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Chapter Forty Eight

"This is all you brought?"

"Well, I didn't think we'd have a lot of room. Seriously, all I need is my clothes and computer."

Mason had brought the truck down. Kevin had followed in his car. Mason only about about fifteen boxes.

Mom, dad, Joe and Ally had helped me move my room around. My full size bed was gone; a King size bed was in its place. One whole corner of my room was now setup as a nursery with the crib and rocking chair. The changing table was in the bathroom across the hall.

"It's like the world's smallest studio apartment," dad had said when everything was rearranged.

The hardest part for me had been making closet space. I hated to throw anything away.

It was May 20. My due date was right around the corner. Mason grabbed a couple boxes.

"Can I help?"

"No." The 'no' came from dad, Mason, and Kevin.

Joe poked his head out of the trunk. He smirked. The next thing I knew, I was holding a pillow.

"You can carry this."

I stuck out my tongue and we all made our way upstairs. Mason glanced over at the crib and smiled.

That's pretty.

I smiled. "It is. And it turns into a toddler bed."

"Which, if she's anything like Shelby, she'll never want to sleep in a toddler bed. We went from crib to big girl bed with no stop iin between," mom said.

Kevin, Mason, and dad went downstairs to bring another load up. I sat on the edge of my bed.

It seemed like moving day would never get here. And now it had. I had woken up this morning with my stomach in knots. This was a big deal. I was nervous and excited all at the same time.

"You okay?" Mom asked.

I looked up. My hands were on my belly and I was staring around. I probably looked a little dazed.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're pale."

I smiled. "No, I'm okay."

We both heard a loud crash from downstairs, Joe shouting, and one of the twins laughing. Mom groaned.

"I better go check."

She headed downstairs. I took a deep breath. My stomach tightened up again. This time it hurt a lot more than the ones I had in the morning. I held my breath unti the pain stopped.

I slowly got up. I pressed my hand against my back. My organs felt like they were being crushed even though the baby had dropped down.

Mason came back in the room with another box. Kevin was right behind him.

"What was that noise?" I asked.

"Tristan found my basketball," Mason explained. "Your dad's going ballistic over a broken lamp."

"Was it the leg lamp?"

"Yup."

Dad was a big fan of the movie A Christmas Story. While we were walking around a flea market about six years ago, dad had found a replica of the leg lamp, oogled it, but didn't buy it. Mom had gone back later that night and bought it and given it to him for his birthday as a surprise.

And now, just like in the movie, it was gone.

Kevin and Mason went back downstairs for another load. I awkwardly squatted down and began to work on opening a box.

That was a big mistake. As soon as I squatted, another stomach pain hit me. It was like the mother of all cramps.

I screamed.

Mason was the first one up the stairs.

"What's wrong?"

I couldn't answer. I hurt and I could't talk. For once in my life, I was rendered speechless. I inhaled and puffed out a big exhale. After a couple beats, the pain subsided.

That's when I realized that these weren't cramps or knots. These were contractions.

"I'm in labor," I said. It was funny, but I actually sounded calm.

Mason's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. They're getting stronger."

Mom was the next one through the door. Joe was right behind her. Mason heped me stand back up.

"What's going on?"

"Contractions," Mason said.

"I thought so."

"HEY! SHELBY'S GONNA POP UP HERE!" Joe shouted down the stairs.

That started a crazy chain of events. Dad was running around trying to find his car keys and still holding half the leg lamp as he ran down the upstairs hall. Kevin quickly got the rest of the boxes unloaded. Mom picked up my suitcase and it popped open. She was crouched down trying to repack it. Mason was just chanting 'Oh my god, Oh my god' over and over again and Joe and the twins were screaming at the top of their lungs. As it turned out, it was Ally who came over and took my hand.

"You can squeeze if you need to. I've got tough fingers," she said with a smile.

Here she was, eleven years old, and she was the only sane one. I buckled over as another contraction hit.

I started to cry.

-----------------------------

"Mom got the first flight she could," Mason told me. He had gotten over his 'Oh my god' panic and was sitting by my bed watching the monitor for the start of the contractions.

I had half hoped that I had just been experiencing false contractions. but no such luck. My water hadn't broken yet (I wasn't looking forward to that), but the contractions just kept getting worse.

Kevin and dad were out in the hallway. Grandma was headed to the house to watch Ally, Joe and the little goobers. Until she got there, Ally was in charge.

I have never seen Ally get mad, but when dad told her she couldn't come, she had pitched a royal bitch fit. Her face had turned beet red and she had yanked the broken leg piece out of dad's hand and thrown it against the wall.

I guess she had a little bit of pissed off McLean in her after all.

"Ice chip?" mom asked. She came back in the room holding the ice bucket. I nodded.

I took a piece just as another wave of pain hit. The ice shattered into a million icy bits in my mouth.

------------------------

"We're going to break your water for you," Dr. Tresher said. "That will hurry things up a bit. Then we'll get that epidural started and maybe we'll have a baby by midnight."

I decided that the baby hated me. It was getting all distracted by causing me pain instead of doing its job and coming out. It had been hours since I had gotten to the hospital. Kristin had arrived about an hour ago.

The whole water breakage thing wasn't as bad as I had thought it was going to be. It was just a woosh and then it was kind of all over.

"I'll be checking up on you more often now. If the contractions start getting unbearable, ring me earlier."

Dr. Tresher left. The dads and Kristin filed back in the room. Mason and mom hadn't moved at all from my side.

I waited for the unbearable pain.

------------------

Two hours later I was still feeling pretty much the same. I wasn't dialating fast.

I was just stuck.

"We're going to start a line of pitocin to speed things along. If we're luck we'll have a baby by morning."

When I had first come in, Dr. Tresher had said by dinner. Then she had said by midnight.

Now it was morning.

They started a line. In my miserable way of thinking I was pretty sure even that wasn't going to work.

An hour later I was eating those words.

"GET HER," I growled as the pain hit me so fast again that I could barely think straight.

Mason scampered out and returned with Dr. Tresher. She checked me, got the epidural guy, and things actually started to happen.

I freaked out.

"Your heart rate is rising, Shel," Dr. Tresher said. "Try to calm down."

That was easy for her to say. She hadn't felt like she was being trampled on my rhinos. That had gone away (mostly) with the epidural, but now I felt like I had been in a serious accident and had lost half of my body in the process.

It was almost midnight. We had gotten to the hospital a little after eleven.

I was going on thirteen hours of hell.

At exactly midnight, Dr. Tresher came and checked in on me again.

"You're ready to push!" she announced.

I hadn't taken any classes. I had barely read through any of the books mom had given me.

I had no clue what to do.

Dad and Kevin were keeping a respectable distance in the corner, even though dad was looking extremely antsy. Kristin and mom had come to perch by my head. Mason was still clinging to my hand.

"Inhale deeply, hold it, and bare down," Dr. Tresher instructed.

I didn't know exactly what I was baring down. I decided it would have just been easier if baby's could print directions off Mapquest.

After about twenty minutes, I began to feel intense pressure. Now I realized what the bare down meant. My grip tightened on Mason's hand.

"There you go," Dr. Tresher said encouragingly.

I don't mean to brag, but after only ten minutes, Dr. Tresher said something I'd been really excited to hear.

"The head's out."

A head! I had a floating head!

"Mason, come down here."

Mason glanced at me and I nodded. My hand was immediately picked up by Kristin. Mom had abandoned me to go see too.

I was glad I was putting on a good show.

"She's got red hair!" Mason said. He sounded happy about that.

There went my vision of a little blonde.

"Okay just one teeny push Shel and we'll do the rest."

I did as I was told.

"Mason, you get to catch."

There was a lot of noise and a squeal (from mom) and then a gasp (from Mason) and then a shrill cry.

From a baby. A red haired, red bodied, little flailing baby that Mason was holding and looking at in awe.

It was a great result after fourteen hours of hard work.

And funny enough, I wasn't the least bit tired.

Our baby girl had finally entered the world.