Chapter 17
My babies… My babies… I can’t loose them, I can’t. It’s because I didn’t exercise enough, or I didn’t eat healthy. I should have been more cautious. God, she took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth; these contractions hurt. Maybe it’s not that bad, maybe… Please let my babies be healthy, ten little toes and ten little fingers. I need them. Oh, God, what if their hearts aren’t pumping enough blood? What if their lungs aren’t working? What if they aren’t fully developed? It’s all my fault. I was supposed to protect them. I was supposed to keep them safe; now they’re in danger, and it’s all my fault.
Her eyes grew wide as she grasped the bed railing, and another contraction flamed through her back muscles and around to her abdomen. Gary tried to rub her back, but he too, was scared. His hands were trembling and unconfident in their actions.
“Stop, Gary, just stop.” She looked up at the ultrasound machine and tried to lay on her back again.
The doctor took the cold gel and slowly placed it upon Isabella’s swollen abdomen; it felt as though she was plunging into frozen lake water. She shuddered as Dr. Sage looked for the two babies on the screen.
“Ms. Hill, do you see how this baby’s head is pointing towards the birth canal and the other one is not?” Dr. Sage asked, pointing at the screen.
The sweat gathered along Isabella’s forehead; she wanted to scream. “Yes, I do.”
The doctor taps the screen, “this child is breech, and it is dangerous for her to be born vaginally. I am going to order an emergency cesarean section. I’ll be back in a few minutes to see how far along you are progressing.”
Doctor Sage leaves the room, and closes the door, an eerie silence followed. I don’t want to have a c-section, but my baby… my poor baby. If she comes out vaginally she’ll struggle for breath; she’ll suffocate. Her little brain won’t get enough oxygen… The silence was broken by Isabella’s sobs. She took a sharp breath into her lungs as a contraction followed the path of the others, and destroyed all of her thoughts and replaced them with nothing but thoughts of hurt.
“Babe, don’t hold your breath. Breathe in and out.” Gary demonstrates the way the doctor had showed them how she should breathe through contractions.
She turned away from him. It was none of his concern; he wasn’t the one that was pregnant, the one having their body put through hell to birth a child that’s in danger. She arched her back and slowly let the breath out through gritted teeth, as the contraction went away.
Gary sat in silence, patiently waiting for her to speak. She was the one that had to be cut open and pulled apart, so if she was a little stressed out he could understand that. He heard her let out a crushed moan as she clutched the bed railing. He watched, on the monitor, as the contraction hit it’s peak and slowly declined.
***
The doctor came back in, taking long immediate strides. He looked at a few of the machines, noting the babies heartbeats and Isabella’s blood pressure, and hummed, nodding to himself. “Everything seems to be in working order. How are the contractions?”
“They hurt,” she took a deep breath, “It’s like they are on top of each other.”
“Good. Lets see how far we have to go.”
Doctor Sage put her legs back up in the stirrups, and felt for how far the baby was away from the birth canal.
“Well, it seems as though it’s time to say hello to your children. Are you ready?” Doctor Sage eased down the blanket and stirrups.
After a small contraction blazed through Isabella’s body she took a deep breath, and said, “as ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Okay, I’ll have the nurse prep you in a few minutes.” Doctor Sage walked out of the room.
Isabella threw her head back upon the pillow and unclenched her sweaty, warm hands. In a few hours she would be a mother. I’m going to see my babies soon. I want them to be ok, they have to be. God, this hurts. “Gary, make the pain stop, please,” she whispered. By now her hands were clenched around the bed railing, and her abdomen hardened with each sharp breath she took.
Gary leaned in, “Here, take my hand.” he held out his hand for her to grab.
Her knuckles turned snow white as she gripped Gary’s hand for the duration of the contraction. He kissed her forehead, and gingerly rubbed his thumb along the out line of her fingers.
“Soon it’ll be over baby, real soon,” Gary said as a nurse in bright pink scrubs came in holding a tray of utensils she was going to use on Isabella. She gulped, they’re going to use that big needle on me?
“Hi, I’m nurse White, and I will be prepping you for surgery. Do you have any questions about what’s going to happen?” Nurse White asked, addressing Gary and Isabella before she attended to her tools.
“Ummm… What is going to happen?” Isabella asked, the lines on her forehead became apparent, and she began biting her nails.
“Well, an anesthesiologist will administer this epidural into your back, close to your spinal cord. It will numb you from your abdomen down. Then I will place a catheter into your bladder to drain all your urine during the procedure. Once we get you to the operating room the doctor will wash your lower abdomen with a special disinfectant; then make a six to eight inch incision into your abdomen, and then another incision into your uterus. The babies will be taken out through the opening made by these two incisions. Do you have any questions?” Nurse White asked.
“Uh… I don’t think so.” Isabella’s head was swarming with questions and thoughts of uncertainty, but she didn’t want to waste any more time. So, she let the questions float through her brain, making her more nervous with every passing second.
i can't wait to read more!