Note: I don't typically post multiple chapters in the same day, but since a few of you asked so nicely... here you go. :-D
Late May - Somewhere in the Poconos, New York
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Miranda was just getting out of bed at 10:30 AM on Monday morning after a fitful night. The baby had been keeping her up at night, and between the heartburn and stabbing pains in her lower back, she hardly slept at all. She sighed and looked through the closet for something comfortable to wear.
Last week, Andrea had picked up some larger, stretchy maternity items from the store, and for once, Miranda was grateful to not have to think about fashion. She put on a loose-fitting black maternity tank top and underwear, and paused to look at her profile in the mirror. She was kind of liking the dark sandy-blonde hair color, and something about wearing it up in a topknot made her feel young, and in need of a haircut. Looking at her arms and thighs, though, she made a mental note to exercise more regularly and take advantage of the indoor treadmill when the weather wasn't cooperating. She wrapped her extra-large robe around her body and tied the waistband before heading downstairs for half a cup of decaf coffee.
On the coffee maker, she saw a post-it from Andrea: Didn't want to wake you — headed out to Walmart for a few things — wanted to be home before the storm gets too bad this afternoon. Call if you need anything. -A
Miranda looked out the window—it didn't look particularly stormy, but the temperature was barely 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which was unseasonably cold for this time of year. She made herself a slice of toast with avocado and sat at the kitchen stool with an "oomph." She took her time drinking her coffee and finishing breakfast, and as she was loading her plate and cup into the dishwasher, she felt a sudden tightness in her belly.
"Oooh!" she exclaimed, leaning against the counter with one hand and smoothing the other over her belly. "Little one, what's going on in there?" she said.
She walked over to the couch and took a seat with another "oomph," then turned on the television to watch the news. As it turned out, a major spring thunderstorm was headed for the area, and they were supposed to get a lot of rain, possibly hail, and strong winds within a few hours.
"Oooh!" Again, she felt a sharp pain that seemed to take her breath away. "Look, I know you don't have a lot of room in there, but kicking me and pressing into my lungs is not helping your situation," she said, talking to her belly.
Since it was too gloomy outside to do much of anything else and there was nothing interesting on television, she headed upstairs to draw a warm bath for herself. Mary had told her to keep changing positions when she was feeling Braxton Hicks contractions, and last week the warm bath water really did the trick.
Even though the bath water couldn't be as hot as she liked, soaking in the water relieved a lot of the pressure in her lower back and allowed her to rest comfortably. In order to combat the rapidly cooling water, every fifteen minutes, she drained some of the water out of the tub, then replaced it with hot water. The feeling was luxurious, and for the few hours she spent in the bathtub that afternoon, she almost forgot she was pregnant.
Several hours later, Miranda finally stepped out of the bath and toweled off. Looking in the mirror, she couldn't deny how much her belly had grown in the past few weeks. She put on a white stretchy camisole that covered her belly completely, and slipped on her favorite pair of cotton boxer shorts. They were from the mens section at J. Crew, and they were Miranda's secret fashion faux pas. Sure, La Perla lingerie was gorgeous, but she enjoyed sleeping in something comfortable, breathable, and easy-to-wash.
It was just past 1 PM. Andrea still had not returned, so Miranda sat down on the edge of her bed and groaned when she felt another pain in her belly. "You like it in the bathtub, didn't you? Now go to sleep so I can rest," she whispered to the tiny being inside her. Hoping to get some sleep herself, she curled up on the mattress, burrowing into the body pillow Andrea had bought her.
After an hour of trying to get comfortable and the baby's lack of cooperation, she thought maybe getting up and moving around would help. She walked around the bedroom, but it seemed like the pain was getting worse—not better—so she decided to call Andrea and see when she would be getting back, and then maybe call Mary. Maybe just talking to someone would help distract her enough until the little one exhausted himself with all the kicking.
She headed downstairs where she left her phone, and when she was nearing the base of the stairs, she felt another tightness, this time accompanied by a slight 'pop' and gush of fluid between her legs.
"Oh god," she gasped, reaching down and feeling the clear liquid between her legs. "Th—this can't be happening."
She hurried down the remaining stairs to the kitchen and dialed Andrea's number. "Answer, answer, answer," she whispered. Not hearing anything on the line, she looked at the screen and saw No Service. "Shit!" she cried. Looking out the window, she saw the dark clouds and heard the rain hitting the roof.
Miranda picked up the landline phone, sighing in relief when she heard a dial tone. She scanned her cell phone to pull up Andrea's number just as the young woman came through the front door.
"Andrea—" she called to her, freezing in place as a contraction quite literally took her breath away.
"Hey," she said, setting her bags down on the kitchen island. "It's so bad in town. Trees are down all over the road, and it's raining so hard down in the clearing that you can't see two feet in front of you!" she said. "Oh god." She saw Miranda hunched over, one hand clutching her belly and the other grabbing the granite counter.
"Call Mary," she said. "My water broke."
Andrea quickly picked up the phone, knowing that it would be impossible for Mary to make it here in time. "Hi Mary, it's Andy. Miranda is in labor. Yes… No, I just got back from the store. Yes…and her water broke."
"Oh, honey, it will take me three hours to get to you in this storm. Just take a deep breath and relax. You can do this," Mary said.
Andrea looked over at Miranda who was resting her head on the counter, and noticed some bright red blood streaming down her leg. "Um, she's bleeding, too. Is that normal?"
"Andy, listen to me. You need to stay calm. I expect her incision from the cesarean has somehow popped open internally. You need to call an ambulance immediately and tell them she's a VBAC. It will take them some time to get to you, so let's give them a head start."
"You're not coming?"
"I will meet you at the hospital," she said. "Call the ambulance. Make Miranda comfortable. Keep her hydrated, and keep her from pushing, as that could completely rupture her uterus. Stay with her and do not try to drive her yourself, no matter what she says."
"Okay. Okay, I can do that," Andrea said.
"What did Mary say?" Miranda whined.
"Um, that you are doing great. She wants you to stay hydrated and rest, and she's on her way," Andy said, hanging up the phone. She was fairly certain Miranda hadn't noticed she was bleeding, so rather than add unnecessary worry, she calmly led Miranda over to the couch and pulled a few dark beach towels out from the linen closet. "I'll be right back—I'm going to get you something to drink," she said as she hurried back to the kitchen.
She quickly dialed 9-1-1 and prayed that someone would answer.
"911, what's your emergency?"
"Hi, there's a woman in labor and she needs to get to the hospital right away. Her water broke, and she's bleeding. Her midwife is three hours away, and she told me to tell you that she is a VBAC."
"Okay, we're dispatching the paramedics now, but it will be a while with the storm. Can you confirm your address?"
Andrea repeated the address and quickly ended the call, returning to Miranda's side.
"This isn't working," she said, panting through another contraction. "It's happening too fast. It's too early," she cried.
Andrea handed her a glass of water and she took a few sips.
"Ooohhhhh! God! It hurts so bad!" she cried.
"Just breathe," Andrea said, sitting next to her and tracing circles on her back. "Deep breaths, Miranda. Blow out as you exhale."
"I need to get up. I can't sit—oooh!—like this."
Andrea helped her to her feet and walked with her around the first floor. It seemed to be helping. The two latest contractions were manageable, and she was even able to have another full glass of water.
"I want to try the bathtub," Miranda said. "That helped earlier."
The bathtub was upstairs, but of course the woman knew that. So, Andrea just agreed and helped guide her towards the stairs.
As Miranda stepped onto the first stair, she felt another strong contraction and sank down to her knees. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ooooohhhh!" she cried.
"It's okay, breathe through it. Keep breathing. It's almost over," she said. When Miranda sat back on her heels, Andy quickly grabbed the towels and a few pillows and returned, laying them out at the base of the stairs. She climbed behind the woman and sat, guiding her to rest between her legs.
"Andrea, thank you," she said as she leaned back against the young woman's body. Her forearms were resting on the woman's thighs and she moaned quietly.
The young woman poured some water on a washcloth and applied it to her forehead as she gently kneaded her shoulders.
"I don't want to lose this baby," she cried. "Not after all of this."
"And you're not going to," Andrea quickly said.
"No, it's too early."
"Sweetheart, I think you're farther along than you thought."
Miranda twisted around to look up at the young woman. "Did you just call me 'sweetheart?'"
"Whoops, sorry. It slipped," Andrea said.
"I don't know what I'd do without you," she said, reaching up and brushing the woman's cheek.
The two women stayed there like that for some time, anxiously waiting for help to arrive. Miranda was scared and worried that the baby wouldn't survive, but Andrea was worried more about Miranda than anything else.
"Ohhh god!" Miranda gasped after nearly twenty minutes of regular contractions.
"What is it?"
"The baby moved. I think he's—ohhh!—he's coming out! He's coming out, Andrea, help!"
"Okay, deep breath," Andrea said, sliding out from behind her to come to the floor between the woman's legs. "I'm going to take these off. Just close your eyes and focus on your breathing—don't push," Andrea said as she took off the boxer shorts.
She had never done this before, but that didn't stop her from recognizing the top of the baby's head pressing tightly against her opening.
"I can't—I can't stop it," Miranda cried. "Ahh! Help!"
Andrea reached up and took her hands. "Look at me," she said firmly. "You cannot push right now. Do you understand? Do not push."
Miranda nodded weakly. In the distance, Andrea could hear the ambulance sirens.
"Hear that? Paramedics are coming, and they're going to help you."
"But the baby—it wants out," Miranda said, not even wondering how or why an ambulance was coming. "I can't—"
"I know, I know. The baby will be fine. Stay with me. It's you I'm worried about," Andrea said. She could tell the blood loss was affecting the other woman. "I don't want to lose you," she said, leaning over and kissing Miranda gently on the cheek.
"Aaaaaahhh!" she shrieked. "It's coming out! The head, it's there! I'm trying—I can't stop it."
"Okay, that's okay," Andrea said, returning to the spot between her legs. She reached up and clutched Miranda's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Keep breathing, you're doing great."
"Oh! Oh! Ohh! Andreaaaaa!" she shouted.
Without a moment's hesitation, Andrea reached out and caught the baby in her arms. She wiped the baby's face with a towel and gently patted his back until he coughed and started to cry. "Hello, little man," she said.
Miranda slumped back against the pillows. Andrea was concerned that the woman had passed out, but couldn't do anything about it. She cleaned the baby as best as she could with the towel, making sure his mouth and nose were clear of any mucus, then wrapped him in a blanket. She took another blanket and draped it over Miranda, then carefully sat next to her, holding the baby on her chest. The baby's umbilical cord was short, so she couldn't move too far.
"Look, he's perfectly healthy. A big, strong, baby boy," she said.
Miranda's eyes fluttered open and she weakly reached up to touch his face. "He's okay," she said. "He's okay."
"He's perfect."
Just then, the paramedics arrived, bursting through the door. "Ma'am, how are we doing?"
"Better," Miranda said, gazing down dreamily at the baby boy on her chest.
"Good. We're just going to check you out. What's your name?"
"That's Andrea, and I'm her friend Sarah," Andrea lied.
One paramedic took the baby from her arms and, after clamping and cutting the umbilical cord, began cleaning him up while another helped Miranda onto the stretcher they brought inside.
"I'm going to run and grab you some clothes—anything else?" she asked. Miranda shook her head, so Andrea quickly ran upstairs to pack a small bag. In addition to underwear, pants, a bra, and a clean shirt, she grabbed Miranda's moisturizer, toothbrush, and a pair of flip flops.
"Now, the roads are pretty bad with the storm, so I think we should all ride together," the paramedic said. "Sarah, can we task you with holding the baby in the ambulance?"
"Of course," she said, reaching out and taking the tightly swaddled child in her arms. He had finally stopped crying and looked hungry. As she focused on the tiny human, she could overhear the paramedics explaining to Miranda that they didn't want her to deliver the placenta until they arrived at the hospital.
"I understand, but I do not have much control over that," she hissed.
"Andrea, sweetheart," Andrea said, grinning.
Miranda looked up and rolled her eyes.
"Are you going to pick out a name for this little man?"
"I thought we would just call him 'little man' his whole life," she deadpanned. "No, I want to wait until I can hold him again," she said.
The paramedics finished packing everything up, and they threw a few blankets over Miranda before wheeling her out. Once she was situated in the ambulance, the other paramedic led Andrea and the baby into the small seat in the back of the ambulance.
While the paramedics were busy securing the stretcher and connecting Miranda to some IV fluids and antibiotics, Andrea leaned over and brushed the woman's cheek. "Hey," she whispered. "You did great today—I am so proud of you."
"I couldn't have done it without you, Sarah," the older woman replied, softly kissing Andrea's hand. "Ohh," she groaned.
"Andrea? Talk to us. What's going on?" the paramedics asked. "Andrea? Andrea!"
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TBC
A/N: Ahhh, cliffhanger, I know. It's not over yet - still a few more chapters - but I will actually be out of town for work this week, so no updates for at least 5 days. hang in there. xo xo