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She slows her speed down a little bit and we still make it to the hospital fairly quickly because nothing in this town is very far away. She parks outside the emergency room and grabs the bag and me, practically dragging us both inside.
"My friend's having a baby right now," she says to the nurse at the desk.
The nurse signals an orderly who brings a wheelchair. I sit down in it and start doing the breathing I’d practiced, holding my stomach. The nurse takes Janice and me upstairs to the Maternity Ward, where I'm immediately checked in by another nurse.
Then I’m taken to a room where Janice puts my bag down and helps me change into the hospital gown and helps me sit down on the bed. The doctor comes in right away to hook up my IV and everything before giving me another quick exam.
"Yep, you are ready to go," she says.
"Can my friend stay in the room with me the whole time?" I ask.
"Of course," the doctor replies.
She calls in some other nurses while Janice stands by me and holds my hand.
The doctors and nurses prep everything and then they leave for a bit. Janice calls her parents and lets them know everything is going smoothly. Then we watch some mindless TV that’s hard for me to concentrate on due to the pain I’m in.
Soon I know the baby is very close to arriving, by the fact that my contractions get closer and closer together. The labor lasts for not even a couple of hours and soon my daughter is born into the world.
After all the pushing and exertion from labor, my head falls back on the pillow. Janice wipes sweat from my brow. The nurses clean my daughter before wrapping her up and handing her to me. Then I’m finally able to hold her in my arms.
"Oh, my gosh, look at how beautiful and how little she is!" Janice exclaims.
She hugs both of us before saying, "You look tired, and you need some rest. I'm going to go call my parents to let them know she’s arrived, and I'll be back to check on you in a little bit.”
“Thank you so much,” I tell her. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
The room is empty once she leaves, except for a nurse who is writing some information down and tracking my vital signs. I continue to hold my daughter in my arms.
I can't believe it happened so much faster than I thought it would. I thought it was going to be a lot scarier than that, but it wasn't. In fact, it was both exciting and exhilarating.
Of course, there was a lot of pain, but it was worth it, and I feel like I’ve forgotten about it already.
I continue to hold the baby close to me and just gaze at her. She's the cutest and most amazing little being on the planet. I realize that she’s a part of both Steve and me.
In that instant I also realize that I do have to tell him soon. He deserves to know that he helped bring this little baby into this world. I just have to figure out the right time to do that. And I’m too exhausted to think about it right now.
"Do you want to watch TV?" the nurse asks.
"Actually, yes, I do,” I tell her, realizing what time it is. “Can you put the football game on? I think it's actually the Super Bowl?"
“Of course.”
The nurse turns on the TV and flips it to the right channel. The game is just about to end. Steve's team is playing, and I hadn’t planned to watch it because I didn’t want to experience any sadness or other negative emotions.
But now, watching it just seems right. The nurse leaves the remote next to me.
"Just push the button if you need anything," she says, before leaving the room.
Now it’s just me and my baby girl.
Ourbaby girl.
I grab the remote and increase the sound on the TV by just a little bit, not wanting to make it loud enough to disturb the baby. I watch intently. Steve is playing his heart out right now. I can't help but cheer for him.
The game is in its final seconds. The teams are tied but Steve’s team, the Leviathans, have the ball and they just need to score to win the game. Everybody is watching with anticipation. Even I feel tension in my stomach.
It all comes down to Steve.
