Gritting her teeth, Sarah couldn’t stop the low whimper as the contraction lasted ten seconds, twenty, thirty… She started gasping.
“Sarah, breathe, deep breaths. Come on, your baby is almost here.”
Glad for Dan’s strong hands holding her shoulders she pressed back as the next contraction hit. She tried to breathe over the pain, but it hurt, it hurt, ithurt!
“That’s it, Sarah, well done. You can relax.”
Relax? She wanted to faint, she felt light-headed.
Dan’s voice came from behind her. “You okay, Sar?”
“I feel awful. This is so hard.” The tears filled her eyes but there was no more time as the next contraction hit.
“Come on, Sarah, push.” She tried to push, everything inside her tried to push, and she heard the doctor say, “That’s it! The baby’s crowning. Let’s have another of those.”
Well, yeah sure. Why not? The next pain hit her, and she tensed back against Dan.
P-u-u-u-s-s-s-h-h-h.
“Well done, Sarah! The head’s out.”
How gross did that sound?
“Come on, another couple of pushes and you’ll have your baby.”
“I can’t do this…”
“You can, Sar. You’ve got this.”
“Sotired.”
The midwife moved up to the bed, wiping her face with a damp cloth. “Sarah, you’re doing beautifully. You’re almost there. Don’t give up now.” The midwife swapped positions with Dan who moved down to watch.
Oh, to be a man right now. She was never doing this again.
Sarah breathed in, expelling the air as the next contraction gripped, and pushed for what seemed like forever.
“That’s the way, come on, come on…”
And with a final desperate push and a slippery thrust her body finally expelled the tiny human form, and Sarah collapsed against the pillows, listening as a tiny cry filled the room.Thank you, God!
* * *
Thank you,God!He was a father. Watching his wife’s body do what it had been designed to do was amazing. Sarah was amazing. And now he had a little…?
The midwife quickly cleaned the tiny pink form, wrapping it in a soft blanket, before handing it to Dr. Feldman, who took some time to do some checks, then finally handed the baby to Sarah.
“Congratulations. You have a perfectly healthy little daughter.”
“Perfectly healthy?”
Dr. Feldman nodded. “Thank You God.”
“Amen.” Dan kissed his wife, looking into those gorgeous eyes that had been filled with pain only moments before, and now were filled with rapture. “Oh, Sarah, you really are amazing. I love you so much.”
She smiled at him, and they were connected, a steady stream of love vibrating between them, before the cry of their new daughter filled the space between them and Sarah looked down at the pale red fuzzy head.
“I love you too, Dan.” She kissed the little babe. “And you, my sweet.”
