Page 65 of One Day at a Time

Maddie knew one thing for sure. Those antenatal classes hadn’t prepared her for this. That said, she was beyond grateful to Candy, the midwife who’d taken over when her own lovely midwife, Sharon, had gone into labour herself, for bending hospital policy of two birth partners maximum and allowing her entire support trio to stay with her.

Another thing she’d learned in the last few hours was that her birthing plan had gone right out the window. She’d hoped for a natural birth, no meds, and she’d been sure she could do it, but a few minutes ago, she’d given in and opted for an epidural. A doctor had come and administered it, and she didn’t feel a shred of guilt about it. She’d explain it to her child when it was an adult, the first time they had to deal with any kind of injury and there was the option for pain relief.

‘Maddie, you did great. That’s another one over. Just breathe. We’ve got you.’ That came from Alyssa, who was now pushing her hair back and holding a cold, damp cloth to her forehead.Her pal was paler than usual, and they’d already established this was the first time she’d witnessed a birth.

‘You’re never having children now, are you?’ Maddie whispered.

Alyssa, honest as ever, shook her head. ‘Not a chance. I’ll just borrow this one if I’m broody.’

Maddie had just managed to force her strained face into something resembling a smile, when the door opened and Candy came striding back in. She quickly and efficiently examined Maddie, checked all the monitors and then gave her a nod of encouragement.

‘You’re doing great, lovely. You’re only a couple of centimetres away now. Maybe an hour, possibly sooner.’

An hour?????

Maddie suddenly wanted to send an exploding head emoji to the gods of childbirth. Holy shit, an hour. Right on cue, another contraction replied with the equivalent of a one-finger emoji. And Candy stayed with her to see her through it.

‘How was that one, Maddie?’ she asked, when Maddie’s head flopped back down onto the pillow, her hair, damp with sweat, sticking to her face again. Val pushed it back gently.

‘A bit better. Definitely not as sore.’

Candy nodded. ‘Okay, so the epidural is kicking in. It’s going to get better from here, Maddie.’

‘You promise?’ Maddie wasn’t sure she could handle it if this got any worse.

‘I promise. I’ll just nip out and get you some more ice chips.’

‘I’ll come with you and save you the trip back with them,’ Val offered.

‘I knew I let you lot stay for a reason,’ Candy said, with a wink.

At that point, there was a loud buzzing noise and Candy pulled a phone from her pocket and checked the screen.

‘Dear God, that’s someone else at the ward door now. If this is another admission, I’m going to have to get Sharon out of that bed and put her back to work.’

Maddie really hoped she was joking, but she was too busy concentrating on her breathing as she prepared for the next contraction to come.

‘I won’t be long, pet,’ Val said as she reached the door. ‘I’ll be back before the next one.’ Maddie really hoped that was true.

A few minutes later, the door opened again, and Val came bustling back in.

‘Eh, doll, I think you forgot something.’ Jessie pointed to her empty hands.

‘Oh bugger, the ice chips. Sorry. I got distracted. The thing is, we’ve got to leave now.’

‘Noooooo,’ Maddie bellowed. ‘Tell me who is kicking you out and I’ll fight them.’ Right now, every feral bone in her body was prepared to punch whoever was taking her support away.

‘Don’t worry, love, we’ll be back, but I just thought that you might want a few minutes alone with this one.’

At that, Val stepped to the side, and Maddie wondered if she was hallucinating, as Dylan Bennet walked towards her and took her hand. And she saw by the look in his eyes that he already knew everything.

‘Dylan… oh God, Dylan. Tell me I’m not imagining you. Is this the epidural?’

Even through the haze of her own tears, she could see his eyes were glistening. ‘I came as soon as I sussed it out. The baby. Our baby? At least, I really hope it’s our baby.’

‘But how did you know? Oh bugger, hang on, count with me… one two one two one two…’

His expression of sheer panic lasted until the contraction passed. Okay, that was less painful than the last one again. She could do this. She could.