Page 69 of Just Like in the Movies
“You’re not there yet, but soon,” the nurse said with a reassuring smile. “Won’t be long before you’re pushing.”
“Want some ice?” Mike asked.
My mouth was a little dry after that panting. “Sure.” He fed me one and, like it was a signal, a contraction started.
This one was longer and harder. I thought I might have hurt Mike a little but he never made a noise, just let me squeeze his hand the way my belly was trying to squeeze the baby out. At one point, he put his free arm around my shoulders and held me as I grunted and panted frantically through the pain.
Four or five contractions more and they told me I could push on the next one. I was glad of it, because Mike was starting to look a little white around the mouth and I was beginning to worry more about him than about what was coming down the road for me. “Ready?” I asked him and he nodded, but I noticed his throat work as he swallowed. “Gonna be a Dad soon,” I reminded him.
“Yeah,” he said, and his smile blossomed across his face. “You too, you know.”
“I know.” My belly tightened and the nurses gathered around, telling me to “Push!” and Mike tightened his grip on my hands as I curled around my belly and keened.
“You’re doing great,” Mike repeated over and over. “You’re so strong, I’m so proud of you!”
I wanted to tell him to shut up and what the hell did he know, but I couldn’t find enough air to talk. And the nurses were telling me to breathe and I wanted to tell them to shut up too. I resorted to baring my teeth at all of them instead, but they just kept nattering at me anyway while I wanted to rip their limbs off so I could beat them with them.
“Push,” the nurse said again, and “Breathe!” Mike told me, and I plotted my revenge and screamed as our child tried to rip its way out of my stomach like a tiny alien. My body was on fire and there was no stopping this now, all I could do was just hang on and survive.
And then, suddenly, it was over, and moments later, the wail of a very unhappy baby pierced the air. The nurse carried him up and laid him on my chest. “Little baby boy,” she announced. “Congratulations, dads!”
The baby stopped crying shortly, lying stunned on top of me. “Poor little guy,” I murmured as I stroked the dark hair he’d been born with. “Bet this is a big shock for you.”
Mike stretched out a shaky hand and traced the curve of the baby’s little ear. “He’s so tiny.”
“They don’t stay that way for long,” said one of the nurses. I hadn’t even noticed until now that they’d been cleaning me up, and then one of them was at Mike’s side with a big pair of scissors.
“Want to cut the cord?” she asked him.
“I can?” he said.
In answer, she handed him the scissors and guided his hands to break the last physical bond between me and the baby. Then another nurse was at my side, her hands out to scoop our little boy up. “Not going far, guys. Just going to weigh him and give him a bit of a wash, then he’s coming right back to you. Dad, if you want to join us, you’re welcome to.”
Mike looked up at me hopefully. “Go with him,” I said. “I’ll still be here, and one of us should stay with him.”
He nodded gratefully and bent over the bed to kiss me. “Promise me,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “For the next one, you’ll take the epidural? I don’t know if I can watch you in that kind of pain again.”
“I’ve already forgotten it,” I lied, but he still looked a little shaken.
“I haven’t,” he whispered. He kissed me again, roughly like he was overcome with emotion, then followed the nurse off to the side of the room to watch as our little boy was weighed and measured and checked over to make sure everything was fine.
I lay back in my hospital bed and let time flow around me, watching with tired happiness as the nurse handed my child to his father. Mike beamed and curled himself around the baby as if to protect him, fierce and loving, and I thought I couldn’t be any happier than I was today.
