“Would you like a wheelchair? Or do you want to walk over?” asked Dr. Misti-Cooper.
“I’ll walk,” Kat told her. “It’ll help progress labor, right?”
The doctor nodded and helped her sit up on the exam table. “How are you feeling?”
“Nervous. Excited. Happy. Relieved.” Kat listed off just some of the emotions going through her. A contraction hit, stronger than the ones before. “Oooo- and ouchie.”
The doctor waited patiently, timing her contraction. “Looks good. How about you, Dad?”
AJ grinned. “Excited and nervous.”
“What? No ouchie on your end?” Kat teased him. “I thought we were in this together.”
AJ laughed and took her hand. “Squeeze as hard as you need to. I’m with you all the way.”
The walk over to the labor and delivery floor was short and easy.
“Name?” asked the nurse at the front desk. “And are you pre-registered?”
“Yes, and the name is Kat Ryder.” Kat had to pause for a moment as another contraction hit.
“Okay.” The nurse typed something into the computer. “We have a room all ready for you. Are you the father?”
AJ nodded.
“We need you to sign into the visitor’s log,” the nurse told him, pushing a clipboard across the counter.
AJ only let go of Kat’s hand long enough to scribble his name on the paper.
“Excellent, Mr. Jacobson,” the nurse said, handing him a badge. “If you’ll follow me, we’ll take you to your private suite.”
“Private suite?” Kat asked as the nurse came around the desk and motioned them to follow her down the hall.
“I might have called ahead and had something special set up,” AJ replied nonchalantly.
Kat was about to reply when another contraction hit and she had to stop in her tracks and focus on breathing.
Long breath out, she thought to herself. Imagine a flower bud opening up. This is your body opening and preparing. You can do this.
The contraction didn’t stop. It was her longest and strongest one yet, but Kat was able to tolerate it.
You know, if this is as bad as it gets, I can totally do this without meds. I am woman, hear me roar!
The room was the same as the one she had been in before, but AJ had definitely called ahead. In addition to the regular hospital bed, there were candles, soft music, and the plastic couch had been replaced with one that actually looked comfortable enough to sleep on.
“Wow,” Kat said, walking into the room. It smelled like lavender with just a hint of roses. She grinned at AJ. “You didn’t want to sleep on that fantastic couch again?”
“Maybe next time,” AJ replied.
Kat went over to look at one of the candles and found they were actually fake. A little light bulb was inside flickering instead of a flame. She was actually glad. The last thing she wanted to worry about today was knocking over a candle and setting the hospital on fire.
“A nurse will be in shortly to start your IV. Can I bring you anything?” the nurse asked.
“We’re good for now,” Kat replied. If she needed anything, it looked like AJ had already provided it.
“Okay. Congratulations,” the nurse said with a smile before closing the door on her way out.
Another contraction hit and Kat gripped the side of the bed and tried to think of the flower bud opening up to allow her child into the world. It wasn’t working quite as well as it had been earlier.
The contraction finished just as a new nurse came into the room with the IV supplies. She quickly started the IV and kept the conversation light as she asked all the hospital questions and recorded Kat’s information.
“And AJ, I assume that you are the father?” the nurse asked, checking with AJ. AJ nodded. “And just for the records, are you two married?”
“Just engaged,” Kat told her.
“She wanted to wait until after the baby was born,” AJ said to the nurse. “She wants to look beautiful in the pictures, but I told her that she looked stunning now.”
Kat rolled her eyes. It had been a conversation they’d had numerous times. AJ wanted to get married before the baby, but Kat wanted to wait. She’d always dreamed of the perfect white dress and having champagne at the reception.
“I want to fit the dress,” Kat said. “That, and with how this pregnancy has been, I didn’t want to puke half-way down the aisle either.”
AJ patted her hand. He’s been amazing the whole pregnancy. He held her hair back on the many, many trips to the bathroom. He made sure that even the tiniest food craving was immediately seen to, even though they rarely stayed down. He rubbed Kat’s swollen feet at night and massaged her aching back every morning. Kat couldn’t even count the number of pregnancy pillows he’d purchased her to try and find a comfortable position to sleep in at night. It was a good thing he was a billionaire, because it had been a lot of pillows.