The last two months of Maddie’s pregnancy flew by. Jona made it known that she was a little skittish about being in the room when the baby was born, but she was happy to be there for moral support through the labor. She was told that she could be Brie’s errand girl. “Basically, I tell you to go get something, you go get it. It keeps you out of the room as much as possible and helps me prepare for delivering the baby. Do you think you can handle that?” Jona just nodded in relief that everyone was understanding of how she felt.
When the day came, Maddie had come over to discuss a technique with her mother. “There was this stretch the Ms. Deb taught us for the hamstrings that’s good for pregnant women too, but I can’t remember it.”
“Put the leg up on your shoulder, knuckles in the hamstrings at the insertion. Have them take a deep breath in and push the knee toward the chest on the exhale as you allow your knuckles to run down the length of the muscle from the popliteal fossa to the ischium”, Brie explained.
Maddie nodded. “I wish that the dumb broad that’s been doing my pre- natal massages had been doing that. My hamstrings could USE a good pin and stretch.” She stood to get a bottle of water and felt something between her legs go “goosh”. There was a HUGE water mess in the floor. Maddie slowly lowered herself into the chair she had just stood from. “Mom, I think it’s time for me to have this baby.”
Brie fought the urge to laugh. “You THINK, Madison?” She went for the door. “Oh, COLTON! Come help your wife into the living room. Jona, you know where I stashed my kit, right?”
Jona nodded. “Yeah.”
“Go get it for me and stop by my husband’s office on the way back and let him know that his princess just went into labor.” Jona jumped from her seat and headed for the stairs as Colton stood and headed for the kitchen. Maddie was in the middle of a contraction when he came in. As he went to lift her, Brie smacked him in the back of the head. “Move her during a contraction and you die, Colton Scott GreyEagle. Do you understand me?” she said in a low and dangerous voice.
“What do I do then?” he asked. He looked scared.
“Let’s wait for the contraction to end, we move her into the living room and sit her on the couch. We’re going to have to do a LOT of setting up between now and the delivery and there’s no telling how long it will take for this baby to be born. I’m warning you like I warned her, after three hours, if there’s little to no progress she’s going to the hospital because she’s officially out of my depth.”
He nodded. “I understand, Mom.”
Maddie relaxed and they got her on her feet and Brie spoke. “Come on, Maddie. Let’s get you into the living room so that we can get you through this and deliver that baby.”
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David and the girls that were in the house came flooding down the stairs. Jona handed Brie her kit. “Here you go, Brie. Anything else I can do?”
“Run out back and get Jake and Delilah for me. I want Jake on hand just in case I need a doctor and Delilah promised her Maddie she’d be here”, Brie said as she propped Maddie’s feet up so she could check her. As Jona walked out, Brie had Jessi hand her a pair of gloves from the kit. “Ok, Maddie, I’m just checking to see how dilated you are.” Maddie nodded as her mother’s hands disappeared under her skirt. She chuckled to herself. “Five and fifty. Beautiful. Maddie, have you been having any discomfort over the past twenty four to thirty six hours?”
Maddie nodded slowly. “A little here and there.”
Brie shook her head. “Braxton- Hicks.” She sighed. “Ok Maddie, do you think you get up and move around or do you want to stay where you are?”
“Right here for now. I’ll let you know if I need to move around.”
“If you need to change position, let someone know.” She looked at her husband. “David, honey, come with me to upstairs to my office please?”
“No, Mama, I want Daddy here”, she said on the verge of tears.
David brushed Maddie curls from her face. “Shh, baby girl. Your Mom just needs to talk to me out of the room for a moment.”
“No, more like I need your help to find something in my office because you were the last person to touch it.”
“Oh. Ok.” He shrugged. “I guess I need to help her find something in her office.” He stood from where he was sitting on the arm of the couch and headed upstairs behind his wife.
“Send Jona to my office as soon as she comes in from getting Jake and Delilah”, Brie stopped to say, then continued up the stairs.
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Maddie progressed to 8cm in the matter of an hour and she was 85% effaced. She was moved carefully to the downstairs bathroom for the delivery. Maddie wanted a water birth. Colton gave her the tank top he was wearing so that she didn’t ruin her dress and so that she was covered in front of her father. Colton got in the tub with Maddie, sitting behind her. Brie and David exchanged a look, both recalling something that only Malachai recalled. Brie got into the water and checked Maddie’s progress. “You’re almost there Maddie. When you feel like you have to push, call for me. I need to give Jona a few instructions real fast.”
“Ok, Mama”, Maddie said as she took deep breaths to get through the contraction.
“Jona, I need you to do me a few HUGE favors, ok. I need my scale set up in the next room with my tape measure. I need a bulb syringe in here to that I can clear the baby’s airways and I need the warm, dry towels in the bathroom from the dryer. Can you do that for me?”
“What do you need first?” Jona asked.
“Probably the syringe and towels.”
“Do you want them folded?”
“Don’t bother. They’re about to be used to clean up and wrap a newborn.”
“Ok, I’m on my way to go get everything. I’ll be right back.”
Brie walked into the bathroom just in time. “We were just about to call you, baby”, David said.
“Glad I got back here as quick as I did then”, Brie said as she climbed into the tub and knelt between her daughter’s knees. She didn’t have to do a lot of see what the progress was. “The baby’s crowning”, she said. “Whoever’s holding her feet needs to get into place. Next contraction, she’s pushing.”
“Daddy, you’re holding my hand”, she said to her father.
“Of course, Madison”, David said with a smile.
“Jessi, Jordan, get Maddie’s feet”, Brie said. Maddie’s next contraction hit and she almost screamed as her sisters lifted her feet into the air and she pushed with everything she had. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten; Breathe, Maddie- and one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine ten, and relax”, Brie said as she started to carefully massage the tiny opening that the baby was coming out of. “You’re doing great, Maddie girl. Just keep breathing, we’re almost done.”
Then the next contraction hit, the same thing happened. Maddie started crying after the contraction. “Mama, it hurts so much.”
“I know, baby girl. One more push and it’s over with. We’ll have his shoulders out as well as the rest of him. You’re doing such a good job, Maddie. Just take a deep breath and keep going.”
That final push came along and she finished pulling the baby from her daughter’s body. David was across the room with a towel and the syringe in no time. Once the baby was clean and could breathe without having their back pounded on, Brie spoke over the baby’s first cries of life. “Congrats, you two. It’s a BOY!”
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Maddie was resting comfortably after feeding her newborn son for the first time and Colton was holding as his wife rested. “Wow. He’s so small, Dad”, he said in a whisper to David.
“I know, Colt. I have ten. They don’t stay this way for long.” David was grinning from ear to ear. “So, what have you two decided to name him?”
“Asher Shai. It was Maddie’s idea. ‘If it’s a boy, his name is Asher. Now, argue with me’, she said.”
“May I?” David asked and held his hands out to the little boy. Colton handed the newborn babe to his father in law. “Well, hello there, Asher. I’m your Grampa. You’ll get to know me very well over the next several years. I’m the one that gets you whatever you want. Well, me and Gramma.” He kept talking to the little boy as he walked around the room.
Jeremiah and Jona came in and ‘Miah went straight to where his father stood so that he could see his new nephew. “God, he’s big”, ‘Miah chuckled.
“Yeah, he was 8lbs 12oz, 24 inches long.”
“Damn, two feet long exactly.” ‘Miah looked at his brother in law. “You make monsters for babies, Colt.”
Colton chuckled. “Yeah, I know.”
David cleared his throat. “Jeremiah.” When his son looked at him he continued. “When you and Jona start having babies, I want a girl, understood?”
Jeremiah didn’t miss a beat. He pulled out the smart ass within with a chuckle. “What am I, Dad, a slot machine? Just pull my handle and I spit out the right chromosome?”
David didn’t miss the chance to be a smart ass either. You want to be a smart ass, son, then two can play at that game, he thought before responding. “I might have better luck if you were.”
All Jeremiah could do was stand there in stunned silence.
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