Love Sick

Las Preguntas

Teresa
Seventeen Years Ago

The horrendous pain in my pelvis only seemed to escalate as I pulled my own knees back and struggled. My father had refused to stay by my side during this life changing event that I could only imagine my boyfriend at. But alas I was alone and my baby was almost here, well, sort of.

"Okay Teresa, big breath and push." The doctor coached as I tossed my head back and screamed, the sharp pain in my hips intensifying exponentially. "I can't!" I cried, tears falling down my face as I helplessly reached a hand out to the kind nurse who instantly took it, rubbing it gently.

"I want my mom!" I cried out incoherently, knowing full well that she wouldn't be here for this monumental moment in my life, but I needed someone to help me feel less alone and helpless in this moment, I never thought that I would be the teenager having a baby at seventeen. "I know you do, but honey the baby's heart rate is dropping and you need to get it out." The nurse reminded, carefully brushing my hair back. "Don't you want a healthy baby?" She asked, making me nod urgently as an intense pressure and pain began to build up at the bottom of my enlarged stomach. "Okay then, you can do it. Chin to your chest, hold your breath and push for ten." She instructed, linking my hands under my knees.

I was shocked at the monstrous scream that erupted from my lips as I felt the largest part of the baby coming out of me. "Teresa! Okay! Take a breath!" The doctor shouted, my legs now trembling uncontrollably. "Calm down- calm down!" The nurse cried, but my body began to take over and I could feel the baby moving down my hips. I groaned deeply and let out a gasp as my stomach muscles tensed, panicking as my self control began to slip.

"Teresa, love, the baby is almost out. You just need to take a deep breath and push one more time and your baby will be here." She whispered, I swallowed my tears and looked up at the nurse who looked no more than thirty, her blue eyes smiling down at me as she carefully rubbed my forehead. The pain I was feeling was indescribable, making sweat run down my neck and face, even trailing down my chest.

"It's not my baby." I sobbed, feeling the cramping, but she just gave me a knowing smile and cupped my cheek. "The family is waiting outside, I have to give my baby to them." I cried, pushing aggressively followed by a scream. I sucked in a frantic breath and bore down with all my might, pretty sure that I was ruining my lady parts with every twist, turn, and stretch by the large baby. I could feel my throat wearing as I wailed into oblivion, my head spinning as I felt the baby finally slide free from my body.

I gasped and felt my body crumple back onto the hospital bed. I struggled to catch my breath as the doctor hastily cut the cord and looked up at me with a smile. I could hear strong cries coming from the end of the bed, but I couldn't muster up enough strength to open my eyes and look down.

"It's a girl." He announced, immediately placing her screaming body on my chest, almost shocking me that she was actually outside of my body, no longer actively wiggling in my womb at all hours of the day.

"Oh my god!" I could only manage, looking up at the nurse who smiled sadly at me, draping a green blanket over the both of us. I couldn't help but carefully rub her back, feeling her little lungs expand with each cry, her tiny feet kicking against my chest to grasp her bearings of this new world.

"I heard the baby is here!" Janelle cried, rushing in with her husband on her heels. I felt myself clutch the baby a bit tighter on my chest, feeling a tad insecure that they were in the room immediately after I had delivered a baby- the doctor hadn't even stitched my back up and my vagina was still on display for the whole room. I flinched and desperately tries to pull the green sheet down to cover my lower half, but they continued to march right in despite the nurse's protests and redirection.