Forever In My LIFE (Book 4) 2nd Alternate

Part 28

Prince and I stay cuddled in the hospital bed with Ramiel, who's alert eyes look back and forth between us as we talk and coo to him. The doctor and Gretchen monitor us as they stay busy by starting to drain the portable pool, discarding trash and tidying the room. The doctor then sits and begins to fill out medical paperwork for me and the baby. She comes over and checks his heartbeat and does as thorough of a visual exam that she can do while he lays on my belly.

"We don't have a weight and measurement on him do we?" I ask.

She shakes her head and smiles as she takes in the scene, "No, not yet. This skin to skin bonding is very important right now, there is no reason to disturb him for at least an hour. We like them to have their first fed at least."

About this time Ramiel starts bobbing his head, his mouth open and searching. "He's hungry," I say and Gretchen steps to the side of the bed and presses a button, moving us into a more upright, seated position. She grabs a little pillow and I lift Ramiel for her to tuck it under him, "Remember the videos, bring the baby to the breast, not the breast to the baby."

I shift to where I'm comfortable, then get him situated, tilting his tiny little head back like I had watched, and place his lower lip well under the nipple of one breast and ease his head forward. The latch is instantaneous and I see his mouth begin to work and I gasp at the initial draw, but the pain is gone as quickly as it came. "Nice latch," Gretchen nods and returns to her duties.

Prince has watched all of this with love and fascination, "You watched videos on how to do this?"

"Yeah, I didn't realize it was so involved," I look down at Ramiel happily feeding. "I guess it can be difficult." I shrug.

"I find it all amazing, the human body is miraculous," he says and I lean slightly towards him so he has a better view, and I sneak another kiss onto his cheek. When he grins at me I tell him, "I know this was something that you always wanted, but I didn't realize how badly I wanted it, too. Thank you." I'm teary eyed again.

"Thank you," he puts his arm over my shoulder and we both watch him nurse.

The doctor asks, "First name?"

I look at Prince, then back to her, "Prince."

"Middle name?"

"Ramiel, R-A-M-I-E-L," I spell it out for her.

The doctor writes it down, "Interesting name," and she speaks our last name "Nelson" as she finishes writing that part of the information. "Circumcision?"

We look at each other because we had discussed this thoroughly, Prince answers in his curt manner that says that we will not be swayed in our decision, "No." The doctor doesn't react one way or the other, she simply checks a box. We thought for sure we would be given the whole run around about this, and we were wrong. We visibly relax knowing Ramiel's penis is safe from mutilation and we didn't have to argue about our choice.

Ramiel's mouth begins to work intermittently, a few sucks, a long pause, a few more, than a longer pause. I point to him and Prince is already smiling, our baby boy is filling up and it's making him sleepy. Gretchen approaches, "He's almost out," she laughs and looks at the clock, "it hasn't been an hour, but we may sneak him from you for a quick exam. We'll get him cleaned up, diapered, and back to you as quickly as possible."

We nod, and I'm hesitate to release him, but I know these things have to be done. Gretchen surprises me by inserting her pinky between the corner of his mouth and my breast, releasing his latch. As soon as he's in her arms, with a couple soft bounces and pats, he lets out the tiniest burp, but otherwise stays quiet and content. She only takes him across the room, but I already feel like something is missing from me, Prince senses this and pulls me in for a hug while we wait for him to be returned to us. I become aware of three things after Ramiel has been removed from my arms, I feel like I've been drugged, I have to use the toilet, and I'm starving. I whisper these things to Prince, he looks at Gretchen who is standing by as the doctor is examining Ramiel, she comes to the bed.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I tell her, "and I'm STARVING!"

She laughs, "Of course, do you want to try to walk or do you want me to do a cath?"

I'm already trying to shift my legs off the bed, "Ugh, no, walk!" Prince gets up and helps her steady me on my feet, then she warns him, "This is not going to be pretty, you might want to stay here." I hobble to the bathroom, I hurt! I also notice, to my horror, that I leave a trail of blood from the bed to the bathroom. "Totally normal," Gretchen assures me and gets me onto the toilet.

It takes a minute, and I don't really feel much down there, but I hear myself peeing so I assume I am. I explain this to her, "Dear, you're very fortunate, most women need to be catheterized, they just can't go. You won't really have urges right now, so remember to try to go at least every four hours." She seems amazed by the amount of fluid I am releasing and shakes her head, "I wish all my deliveries went this well. I'll help you get cleaned up when we're done in here." Then she laughs, "You'll be so excited to see your hospital panties and those huge pads," punctuating this with an eye roll. When I tell her about the adult bladder control briefs I brought with me, she's intrigued, "Hmmm, I'll check those out."

As we make our way back into the room, and she helps me onto a seat in the large tub, Prince comes over to check on me, Gretchen again starts to shoo him away as she adjusts the water temperature on the sprayer. "Bring my bag," I call to him before he's too far, and he fetches it, setting it beside the tub before returning to Ramiel's side. It's weird to have someone other than Prince gently cleanse my undercarriage, and again, the pain is awful. "How bad is it?" She looks up as she sprays, "Not too bad, you only needed a couple stitches." The briefs are looked at, but she still fits me with the hospital underwear and massive pad, and assures me an ice pack will be my best friend for a few days. One of my maternity nighties gets put on and I beg to be fed again, she lets Prince assist me back to the bed while she goes to track down some food for me.

She returns with a tray of the most pitiful looking food I have seen in a long time. Some dry turkey, gelatinous gravy, sad looking russet potatoes, wrinkled corn, and some type of cherry dessert. Prince scrunches up his face in disgust, and before he can say, "We don't eat meat," I'm already devouring it in greedy, unladylike mouthfuls. He stares at me like he has just witnessed a train wreck, Gretchen laughs, "If I would have brought her a two inch thick steak she would have eaten it." I nod enthusiastically as I finish the last bite of food and start on the dessert.

Prince just blinks rapidly, "Is this normal?"

"Completely, having a baby is hard work," the doctor chimes in, "Now Mom and baby needs to sleep."

Prince looks devastated, "Are you kicking me out?" His shoulders square, he's ready to put up a fight.

"Only if you don't let them sleep," she winks, he relaxes.

My linens were changed while I was up, new 'training pads' in place, the button is pushed to flatten the bed. Prince looks lost until I pat the bed beside me, then he looks embarrassed as the two women look on. The bassinet is pushed against my side of the bed, where Ramiel sleeps peacefully. "He's 7lbs, 7oz., and 19.5 inches," the doctor tells me with tears in her eyes, "You did good, Mom," she pats my hand. "A nurse will be to check on you two periodically, get some rest."

My eyes are already closing as Gretchen sits down with a book in the nearby rocker. Prince crawls up into the bed and we assume our usual sleeping position, with both drift off in a matter of minutes.