Page 89 of Claimed By the Cowboys
“Ugh, you're telling me,” Piper complained. “Every time I walk, I can feel their tiny little head jabbing me right in the cervix.”
We all laughed.
“Well, that's actually kind of how you get this process started. The baby's head sinks down, and it presses on the cervix and lets it know, ‘hey, we're here. It's getting close to time. Do you want to get soft and do your job by getting shorter and wider?’”
Maisie was utterly confused by what the technician was saying now, but she nodded along like everybody else was, to try to seem like she knew what was going on.
“Having a baby is hard work.” I looked down at Maisie, pinching her little chin and giving her a grin as I rubbed my nose against hers. “So we have to make sure that Piper is doing a-okay. You think you can help me with that?”
Maisie perked up in my arms, nodding exuberantly. “Yes, yes, I can help. I help.”
At that, she held up her little stuffed animal and waved it around by Piper, trying to get her to take it. Piper cocked her head and took the stuffy, pulling it against her.
“What's this? Bear?”
“Bear keep you happy.”
A collective “aww” rang out through the entire room, and even the technician gave Maisie a big smile.
“That's so sweet, honey, thank you. I will make sure to squeeze Bear if I ever get nervous, but if you need him back, you just let me know.”
Maisie thought about it, looking down at my hands where I was holding her and then back up at Piper. “I'm okay for now, but want to sleep with Bear.”
I chuckled and gave her another squeeze. “Of course, you'll get to sleep with your buddy, Bear. We would never dream of letting you go to sleep without your longtime partner.”
Maisie grinned, and the rest of the visit proceeded normally. We got our measurements; we took a few pictures of our little bean all snuggled in their house, and we were given all sorts of instructions about what to do when labor eventually started.
We were right there, getting so close, and I knew that Piper was going to frantically pack the hospital bag and have it waiting by the door now that we'd officially reached the thirty-seven-week mark.
“Okay, but like I said, I don't necessarily want to go straight to the hospital. I found this wonderful birth center that seems so much calmer and more relaxed, and I would like to go there. We've had a look at it and everything. I got the big tour, and I think that's where we'd like to go.”
The technician nodded, wiping the gel off Piper's stomach and storing the transducer in its holder.
“Birth centers can be great, and you'll also have trained medical professionals around just in case anything happens. Though the chances of that are very slim, so don't let yourself worry. Now that it’s the end of your pregnancy, you might start to notice more and more Braxton-Hicks contractions, but it's also normal if you have none at all.”
Zeke leaned in over Piper, draping his arm across the back of the exam table. “So, how do we know when it's go time and we're supposed to head to the birth center?”
The woman looked up at him with a smile and then met eyes with Piper again. “Well, the best way to know is when your contractions are about four or five minutes apart, lasting around thirty seconds. That's when you can tell that labor is truly happening. Sometimes it takes a long time to reach that point, while for others, it can go rather quickly. This is your first pregnancy, so chances are you'll be in labor for around twelve to eighteen hours, which is normal for most first-time moms. Though not all of that time is spent in active labor, so don't freak out. Usually, if the contractions have gotten to the point where it's difficult to speak during them, and you have to tune into yourself to get through them, that's a good sign to head to the birth center.
“You'd also want to come to us right away if your water breaks, because then we only have a limited amount of time to get the baby out before the risk of infection increases. But again, don't let yourself get too nervous. That usually isn't a problem, and some people don't have their water break until the very end. In very rare instances, which are extremely cool, the water doesn't break at all, and the babies are born in the caul, where they're still inside their little sack. I've only seen it a handful of times, but it’s wild. Other times, people confuse their water breaking with going to the bathroom, which is also rathernormal. Typically, you know it’s your water breaking if you try to stop it and hold it and you can't.”
Piper was nodding along, taking in the deluge of information, and all I could do was chuckle under my breath as I held Maisie close, who had no idea what we were talking about.
She tugged on my shirt, and I looked down at her. “What water are they talking about? Is there a cup that's going to spill?”
Again, the room broke out in gentle chuckles, and I squeezed her close. “No, honey, it's not that kind of water. It might be hard to understand. I can explain more when we get home.”
She shrugged her little shoulders in a way that only a toddler could manage, and then, as quickly as the question was there, she completely forgot it.
“You’re all set, hun. And hopefully, I won’t be seeing you again, because you’ve had the baby.” The tech smiled, helping Piper off the table as Zeke assisted from the other side. “For now, get some rest. It’s important to keep stress at a minimum this late in the game and take some time for yourself.”
I smiled at Piper when her expression faltered slightly. With the Caroline nonsense, stress was kind of at an all-time high, and we all needed to help Piper manage it. I wasn’t risking the baby or her.
“Don’t worry, pretty girl.” I took her hand, Maisie leaning forward so that she could touch Piper’s belly as I held her. “We’ve got you. Until the end.”
Chapter 42
Piper
