Beautiful Mistake

xlix

Eight Weeks Later

"How far apart are the contractions? How far?!" Beth yells as Collin speeds through traffic.

"Yelling isn't helping!" The tightening feeling in my abdomen grows every time they hit me. I thought the Braxton Hicks were bad but the real thing is a thousand times worse. I try to stifle a groan as my stomach tightens even more, "They're five minutes apart Beth!"

"They're five to seven minutes, yes, how long do they last Care?" I breathe in and out as the feeling finally passes.

"They last thirty seconds," I say, gripping onto the handle above my head.

"Thirty seconds? She says you're in early labor, Collin! STEP ON IT!"

Earlier tonight, Collin, Beth and I were at a restaurant. Before we could even order I wet myself all over their extremely nice dining chair. In pregnancy terms, my water broke on their chair.

"I am hurrying! I can't help the fucking traffic, Beth!" I can see the stress in Collin's face as he honks the car horn at the car in front of us. I feel horrible for putting him through all of this. The five minutes is up and the contractions start up again, "Hospital is the next exit."

I hold onto my stomach and take deep breaths, "Breathe through it Care, breathe through the pain. Dr. Harrison? We're like three minutes away," Beth continues talking to my doctor and hangs up seconds later, "She's sending nurses outside to meet with us."

I nod as the feeling passes once again. Collin gets off the freeway and we pull up to the hospital in mere minutes. I'm not gonna fabricate, I think he broke a couple traffic laws.

"Hi, Caroline Folsen?" One of the nurses helps me out of the car and into a wheelchair.

"Yeah," Beth says, "I'm her soon to be sister in law and I was on the phone with the doctor, is it okay if I go into the room with her?"

The nurse gives her the 'unfortunately' smile as she wheels me into the front doors of the hospital, "Immediate family only, hospital policy, but if you can, it would be great if you could sign her in. We have to get Caroline situated for the delivery."

"Hi, before my next contraction comes and I won't be able to talk, I'd like to request some epidural. I'm not trying to sit through this pain any longer." The nurse nods as she leads me into the elevator.

"Of course, I'll page the anesthesiologist as soon as we have you situated in your room," I sigh in content but then my stomach tightens again. Beth's voice is still in my head, telling me to take deep breaths and breathe through the pain. She's for sure helped me so much, throughout the pregnancy, and defending me against her mother. She's a real saint, "Here is your room, change into the gown and lay down on the bed. The anesthesiologist will be here shortly."

I wait until my contractions are finished and do as told. The gown doesn't cover my butt and I feel a slight draft. I laugh to myself as I get onto the bed and lay down which gives my back a relieving sensation.

A knock sounds at my door and a woman in a white coat comes in with a tray in her hand. She sets it down next to the bed and pulls up a chair.

"Can you lay on your side, please? I have to inject the epidural into your spinal cord." I turn on my side and she unties the back of my gown, "Are you ready?" She asks before I feel a needle being inserted into my back.

-

My hand grips tightly onto Collin's hand, "One more push Caroline!" I take a deep breath and push with everything ounce of strength I have left.

"It's a boy!" I hear someone say excitedly.

"It's a boy?" I cry, "My babies are boys?" I blink back my tears and look at Collin who's face is white as a ghost.

"I have to cut the cord," Collin says, taking the scissors from the nurse. The umbilical cord is clamped and then they direct Collin on where to cut the cord.

"You're not done yet, you have one more baby to go," The knowledge of my babies being boys gives me an ounce of energy. Enough for me to push this baby out in minutes.

"Someone help me out here! The baby isn't breathing," My heart drops and I sit up further from my position.

"What? What did she just say?" I grab the nearest nurse and pull her towards me, "Why isn't my baby breathing?"

"Ma'am, we need you to calm down, she needs to focus so she can resuscitate the baby."

I feel a panic attack coming on and Collin lets go of my hand just to grab my face.

"Caroline, you need to calm down. Just calm down please," I feel the hot tears streaming down my face as the pressure throughout my body continues, "The baby is gonna be fine okay? He's gonna be fine."

"We got a heartbeat! The baby is okay," I feel my heart ease, my baby is okay. He's okay.

"See? What did I tell you? He's fine Care," He kisses me gracefully as we are both handed one of our babies, "Which baby do you think is Nicholas?" He asks me, showing me the face of our newborn son.

"I think this one does," I look down at the baby and Collin nods in agreement, "What do you think of Nicholas James?"

"What do you think of Alexander Ian?" I smile and lean my head back on the bed.

"Holy crap, we're parents," I laugh, wiping my tears away, "They're real and beautiful."

"Very beautiful," Collin agrees, his amazing features make me appreciate what I have.

I now have two boys, a fiance, a place of my own, a car of my own, soon to be a job of my own. I graduate high school in three months and I made so many friends along the way.

"Ma'am we need to take the babies so they can be fully examined. We're gonna move you downstairs so whoever you'd like to visit, can." I nod and hand her Nicholas. Collin gives another nurse Alexander and he takes my hand.

My stomach growls and I groan, "I'm starving," My doctor walks back into the room and has a bright smile on her face.

"Congrats on the twins! You have to get cleaned up before we take you anywhere though. So Collin, if you'd come with me, I'll show you where the babies are so Caroline can clean up in peace." I give her a small smile as she leads him out of the room.

"So for the next five to twenty minutes, I need you to deliver the placenta of your babies," I nod, "I'm gonna pull on the cords and I'll tell you when to push alright?"

"Now push," She says, obviously concentrating on getting this thing out. I push like she's instructed and she smiles happily when she's finished, "Congratulations, you have finally reached the end of the birthing process."

I feel relief wash over me. Food, water, and sleep are what I'm really excited for. They've deprived me of food for the last sixteen hours. It's twelve in the afternoon on March 21st and I'm extremely exhausted. The most exhausted I've ever been in my entire life.