Push, by Kristen Thompson

"You have to be kidding me!" Ann yelled.

She had just found another bat. This made it the sixth bat she had found. She had just rolled her big prego belly out of bed, and was walking to the bathroom, when this huge black bat flew by her. She quickly ran into her bathroom and shut the door. She heard the front door open and shut, and then her husband, Max, yelling.

"Stupid bat. Hindu let go of the bat. Damn cats."

After a few minutes, there was a knock on the bathroom door. Ann opened it to find, Max, standing there, dripping sweat from his head. He was a very tall man with dark hair and brown eyes. For being such a big man, he had the kindest smile and he was more like a teddy bear than a big bad corrections officer for the local prison.

As Ann, stepped out the bathroom, she started going off on Max.

"I am so sick of these bats. I want to move back home. I cannot do this anymore. I can't be afraid everyday of getting bit by a bat, or tick. You know I found another tick on Hindu, yesterday! I have had enough."

Max hugged her, knowing this was true. As, he was hugging her, he himself was remembering what Oswego was like. There was no mountains, no bats, no ticks, no crazy Jewish people. He really regretted moving his wife and unborn child to some unknown town, in the middle of the Catskill mountains.

"Let's get dressed and check out that mall over in Kingston," he told her, wanting to get her out of this little bungalow, where she has been trapped for a week, because he drove their only car to work everyday.

The drive over to Kingston took about 45 minutes. It was a very hot 45 minutes drive, being the middle of August. Sweat was just pouring off the both of them. The windows were rolled down. Of course, the AC didn't work in their beat up 97 Taurus. They walked around the mall for quite a few hours. Ann dragged Max into the girly shops like Claire's and Victoria's Secret. Max would in return drag Ann into the video game shop. They were having fun, forgetting about their morning and the all sadness of wanting to move back to Oswego.

It was about 7:00 at night and Ann and Max decided to head back home.

"Ouch, Leila!!" Ann scolded the baby inside her belly.

"Ouch. I don't think she is kicking me. It feels more like a contraction."

She and Max started timing them on the 45 minute drive. They were weak but enough to know they were there and coming every 10-15 minutes. Max insisted he take her to the hospital.

"No, they will just send us home. The contractions aren't strong enough. I'm probably not even dilated. Let's just get home and go to bed."

Max woke up, and was getting ready for work, when Ann yelled for him.

"We need to go the hospital."

Amazingly, the contractions never woke her up, through the night. When she woke up though, they hit her like a ton of bricks.

On the way, over to the hospital, which took thirty minutes, Ann called her mom and mother-in-law and told them to come down. It is time. Ann knew this had to be it, her due date was tomorrow, the sixteenth. At the hospital, Ann got checked in, and the nurse checked her cervix.

"I'm sorry but you are only 3cm. You can stay and walk around for a couple hours, and then I'll check you again."
Ann thought, to herself, this is the nurse I want in the delivery room. She was so nice and compassionate to Ann and her husband. They walked around for an hour and argued with their parents about whether or not they should drive the 4 hours.

"You know if we lived home, the whole driving thing wouldn't be an issue," Ann told Max.

"I know, Ann, but this were we have to live until I get transferred to Auburn. It should happen within in the next few months."

"Damn you, Max!!! You have been saying that since November! I am so sick of hearing it, please just stop!"

Ann was almost in tears, as she was getting a contraction. She had to stopped walking. As her hand was turning white from clutching her gown, she just let out a yell,

"Just go away, Max, NOW!!! I want to be alone, away from you."

After an hour of wandering the halls Ann returned to the triage room. There was Max waiting patiently for her to return.

"I am sorry for all this, I am. I called our parents and they are going come down regardless of you having the baby today or not. They will spend the weekend, so you can spend some time with them. I know you miss them all."

Ann was filled with such love. All she could think was, Wow, this man really loves me.

Before she could thank him, the nurse came walking in.

"All right, lets see how this baby is coming along!"

Ann climbed up onto the examination bed and got into the position.

"You are still 3cm. I have no doubt though, that if you go home have lunch, relax, and keeping walking, you will be back in tonight."

So, that is what they did. Ann told her mom and mother-in-law to come down. They both got there in the early afternoon, and walked with Ann, up and down the half a mile drive way, skipping the huge hill at the end by the road. It was very hot and muggy out, the mosquitoes attacked them and it was a very annoying to walk. Ann had to keep stopping every 10 minutes, waiting for a contraction to pass. Towards the evening, Ann's mom convinced her to walk up the hill. When Ann got back to the nice air conditioned house, she relaxed in the recliner for a few minutes. She started to drift to sleep, and all of a sudden she sat right up.

"We need to go to the hospital, now!! I think, the hill has made the contractions worse. "

They hurried back to the hospital. The same nurse from this morning checked them. She was checking Ann's vitals and monitoring the contractions. Ann had only progressed to 4cm. All that walking, in the stupid muggy heat, had no effect on her labor. The nurse told Ann,
"
We are going to keep you, though. You have a temp of 101.3. Which means there might be a sign of infection and we need to monitor you and the baby. We are going to move you into a delivery room and give you some antibiotics, along with some Pitocin to help you start dilating. Would you, also, like something for the pain?"

"Oh, yes, please" Ann said with joy as the contractions were getting stronger and stronger.

The nurse administered the medicines, and Ann drifted to sleep from the pain meds. The nurse kept coming in to check on Ann and to see if she had dilated anymore.

"Six centimeters! We are getting closer."

A few hours later the contractions were so strong they woke Ann up from her sleep.

"Just breath. It'll be over in a few seconds." Her husband told her, as his hand was turning blue, from her squeezing it so hard.

The nurse came in to check on her. She asked Ann if she was ready for her epidural.

"Not yet, I don't want it to slow down my labor," Ann said. Well, at least that is what Ann thought she said, but really it came out sounding like a drunken bar hopper.

She fell back asleep. Ann drifted in and out, mumbling in pain. Finally, the nurse asked her again and she mumbled, "Yes!!"

It seemed like only a few seconds, after receiving her epidural that she had the extreme urge to push. The nurse checked her cervix, which was very painful even after the epidural.

"Don't push, Ann, I am going to go get the doctor. You are ready to have your baby, your are ten centimeters!!!"

Ann just laid there, trying so hard not to push. Her mom mother-in-law and husband gathered around her, waiting for the doctor. Before the doctor could even get in there the nurse had her all ready to go and even had her to start pushing. The doctor came in, along with a couple other nurses. Ann could start pushing. As a contraction came, Ann was told to push and they all counted to ten. Ann started screaming at about seven. She could feel the pressure of the baby's head. There was no pain, only pressure. After a few contractions, of getting no where, a nurse jumped into Ann's face and with the mommy voice told her,

"You need to focus, stop screaming and push. It is worth it in the end. So, when I tell you to push, you are going to push. PUSH!!"

Ann gave a really good push, and the baby's head popped out. The doctor yelled at nurses,

"Do not have her push."

The nurses looked at the monitors and knew and then looked at the baby and saw exactly why. The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck.

The doctor quickly removed the cord and told Ann to give it one last push.

The same nurse jumped back into Ann's face and told her to push. After they all counted to ten, the doctor flopped this tiny blue baby onto Ann's belly. Ann had no clue what was going on, she was still so drugged up. She felt the baby's head and then she was gone. What seemed like a hours, she heard a little scream coming from the baby. Thank you, God, was all Ann could think.

"Is it still a girl?" She asked.

"Yes!" Everyone shouted with joy.

The nurses brought the little bundle of scream to her mommy. Ann looked at her husband, who had tears coming down his face.

"I am so proud of you. She is so beautiful."

The nurse came over and asked,

"What is her name?"

"Leila Lee Stock," Matt said, looking at his wife and his new baby girl with a huge smile on his tear stained face.

Just then, the little baby looked up at Ann. She knew, looking into her newborn baby's barely open blue eyes, that the name was perfect for her. Ann also knew, that everything was going to be okay. As long as she had her beautiful daughter and her wonderful husband, it didn't matter where they lived.