Love In A Mug

Chapter 25

Naruto awakens from sleeping soundly to pain. It wasn't the first time he'd been forced awake due to the baby's restlessness or his body dealing with a ligament strain stretching to accommodate the growth spurt from the baby.

The past few days he's been having contractions on and off, usually nothing more than minor twinges here and there not lasting too long, but sometimes they were enough to stop him dead in his tracks, especially whenever they would come and stay on for a good full minute. But this particular pain that's forced him from sleep he hasn't experienced before. After catching his breath he felt abnormally uncomfortable. The fact that he was still pregnant after ten months has made him exceptionally cranky and tired. Ever since the baby was developed enough and discovered the ability to move around it seems that's all she does and he's only been able to sleep in introverts for three or four hours at the most before waking up to her jabbing him in his organs or his spine trying to move around in her cramped space.

His hands moved to his belly. When inhaling he took a moment to analyze his body noting that he could breathe easier than yesterday.  It felt different and he realized that it was sitting lower than normal. The doctor told him that when the baby drops, he may not visibly notice the typical changes that are seen in women due to his small physique, narrow hips, and the fact that the baby was already over eight pounds consuming the space in his front, he would just notice that he could breath better.

He moved his legs attempting to push himself up against the headboard. The pressure was enormous between his hips his daughter was there lodged inside his pelvis. He struggled to lift himself into a somewhat sitting position. He wasn't able to fully sit so he leaned against the mountain of pillows that he needed to sleep decently throughout the night.

Perhaps today would be the day he thought. At his exam two days ago with both doctors, there was no sign of labor. He hadn't lost his mucus plug yet meaning he needed to 'sit tight'. "Although the baby is not arriving quite yet," she mentioned, "losing the mucus plug lets you know that they'll be coming soon."

"When the hell is soon?" Naruto had responded not meaning to sound curt but the baby was supposed to have been born nine days ago. He was done with their daughter overstaying her time inside him. He was beyond miserable, and exhausted, and he aches everywhere. The Addison and pregnancy were making him extremely fatigued and he was nauseous all the time now. Both physicians had contemplated doing a c-section but they decided that there were too many factors against him because of the effects of the disease, afraid his body wouldn't be able to tolerate the anesthesia or even the medication in the epidural so since the baby's heartbeat was on point and the ultrasound looked normal they felt it best for him to try to deliver naturally if possible. They did say that if he didn't show signs of labor by the end of the week they would have no choice but to perform a cesarean section. "I'm not going to hide the fact that the baby is big and she is heavy." Dr. Kavid's candidacy echoed in his mind the doctor's way of preparedness for a
not-so-easy delivery. It was the cervix's dilation process that seemed to be one of their greatest concerns. The opening for it was right underneath his nether regions. With the start of dilation and the pressure from the baby's descent into the pelvis, they told him could cause sensations of pleasure and pain all at the same time. In other words, he needed to be psychologically prepared to be a hot mess until she was out.

Naruto ran his hands over the swell. He could hear the grandfather clock in the living room chime 10:30. His father would be here around noon to hang out with him. Since having gone over his due date Itachi has someone staying with him on days he's not home. Normally Naruto would protest and put up a fuss but the company was a good distraction from his misery.

They had moved to sleep in the room downstairs because he couldn't manage the stairs anymore let alone walk very far on his own. 'Is this what Kei had to endure?', he wondered feeling around his stomach.