ROSES (Oli Sykes Fan Fiction) COMPLETE

ARRIVAL | DEPARTURE

The last few weeks before Ivy's big arrival went by quickly. Cass and I set up the baby seat in her car, the cot, the pram... looking at my bedroom and all of the things in there for her was a little overwhelming, but exciting at the same time. I can't deny how anxious I was about how much my life was going to change, and even more so for the birth... I wanted to do it naturally, but I was absolutely terrified of how much it was going to hurt and what it was going to do to my body...

June 16th started off as a regular day. I was still a week away from my due date and watching a movie on Netflix while I was home alone. Cassidy had just gone to work and was due home at 8pm. She'd moved her shifts forward so that she'd always be home before it got dark and she checked in on every single one of her breaks. She didn't want to leave me home alone at all, but I assured her I was fine so she just kept her phone in her pocket at all times; set up to only ring if it was me calling. She, as always, had it all planned out perfectly. We even already had Ivy's car seat installed in her car.

I was laughing hard at some stupid line in a comedy I was watching on Netflix when I started getting dull aches and discomfort in my lower back that I couldn't shift... I thought maybe it was from laughing so hard, or maybe I'd just been sitting on the couch too long, but when the dull ache started to feel more like period pain, I became more concerned. I guess you could call it 'a Mother's intuition'. I clutched at my stomach but the pain only lasted about half a minute and that's when I wondered if it was a contraction. Was this happening? Was I going into labour? It was still meant to be another week away! I pushed myself up off the couch to grab the book I'd received from the hospital about childbirth and as I read through the 'first stages of labour' section, it confirmed everything. Ivy was coming.

I immediately called Cassidy and she answered with a concerned tone. "Cass, I think Ivy's coming." I said calmly down the line. I don't know how I was that calm, but I didn't feel worried at all. "Oh my God!" she squealed. I could hear her excitement and fear at the same time and she said she was coming home right away. "Have you called an ambulance?!" she asked with concern. I hadn't. "No, the book says I need to time the contractions and I don't need to go until it's 5 minutes between them. I've only had one so I'm going to call the midwife and ask once you hang up." I said.
"Ok, Ok, call them now. I'm 15 minutes away!" she said with a little squeal.
"Cassidy, don't drive like a maniac!" I pleaded. She laughed. Seriously though, when she thought something was urgent, she drove like an absolute mad woman. 

I called the help line provided in the book so I could speak to a midwife and right as I reached her, another intense cramp-like pain came over me. I swore and apologised, and she told me not to worry. She asked me a lot of questions and confirmed that I was indeed in labour and that I needed to go to the hospital when my contractions got down to 5 minutes apart. God, I hoped it wouldn't take forever... the pain was pretty bad when it hit and I'd heard stories of women being in labour; having these contractions for days. I couldn't even imagine having this type of pain over and over for that long!

Cassidy arrived home just after 1pm and immediately ran to me. I was just sitting there on the couch with the movie still on and she looked at me like she expected me to be doing something different, something dramatic. "This is so not what going into labour looks like in the movies!!!" she stated. I just laughed. She was right, there was no dramatic breaking of waters or suddenly being in the late stages of labour, it was slow and drawn out and completely non-dramatic, though Cassidy did look incredibly concerned when the next round of pain hit me and I doubled-over and swore like a sailor. She fetched my hospital bag that we'd pre-packed for the big day then just sat with me to time everything. 

As time went on, the contractions became closer together and at 5pm, Cassidy called it – it was  time to go to the hospital. I was anxious and apprehensive knowing the next time I was home, I would have a baby... I would be responsible for the tiny person in my arms. It was the most overwhelming and consuming thought, broken only by the pain that was hitting me, now right on every 5 minutes.