Safety Net

20

Jo nearly had an anxiety attack on the way there. She was extremely nervous and scared. What if she couldn't do this? The fact that she was only thirty-two weeks never crossed her mind. And thank god it didn't. As for the contractions; every time one hit, she would go silent, only taking deep breaths (which Alex reminded her to do every time).

They walked into the ER, over to the nurses desk. "Can we get a room? My girlfriend is in labor." Alex said, tapping his fingers on the desk impatiently.

Jo opened her mouth to question him on the girlfriend thing, interrupted by a contraction. She looked down at yet another pair of her pants, soaked. "Damn..." She grabbed Alex's hand, holding it tight as they were escorted to their room.

She changed into a gown before the nurses hooked her up to the wires and IV. She laid in bed, on a pad for the amniotic fluid. She held Alex hand through every contraction. She was so thankful to have him here with her. At one point she thought she would had the baby in the bathroom of Paul's place.

Another nurse walked in. It seemed like there was a never ending loop of doctors and nurses coming in and out of the room. "I'm just going to find the baby's heartbeat and then i'll be out of your hair for a while." She smiled, strapping the mechanism on Jo. She furrowed her eyebrows, not being able to find a beat.

"Where is it?" Alex asked, his own heartbeat fastening. The last thing he wanted was to lose this baby.

Jo looked at the nurse as she tried finding the heartbeat. She bit her lip, trying to control her breathing.

The room filled with the sound of a baby's heartbeat, making them all sigh in relief. "Oh thank god." He said, leaning back.

Arizona came in and told them Jo was eight centimetres dilated, moving along quickly. They planned to have a few extra people in the room, incase of any unplanned issues.

A few hours had passed. Jo had used the peanut: a yoga ball in the shape of a peanut you put between your legs to help move along the labor. That helped a lot. She was now at nine centimetres. The nurses started getting the newborn stuff ready.

Alex smiled as he looked at the bed "They're going to be laying in that soon.." He looked down at Jo, smiling wider as he saw hers.

Arizona walked in, snapping a pair of gloves on "How you doing, momma?" She cheerfully chirped as she started to check her cervix "Ten centimetres. Are you ready?"

She shook her head as tears filled her eyes, which caught Alex's attention. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I can't do this," She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face.

"What are you talking about?! You're the strongest woman i've ever known. If anyone could do this, it's you. You made it through a kidnapping. A frickin kidnapping!" He chuckled dryly "You can do this." He squeezed her hand.

Jo nodded, scooting up. She pushed on Arizona's count, holding her breath. Nothing in this world could describe this pain. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She laid back, taking a minute to breath.

"A few more, Jo. You've got this!" Encouraging words came from Arizona and Alex, seeing how discouraged she was.

Jo pushed a few more times, until it was the last one. At this point, she was beyond exhausted. She pushed with all of the power she had left in her body.

Tears fell from almost everyone in the room as it was filled with the gurgling cries of their baby. "It's a girl!" Arizona announced proudly as she wrapped her up in a towel, walking over to her Jo.

Jo bursted into tears as she felt her daughters skin against her chest. Nothing could change the pure joy she was feeling in this moment. "Hey, baby girl. It's your momma." She cried.

"Oh, Jo. She's perfect." Alex touched his baby's cheek with his thumb.

"So perfect." She wiped her tears as Alex gave her a kiss on her forehead. How did she ever think this would be awful?