Lost & Found

Chapter 22

An assistant midwife counted to ten as Savana pushed, then dropped her head onto the pillows for the ten seconds of breathing. 

"You're doing really well, baby." 

"Yeah, Savana, you've got this!" 

"C'mon, Sav! Only a couple more pushes!"

As the assistant finished her breathing count, Savana tilted her head up, starting to push, "Could you please shut the fuck up!" She shouted as she pushed for ten seconds. She was starting to sweat from the amount of effort, trying to get the baby out. Michael thought she was still the prettiest person he'd ever seen, even stronger now that he's watching her push out a whole human. 

Michael glanced over at Sierra and Lindsay, all smiling at one another. They all figured she got it, at least on the encouragement front. They were there for physical support more than anything. 

The assistant got to ten, and Savana leaned her head back onto the pillow once more. She was panting, keeping her eyes closed, focusing on the air filling her lungs before she had to push again. She wasn't necessarily in pain, but the pressure was immense. She knew what was going on, and she knew it'd be worth it, but she did not want to be there. 

"Savana, I'm gonna have you push one more time, then we'll give you a minute of rest. We don't want you passing out on us, alright?" The midwife tried to joke. Savana was tuning everything out, focusing solely on the task at hand. 

The ten seconds of pushing finally ended, letting her lay back once more. She was panting, staring up at the ceiling, tears running down her cheeks. 

Michael leaned down, kissing her cheek, "You're so strong, baby. You can do this, alri-" 

Savana turned her head to him, "I love you," She made sure he nodded in acknowledgement before continuing, "But I really need you to be quiet."  

He smiled and nodded again, "Sure thing, doll face." 

After a minute, Savana caught her breath and the midwife wanted to continue, reminding her of the ten-second incremental pushing and breathing. She nodded, gritting her teeth and waiting until the count of three to push, like he directed. 

"Okay, Savana, I'm gonna have you stop pushing for a bit, alright? The baby's crowning, and it'll be easier to just relax as much as possible right now. Resist the urge to push as much as possible, okay?" 

She nodded, relaxing while wincing. Lindsay and Michael felt her grip tighten as she went from a growl to a scream. They knew this was the part that was going to hurt the worst, despite the epidural. 

An assistant walked over with a mirror, "Do you want to see this part as it progresses?" She seemed excited for it, almost assured she'd say yes. A lot of women do. 

Savana's eyes shot open and she looked at the assistant angrily, "Absolutely not! No! I don't want a mirror anywhere near me!" She was shouting at her, but the assistant took it all in stride. 

Lindsay looked back at her as she whined and dug her nails into Michael's hand, "Are you sure? You won't get to-" 

"I don't give a fuck! I don't want to see anything my body is capable of because it's disgusting and I hate even thinking about it!" She was shouting still, "Now shut it!" She punctuated her sentence with a scream. 

Lindsay looked back at Sierra, kind of nervous. Sierra shook her head, "She's.. preoccupied. I'm sure she'll apologize later, but she is in pain." Lindsay nodded towards her. 

Luckily for her, it only took two or three minutes for the baby to fully crown, but she screamed the entire time. Once it was over, the midwife said, "Alright, Savana, one more push and you'll get to see your baby." 

Savana looked at the midwife, just as pissed as before, "I swear to god if you put it on my bare chest without cleaning it first, I will kill you." Her hair was clinging to her forehead and she started at him with her head slightly lowered. It wasn't that she was angry, she was more annoyed that everyone was talking to her while she tried to focus. 

"Alrighty, will do." He nodded, "Last push, c'mon, as hard as you can!" 

Lindsay and Michael winced at the feeling of nails digging into their hands. She screamed one final time, then went quiet. Her head landed back onto the pillows, panting as she finally gave birth. 

Her screaming was replaced by that of a newborn's. She was whisked away quickly to get cleaned up, measured, and weighed before being placed onto Savana's chest. The entire time the baby was being touched, poked, and prodded by the midwife and his assistants, she cried and screamed. 

Savana kept her eyes closed, but she wiggled her hand out of Michael's, "Go- Go see her. What does she look like?" 

"Okay, baby." He kissed her and walked over to the weighing station where she laid in the little tub, then started tearing up. He watched her for a while as the midwife tended to delivering the afterbirth, which hurt almost as bad as the birth of the baby. The feeling made Savana gag. 

Lindsay and Sierra were smiling and praising Savana while Michael watched the baby with a massive smile on his face, "You did awesome!" Sierra shook her shoulder a bit. 

"Yeah! And she's absolutely precious, too!" Lindsay glanced over at the assistants as they continued to prepare her for the outside world finally. She was interrupted by Savana gripping her hand. 

Savana was looking up at her, "I am so sorry for screaming at you." She smiled, barely laughing. 

"Oh, don't be! You were bringing someone into the world! I can give you a pass this once." 

"And I'm sorry for telling all three of you to shut up. I was trying really hard to focus and I didn't want to hear any voices so I-" 

Sierra shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Stop apologizing. Little miss over there is apology enough." 

"Alright, mom, you ready to hold your baby?" The midwife walked over, holding the wiggling baby in his arms. 

Savana nodded, smiling bright despite how gross she felt. She held her arms out and her baby was placed in her arms, and she stopped crying almost immediately. "Little princess." She whispered before kissing her forehead and laying back down, still watching her. 

Michael leaned down next to her and kissed her. Once they pulled away, their foreheads rested against one another, "I love you so much." 

"I love you, too." Her smile was contagious. 

Sierra and Lindsay spent their time on their phones: Lindsay was calling Niall and Liam, telling them to get Elise down there while Sierra was on a video call with Savana's dad, who was crying on the other end. 

After a near sixteen hours of labor, Savana felt that all was right and complete in the world. She had her first daughter on her way to the hospital, her second daughter in her arms, and the love of her life just beside her. Everything was going to be fantastic.