Matt came into the living room looking anxious. "The midwife said that her labor would probably speed up now. She might not have much time before she delivers."
"Yes, I am aware of the fact that the breaking of the waters normally acts to intensify labor and make it faster," I said tersely as I tried to keep Emily from panicking.
Finally the contraction was over and Emily raised her head to look at us with tear rimmed eyes and sweat glistening on her brow. Her hair hung limply in a haphazard ponytail that had gone astray towards the floor. Sometime during her rigors her glasses had fallen from her face to the floor. Jane had rescued them and handed them back to Emily when she sat back on her hunches. "That HURT!" She fingerspelled hurt.
I signed to her that Debbie wanted her at the Center. "Debbie wants to make sure you and the baby are okay."
"Did Matt find Micky?"
I turned to Matt and asked him. He answered, "I called her back after I talked to the Midwife using her pager. She's meeting Emily at the Center."
Cherry translated this to Emily right before yet another contraction spasmed through Emily's body. "OHHHHHHHH!"
I cringed at her pain. I wanted more than anything to help make it go away but until we got her to the Birthing Center there wasn't much more I could offer her from my readings. Micky of course would know much more than I. I was glad to be able to finally turn Emily's care over to someone who knew what the hell they were doing. I was just a novice with no training. But the thought of maybe becoming a Doula for the Deaf was somewhat appealing. Helping Emily had given me the idea. It had some merit anyway. "Breathe! Remember He! He! Who! Hey! Look at me! Don't fight the pain. Ride it. Think of ocean waves crashing. You are the moon changing the tide. You can control your pain," I signed in my version of a pep talk.
She gained control of her breathing and fought back down the panic that had again threatened to take over. Once this pain was over she signed, "I'm scared."
"It's okay to be afraid," Cherry signed with more knowledge than her years.
"Emily, we need to help you change into dry clothing and get you to the Center." Jane signed not realizing that more than likely dry clothes would be drenched by the time we got there. But it was cold. And wet and cold don't mix well. Emily was wearing shorts and a maternity shirt because her house was warm and she was hot. She did need to change clothes if only for that reason.
"Jane help me okay?" Emily signed as she tried to find her feet only to need help from the floor.
"Fine++" Cherry and I signed as Matt helped Emily stand and more water ran in a stream down her leg. From what I could tell of it, it was clear. I didn't think there was meconium staining in it so the baby wasn't in distress. But I really wanted Emily to get to the center just so she was safe and with someone who could help her if she was in trouble.
While Jane went with Emily to change clothing, Cherry asked me, "Would you want to give birth at home, at a birthing center or at a hospital"
"If I didn't have Osteogenesis Imperfecta I'd say at home or at a birthing center. But given that I have that, it would probably be better for me to deliver at a hospital. I would guess that there would be an increased chance that I'd break a bone delivering. I don't really know though."
"Would you want drugs or no drugs," was her next question.
"I'd like to be knocked out and woken when it was over. Not really! I think I'd say I'd at least want to try giving birth naturally without drugs. But also I wonder if I had an epidural if I'd know if I broke a bone. If everything is numb, how would anyone know until it wore off? But really this is all conjecture. Being that I'm less than five feet in height and only have a 10-inch pelvic frame more than likely if I have children I'll be a c-section no questions asked. The only thing I have going for me is I know I have a gynocoid pelvis. That is the best type of pelvic shape for delivering a baby."
"Ohhh. Ohhhh." we heard come from the bedroom followed by the sound of breathing.
"How do you know that."
"I have a bad back. I have seen the x-rays that show my lumbar and cervical vertebrae. To see them you also can see the pelvis. At the time I had just had a class in nursing school that talked about pelvic shape and recognized the shape mine was in comparison."
"I see. Neat."
"Girls can we change the subject here. I don't want to know in graphic detail about your innards," Matt grimaced.
"Fine Matt. In Emily's garage on the right-hand wall is where she keeps her trash bags on the second shelf. Grab two of them. On the left-hand wall you will find a crate of newspaper that she plans to recycle. Grab a stack of them. Then take the comforter that's on the floor and go to your car and make a pad in the back seat with those things. First unfolded a trash bag, then newspapers spread out and then the second trash bag and cover them with that quilt."
"Wait, why my car? Matt asked while Cherry had donned latex cleaning gloves and a roll of paper towels and proceeded to mop up the amniotic fluid from the floor.
"Cherry hold up, before you throw that away. Hold it in the light and look to see if there is any green pigmentation to the fluid."
"Huh?"
"Meconium... it's the baby's first bowel movement. If it is green tinged then the baby will have already gone in-utero and it could mean complications."
"Ewww, I didn't want to know that. I don’t see any green tint. Looks like plain old water to me.” Cherry replied still wrinkling her nose at what I’d just told her.
"Sorry. I'm practicing saying things as they are per Deaf Culture. But it’s good that it looks like water.”
"Cuz, practice some other time. I'm feeling green here."
"Oh, your car? Because you drive a tank and it can sit 5 people with room to spear. Whereas my car is piled high with stuff I have never bother to take out of it. Jane's car is new with cloth seats and Emily's is a mini-van that only sits 4 people. If we take hers we have no way home."
"Okay, my car but if the seats have to be cleaned you’re paying."
"If the seats have to be clean then something bad will have happened. But that's why you’re supposed to be making a pad in the back seat."
"Don't say that!" Cherry said as Emily and Jane returned to the living room. Jane had Emily's bag over her shoulder. Emily looked to be in the pain she was in. Her cheeks were hollowed. Her facial lines were more pronounced. Her eyes were glazed with pain. She clutched at her stomach as if willing it not to contract again long enough for her to get to the car. She was wearing jogging pants and a loose shirt.
"Guess I better get a move on." Matt said taking off out the door with his supplies.
I looked to see if anyone had on tennis shoes having forgotten that Cherry was wearing hers and saw that Jane also was wearing a pair. I knew Matt carried a pocketknife. I really didn't think Emily was that close to delivering but things could change fast and I wanted to be prepared if it did happen before we reached the center. However, I didn't voice what I was thinking. I didn't want to panic anyone when more than likely it would not happen that Emily would give birth in the back seat of Matt's car. If the unlikely did occur then the shoestrings from the tennis shoes could be used to tie off the umbilical cord.
I signed to Jane; "Matt's driving. His car can take all of us. Do you want to sit with Emily?"
"Not alone. I may have gone to the classes with her but you seem much more prepare than I am."
"Jane, I've never been to a Natural Childbirth class. What I know is only from reading on the Internet, bookstores and libraries. Because of the support group I have viewed labor and delivery pictures and video feeds but I have never been at a birth myself. This is all new to me."
"Funny that you are so unsure of yourself in learning ASL but you are in control in this situation. I'd be much more frightened at what has been happening here for the last 19 hours than at using a second language."
"Ohhhh. owww," Emily doubled up in pain but managed to breath through it as Matt returned from the car.
"Car's warmed and ready." Matt said looking at us.
"I'm sitting with you Matt. Rachel and Jane I guess will be sitting with Emily,” Cherry informed him.
I rubbed at the small of Emily's back with a tennis ball that I had stuck in my coat pocket. "I hope someone remembered to contact Sharon," I said aloud.
"Oh no," Cherry replied.
"Who is Sharon."
"The Interpreter. Otherwise Emily won't be able to communicate with Micky or the midwife."
Cherry signed to Jane what we wondered. She smiled and patted her pager then signed, "Finished. She's meeting us there."
"Thank God, " I muttered as Emily's contraction ended and she stopped swaying her hips.
"I don't think I can move. It hurts to move." Emily signed.
Matt, who is no taller than Emily, swept her into his arms and carried her to his car. There he gently sat her on the back seat. Jane got in on the opposite side from where Emily had been placed. After Emily raised up and moved over a bit I sat on the other side of her. But she quickly indicated that sitting hurt very badly. She couldn't deal with the counter pressure of the seat. The baby's head was moving downward. I signed, "lay down. Rest against Jane and swing your legs towards me." But that wasn't comfortable for her either. It increased the pressure in her back. Finally she found a position that she could handle. Matt hadn't waited for her to get comfortable. He just took off driving with Cherry giving him directions since the center was not the same place he'd taken Emily to the night he'd gone with her to class. It took 15 minutes to cut across the two suburbs of the big city that separate Emily's home from the birthing center. In that time she had four contractions that lasted at least a minute.
I'd never been so glad to get arrive some place in my life as I was when we pulled into the drive way of the old Georgian styled house with it's bricked sidewalk and burgundy shutters and smoke rising from its twin chimneys. A woman whom I decided had to be Debbie greeted us on the sidewalk as Matt helped Emily out of the car. She gave Emily a hug and patted Emily's abdomen before rushing us all inside without a word being signed or spoken. A woman sitting behind the desk when we entered smiled, as Emily was rushed back to what I assumed were the delivery suites.
"You'll be able to join Emily in a moment. Debbie wants to give her an exam first. Micky and Sharon haven't arrived yet," The receptionist said after Emily was gone.
"Thank you." Cherry answered as I signed to Jane what we'd been told.
I stood there in awe of what had transpired over the last 20 or so hours. I never thought that I would end up playing Doula for Emily at her home or even being at the birthing center with her. Not that I really cared but I sort of felt honored that she trusted me enough after what happened to ask me to participate in the birth of her child. Not that she had actually asked "will you be with me during labor or delivery." But when the time had come she had made sure that Cherry and I were with her. She'd never said, "okay you two go home." Then here we were standing in the foyer of the place where Emily's baby would enter into the world. In a few hours we would be welcoming a new life. I started to cry at the idea.
"Rachel?" Cherry asked wrapping an arm around my trembling shoulder.
"I'm okay. Just a little overwhelmed with the beauty of life."
"Oh getting mushy on me."
"Yeah, I am."
"Hey, you two the receptionist says there is a family and friends waiting area down the hall on the right and a kitchen. We can wait there. I am going to go to the McDonald's we passed just down the street and get some sandwich's do you want anything?"
We all gave him an order including Jane. She signed, "I want a six piece chicken nuggets and a hot fudge sunday."
She'd used some gesturing when she signed but I was still proud of my cousin when he said, "I think she said, she wants chicken nuggets and ice cream in a cup."
Cherry made the correction to Jane's order but he'd been so close as a woman entered the lounge area and introduced herself, "I'm Michelle Stamper. But you can call me Micky. I am Emily's Doula, at least here I am.” She qualified. "Emily is asking that you join her in the suite."
"Hi Micky. I'm Rachel."
"I'm Cherry."
Jane said using her voice, "I'm Jane."
Micky looked at Cherry and asked, "She's Deaf too right?"
"Yes, she is. She read your lips when you introduced yourself."
"Oh, okay. I wasn't sure if she heard me or what. Her voice is a little different."
"She doesn't know what she sounds like. She doesn't have a way to tell. She does really well considering that. Hasn't Emily ever spoken to you?" I asked as we walked down a darkened hallway towards the other end of the house.
"No, she has always talked to me through Sharon or by writing. By the way who was the gentleman that was leaving as I came in the room?"
"Oh that was my cousin, Matt Lewis. He's Emily's next door neighbor. He brought us here and now went for food."
"Good idea. It's going to be awhile yet. She's dilated to 7 centimeters but the contractions are really coming fast and intense now. She's having trouble coping with the pain. Debbie is getting the Jacuzzi ready. I think it will help her handle the pain better."
The whole while that Micky was speaking to me. Cherry was telling Jane in sign what she was saying since we were walking in front of she and Jane. "How much longer do you think it will be?" Jane asked voicing.
"It's now 4 PM just guessing I'd say she might be ready to push by about 9 tonight. Her contractions are intense but they are still several minutes apart and not lasting more than a minute."
Cherry signed what Micky said as we entered the birthing suite. Jane said, Thank you" soon after we entered.
I was surprised at how the room looked. It had a four post canopy bed and antique furnishings. It looked as if it was more of a bed and breakfast than a place where babies were born. On the walls around the doors and widows were baby footprints and hanging on a wall hook was a christening gown. The whole decor was warm and cozy.
"Welcome, I'm Debbie Bandito. I'm Emily's midwife. She's lounging in the Jacuzzi. She tells me that you two young ladies have been helping her all day. I'm impressed."
I wanted to laugh because Debbie was probably younger than I am. But my height always belays my age. People always have me confused with being more of a child than an adult who happens to be a dwarf. I decided I needed to stop coloring my hair so people would see the darn gray and know that I'm not as young as I seem. Then again it might be a good thing to seem younger than I am. I noticed Sharon standing in the doorway to what I presumed to be the bathroom. I had wondered how Debbie had found out about Cherry and I so quickly. "Thank you," I said to Debbie for her compliment.
"You're Rachel right?" Debbie asked as she led the three of us to the bathroom.
"Yes, I am."
"You should really consider getting a certification to become a Doula. You already know a lot more than most women do when they start apprenticeship."
"I'm thinking about it but I want to finish learning ASL first."
"I hope you do too," Micky said as we gathered around the spa that Emily was letting counter her contractions with hot swirling waters.
The Jacuzzi was much like the one at my parent’s house. It was large and could seat several people. On one side was a lounger. Emily was laying in it with the water up to her breast like I had explained to her earlier. She was again wearing a sports bra but with the swirling waters no one could tell if she was nude below the waist, not that it mattered anymore really. I was pretty sure that Debbie would want to check on Emily's progress and listen to the baby's heart tones from time to time and those things were better facilitated if the mother is not clothed. Most of her abdomen was above the water line. We could easily see a contraction as it clamped down on the baby. Emily moaned and shook her head from side to side with the pain. "Hurts!" she uttered in a raspy voice.
Emily still wore her hearing aids. I was concerned that they'd get wet with the splashes from the jets of the Jacuzzi but she has much more of a torso than I, I realized that even with her lounging the water was coming no where near her hearing aids. I saw her bag on the counter across from the Jacuzzi and found her hairbrush. I sat on the outer steps to the spa and started to brush her hair. "Who told you to do that? I mean how did you know that would help her relax?" Micky asked sitting next to Emily on a chair pouring pitchers of the warm water over her abdomen.
"I run a support group online for pregnant women. One of them said how her Doula did this and it gave her comfort. I didn't just want to sit around and do nothing. This was the only thing I could think of right now to do that might help her."
"Good thinking."
Sharon sat at the far end of the Jacuzzi so she could see Emily's signs. Cherry and Jane had taken up residence on a bench next to the counter on the opposite wall and were talking about Colin and Cherry's interest in Todd, the man she'd met at the Gala. I hadn't responded to Micky's praise yet when, Sharon said for Emily, "Please don't talk. Voices bother me right now." So we continued to sit in silence as the day turned into evening and the sun slid beyond the horizon to bring light to the other side of the world.
After sitting in the bathroom talking in sign for a half-hour Cherry and Jane left the room and went to eat the meal that Matt had brought back. I continued to sit brushing Emily's hair or massaging her temples and forehead for what seemed like hours. After a while Cherry came back and signed for me to go eat. She'd stay with Emily and Micky while I was gone.
We tended to forget that Sharon was there because Emily did not sign much. She'd seemed to draw into herself, to find the place within her mind that could deal with the pain she was in and the task her body was attempting to accomplish. The room was darkened and still. Only the flicker of aromatic candles disturbed the calm as I quietly left the room.