March 14th 2022
- Taylor -
"It's okay, my love, you're doing so well," Karlie breathes through the pain, but I can tell how much this must hurt just from the expression on her face. "Has it passed?" I rub her back as I sit behind her, and she catches her breath as she nods.
"Sorry," she sighs as I stand back up to finish braiding her hair. It's been annoying her and it's the one thing I can do to make this better, but whenever she gets a contraction it irritates her, so I keep having to stop before I can finish the last braid. "You have nothing to apologise for, Karls, you're bringing our daughters into the world - I'd redo the same braid a hundred times if it makes your task any easier."
We got to the hospital about an hour ago, and Karlie is already in far more pain than she was to start off with. Dr King is on her way, so until she gets here - the nurses have been keeping an eye on her and I've been trying to help as much as I can.
"Sel is with the girls, they're all sending love," I check my phone as it pings with the message from Selena, and Karlie lays back against the pillows as she smiles weakly back at me. I hate seeing her in so much pain, and I'd do anything to take it away.
"Ladies, I hear your rainbows decided they're making an early appearance," Dr King comes into the room soon after, a warm smile on her face even despite the ungodly hour we've dragged her here. "They heard it was their siblings' gotcha day and decided they couldn't miss out," Karlie laughs uncomfortably as she breathes heavily again, her contractions just seem to be getting closer and closer.
"Gotcha day?" Dr King looks between us as she comes to Karlie's side and I rub the model's back as I nod, "we adopted our older three a year ago, so it's just a cute name for the anniversary." She nods as she checks Karlie's chart and then looks up to us, "how far apart are the contractions now?" I shake my head as I frown, "five minutes at the most?" Dr King nods as she looks to Karlie, the model lying on her side as she clutches the bed rail like her life depends on if, still trying to breathe through the pain.
She waits until it's over to talk to the model, Karlie already looks exhausted - especially since she didn't sleep well last night and she didn't really get any sleep before we had to come in. "Karlie, do I have your consent to check your cervix?" She seems concerned and that makes me nervous, "yeah," she sighs as she tries to move back onto her back, "it's okay, my love, I've got you," I help her move, kissing her forehead when she's comfortably on her back.
Dr King explains everything as she does it, and I sit by my wife's side and hold her hand tight. "And you've only been having contractions for the last couple of hours?" Karlie frowns as she shakes her head, "I think I've been having them all day, but they weren't regular until a couple of hours ago and then my water broke." The doctor nods as she moves away again and covers her back up.
"Karlie, I know you wanted the c-section, but I can already feel your daughter's head," she gives us a calm smile, but Karlie panics almost immediately. "This wasn't the plan, I can't do this!" Dr King takes her other hand as she tries to comfort her, "sweetheart, I have known you for nearly a year now and you have been so incredibly strong every step of this journey. I know you're strong enough to do this, and I know that because you want to keep your baby girls as safe as you can, am I right?" Karlie nods as she sniffs, exhausted and trying not to cry, "then I need you to hear me when I tell you that your labour is progressing very quickly. You're fully dilated and on the next contraction, you're going to want to push. Delaying that to set up the theatre and prep you for surgery would pose a huge risk to your daughters."
Karlie bursts into tears, but nods as she squeezes my hand, "okay." It's obvious that she's terrified, but Dr King is right, she's strong enough to do this. She's incredible and I have every faith in her.
