Daryl Dixon has faced a lot since the world changed and this has resulted in even greater change in his own life. Once a reckless and volatile man, he has now become a respected and productive member of Alexandria. Most importantly, he has become a...
1 Month Later Delilah's POV Things had been going well since we returned home. I hadn't had any more issues with the kidney infection returning, and chalked it up to dehydration and pregnancy. We had gone back to the Hilltop for a regular check up two weeks after returning. Dr. Carson was happy with my progress, and it seemed like the baby was perfectly on the track for growth now. Daryl still fussed because he thought my belly should be bigger, but Dr. Carson reminded him that the size of the outside of my belly had little to do with the size of the baby. Dr. Carson had agreed to relocate to Alexandria temporarily until after my delivery. He planned on arriving when I was 39 weeks along.
Everyone had resettled into their old routines. Work and life went on. Gavin was progressing well with his studies. My work at the infirmary was the type of routine that settles in for a primary care practice in a small town. We took care of colds, allergies, childhood illnesses, and a myriad of accidental bumps and boo boos. We also had a few patients that had chronic conditions like hypertension and type 2 diabetes. But I did also notice that we now had much less obesity than before, as most of us now led very active lifestyles and we tried harder to control portion sizes and ration food. This meant fewer of the chronic health conditions that occurred because of the rampant obesity before the turn.
I hadn't felt up to returning to the Kingdom since the incident with Carlos. King Ezekiel had paid us a visit to apologize in person for something so horrible to have happened in his community. We explained to him that none of us had seen the danger, and we didn't expect he could have anticipated it either.
Daryl had been staying closer to home as I neared the end of my pregnancy. He and Aaron would take Max with them for half day journeys occasionally, but Daryl didn't like to get far enough away that he would risk having to be away overnight.
Daryl and Roe had put their heads together along with some sketches I did for them, and they had designed a pretty good birthing chair. It looked sort of like a chair with most of the seat cut out of it. The back of the seat sloped down so when I sat in it my butt was lower than my knees, placing me in a natural squat. My thighs were still supported by the sides of the chair. The legs of the chair were tall like a bar stool to make it easier for Dr. Carson to have access. There were foot rests that attached to the legs so my feet didn't dangle in the air.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I had been including a lot of leg and squat work in my daily taekwondo practice. I wanted to be as fit as possible so I would have the stamina to make it through this labor. I was starting to notice I was experiencing the same 'trapped in my body' emotions I had felt at the end of my first pregnancy. I knew that the only safe outcome included experiencing a lot of pain, and then pushing a baby out.
Daryl was rubbing my feet as I lay on the sofa after dinner. "Ya seem a little tense tonight Doc. Ya feelin' ok?"
I nodded. "Yeah. I guess so. I guess I'm just feelin' a little apprehensive about what's comin'. I mean, I'm anxious ta finally get ta hold our little one, but I know what's comin' first and I ain't really lookin' forward to it, ya know?"
