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I hoped that promise wouldn’t be broken.
We heard a knock at the door and a woman in scrubs walked in.
“Addison,” she said with a big smile. “It’s the big day!”
She looked over at me and introduced herself. “Hello, I’m her doctor.” She held out her hand.
“Daniel,” I said, shaking her hand firmly.
She gave a knowing nod before snapping on a pair of gloves and turning to Heart.
“Now, let’s see what we have going on here,” she said, pulling up a rolling stool and taking a seat at the foot of the bed.
I stayed at Heart’s side, her hand in mine as the doctor did a quick examination. She called out a few numbers to the nurse. Something about effacement and dilation. My mind tried to grasp the numbers and make sense of it.
“Well, the good news is, baby is face-down. I can feel the head right there. The bad news, depending on what your birth plan was, there’s not time for an epidural.”
Shit,I thought to myself. I knew nothing about Heart’s birth plan or if she made one or what her thoughts were on an epidural. All I knew was from what I had read was that natural births were painful and I was scared for Heart.
“Okay…” said Heart nervously.
“You can do this,” I reassured her.
She pressed her lips into a tight smile and gripped my hand as another contraction ripped through her, causing her to cry out.
“Is there nothing you can give her?” I asked the doctor worriedly.
“Unfortunately not. This baby is coming and coming soon. She’s too far along in active labor. The epidural will only slow things down. But I assure you, shecando this,” said the doctor. “Did you hear that, Addison? Youcando this.”
“Okay,” whimpered Heart, breathing out.
“I’m going to get my tools prepped and I’ll be back soon,” said the doctor, slipping out the door.
And soon it was. It hadn’t even been ten minutes before she was followed in by a nurse rolling a table full of metal tools. I swallowed hard as I took everything in. It was all happening so fast.
I followed the doctor’s directions and helped Heart get positioned on the bed, with a nurse at her side and the doctor at the foot of the bed.
“Okay, Daniel. Do you want to come down here to the edge of the bed? You can just hold her leg and coach her through it, okay?” said the doctor.
I looked to Heart to make sure that was what she wanted, as we had never discussed my role in the hospital. Hell, I didn’t even know I would be here, let alone actually watch our baby being born. Heart gave me a warm, pained smile that said to do as the doctor told me.
The next thirty minutes, I watched as Heart cried and yelled through the pain, but all the while showing strength I had never seen in anyone. Between the doctor’s orders of when to push and when to relax, I stroked her leg and held her hand, giving her my own words of encouragement.
“Okay, Addison. I want you to push now. Give it everything you’ve got,” said the doctor.
Heart bore down in the bed and gripped my hand harder as she closed her eyes. I watched as her face scrunched together and she let out a cry.
“Breathe,” I said. “Breathe, baby.”
“One more push, Addison. You’ve got this,” said the doctor.
Heart pushed once more and squeezed my hand again. I felt her leg shake as she put everything into it. And that was when my eyes fell to the most beautifully strange thing I had ever seen in my life. Our baby was born. After a few seconds of silence and the doctor skillfully moving, I heard a shrill cry fill the room. My eyes welled with tears immediately.
“It’s a beautiful baby girl,” said the doctor triumphantly.
“Oh,” Heart sobbed, trying to sit up and see.
“Sit back, Mama. I’m bringing her to you.”