“Every three minutes.”
“I think it actually started last night.”
I heard Lina say, “What?”through the phone. I knew I probably should have given her a heads-up, but given this was my first full-term birth, I expected it to be long, and I wasn’t convinced the contractions last night were anything important.
A contraction hit again, and I groaned and tried to remember to breathe. Quinn quickly hung up the phone and ran to my side. He got onto his knees behind me and started squeezing my hips until the contractions faded away.
“Pretty sure that’s how we got here,” I muttered, then a small chuckle escaped.
He let out a deep laugh. “Exactly how we got here.”
Then another rolled through me. God. They were coming so quickly. It hadn’t felt like I had much of a break between them.
“I need… the water,” I gasped out.
He moved in front of me and helped me stand. As soon as I stood, another contraction hit. Damn it. I knew that would happen. In all the births I’d assisted, every position change near the end of labor triggered another contraction. My arms wrapped around Quinn’s neck, his arms between us, lifting my belly. It felt Godsend.
As soon as it ended, we started walking to our bathroom. We didn’t have a bathtub, but we did have a large walk-in shower, similar to our other house. By the time we reached the bathroom, I felt like going to the bathroom again. As soon as I sat on the toilet, a strong contraction hit. I screamed out in pain. It felt like my bones were splitting within me.
Once the wave faded, I was able to use the bathroom, and then stood up—and another strong one hit me. Quinn was there, holding me.
“You got this, baby. Deep breath in and out,” he whispered in my ear.
“I don’t think I got this… I don’t want to do this anymore,” I cried.
“You’re doing it already,” he whispered.
“I don’t want to,” I yelled.
“Zay, you know what this means. Irrational thoughts mean baby is coming soon, right?” he said.
“Transition,” I muttered.
“That’s right, let's step into the shower,” he said.
He guided me into the shower, which he turned on while I was using the bathroom. He pulled my shirt off and pushed my shorts to the floor. I stepped out of them, just in time for another contraction. My arms wrapped around his neck, my body going nearly limp. I could feel the baby moving down with that contraction.
“When is Lina gonna be here?” I asked.
“Any minute, I hope,” he muttered.
My legs felt so heavy and exhausted. I moved back to my hands and knees, the shower hitting my lower back. It was hot and felt so perfect. It didn’t take away the pain completely, but it helped immensely.
I stayed there for several more contractions. Quinn took his shirt off and was only in a pair of shorts. He knelt next to me, holding my hips. Each contraction, he would squeeze them. He did it without me asking; I didn’t need to tell him anything. He instinctively knew what I needed and when.
Our bathroom door gently pushed open. Lina and Callie entered the room with the duffel bags of supplies.
“How close are they, Quinn?” she asked.
“Maybe two minutes apart, if not closer, she's grunted the last couple of contractions,” he said.
Had I? I hadn’t noticed. I was focusing on making it through each contraction. Breathing in and out, making sure to give the baby oxygen. I knew I was close; I could feel the baby descending.
“I’m gonna step in and take a listen, is that okay, Zay?” Lina asked.
“Yeah… I think—”
Another contraction hit. It took my breath away, and the baby moved a lot further down. The urge to push became overwhelming. I felt it before and was breathing through it, but it was almost too much to ignore.
