It’s hard to say goodbye to Will and Ben Johnson. They have become such good friends to me the past weeks. But it’s time for them to head back to the United states. “I promise to come back when the little one is born.” Will assures me and I smile. “You really should. You always have a place to stay.” I turn to Ben Johnson. “And so do you.” I hug him tight. “Bye Lynn, take care.” He whispers in my ear.
Will pulls me in a big hug too. “I wish I could spend some more time with you. It was way too short.” He says.
My eyes are teary and I rub them. I don’t want to cry in front of them. They hug us both one more time and Will rubs my belly gently. “Take care, you little creature in there.” He says.
He always knows how to make me smile.
I wave at them till they are out of sight and I pout. “I miss them already.” I look at Ben. His eyes are red and teary. “So do I.” He admits.
“The past few weeks went by so quickly and I feel like I haven’t spent enough time with any of my friends OR my brothers.” He sighs.
“No wonder. Your brothers went back while we were on our honeymoon. Maybe we should go to the United States and visit them when the little one is big enough.” I say and Ben nods. “That sounds like a great idea to me. But that means we have to travel a lot. They all live in different areas of the United States.” He says and I shrug. “Some great person taught me that details are for suckers.” I smile and Ben looks up. “True.”
Joanne and I go shopping for baby clothes the next morning. “What do you think it will be?” She asks me and I shrug. “I really have the feeling that it’s a girl. But I hope it’s a boy.” I say.
“Why?” she asks and I think for a moment. “I am afraid that if it’s a girl that I will compare her to Amada.” I say honestly and Joanne nods. “I understand that. Have you thought about names yet?”
I nod. “Yes we have. Well, Ben came up with the name for a boy. One of them at least. We want to name him after Spencer.” I ramble and Joanne smiles. “That’s a nice idea.”
“And we want to bring the name ‘Robert’ back into the family. So it would be something like Robert Spencer, but I don’t really like that name. So we would go for three names then.” I say in one breath and Joanne chuckles.
“That are a lot of names. What will be the official name then?” ‘
“Well, If it’s a boy his full name will be Robert Jonah Spencer, but he will be called Jonah.” I say.
“And if it’s a girl her name will be Bobbi Joy.” I say. Joanne is silent and looks at me. “I like the names.” She says. “Though it might take me some time to get used to the name Bobbi, if it’s a girl.” She says honestly.
“I’ve always loved a name like Bobbi or Doris for a girl. Just because it’s unexpected.” I smile.
David and Joanne are still at the house for two more days. But then they have to leave too.
That leaves me all alone at the house after Monday. Ben will be at work all day.
I think I will have to fill my days with walking with Theo, sitting in the yard and watching movies.
I’ve got five more weeks to go and I am already bored.
I call my mom every day. I visit Erica every other day and the rest of my time is filled with cleaning the house and watching movies.
The nursery is done. Everything is ready for the little one to arrive.
Except the little one itself.
The clock is ticking and days are passing by really slow. I practically live at the daycare to cure boredom.
Ben calls me a few times a day to check up on me. Only two weeks to go. The suitcase is packed just in case and Inéz peeks around the corner every now and then when I am not at the daycare.
We had just finished dinner, Ben is watching TV while I am in the kitchen making a cup of tea when I feel a pop and a wetness between my legs. It’s gushing down and I look at my legs. “BEN!” I shout and he runs into the kitchen. “My water broke.” I say and rest my hands on the counter. “That’s good right?” Ben asks worried and I smile. “Yes it is. Call the doctor and ask what we need to do.” I say.
No contractions have started yet and I over to a chair and sit down. “The doctor is sending out the midwife to check you. You want to stay at home?” Ben asks.
Both my sister and I were born at home, but I never thought about doing that myself. “No, I want to go to the hospital.” I say. “After Amada, I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
I sit on the kitchen chair and wait for the contractions to happen. But there are still none.
The bell rings and Ben opens the door and returns with the midwife. I only met her a few times before. “Hola Juanita.” I say with a smile. “So, things started?” She asks and I nod with a smile. “I think it did. But I don’t feel anything.” I say.
A sharp pain shoots through my body and I grab my belly. “Unless this is what contractions feel like.” I grunt with my teeth clenched. The pain passes by quickly and I look at Juanita. “Is this it, or isn’t it? My water broke an hour ago.” I say and tap my foot.
“Impatient much?” Ben laughs.
“Señora, you might as well lie down to rest before it really starts.” She says and I frown. “But I have contractions and my water broke. Isn’t it supposed to start now?” I ask and Juanita chuckles.
“It could be, but it can also take a few hours. Do you want to deliver at home or at the hospital?” She asks. “Hospital.” I say right away. “Then I suggest we drive to the hospital and they will take care of everything there.”
Juanita looks at Ben. “You drive to the hospital, bring your wife and help her through this.” She orders.
I walk to the car with Ben while calling Erica. “Honey, my water broke, I might be away for a while. Can you take care of Theo?” I ask. Erica squeals and laughs. “Of course I will. I will see you and the little one soon.” She laughs and I hang up the phone.
I only have contractions twice during our twenty minute drive to the hospital. They are not hard and I manage to handle them.
Ben keeps looking at me with a frown. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He asks and I nod. “Yes I am.” I assure him.
I expected the pain to be worse. As people told me it would hurt so much.
We check into the hospital and they order me to sit down in a wheelchair so they can take me to my room.
There is another woman in the room. Our beds only separated with a thin white curtain. I frown at Ben and he shrugs.
“You can use the shower anytime you want.” The nurse tells me.
“A shower would be nice.” I say. I grab some things from my bag and step into the small bathroom. I turn on the faucets and step under the warm water. A pain moves from my back to my belly and I take a deep breath. I guess this is another one.
The contractions are still not coming regularly and I manage to get some rest.
It’s just past midnight when I am starting to get some regular contractions. Every three minutes.
They last for about sixty seconds. This goes on for twenty minutes and the contractions get harder.
I start sweating. My back hurts and I have no idea how to sit or lie down. I walk around. I lie on the bed. Ben gives me backrubs.
Nothing works.
I am crying. “Ben, it hurts.”
The nurse asks if she can check me and I lie down on the bed. 6 centimeter, she says. Not enough.
“I can’t do this.” I cry.
The contractions are getting heavier and following up quicker after each other.
I am all worn out. I am having contractions for three hours now. But I am still not fully dilated.
I take another shower and the hot water relieves the pain a bit. I step out of the shower after twenty minutes. It isn’t working anymore.
I keep walking around to try to find a way to handle the contractions.
I lie down on the bed and squeeze Bens’ hand when I try to handle the contractions. I want to sleep. “Is it too late to ask for medication?” I whimper.
The nurse checks me again. “9 centimeters.”
I lay flat on my back with my knees pulled up as far as I can.
Juanita stays with me and keeps checking me. “You are doing great mommy.” She says and I try to smile.
Another contraction and I whimper loudly. Ben is stroking the hair from my face. I feel the urge to push. “Can I push yet?” I ask.
Another sharp pain and I arch my back while trying to regain my breath by breathing slowly in and out.
“Okay. Lynn, listen to me. You have to push when you feel the next contraction.” Juanita says and I nod slowly. Ben is holding me tight. I feel the contraction coming and I push.
It feels like I am ripped open and I wail. “I can’t do this. Please, make it stop.”
“One more time Lynn, I can see the head. I see dark hair.” Juanita encourages me to push again.
I push and cry and wail. “You are doing great mommy.” Juanita says. “One more push, a big one.”
I look at Ben and he looks helplessly back at me.
“Do something, you asshole.” I grunt and he holds my hand. I think I must have hurt him badly by squeezing his hand tightly at the last push.
Juanita smiles and holds up a perfect littlem but loudly crying child. “It’s a girl.” she smiles.
Juanita gently places the perfect little dark haired girl in my arms. I look at her and then at Ben. “Look what we did.” I smile. Bens’ eyes are red and he looks down at the little creature in my arms. “Hi there Bobbi Joy, I am your daddy.” He says with a soft voice.
He strokes the hair from my face and presses a kiss on my damp forehead. “I am so proud of you.”
“Daddy, do you want to cut the umbilical cord?” Juanita asks and hands him a pair of scissors. “I can do that?” He asks. Juanita tells him where to cut and Ben looks proud when he cuts the umbilical cord.
I look at my little princess. “I have to take her for a moment.” Juanita says while gently lifting her from my arms.
“Well done mommy, she responds perfectly.” I look at the clock. My little Bobbi Joy, born on the twelfth of November at 5.34am. After almost 12 hours of labor.
My perfect little Bobbi. 50.2 centimeter, 6.85 pounds and a head full of hair.
I rest back on the pillows while Juanita is washing and dressing Bobbi Joy. She hands Bobbi Joy over to Ben and he walks up to me. “She is perfect.” He sighs. I look up at my giant, holding such a fragile little creature in his big hands. “You were born to be a daddy.” I smile with a trembling voice.
A tear rolls down Bens’ cheek when he looks at Bobbi Joy. She looks back at Ben and yawns.
Ben sways her softly back and forth while humming. My eyelids are getting heavy and I drift away in a deep and peaceful sleep.
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