The Baby

Janie had learned several things through the final weeks of her pregnancy. One such tidbit was that little old ladies are sweet until confronted with an expectant first-time mother, then they grow fangs and claws and do everything in their power to absolutely terrify the young mother-to-be with horrific and ghastly tales of childbirth gone wrong. Each one tried to outdo the last until labor durations approaching 100 hours were being claimed.

Eric had taken to utilizing his intimidating size to drive these women away... rudely, if necessary.

Janie also learned that the date that a mother would go into labor was controlled by God and nature unless it might fall on the doctor's day off. Then there was the modern miracle of induction. Which was why Eric and Janie told everyone on Monday night that their child would be born on Tuesday. And then they drove themselves to the hospital on Tuesday morning and checked in completely under control. No suddenly breaking water. No panic.

The last thing that she had learned was that, when the anesthesiologist comes in and asks "Do you want an epidural?" The correct answer is "Hell yes! And right now!"

Janie had heard stories about family members - especially prospective grandmothers - fighting to be allowed in the delivery room at the time of the birth. With neither her mother nor Eric's mother being in the picture, there was no such pressure and she laid in the bed in the delivery room with Eric at her side and listened to the soft beeping of the medical machinery which had been built into the walls to make the room appear as homey as possible. The room was a little on the cold side and she rolled her head to the side to see Eric sitting in the chair beside her.

It was embarrassing to Janie for so much attention to be paid to her cervix. It was not a part of her body that came up very much in normal conversation but now, each time the nurse came in to check on her, an update on the dilation of her cervix was delivered with the calm intensity of late-breaking news.

She looked over to her husband. "Eric?"

Eric's head jerked up, "Yes?"

"Can you call the nurse? I think that I'd like to take a bath now." She had been given a list of things that she might do during the early stages of her labor. She was not feeling intense pain. At this early stage, she felt the contractions as pressure. But, after trying every possible body position, she was convinced that comfort was not to be found in the hospital bed.

The soothing music being piped into the room was becoming cloying.

One of the items on the comfort list was warm bath. She would try it. As of the last update, she was not even at eight centimeters. She had plenty of time.

Like, everything else she tried, the bath worked at first but then she began to focus on the hardness of the tub against her back and she wasn't able to change positions. She tried anyway which resulted in water being splashed out onto the floor. The nurse remained just outside the door and spoke through it, "Everything okay in there?"

Janie took a deep breath, "I'm fine. Just probably need some help getting out of the tub."

"I'm coming in."

The nurse was kind, smiling, and professional and walked with Janie up and down the hallway two times before returning her to the bed. Eric stayed in the room, giving her time alone with her thoughts as she walked. She had not requested this, he just knew it was the right thing.

The last item on the relaxation list was breathing exercises. On this topic, she had forbidden Eric from telling her to breath at any time unless he noticed that she had completely stopped. Although she understood the importance of his watching for this during the active labor process, his telling her to breath over and over like the boatswain in a crew scull boat seemed ridiculous.

In return for him agreeing to not tell her how to breathe during early labor, she had agreed not to pull his scrotum over his head during active labor. She would allow herself to be lots of things. Clichwas not one of them.

The nurse came back and yet again checked her cervix which was one of the least delightful parts of the entire process. The nurse's head popped up over the sheet, "Things are moving right along now. You've gone from seven centimeters to nine centimeters in the last hour. It's time to call the doctor."

To Janie's way of thinking, calling the doctor should not be required. The doctor should be sitting in the corner waiting for when she was needed. She pushed that thought back into her mind and reminded herself that even childbirth was not an excuse to cut herself any slack on allowing the thoughts that her parents had programmed into her. She was a woman having a baby. Her family name and its associated wealth and position had nothing to do with anything.

"Holy shit!"

She experienced the first contraction that actually hurt and it was followed by a wave of nausea.

"Are you okay? Ice chips?" There was a very limited number of things that Eric could do to help. One was that it was his job to man the ice chips. So, man them he did.

With the nausea floating around in her gut, ice chips seemed like a good idea and the training had also stressed not getting dehydrated since that would make the muscle cramps worse in her legs. Something to look forward to.

She forced a smile. "Yes, please."

Eric saw the first beads of perspiration gleaming on her forehead and spooned some ice chips into her mouth. "Want some more?"

The ice had given her a slight brain freeze but she wouldn't tell that to Eric. He had one job. She wasn't going to be the one to tell him he had blown it.

"No. I'm good."

The nurse was now staying in the room rather than checking in at intervals which meant more exciting conversation regarding her cervix. After the latest (9.5 centimeters), Janie looked at the woman. "I feel like I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"Number one or number two?"

"Two."

"That's normal."

"They told me that in birthing classes. I just thought it would be polite to let you know."

The nurse laughed and then answered her phone. The conversation was brief and then she looked down at Janie. "There's some sort of traffic tie-up between the doctor's office and the hospital. She's on her way and should make it in time. But honestly, we don't really need her if it comes down to it."

"She's probably more worried about it than I am. She might have to reduce her bill if she isn't here."

The nurse nodded. "You got that right." People love nurses and doctors but nurses and doctors don't always love each other.

Janie's entire body suddenly tensed. "I want to push!"

Eric looked up at the nurse who shook her head. This was the next part of his job. "You can't. Not yet. Remember in training they said this would happen."

She started taking the rapid breaths that they had taught. After a moment, they slowed and she started taking long, deep breaths and relaxed a little. "Okay. Made it through that one."

Eric started the husband's birthing mantra. "You're doing great."

The beads of perspiration that he had seen earlier had grown into a healthy sheen over her entire face. Strands of her hair were matted to her forehead. By any standard definition, she looked terrible but there was something about her face in that moment which redefined what beauty was. He basked in it.

"What?" She was looking up at him.

"What what?"

She furrowed her brow. "You're looking at me like you're having a stroke." Eric had never been great at beatific, gentle facial expressions.

He reached down and pushed the wet strings of hair from her forehead and wrapped them over her ear. "I don't know. Sympathy contractions, maybe."

Telling her that she had never been more beautiful would violate Janie's rule of not being clich

"THERE IT IS!" Janie screamed.

The nurse looked up with a concerned expression.

Eric forced his voice to be calm. "What's happening?"

"Leg cramp! Leg cramp! Leg cramp!" Her right leg jerked out from under the sheet and she tried to straighten it and flex her toes.

Eric jumped up and watched his feet to avoid kicking anything as he ran around the bed. He grabbed his wife's leg and began to massage it.

"Wow." He said as he worked.

Janie's voice came back through gritted teeth. "What?"

"Your legs are really hot."

"You're thinking about sex? Now?"

"I'm breathing aren't I?"

Both Janie and the nurse politely laughed at the bad joke as the doctor came through the door slightly out of breath. "Where are we?"

The nurse answered with a recitation of facts and figures which remained focused on Janie's cervix. That was a word that Janie would outlaw in her presence after this was all over.

The doctor nodded sagely and stepped around the bed to speak to Janie. She completely ignored Eric who continued to diligently massage Janie's leg. He could feel the cramp up in her thigh and it was a monster.

The doctor put on the patented doctor smile. "Everything seems to be progressing completely normally. You'll probably be having your baby within the next half hour."

"What caused the traffic jam?"

The doctor's facial expression become bemused as she tried to figure out the non-sequitur. "Oh! The real traffic jam. Two idiots both tried to run a yellow and missed it. They ran into each other..."

The doctor's answer was cut short by Janie suddenly tensing and crying out. "I want to push!"

The nurse was standing next to Eric and whispered in his ear. "Not yet. Probably at the next contraction."

Eric repeated more loudly. "Not yet. Probably at the next contraction."

Janie started breathing rapidly again. "Okay. Okay. Okay. I can make it."

Time for Eric's line. "You're doing great."

Eric had figured out that one of the machines in the wall monitored when Janie was having a contraction. The hospital should try to get their money back on that one. It wasn't necessary. It's not like Janie was screaming obscenities but her breathing would increase as the contraction came on. As they got more severe, her face would contort and sweat would gush out of her pores.

He remembered the training. Sweat = dehydration = leg cramps.

"Ice chips?" Being a husband in a delivery room was like being a mule at a tractor pull. Surrounded by activity with little to do.

Eric was listening to Janie's breaths when the nurse touched his arm. "It's time to push."

He moved back around to the head of the bed and whispered into her ear. "It's time to push."

"Thank God!" And she pushed.

The training had warned them that for a first-time mother--especially with an epidural--the pushing portion of childbirth could last hours. They also said that everyone was different.

Janie was different, and Nanette Jasmine Rogers was delivered at 2:37 PM on Tuesday, August 8th. Janie and Eric were parents.

The nurse held out a pair of scissors and told Eric to cut the umbilical cord. This seemed a little ridiculous and was clearly a weird effort to make the husband feel like he was an integral part of the process. He wasn't.

But it was a rule and Eric obeyed rules. He cut the cord. The nurse took their baby to a small table next to the window while Eric put his arm around Janie's neck and squeezed her gently, telling her what a wonderful job she had done.

She looked up into his eyes. "Move your arm from behind my neck. It's uncomfortable."

Eric moved his arm and leaned back in the chair. It had been an uncomfortable position for him, too.

The nurse left the doctor with the baby and returned to Janie where she continued to work and gently massaged Janie's stomach.

"Where's the baby? Where's Nan?" Janie was looking around the room.

The doctor turned from the table with a wide smile and Nan tucked into her arms. She stepped up to Eric and held the tiny bundle out.

For a fleeting moment, Eric was terrified. But then he reached out and took his daughter in his arms. He turned and handed the baby down to Janie who held her child for the first time.

Together, they looked down into the tiny face...

And everything changed. Forever.