drawing in the living room." Sam replied and Tom poked his head around the door to check that Daniel was okay, and his son was standing in front of a small plastic easel that he had gotten for his birthday and he was drawing with crayons on the bit of paper.
"Okay. I spoke to Fletch and if we want to drop Daniel off earlier, than it's okay because Natalie is at home now. But otherwise, Fletch is going to come here after his shift and then Daniel will have dinner over there and sleep in Noah's room." Tom explained.
"Are you okay to look after Daniel for a while? I want to see if I can get some sleep and save my energy for later." Sam admitted.
"Um, yeah that's fine. But could you possibly sleep down here on the sofa so that I can keep an eye on you?" Tom requested.
"Fine by me. It means I don't have to heave myself up the stairs." Sam retorted as she walked into the living room, plonked herself down on the three seater sofa, faced the back of it and closed her eyes.
Saturday 7th December 2019, 00:15am
"I can't do this." Sam panted. With contractions every 3 minutes and getting stronger, she knew she only had a little while to go until she could begin pushing, but she couldn't get any sleep and she was absolutely exhausted. Daniel was probably fast asleep in Fletch's house whilst Tom tried to comfort his wife as she laid in the middle of their double bed with large disposable pads underneath her to protect the bed.
"Of course you can. You've done it before, you can do it again."
"Yeah but Daniel was born at 4 in the afternoon. This is way past my bedtime!" Sam joked and Tom couldn't help but laugh.
"Right, is there anything you want to eat or drink that's sugary? It'll give you some energy. In fact, I think there's a can of red bull in the fridge. Do you want that? A bit of caffeine isn't gonna hurt her now." Tom suggested.
"Yes please." Sam nodded and Tom quickly ran upstairs before he returned with an opened can and took a sip as he handed it to her. "Oi!" Sam protested.
"What? I need a bit of energy too." Tom laughed as Sam took a few gulps before she put the can on the bedside table.
"Right, I'm going to try and empty my bowels." Sam announced bluntly as she slowly sat up.
"There's really no need if you're still worried about having an accident while you push Sam." Tom stated kindly.
"Trust me Thomas, there is every need." Sam retorted as she took a deep breath before she stood up onto her own two feet.
"Fine, but leave the door open." Tom ordered and it appeared Sam was going to do that anyway as she walked straight into the ensuite bathroom and out of Tom's sight.
"I know I'm gonna have a contraction in another minute or so and when I do, you're not coming in here now matter how much noise I make. Right?" Sam said sternly.
"If that's what you want, then fine." Tom agreed reluctantly as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Is there anything at all that I can do for you? Any food you want, a massage once you're finished in there maybe?" Tom asked.
"No, but thanks." Sam replied as Tom could hear her taking deep breaths in the bathroom. "I think I'm ready to push after the next contraction." Sam admitted.
"Alright." Tom smiled, with happiness evident in his voice. "Out of curiousity, how do you know that you're ready to push?" Tom asked.
"I don't know. Um... It's just kind of got to a point that I know I'm not going to progress any further unless I start to intervene rather than let nature take it's course which is what I've been doing up until now." Sam explained slowly. "Ah..." Sam gasped and Tom jumped to his feet before he forced himself to stop because he knew his presence wouldn't be welcome whilst Sam was still in the bathroom. "Remind me to never have sex with you again." Sam groaned.
"Excuse me, but if I remember rightly, you asked me to have sex with you when you was in early labour with Daniel." Tom argued playfully as he leant against the wall, waiting for his wife to do what she wanted to do in the bathroom. "Just take nice quick breaths, you're doing really well." Tom said encouragingly as he heard Sam make strange noises as she breathed out because of the pain she was in as the contraction took over her body. "Last time, you pushed Daniel out in just over an hour. So I reckon, this time you can have her out in 45 minutes and then the placenta out and everything finished within 90 minutes." Tom stated before he heard Sam let out a big sigh of relief. "Has the contraction finished?" Tom asked.
"Yep." Sam nodded.
"Alright, I'm just gonna take a leak next door quickly okay?"
"Yeah sure." Sam replied and so Tom quickly went to the family bathroom that came off of the landing not far from their bedroom. A few minutes later, he returned to find Sam coming out of the ensuite and she was rubbing her hands over her bump frequently because she knew in a few hours, she wouldn't be able to feel her daughter inside of her anymore.
"Have you had a crap?" Tom asked jokily.
"Yeah I did actually so I think you're safe when I'm pushing." Sam smirked as she stretched her arms out and then took a deep breath. "Right. Let's have a baby." Sam announced as she held her hand out and Tom took it firmly.
"Let's have a baby." He nodded.
1:30am
"Give me your hand." Tom said softly, as now that contractions were just 90 seconds apart and lasting 30 seconds, Sam was resting at every chance she got and the room always went silent between contractions. Sam did as she was told and her husband, who was sitting between her legs, gently placed her hand between her legs where she could feel an almost slimy texture where her daughter's skin was covered with vernix to protect her.
"Her head." Sam smiled as she took deep breaths. She was so, so exhausted but she couldn't even attempt to sleep because she was in so much pain and she had adrenaline rushing through her veins. They had the bedside lamp on because the normal light was far too bright for Sam, but with the curtains pulled and Sam in nothing but a bikini top on, she was as comfortable as she could be for a natural birth without any pain relief - she had decided at the last minute that she didn't want to use gas and air, and she was doing well to prove to herself that she could do it.
"Yeah, she's nearly here." Tom smiled. "But you're crowning now so on the next contraction, don't push and I'll try and ease her out gently."
"I love you."
"What is it with you and crying when you give birth?" Tom laughed as he wiped his hand on the towel to clean it before he grabbed a tissue from the box and handed it to Sam to wipe the single tear rolling down her cheek.
"Oh I don't know, it might have something to do with the immense pain." Sam said sarcastically.
"Well as much as I support your choice to go without pain relief, I won't think any less of you if you want to use gas and air for these last few contractions to get her out." Tom stated.
"No, I can do this. We, can do this." Sam stated confidently as she braced herself for the next contraction.
"That's the spirit. Remember not to push, you're doing a fantastic job. Your body is made to do this." Tom said encouragingly as Sam panted through the pain whilst Tom used his clean hands to gently stretch the folds of Sam's skin to accommodate for the baby that was on it's way and certainly wasn't going to turn back now.
"Ow!" Sam shrieked as she full head finally came out and Tom used his hand to support his daughters's head whilst he had to wait for the shoulders to be delivered.
"Well done. Have a drink and catch your breath back." Tom said as he rubbed Sam's lower leg for comfort with his spare hand. "If you sit up, you can see her head." Tom stated and Sam shook her head as she bit her bottom lip because she was in so much pain that she could barely speak let alone sit up and look over her bump. "Alright, alright. Stay calm, and I reckon if you put every last bit of energy that you've got left, then you can get her out in the next contraction. But definitely in the next two."
"Hello beautiful!" Tom smiled as he lifted his newborn daughter who was dripping with amniotic fluid onto Sam's chest and he laid a clean, fluffy towel over both the infant, and over Sam's chest. He gently rubbed the towel on her back until she let out a short cough followed by an abrupt scream. "She's got your lungs." Tom retorted as he made sure that the umbilical cord wasn't twisted around her foot.
"She's finally here." Sam whispered before two more tears ran down Sam's cheeks out of both relief and joy.
"She is indeed. And it's down to all of your hard work." Tom said proudly before their daughter let out another small cry and then as she reached her hand out in front of her, Sam let the tiny hand wrap all four fingers and thumb wrap around Sam's index finger. At the immediate contact with her mother, the newborn settled and the room was comfortably quiet as Sam stared into the crinkled, bright blue eyes of her daughter. "Okay, here's the messiest part - delivery of the placenta - and I've got the vitamin K injection if you want it." Tom offered but Sam shook her head. "Okay, do you want to try feeding her?" Tom suggested. "Here, I'll give you a hand." Tom moved across the bed until he was sitting upright besides Sam who was propped up by pillows. He wrapped the towel around his daughter properly before he laid her horizontally with chest to chest contact between the two females. "Hey baby. Are you gonna be a fussy one or are you going to take your first feed so that mummy can get some rest? Because you have come at a very early time." Tom said softly as Sam attempted to latch her daughter on. "You're just as beautiful as your mother." Tom smiled.
"Come on, please?" Sam begged exhaustedly and after a few more tries, their little girl latched on and slowly began suckling. Both parents smiled as they listened to the gentle swallowing sounds. "I haven't heard that sound for years." Sam whispered.
"I am so, so proud of you." Tom smiled as he pecked Sam on the forehead. "Right, shall we deliver the placenta and get this over with?" Tom suggested and Sam gave a small nod in reply so Tom carefully moved across the bed and positioned himself between Sam's legs again. "The cord has stopped pulsating so I'm gonna clamp it. Okay?" Tom said softly as he grabbed two pairs of clamps and leant over Sam's legs so that he could clamp it in two places near to his daughter's soon-to-be belly button. He placed a surgical peg in between the clamps, them cut the cord right next to it, leaving their little girl with a stump on her belly. "She must be quite heavy, she looks quite big." Tom stated concernedly.
"She's perfect." Sam whispered in defence.
"Of course she is. And I wouldn't expect anything less than perfect from you." Tom smiled.
Fletch opened his eyes at 7am, he always was an early riser, and saw his phone's blue light give a small flash every few seconds so he unlocked it and opened a message from Tom that had been sent hours ago.
'Mum and Ella Rose Kent are doing great :) She was born at 2:07am, weighing 8lbs 2oz and Daniel can come home when he's ready.'
Fletch smiled as he saw the picture of the newborn wearing a pink sleepsuit with matching scratch mittens to protect her delicate skin and socks and a hat to keep her warm. He smiled at the thought of Sam who had probably refused to be in the picture, but he felt sympathetic that Sam had been labouring into the early hours of the morning. Anyhow, he got out of bed leaving his wife to sleep in because it was a Saturday, and he went straight to Noah's room where Daniel had just been getting out of his sleeping bag.
"You alright mate?" Fletch asked.
"Can I go to the toilet please?" Daniel asked as he stood in his pyjamas.
"Yeah, of course you can." Fletch smiled as he followed the boy to the bathroom and waited in the doorway for him because he knew Daniel didn't like going by himself. "Do you want to know what your baby sister is called?"
"Yeah."
"Ella Rose Kent." Fletch said slowly. "And she was born very early this morning so I would imagine that your mum is very very tired."
"But Mummy's still going to live? Isn't she?"
"Yeah, of course she is." Fletch replied confusedly. "What makes you asked such a thing?"
"Jamie, who's in my play group said that his Mum died giving birth to him and that he only had his dad to look after him." Daniel explained as he flushed the toilet before he went over to the sink and got up onto the step to wash his hands.
"Well Jamie sounds like a very unlucky boy. But your mum is just fine. In fact, I reckon if we go downstairs, have breakfast, have a wash and get dressed and then pack your things away then it'll be time for you to go home and meet your sister. Would you like that?" Fletch asked.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"Won't I just be getting in the way?"
"No, of course you won't. Look, your mum and dad are probably going to be very busy for the next few days looking after Ella, but as long as you behave like you always do, then you're going to be wanted there. Besides, you need to bond with your sister because I'll tell you a secret, everyone thinks that it's normal to fight and argue between brothers and sisters, but only the coolest kids are best friends with their siblings. You and Ella could be best friends just like you and Noah." Fletch said as he knew that the last thing Sam and Tom needed was Daniel taking a dislike to the new arrival.
"Thanks Fletch." Tom said once again before he closed the door and hung Daniel's coat up on a peg. "Right, did you get a good night's sleep?" Tom asked as he crouched down in front of his son, and the dark circles under Tom's eyes didn't go unnoticed by his son, though he was too young to understand that they were a sign of tiredness.
"Yeah. And we made biscuits and I made some for mummy. And I made a card." Daniel stated as he eagerly got the container and bit of paper out of his overnight bag.
"Really? Well how about you come and help me make a cup of tea, and we can go and give them to mummy. And you can meet your new sister." Tom suggested and so the two boys headed for the kitchen. Five minutes later, Tom headed upstairs first with a mug of sweet tea for Sam and a plate with biscuits on whilst Daniel walked slowly behind him with the card in his hands. Thankfully, Sam had managed to keep the newborn quiet for Daniel's first encounter and as Daniel entered the bedroom behind Tom, he caught a glimpse of his mother sitting upright in the bed with a hot water bottle on her stomach and besides her, was the brand new, pink bedside sleeper right against the mattress where a baby laid.
"Hello Daniel." Sam smiled. "Don't be scared. Here, come and give me a hug." Sam said encouragingly so Daniel climbed up on Tom's side of the bed, the opposite side of the baby, and then wrapped his arms around Sam's neck. After a moment or two, he pulled back and held out the card.
"I made a card for you and some almond biscuits."
"They are just what I need Daniel, something nice and tasty. I'll have one of those in a minute." Sam smiled as she opened the homemade card and read through Daniel's poor handwriting which had clearly been helped by Fletch because she could see the dots that he had drawn for him to join, but it still meant the world to Sam. Tom handed Sam the cup of tea which she took a sip of before she put the hot water bottle aside. "Do you want to hold her?" Sam asked but Daniel appeared apprehensive. "It's okay, you don't have to hold her properly, I'll hold her. You can just say hello." Sam smiled as she gently lifted Ella out of her bedside sleeper and the infant didn't make a sound as she was fast asleep, cradled against her mother's chest. Sam and Tom both watched as Daniel looked at his new sister with curiosity, before he finally spoke up.
"Hello Ella. I'm your big brother Daniel."
"That's it. See, she's nothing to be scared of." Sam said reassuringly.
"When will she speak?" Daniel asked.
"Oh, not for a long time yet. I mean, you were a pretty fast learner when it came to talking but most babies don't say their first word until they're a year old." Sam replied.
"What was my first word?" Daniel asked.
"No." Sam and Tom both said humorously at the same time.
"Listen, Ella's got a strong pair of lungs on her when she wants something so were were thinking maybe for the first few months that it would be best to keep your bedroom door shut at night so that she doesn't wake you up." Sam said.
"No! No I don't want to be shut in; I don't like the door being closed." Daniel protested quickly which caused the baby to stir.
"Sshh... It's okay." Sam shushed but it was no use as Ella let out a sorrowful cry.
"Come on, let's give those two some space." Tom said as he lifted Daniel off of the bed and balanced him on his hip.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it. She hates me now, doesn't she?" Daniel sobbed as Tom closed the bedroom door and placed his son on the landing.
"Of course she doesn't, and don't you start crying too or we'll get nowhere." Tom joked halfheartedly as he wiped two tears off of Daniel's cheeks using his thumbs. "Listen to me." Tom said sternly to get his attention. "Mummy knows you didn't mean it, and don't worry because I did the same thing earlier; I started singing in the shower and it woke Sa- mummy and Ella up." Tom lied. He saw no harm in telling a little white lie to soothe his son's worries. "See? It's nice and quiet again now." Tom stated and he reached up and opened the door to reveal Sam breastfeeding the infant. "Right, this is a sight you'd ought to get used to." Tom stated as he stood up and balanced Daniel on his hip again. "You see Ella's cheeks moving in and out and hear her swallowing?" Tom asked and Daniel nodded. "Well that's because she's swallowing milk, that mummy's breasts are making; she's breastfeeding. And it's alright to look, you won't get in trouble for it because we know you're just curious, but it's best not to stare okay?"
"Okay." Daniel nodded.
9pm
Daniel was asleep in his bed and after Sam had had an afternoon nap, she went for a refreshing shower to clean herself up after the birth, leaving Tom in charge of Ella. And when she returned, she found Tom leaning over the bedside sleeper, reading a book to the sleepy child.
"Have a nice shower?" Tom asked as he put the book aside because Ella was pretty much asleep.
"Yeah, I feel a lot better." Sam nodded as she kept the towel wrapped around her whilst she grabbed a maternity pad, underwear and a long checkered night top. "Y'know what? I don't think I've ever been this happy in my entire life." Sam admitted.
"Not even on our wedding day?" Tom questioned.
"Nope. I was too nervous to enjoy that until the moment we kissed." Sam stated as she begun to get dressed and Tom kept his eyes off of her to respect her privacy. "Although I don't think I've ever been this tired in my entire life either." Sam added.
"Well, that's what partying all night and going to bed at 4am does to you." Tom joked and Sam rolled her eyes as she did up the last of the buttons on her shirt.
"Listen, I've expressed some milk into a bottle in the fridge downstairs. I don't supposed you'd-"
"Like to give Ella her next feed so that you can get some sleep? Of course I would, it'll be the first time I feed my daughter." Tom said proudly. "But if there's only one bottle, you'll still need to give her her midnight feed." Tom warned.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks. I'm gonna hit the sack now, okay?"
"Yeah sure. Get some rest and don't worry about Ella, I'll be in charge of her." Tom said as he tucked Sam into bed where she was sleeping on top of a black towel in case of leaks caused by her heavy bleeding.
"Why does that not fill me with joy?" Sam remarked.
"Goodnight." Tom said sternly and Sam smiled before she closed her eyes and set about getting some well earned rest after a very, very exhausting 24 hours.
Coming up: A bit of fluff for the Kent Family in their first few weeks of the new arrival, Ella Rose Kent, and Tom takes Daniel to work to give Sam a much needed break.
Thanks for reading, please review :)