Whatever Occurs: Till Death Do Us Part

Reider Matthew Cox

(As told by Malyssa Cox)

I get a very painful contraction when I'm trying to sleep. I lift my stomach up to ease the pain. Jeremy wakes up after I scream, "it hurts!"

He says that I might need to go into labor soon, so he calls my parents and in-laws. I walk downstairs very carefully to make sure I don't fall, should I get another contraction. Thankfully, I don't.

Jeremy hauls all of our stuff into the car, then wakes the girls up. He buckles Tessa into her seat, while Braylee manages to do it herself. Jeremy goes on her side to ensure it is secure. He heads for Bellevue Childbirth Center.

Jeremy's phone rings. It's my father, and I pick up. I decide to put it on speaker phone. "Hi Dad," I speak.

"Hey Malyssa, how are you holding up, kid?"

"I'm trying not to die."

He laughs. "Are you guys on the road?"

"We are. We're heading toward Interstate 90 to Bellevue."

"Okay sugarplum, Mum and I will be there in a while. I love you Lyss."

"I love you too, Dad! Drive safe!"

"I will. Bye dear."

"Bye-bye."

We are held up in traffic for less than an hour, since it's one o'clock in the morning. Braylee and Tessa manage to fall back asleep until we get to the hospital. I keep getting more contractions, each one being more painful than the last.

"I don't think I'm going to get any medication!" I exclaim, "Reider, I love you, but please come out already!"

Jeremy tries to weave through traffic without getting in a crash. "No wonder the Seattle area is one of the country's worst places to drive! No one knows how to brake, turn on their turn signals, set their cruise control, stay off their phones, or how to merge lanes."

We are finally at the hospital after being stuck behind a young adult woman who was on her phone. Once we check in, we are led to an empty delivery room. I lay down on the hospital bed when my parents and in-laws show up. Nick and Carrie Cox take Braylee and Tessa with them before I start going through the first stage of labor. I am not given any medicine.

I start feeling contractions that take up to five minutes. Each one is more painful than the last one. Jeremy is ready to spring up at any moment to hold my legs down, even though no one had to hold my legs the last two times I gave birth. My parents lightly keep my arms down.

I urge myself not to scream loudly during the whole labor process. I wheeze, "I won't scream, but I will cuss the whole time!" I either curse or manage to suffer internally. When I am told to push the baby out, Jeremy helps to steady my hands. My mom runs to grab the girls and my in-laws.

Everyone comes back in to see Reider once the labor process is complete. He is born at 1:04 in the morning. When the doctors check to ensure he is healthy, they give Reider back to me to hold. After ten minutes or so, I give him to Jeremy to hold. Everyone gets the chance to meet Reider. The girls gaze at him with pure love when they get to see him.

I nap for two hours before Jeremy wakes me up so I can eat lunch. I still feel the pain from being in labor and not receiving any medication. My parents reassure me that I did great.

I then think about how my mom must feel knowing that one of her children is no longer here because one man essentially signed his death warrant. I remember how she told me she felt like she was being selfish after my grandma Cece died, not thinking about how anyone else felt. Since then, she would call and ask me how I was, since she knows that I was very close to Spencer. Beaudry is my closest sibling, because he used to babysit me, but Spencer and I were also very close.