Don't Let Us Go

Woman's Worth

Lying in the hospital bed, Oliviq groaned loudly in discomfort as another wave of pain surged through her body. Gritting her teeth, she tightened her grip on Spencer's comforting hand, enveloping hers.

“Just breathe through the pain, like they said, baby,”  Spencer said, a mixture of nerves and anticipation edged in his tone .

“Fuck you and those damn breathing exercises, Spencer,” Olivia growled another contraction hitting her harshly.

Already passing the 4 hour checkpoint of her labor, the contractions were growing closer my the moment. Each one prolonged, more intense than the previous. When her water broke, she'd been filled with excitement, as well as feeling dread. Right now, though, she focused on the pain as her body worked hard to deliver their child.

Soon enough, the pain subsided again, and she laid back for a few moments, inhaling few deep breaths. The door to her delivery room opened, and a doctor stepped inside.

“Mr.James and Ms. Baker, hello,” he said, looking up from the clipboard in his hand after checking your names. “So, how are things going in here? How far apart are the contractions?” he asked.

“A little under a minute,” Spencer replied, having kept a close watch on them as Olivia's midwife suggested, and from what he was taught during lamas classes earlier in the pregnancy.

"Alright, very good. Ms.Baker, I’m just going to take a quick look to see how dilated you are,” the doctor gave her a reassuring smile as he put on a pair of gloves while waiting for Olivia to nod in acknowledgment.

He carefully felt around for a minute before retracting his hand.

“Eight now you are 9 centimeters dilated, only one to go. My estimation is that you will meet your son in less than an hour,” he smiled before giving the two parents a nod goodbye, leaving Olivia in the capable hands of the nurses and midwife in the room.

Spencer let out a shaky breath as he turned to look at his tiresome girlfriend.

“Okay baby, you can do this.You heard the doctor, and hour or so, and pur little man will be in your arms” He gushed proudly, wiping his hand gently across the surface of Olivia's sweaty forehead, removing fallen curls that were stuck to her skin.

40 minutes later, the pain was almost overwhelming for Olivia, and her contractions were endless. She barely registered the midwife seated between her legs. Speencer did best talking her through the pain.

“You’re doing so great, baby, so great,” he rambled.

“It fucking hurts!” Olivia managed to grit out, between laboring grunts.

“I know, babe, I know, and believe me, if I could take your pain right now - you know I would,” he soothed, reaching out to stroke her tangled curls.

“That’s cute and all Spencer, but I happen to be the one pushing out a watermelon through a lemon-sized hole,” Olivia growled, causing a brief smile to spread on your boyfriend ’s face as she knocked her head against his comforting hand in defiance. "You're never touching me again, you hear me,James!" She scolded out, enraged by the pain his son was putting her body through. "EVER!" She shouted, another contraction hitting her lower abdomen.

Spencer and the midwife shared a laugh at Olivia's dire insistence.

“Alright, Ms. Baker, are you ready to start pushing?” the midwife asked from between her knees. Olivia nodded, out of breath, but all the same, filled with a sudden determination to get her labor over with.