Even Angels Fall

Chapter 34

                      ~~~~Christina~~~~

I don't know why I thought the waiting would be over just because my water broke. I'd been thinking once that happened, I'd go to the hospital and have a baby. Simple.

Silly me. Now I knew. The waiting to get to this point was nothing. On the other hand, the waiting while I was in labor was torture.

Not because I was in pain all the time. Sometimes I was - sometimes quite a bit. But it just seemed endless. At one point they were ready to send us home again. It appeared as though little Lizzie was still in no hurry to be born.

We didn't make it into the actual delivery room for over twenty-four hours and then it was another two hours of pushing once they did move us there.

Nearly thirty hours after we originally got to the hospital, I finally got to hear my baby crying. It was the most beautiful sound in the world.

The doctor announced that it was a girl, which I already knew, and he held her up for me to see before the nurse swept her away to the little station by the wall.

I was tired and sore, but I didn't care in the slightest. I didn't care about anything but holding my daughter. Those few seconds that I'd gotten to see her were entirely too short. I watched anxiously from much too far away as they cleaned her up, measured her, and weighed her.

I tried to be patient. I knew they were just doing their jobs and it had to be done. But did they have to take so long? Couldn't they move any faster?

After what felt like an eternity, the nurse finally brought her over, wrapped in a pink blanket, and put her in my waiting arms. My little Lizzie. She was red from crying and had little wrinkles on her face, but I thought she was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen.

"Welcome to the world, Lizzie," I said softly, kissing her forehead. She briefly paused in her crying, but then started right back up again.

Mike leaned over and put his face next to mine. "She's beautiful, just like her mother." 

The baby was quiet and turned towards Mike, reacting to his voice, before she started crying again.

"It looks like she knows who her daddy is," the nurse said with a smile.

I grinned at Mike. He was watching the baby and looking so happy. He met my eyes and kissed me before we both went back to looking at our daughter.

She opened her deep blue eyes and stared back at me as she cried. I was completely mesmerized. I didn't think it would be possible to love her any more than I had when I was pregnant, but now that I could see her and hold her, I knew that what I felt for her before wasn't even close to how much I loved her now.

I finally had to look away to wipe away the tears that obscured my vision.

"This little girl isn't going to be happy until she gets something to eat," the nurse said to me. "How about we try feeding her?"

                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With as hungry as Lizzie apparently was, you would think it should be easy to feed her. But It wasn't easy at all. She didn't want to cooperate and I didn't know how to make her. After about ten minutes we were both getting pretty frustrated. Thankfully, the nurse was patient and helped me alot. And she didn't make me feel like an idiot for not knowing how to feed my own baby.

Having finally eaten, Lizzie was sleeping contentedly in my arms, doing the cutest little thing with her mouth. I was pretty sure she was dreaming about eating. I couldn't stop lightly touching her satin soft skin or her tiny fingers that were curled into tight fists. After a while, she opened her hand enough for me to touch her palm and I was amazed at how strong she was when she gripped my finger.

Mike came back in the room after visiting the cafeteria. I made him go eat something since he hadn't had anything since we got to the hospital and he couldn't do anything to help me feed the baby anyway.

He came over to stand by the bed and I could tell that he wanted to hold her but I hoped he wouldn't ask just yet. I know it was a little unfair for me to be like that, but I just couldn't bare to let her go yet. 

Thankfully Mike didn't ask for the baby. He did hint several times though. He kept saying I should rest and that it was probably a good time since she was asleep, but still I couldn't let her go. I'd waited so long to be able to hold her, I couldn't help it.

After about an hour, Lizzie woke up, looked around for a few minutes, and started to cry. The nurse said she would need to eat every few hours so I decided to try feeding her on my own. 

She ate a little, but then started screaming again. I tried everything I could think of, trapped in the hospital bed, but everything I tried only seemed to make her scream louder.

Finally after watching me struggle for a few minutes, Mike asked to hold her. Out of ideas and getting frustrated, I gave in and handed her over.

"Are you giving your mother trouble already, little girl," he cooed once he was holding her securely. "That's not very nice."

Like magic, Lizzie stopped wailing and stared at Mike, fascinated. He grinned and continued to talk to her until she drifted off and was, once again, sound asleep.

Mike smiled at me and looked so proud. I wanted to be annoyed that he was able to calm her down so easily, but it was just so sweet, I couldn't be. I smiled at them for a minute before I yawned hugely.

"Why don't you finally get some rest?" Mike said, settling down in the nearby chair with Lizzie in his arms. "I can handle her."

I wanted to resist but I'd been awake for almost forty solid hours and had given birth. I was so incredibly beyond exhausted.

"Okay." I yawned again, giving in. I think my eyes were closed for all of about three seconds before I was practically in a coma.