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I don’t tell Jay about the blood as he helps me dress. He doesn’t need to worry about something unless it becomes a problem we have to deal with.
Another pain hits me as we head downstairs, and Victoria shoots out of the living room.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think the baby’s coming.”
Her eyes widen, and she rushes to open the front door for us.
“Will you drive so I can sit with Harper in the back?”
“Yeah, of course.”
I try to breathe through the pain, but this is the longest one yet. Sparky rushes over as Jay helps me into the back seat, but I don’t hear their exchange. Somehow he ends up with the keys and jumps in behind the wheel, putting Victoria in the passenger seat.
It's funny, but throughout the drive to the hospital, I feel positively calm while everyone else around me panics. It’s like I’m in a bubble with the baby, and know everything is going to be okay. There’s obvious worry about the timing, but I don’t know how to explain it. I just feel like everything’s going to work out for the best.
I watch Jay’s knee bounce as he holds me tight. We’ve come so far from him not wanting to settle down to being married. We spent our first few years together, neither of us wanting children, and now we’re about to have our first child. You truly never know where life is going to take you, and for once, I’m not in panic mode as to where it’s leading us. Everything about this feels right.
The hospital comes into view as another pain hits. I lift my ass off the seat, as if it’s going to help lessen the pain.
Our doctor is waiting for us, and again, with him in sight, I feel nothing but calm. Our son may face challenges with me as his mom in the future, but as long as I can bear the pain, I don’t want him coming into the world hearing me screaming and crying.
“There’sno stopping the little guy. He wants to meet his mommy and daddy tonight.”
Mommy and Daddy. The whole thing has been real to me throughout the pregnancy, but it just got extremely real. We’re going to be parents.
Jay never leaves my side, and while the doctor is preparing a table full of instruments I’m trying my hardest not to look at, I tell him, “Smile, babe. Our son is coming.”
“I’ll smile when he’s here and you’re okay.”
I smile for the both of us, and it’s soon lost as he leans down and kisses me.
“Okay, Harper, when the next contraction hits…” Before he finishes, the pain hits me in the ass, and it has me holding my breath. “Push, Harper.”
That’s all I hear for twenty-eight minutes, which feels like five minutes. I push, giving it everything I have when I’m instructed to.
Everything I read about giving birth had me preparing for the worst. But as I give one last push, and my son is lifted up for me to see, I find the experience wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
I slump back onto the bed, trying to catch my breath while Jay peppers kisses all over my face.
“Where is he?” I murmur, struggling to lift my head to look for him.
“He needs a little help with his breathing. As he’s a little early, his lungs haven’t fully developed yet,” the nurse informs us.
The door opens, and I get a glimpse of him being wheeled out in a plastic cot surrounded by doctors and nurses.
“Where are they taking him?” Jay asks nervously.
“To the NICU. As soon as I can, I’ll take you to him so you can meet him properly.”
Opening my eyes,I find Alannah and Bonnie huddled around Jay.
“Hey.”
They all turn at my voice. When I see the tears in Bonnie’s eyes, my heart pounds erratically. Seeing my panic state, she smiles wide and rushes over to hug me.
“Oh, Harper. He’s gorgeous!”
