“Yeah.” He shakes a few more pieces into the cup and hands it back to me, but I almost crush it in my hand when another contraction wraps around me, squeezing me hard. I feel Sebastian take the cup from me. “Just breathe. Inhale…Exhale.”
When it’s over, I drop my head back against the pillows and pant, “Maybe I should just get the epidural.”
“Okay. If that’s what you want.”
“I’m just so tired,” I say, wondering how I’m going to endure this for hours.
“Do you want me to call the nurse?”
“No, not yet.” I close my eyes. “I can keep going. If I can just sleep for a few minutes, I think I can keep going.”
“Okay.”
I fall into a reprieve of sleep, but minutes, or maybe seconds later, another contraction jerks me awake. “Ow!” I cry, squeezing Sebastian’s hand, which is still wrapped around mine. I close my eyes again and take deep breaths, bearing the pain until it passes. Then I fall back asleep for a few minutes.
This goes on for a while.
“Lucy, I need to check you again,” I hear Meghan say, and it pulls me out of the light sleep I’d just fallen back into.
I open my eyes and nod reluctantly. “Okay.” I scoot down on the bed a little.
“Did you get some sleep?” she asks, pushing my knees apart.
“A little,” I say, wincing as another contraction strikes.
“Five centimeters. You’re moving quickly.”
“What?” I groan with what little air is left in my lungs.
“Already?” Sebastian asks, unable to hide the worry in his voice.
She looks at the paper that’s feeding out of the monitor beside the bed. “You’re having strong contractions, Lucy. They’re moving you along quickly.”
I give Sebastian a panicked look. “Call Sam. See how much longer.”
He pulls his phone out of his pocket and holds it to his ear. “The call won’t go through. Maybe they’re in the air.”
“Try Miles.”
“Don’t worry, Lucy. Even though you’re progressing quickly now, sometimes labor will stall,” Meghan says.
“Same with Miles. I’ll try to send a text.”
“We don’t get great reception in the hospital,” Megan adds, giving him an apologetic look.
Sebastian raises his eyebrows and asks, “Why don’t they put that on the brochure?”
I look at my stomach and say firmly, “Stay. In. There.”
Meghan laughs. “Just hang in there, he still has plenty of time. I’ll check on you again soon.”
“Bas, text him the room number.”
“I’m trying, but it won’t go through.” He picks up the hospital phone. “Maybe I can get through with the landline.” After a few seconds he says, “It’s going straight to voicemail.”
“Leave a message.”
“Okay.”
A short minute later, another contraction pulls me up off the pillows. I lean over and put my feet on the floor.
“What are you doing?” Sebastian asks.
“I need to walk.” I reach for his hand and slowly walk around the bed, groaning and crying through the pain. “Ow!” I groan, dropping my hands on the bed. “This fucking hurts!”
Sebastian waits for it to pass before saying, “Lucy, I really think you should get the epidural now.”
“Mm-hmm,” I squeak, climbing back into the bed.
“I’ll go get the nurse.”
“Mm-HMMMMM.” The air rushes from of my lungs as another contraction burns through me.
“Another one?” he asks, pausing at the door, but I don’t answer. “Nurse! Meghan…Sarah…somebody!” he shouts from the door, and then rushes back over to me.
“I want the epidural. I want the epidural,” I cry, gripping the bed sheets in my hands.
“Lucy, what’s going on?” Sarah asks, hurrying over to me.
“I need the epidural. I need it now. Please,” I cry.
“Okay, I’ll call the anesthesiologist. Just hang in there, you’re doing great.”
I try to focus on the swooshing of the baby’s heartbeat, but it slows down when the contraction squeezes me harder. “Did you hear that?” I ask Sebastian. “The baby’s heartbeat slowed down.”
“I didn’t hear it.”
“Get the nurse again.”
Sebastian calls for Sarah again and she comes back into my room. “The baby’s heart rate is slowing down,” he says to her.
She checks the paper feeding out of the monitor beside the bed. “Yes, it did drop a little, but it’s nothing to worry about. It happens with contractions because they’re pushing on the baby too.”
“Are they hurting her?”
“No, she just feels the pressure, kind of like a firm squeeze.”
“Okay.”
“Lucy, I’m Dr. Mooney,” an unfamiliar man says, entering the room. “Dr. Fletcher asked me to come check on you. I’m the attending physician.”
“Is he still in surgery?” I ask, trying to remember that the other mother needs him more than I do right now.
“Yes.” He gives me a warm smile. “But he should be here soon.”
I nod and exhale an anxious breath. “Okay,” I say quietly. “It’s going to be okayyyyyyy!”
“You’re having another contraction,” I hear him say, but I’m too lost in the pain to look up. “This graph shows her contractions,” he says to Sebastian. “You can see how strong they are and how quickly they’re coming. She’s not getting much of a break in between them.”
When the contraction passes, Dr. Mooney asks, “Lucy, would it be okay if I checked your progress now? I want to see how these contractions are moving you along.”
I nod and drop my knees to the side and tug Sebastian back by my head.
Dr. Mooney looks up at Sarah and asks, “What was she at last?”
“Five centimeters, about thirty minutes ago.”
“She’s at seven now.” He pulls his gloves off. “You’re progressing quickly, Lucy.”
“But I don’t want to progress quickly. I’m waiting on my fiancé. He’s flying in from New York. Is there something you can do to slow it down?”
“Sometimes the epidural slows it down a bit,” Sarah says.
Meghan walks back into the room, followed by a man in green scrubs, who I pray is the anesthesiologist.
He smiles at me. “Lucy, are you ready for your epidural now?”
I nod over the contraction that’s burning across my stomach. “Yes,” I say through my teeth, balling my hands into tight fists.
“Lucy, it was a pleasure to meet you,” Dr. Mooney says, before leaving the room. “Please tell Sam congratulations for me. We were all rooting for him.”
I nod and give a strained thumbs-up.
“Okay, Lucy, I need you to sit up and let your legs hang over the side of the bed.”
I inhale a deep breath and blow it out slowly, then I sit up and scoot to the edge of the bed. “Like this?” I ask, dangling my feet over the side.
“Yes, but…” He looks at Sebastian and asks, “Do you get light-headed easily?”