College, Girl ? COMPLETE

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Andrea's Real Baby Story

Andrea spent the two weeks before Nate's birth reading every parenting and baby book she could get her hands on. It was like she was cramming for the biggest test of her life. She could almost recite complete chapters from Your Baby's First Year for Dummies from memory. Nate was ten days late. Her doctor had to induce her because her due date came and went. Andrea was eating peanut M&M's by the pound and gallons of vanilla frosting. In her mind she didn't doubt for one second the healing powers of peanut M&M's or their ability to bring on her labor. On the day that she went to see her doctor, she was confident she was dilated to ten and the doctor would tell her to go to the hospital immediately. She was sure of this. It was time for baby Nate to come out and meet the world.

Andrea saw the doctors face after he'd examined her and it wasn't good, "You are only dilated a half a centimeter."

Andrea was incredulous, "Really? That just can't be true. All the walking, the M&M's, and the vanilla frosting, you mean it hasn't helped?"

The doctor laughed at her as he said, "Well, the walking should help. I am not so sure about the M&M's and the vanilla frosting though."

"I really didn't think we'd be here," she said in a small voice.

"To be honest, I didn't think so either," he replied.

This wasn't in her game plan. At this point she should have delivered Nate and be at least two weeks into her maternity leave. "Now what?" she asked her doctor.

The doctor was all business as he said to her, "If you don't go into labor. I want you to go to the hospital on Wednesday evening to be induced."

Andrea loved her doctor but at that moment she didn't like him so much. He shattered her dreams of a long labor at home with a quick delivery at the hospital. The induction option was her worst nightmare. In her head, she was going to labor at home for as long as possible. Then go to the hospital, get her epidural and then slam-bam thank-you ma'am — here's your baby. Nate would be healthy and beautiful. She would suffer from minimal tearing and come out with her vagina intact. They'd put him on her belly. She'd look into his eyes and cry. Andrea would be overwhelmed with joy and happiness. She would be in and out in of the hospital two days tops and that would be that. End of her baby story.

Andrea's real baby story was markedly different than the fantasy delivery she'd concocted in her head. They arrived at the hospital at eight o'clock in the evening. The maternity floor was so quiet. It was eerie like in a horror movie right before the killer was going to pop up and make you scream. The on call doctor breezed into her room riding on a cloud of anger. She introduced herself and gave Andrea the limp, half hand shake. In Andrea's experience this was always a bad sign the limp half hand shake was the sign of weak character or at least a sign that the person you were dealing with wasn't going to be pleasant.

Ms. Doctor Feel Bad started the conversation out on a high note, "Well, I see from your birthing plan that you don't want Pitocin."

Andrea tried to stay calm as she said, "Um, well I don't really have a birthing plan per se, I wrote a letter to the labor and delivery staff just outlying what I'd like to have happen."

"I am just here to tell you that in most cases if you are induced you will also need Pitocin," she said as she talked into the chart not making eye contact with Andrea but letting her irritation with her birthing request seep through her every pore.

"Okay, it was more of a guideline than a plan," Andrea was really hoping that this wasn't going to be the doctor to deliver Nate.

"We can't always control every aspect of our labor and delivery," as she said this she glared into Andrea's eyes.