“What’s happening?” Lairah asks.
I don’t have time to stand around answering their questions so I continue walking as I call out over my shoulder, “Contractions every three to four minutes so we’re meeting Dr. Knight at the hospital.”
Shit. Her suitcase. I forgot to grab it. “Lairah. Can you get the bag Avery packed for the hospital? It’s in the chair next to our bed.”
“Sure thing,” she says.
I stop to catch a breath before starting the ignition after Lairah places Avery’s bag in the backseat of our new sports utility vehicle. “Do we need someone to ride with us just in case?”
She wrinkles her brow the way she does when she’s confused. “In case of what?”
“I don’t know. In case a baby starts coming out.” She glares at me like I’m nuts. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s been known to happen. And there’s two in there. The second one could shove the first one out.”
She has a worried look on her face–almost one of panic–so she rolls her window down and calls out, “Will someone ride with us? Just in case.”
I lean over and add, “One of the girls.”
Even if something happens on the way, I’m not letting one of these guys see what only belongs to me. “I won’t have to kill Lairah or Gia if they see you naked.”
Lairah volunteers and climbs into the backseat. “You know it’s only like a fifteen minute drive to the hospital, right?” She’s nonchalant as if nothing could happen in that amount of time.
I put the vehicle into drive and pull away from the house. “Avery’s feeling pressure.”
I see her gaping reflection when I look up into the rearview mirror. “Whoa. You didn’t say that part when you asked for volunteers.”
I pull onto the road before she has time to consider getting out of the car. “That was for a reason.”
“Asshole.” She scoots to the middle of the backseat and leans forward. She peers over and sees Avery holding her abdomen. “Step on it, buffoon. No way your wife is hatching in this car on the way to the hospital if I’m in here.”
I take Lairah’s advice for the first time in my existence and drive much faster than I should. I breathe a sigh of relief when I pull up at the admissions entrance and see a staff member waiting with a wheelchair. “You must be Mrs. Alexander. Dr. Knight called ahead and instructed us to be waiting for you at the entrance.”
Avery’s put to bed and fetal monitors are applied to record the heartbeats of our babies. A labor and delivery nurse begins a health questionnaire and Dr. Knight enters just as she is finishing up. The good doc makes her usual opening joke–to put Avery at ease about what’s going to happen next–but then she gets down to the real reason we’re here when she puts on an exam glove. She lowers the head of Avery’s bed and then her hand disappears under the covers between her legs. I might be a little weirded out about it if I hadn’t already seen her do it in the office. “You’ve definitely changed from the last time I checked you. How much were you dilated last time I checked you?”
“Two to three centimeters and seventy-five percent effaced.”
She smiles as she nods. “I’d call you five and ninety so you’re definitely in labor. Number one is still head down so I’m comfortable with proceeding with a vaginal delivery if you’re still on board with that.”
We had already made the decision to attempt a vaginal birth since it is safer than a major abdominal surgery. It was worth a shot. If she had to go to surgery at some point, she would be no worse off unless she delivered number one naturally and then had to go to the OR to get the second. “That’s still the plan.”
“Perfect,” Dr. Knight says. “We’ll have the operating room ready in the event we need it. I’m satisfied to let nature continue its course since you’re changing your cervix. I know you had thought of doing this without an epidural but I really prefer you have one placed. If the first baby delivers and I need to give the second one some help on getting out quicker, you won’t appreciate the pain associated with the things I’ll need to do.”
“I will happily take something for this pain.” That was a different tune than the one she had been singing about wanting to give birth naturally without pain meds.
“Okay,” the nurse says. “I just need to do a few things and then I’ll let anesthesia know we’re ready to get started.”
She waits until the nurse is gone and then looks in my direction. “Are you disappointed in me for getting an epidural?”
I couldn’t possibly be let down by her decision. “I never wanted you to have these babies without something for pain. You came up with that on your own.”
“I have to have something. The pain is so much worse than I expected and now I’m worried about Dr. Knight needing to reach inside to help the second baby. I think that’ll be really painful without the epidural.”
Ugh! I didn’t need that visual in my head. “Get the epidural so you can rest and be ready when it’s time for the babies to come.”
“You’re right. I’ll need my strength when it’s time for the delivery.”
The next half hour is spent starting an IV and giving her fluids. I’m allowed to stay while the epidural is placed but I take a seat in the chair across the room where I don’t take so much as a peek at what they are doing to my wife.
The placement is quick and easy and Avery is dozing before it’s fully effective. Her body doesn’t require the full dose to kick in for her to fall asleep because she’s so exhausted. The pregnancy had taken its toll on her body and I would never forget how she tolerated it with a smile on her face.
The nurse doesn’t wait long before she’s back and ready to examine Avery. I had hoped she would be able to get a little sleep. “Wow. I think you were made for birthing babies. You’re already complete and number one’s head is pretty low.”
I’m terrified. “That means it’s time to deliver?”
“It means it’s time to push,” she laughs. “Pushing and delivering are two different things.” I think I entertain her because I know so little about this process. “The pushing part can be over with quickly or it can take a while depending on how numb she is from the epidural.”
Avery wiggles her feet. “I’m not all that numb. I feel my legs and I’m able to move them but I’m not hurting.”