Karev Baby? Again?

Chapter 17

"Oh, oh God.." Katie yelled, holding onto the rail of her bed with both hands. "It hurts.. it hurts so bad." She complained, breathing heavily.

"Kate, you can get an epidural..." Jo reminded her, holding a cold ice pack to the back of her neck. "I know it hurts, baby. You're getting closer." It was so hard to watch her daughter in so much pain.

"I want it. Just give me anything. Please." She begged, trying not to cry. She'd never felt such strong pain before. She let out a breath once her contraction ended, running a hand over her belly.

Jo nodded, paging Arizona, who came pretty quickly. "I think it's time for an epidural." Jo said, holding onto Katie's hand.

Arizona nodded. "No problem, let me just check your chart to make sure you're all good to have one." She said, scrolling on her iPad. Her face turned to a frown when she saw her platelet count. "Katie, I'm sorry, I can't." She hated to break that news to her. She was clearly in a ton of pain. "Your platelet count is just too low. I can't give you one."

Katie felt like bursting into tears, and she did. "Can you just get her out then?!" She questioned. "I-I can't do it. Just sedate me and take her out, please." She cried.

Arizona hated seeing her so upset. She was practically her second daughter. She lifted her legs, checking to see how dilated she was. "Hey. I've got some good news. You're already at seven. You jumped up a lot faster than I expected." She grinned. "That's only three more centimeters until she's here, Kate."

Jo tried comforting her. It was incredibly hard on her body when she was 24. Katie was only 17. This had to be like hell for her. "Hey, hey.. look at me." She said, quietly. "Deep breaths. I want you to calm down, okay?" She coached her through breathing, waiting until she looked up at her. "You're over halfway there. I know right now it feels impossible and I know you're in the most pain ever. After all of that pain is over, you get to say you're a mom. Not only that but you went through a natural birth with zero drugs. That's something very few people can do. I know I could never." She kissed her hand. "Try to keep that optimism that I know you have. It's gonna help so much while you try to get her out of there."

Katie wiped her tears, taking deep breaths. This was so much harder than she could've ever imagined. She took a few minutes to calm herself down, then got up with the help of her mother. She'd decided to walk a lap around the OB ward. She'd do anything to take her mind off of the pain, plus she wanted to see the nursery babies.

It wasn't a fast walk, and it was definitely more like a waddle; but Katie made it to the nursery, looking through the window. "Oh.. look at that little one in the back." She smiled. She had about 30 seconds before her next contraction, so she was taking it in while she could. "They're all so little."

"It doesn't feel like that coming out." Jo joked. She started to rub her back when Katie's contractions came back.

Katie groaned in pain. In fact, the pain was so bad she had to bend down and hold onto the railing. She tried to breathe, but she couldn't even think about that. She gasped for air when it ended, rubbing the tears from her eyes away.

"You okay?" Jo asked, pulling her back up and beginning to walk back to the room.

Katie put her hand on her stomach, nodding. She laid back down when they got back to the room. She laid there for another four hours, only getting more upset by the minute. She thought she was close, but it only seemed to be dragging out more and more. She was finally at nine centimeters, so there were a few nurses sitting up around her. She tried to focus on that. Her baby would be lying in that bassinet in just a little bit.

Two more hours passed and she'd finally made it. She was at ten centimeters. The poor girl was drenched in sweat, scared out of her mind, and in more pain than ever. She'd never wanted something to be over more than this. It felt like torture.

Arizona was back in, sliding on gloves. "Alright, momma, deep breaths." She said, noticing she was in the middle of a contraction. "Next contraction, we're going to start pushing. I'm going to have you push for ten seconds, then you can take a little breather in between." She got a sheepish nod from Katie.

Katie's mind was overflowing with scary thoughts. If her mother had to be sedated for this, how could she do this without any meds? She was already in more pain than she thought she could ever endure, and she hadn't even started pushing yet. She rubbed her hand over her belly. This would be the last few moments she'd be carrying her girl. She gasped at the next contraction, grabbed Jo's hand and the rail, and pushed. She didn't even try to stay quiet. It hurt like hell, and she wasn't afraid to voice it.

"Oh God." She groaned, her face turning a bright shade of red. "Ow, ow. I need to stop." She complained.

Arizona nodded. "Think about breathing.. and that little baby you're going to be holding soon." She grinned.

Katie pushed on the next contraction, again and again. It took twenty more minutes, but Arizona could finally see the head. "You are so close, Kate. I see her."

It took another hour before Katie successfully pushed her baby out. Arizona cut the cord, laying the baby on Katie's bare chest.

Katie was a puddle of tears, seeing her daughter, finally. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak. She had never been more worn out, but she was holding her baby girl. "Hi baby.." She cried, holding both of her hands over her.

Arizona took the baby to get checked out real quick, and receive her first shots. "7 lbs, 4 oz. Perfect weight.. and 21 inches. You have a perfect baby." She smiled, bringing her back bundled up.

Katie took a deep breath, staring at her daughter as she squirmed around on her chest. "Oh, wow.." She whispered, completely in shock that this baby was all hers.

She'd never felt a stronger love than that one. She'd know her for 2 whole minutes and she was starstruck. Nothing could ever beat the moment she met her daughter. She hugged her close, listening to her quiet whines.