Highway Don't Care (Freebirds) (34 page)

 
“This part is the part they call the ‘ring of fire.’  It’s where the
baby’s head is crowning.”  The doctor supplied.

 
He was right, too.  It was the ring of fire.  The left side was in
agony.  In the distance, I heard Payton singing “Ring of fire” by Johnny
Cash, and I took enough time to grab the bed pan that was on the roller cart
and chunk it at her.

 
Bitch.

 
It bounced off the wall and they all scrambled out of the way laughing. 
This was so not funny.

 
“There’s no coming back from that.”  Cheyenne sniggered.

 
“In like a banana, out like a pineapple.”  Payton laughed.

 
“Gabe!”  I wailed.  “Make them shut up.”

 
His look silenced them from the next comment they were about to make.

 
I was
sweating
like a hooker in a confessional.  My hair was matted to my face, the gown
was clinging to my chest, and I could feel droplets rolling down the sides of
my temple.

  Apparently, I wasn’t going to be one
of those cute women who don’t misplace a hair during birth; nor would I have a
wonderful afterglow.  I was going to be lucky if I had any hair left after
this.

  “Okay, on your next contraction, I
want you to push until Nurse Brady here gets to ten.”  The Doctor Robinson
said.

  Gabe’s hand, and Daina’s hand hoisted
my legs higher to my chest, and I pushed with everything I had.  Anything
had to be better than the pain I was feeling right now.

  The doctor watched as the baby’s
head came down, but then went back up again.  Each contraction was like
that, and it was damn frustrating. 

  “You know,” I panted.  “I read
somewhere women have orgasms during birth.  I’m not feeling that right now.”

  Snickering filled the room, but no one
said anything.  Gabe gave me a kiss on the forehead before watching the
monitors, and then the progression of the baby out of my ravaged vagina. 
Payton was right; it would probably never be the same again.

  The doctor exchanged a look I couldn’t
interpret right before I started pushing again, but I didn’t have time to think
about it before the contraction claimed me.

  I pushed with everything I had, but
nothing happened.  I did it again and again, until I fell back in an
exhausted heap.

  Suddenly the doctor yelled,
“Shoulder!”

  The room became a flurry of
activity.  Gabe was pushed out of the way, a button on the wall somewhere
behind my head was hit, and the room filled with a shrieking alarm. 
Nurses and doctors rushed into the room at a fast clip.  The room was
pandemonium.

  I’d never seen anything like it.

  I couldn’t see Gabe, I couldn’t see
Daina, and all I had was the doctor between my legs.  Two nurses were at
my legs, and another doctor was at my stomach pressing down.  The breath
left my lungs, and I couldn’t breathe.  The pressure was so intense that I
felt no pain.

  My heart was beating at a fast pace,
and bile rose in my throat.  The doctors were yelling at each other in
some sort of code, and I just laid there helpless. 

  “What’s going on?”  I demanded.

  “It’s okay, honey.  What is
happening now is what they call “Shoulder Dystocia.”  It’s when your
baby’s shoulders are stuck on your pubic bone.  They’ll get him out, don’t
worry.”  The nurse holding my right leg said.

  The nurses at my legs brought my legs
so far back that they were practically over my head.  The doctor on my
stomach pushed again, and the breath whooshed out of my lungs for a second
time.  I watched in horror as my baby’s face went blue.  Dr.
Robinson’s whole fucking hand disappeared up my vagina as he worked diligently
to get the baby free.

  “I’m going to have to break it.” 
Dr. Robinson said right before he used his hand to do something inside of
me. 

  At the time, I wasn’t aware what it
was, but the sound made me sick to my stomach.  Once whatever he did was
done, I was told to push again, and I gave it one more.  The baby finally
slid out of me, but he was limp and unmoving.  His coloring was blue and
grey, his body was floppy, and they rushed him over to the incubator. 

  Nurses and doctors crowded around him,
and they worked hard to get my baby to cry.  I was sobbing so hard at that
point that nothing registered.  They were still doing something to me, but
I no longer cared.  I closed my eyes and prayed.

  “Got him back!”  A booming male
voice yelled.

  Strong arms curled around my upper
body, and I automatically curled into Gabe, breathing his scent.

  “He’s okay, baby.  He’s
okay.  Shhh.”  Gabe repeated over and over.

  I didn’t know who he was trying to
convince, him or me, but it wasn’t working for either one of us.  My eyes
flipped open as I heard them rushing out of the room, and the voices
disappeared down the hall.  Glancing around the room, I saw my original nurse
still at the doctor’s side, working on me down below. 

  Cheyenne had Cora in her arms, trying
to soothe and calm her down.  Payton had a fist up to her mouth, tears
were pouring down her face.  Max was in the corner sitting on a
chair.  His head was between his knees with his arms wrapped over the back
of his head.  Blaine was cradling Justin to her chest, weeping quietly.

  Daina walked up to us and wrapped us
up in her arms, and I curled into her, sobs choking me.  Gabe wrapped his
arms around both of us, and we stayed that way for a long time. 

  “Gabe, go be with him.  Please
don’t leave him alone.” 

  He looked into my eyes, his cerulean
blue ones boring into mine.  Something profound passed between us in that
second, and he nodded, gave me a soft sweet kiss, and left.

  Max took up his position, gathering me
close.  I wrapped my arms around his waist, and continued to cry.  He
squeezed me tighter, and held me that way until a young male doctor came in a
while later.

  “Mrs. Maldonado.  I’m the on call
pediatrician.  Your son is currently stable.  He’s breathing on his
own, but we’re going to monitor him for a few more hours just to be on the safe
side.  They did break his clavicle in order to get him out.  You’ll
need to be very gentle with him, for that is going to hurt him until it
heals.  Which it will do very quickly.  Your husband’s in with him
now.”

  “Thank you.”  I whispered, and
then let my tears flow freely again.

  Max shuddered around me, and I knew
that he was crying with me.  Terror was still in the back of my mind, but
I had renewed hope that everything would be okay.

Ω

Gabe

  I stared down at the sleeping boy in
my arms.  He was nestled in a blue blanket that Blaine sewed for
him.  He made a cute baby sound, and turned his head slightly to the side
before falling back into his peaceful slumber.

  I looked over at Ember, and marveled
at how proud I was of her.

  The memory of the birth was
horrific.  When the doctor had yelled that he had a shoulder, I knew immediately
what was going on.  I was pushed away from Ember, and watched from the
other side of the room while doctors and nurses surrounded her bedside. 
Thirteen people crowded around the small bedside, and I could see how terrified
Ember was.  I saw her eyes dart from side to side looking for me, but I
knew she couldn’t see me over the massive amount of people surrounding her.

  I could feel the tears running down my
cheeks, but I didn’t swipe them away.  Every second Ember experienced the
pain and terror was another piece of my heart that broke off.  I couldn’t
stand seeing her cry and not being able to get to her.  My body ached to
go to her, hold her, and comfort her.

  I couldn’t see what was going on
below, couldn’t see if the baby was making any progress, but when I heard him
say he was going to have to break it my stomach dropped.  They only did
that as a last resort.  A last ditch effort to save the baby.  I knew
that they’d been working on him for three minutes now.  At five minutes,
lasting brain damage would occur, and the baby probably wouldn’t survive.

  The wall of people split as a young
doctor took my son and transferred him to the station where they worked on the
newborns.  I watched as they crowded around him, working, and I prayed
that he would be okay.

  It was only when the baby was wheeled
out of the room that I came unstuck and went to Ember.  She was sobbing
loudly; each one tore my heart in pieces.  Gathering her in my arms, I
cried with her.  No one ever thought it would end up like this.

  I’d absently read the emergency
procedure on the wall above her head when she got into the bed earlier, but
never did I think that it would be needed.

  Ember sent me to my son, begging me
with her eyes.  Leaving her was one of the hardest things I’d ever done,
but I couldn’t resist the pleading in her eyes.

  I saw them working on him through the
glass of the NICU.  They weren’t scrambling like they were doing earlier,
which was a good sign.  From what I could see, they had him on CPAP. 
The mask was over his nose, and he was hooked up to multiple IVs and
monitors. 

  The truly beautiful thing was the
lusty cry coming out of him.  My knees nearly buckled at the profound
relief I felt.  A nurse spotted me, and opened the door for me to come
inside to see him.  She handed me a yellow gown, and told me to wash my
hands.  Once done, she led me over to my baby boy.

  The young doctor explained to me more
in depth what happened.  As it turns out, at thirty-five weeks, the baby
weighed in at nine pounds two ounces.  They wondered if his due date
could’ve been off, but we’d never know for sure.  His clavicle was broken
during the birth to assist in delivering him.  From what they could tell,
Ember also had a narrow pelvis.

  Throughout the next two hours, they
weaned him off CPAP slowly, to make sure he did well on his own.  I sent
multiple texts to Ember, and she ooohed, and awed over every one of them. 
By hour three, I was finally able to hold him. 

  “You may take him back to the room to
see your wife, if you’d like.”  A younger nurse said.

  Like I was going to argue.  Yea,
right. 

  Wheeling him down the hall, I peeked
into the room to find Ember cradled against Max’s chest.  Her eyes were
swollen, and still in her sleep, she was weeping.  Every so often, her
breath hitched, and each time my heart skipped a beat.  Her iPhone in her
hand curled close to her chest, and she looked exhausted.

  The room was filled with our
family.  Daina, with a sleeping Cora, sat on the couch next to Elliot, and
Blaine, who was holding Justin.  Cheyenne curled into Sam’s side; each had
a twin in their lap.  Jack had Phoebe curled against his chest. 
James sat on the floor playing quietly with Janie.  Even Payton was there,
leaning against the wall near the bathroom door.  Each one of them broke
out in smiles when they saw me wheeling in our son.

  Lifting him out of the bassinet, I
walked slowly to Ember, who was still sleeping.  I placed the baby into
Max’s arms cautiously, and then helped maneuver Ember to where she was resting
against me instead of Max.  The jostling woke her, and she started crying
anew when she laid eyes on our baby for the first time.

  Max transferred him to Ember’s arms
carefully, and backed away to give us some privacy.

  Everyone started to stand, but Ember
stopped them with a staying hand.  “Don’t go.  Please stay.” 

  They all resumed their seats, and
watched us rapturously.

  “He’s okay, baby.  Stop crying,
you’re breaking my heart.”  I whispered to her hair.

  “He looks just like you.  Look at
his little chubby cheeks!”  She laughed.

  I smiled.  “He was nine pounds
two ounces, and twenty two inches long.  He’s a big boy.” 

  “What’s his name?”  Max finally
asked impatiently.

  “Gabriel Luca Maldonado the
third.”  Ember announced proudly.

  My body froze, and pride burst through
me.  We never discussed naming him after me, and I never wanted to ask
since my name wasn’t a traditional American name.  So hearing her say that
just now was something I never hoped to have.  We’d discussed that we wouldn’t
think about names until we saw him with our own eyes, but I had a feeling that
she probably planned it like this all along.

  Everyone stayed for a while longer,
but left within the hour to give us time alone with Luca.  Max took Cora
home, who instantly loved her new baby brother.  Unfortunately, she
couldn’t hold him yet since he was hurt, but she gave some great kisses. 

  After three days in the hospital, Luca
and Ember were released pending follow up appointments within the next
week.  Luca’s collarbone healed fully within three weeks.  The same
couldn’t be said for our hearts.

  Ember suffered from nightmares about
the delivery.  I’d be dead asleep and her screaming would jar me
awake.  Her screams of pain would echo through me, reminding me of the
delivery, of the terror I’d experienced seeing our son stuck, dying
slowly.  We spoke about the birth often.  She told me that next time
she was having an elective C-section, because there was no way she was going to
experience that again, even though the odds were highly unlikely.