Page 126 of This Memory
Dr. Lark said something to the nurse, who quickly rushed out of the room. Turning back to me, I could tell by the look on her face something was wrong.
“Oh, God, what’s wrong?”I asked.
“Your contractions are very close, but your cervix hasn’t opened enough for the baby to pass through the birth canal. We’re going to have to do a C-section.”
“What?” Gavin and I both said at the same time.
“I’m sorry. I know this isn’t what we’d planned, but if we wait, it will stress the baby, and we don’t want that. The easiest and safest thing to do is operate.”
I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. “Can Gavin come?”
“As long as you don’t want a general anesthetic, yes.”
“No, I want to be awake.”
A nurse gently tapped Gavin’s arms. “Come on, let’s get you changed and scrubbed in.”
He turned back and quickly kissed me. “I love you. It’s going to be okay.”
I nodded. “I’ll see you soon.”
“See you in a bit.”
Before I knew what was happening, they took me out of the room and down a hall.
“My family,” I whispered.
A male nurse glanced down at me. He smiled reassuringly as he said, “I’ll make sure they’re updated. Don’t you worry, Momma. Everything will be okay.”
I nodded and looked straight ahead—and for the briefest moment, I swore I saw Evelyn and Denny.
It felt like it took forever…but at the same time, it was only moments. Before I knew it, I was looking down at the baby girl lying across my chest, crying before she found her thumb. Gavin was crying and smiling as he leaned down to kiss Lily.
“She’s beautiful,” he said, wiping the tears away.
“She is,” I whispered as I kissed her head. “Welcome to the world, sweet pea.”
I looked up and met Gavin’s gaze. He smiled and said softly, “Here we go.”
“Here we go!”
“How are my two favorite girls doing today?” Gavin asked as he walked up and kissed me, then kissed Lily on the head. “Hi, my little bean.”
We were sitting on the back patio enjoying the beautiful day.
“We’re wonderful. She loves to be outside. I think she likes the sounds of the birds and that wind chime your dad gave us.”
He removed his belt and laid it on the table in the middle of the back patio. “The other day when I had her out here, I swear those chimes put her to sleep.”
I smiled at our precious baby girl. It was hard to believe she was nearly a month old. “How do you think she’ll do with the fireworks?”
“Bet she sleeps right through it with her noise machine.”
Lily loved her noise machine, and I guessed that was because I had a thunderstorm going on mine every night when I was pregnant, and she got used to it. We put one in her room on her first day home, and as of yet, we haven’t had any issues with her sleeping.
“Let me go change and shower quickly, then I’ll take over.”
I rocked gently as Lily nursed. “No rush, Daddy. We’re just enjoying our dinner and fresh air.”
