(Pregnancy, birth, multiples, painful birth, surprise extra baby)
I leaned against the wall as I waddled down the hallway to greet you. My massive belly swayed in front of me, constantly threatening to sway too hard and knock me over. You were just slipping your shoes off in the entrance when you saw my bare belly begin to peak around the corner.
My belly had been the first thing you see of me for the past five months. It wasn’t long after I got pregnant that we knew I was carrying more than one. The speed that it grew was much faster than it would be with only one. By three months it looked like I was already overdue. Now at full term, it felt that each day I woke up I could tell my belly had grown more.
I slowly waddled out from around the corner. I was out of breath and tired. I stopped and stood with one hand on the wall supporting me and the other was bracing my aching back. I was fully naked. My huge belly being the only thing keeping me from fully exposing myself. I had grown out of my clothes long ago my hips got too wide for any of my bottoms and my belly has destroyed most of my tops.
I looked up at you and gave you a warm “welcome home!”
You smiled and greeted me back, coming closer to place your hands on my stomach. I closed my eyes and let out a small gasp. The skin on my stomach had become very sensitive as I grew. I hummed with pleasure as your hands rubbed circles around my tight skin.
“Ugghh,” I groaned when an ache bloomed from deep inside me. My belly contorting along with it. You look up at me with concern and excitement. I look up and meet your eyes nodding yes to the question I knew you were asking. I had been having contractions all morning and at this point I was positive I was deep in to my labor.
“They’re coming,” I say with a mixture of excitement snd nervousness in my voice.
“Then let’s get you more comfortable,” you suggest and begin to lead me back down the hall.
We don’t make it more than a few steps before the ache in my belly tuned into full on pain.
“Here comes a contraction,” I grunt out. You hold me and help keep me upright as I breathe through the pain. When it ends we continue our journey. We had turned the guest room into a home birthing center. With a bed in the corner, a birthing pool in the center of the room, and plenty of supplies.
“Where would you like to go?” You ask as we enter.
“Umm, I guess the birthing pool. Taking some weight off my hips would feel so go- oouuuhhhh,” my answer turns into a wail as a contractions starts up again.
“Might be time,” I gasp between deep breathes. “Check me before I get in.”
You nod and come up behind me. You slip a few fingers in to check to see how dilated I am. I get my answer before you even open your mouth. Your shocked expression clearly telling me the first baby is right there.
“It’s already starting to enter your birth canal,” you confirm and begin to help me into the pool faster.
The babies head had slowly inches its way out for the next twenty minutes. I grab! at the sides of the pool and push. I gasp and moan but it seems like there’s no end. I was getting tired and I still had two more babies to go.
“No- noo- ohhh again! I have to puushhh!” I cried out and bore down again. The head was behind my lips causing the skin to bulge outward. You watch from the edge of the pool. With your hand in the water ready to catch the baby.
I let out a scream as the head rushes forward out of me. “The heads out!”
I don’t stop after that I push again desperate to get the rest of the baby out.
“One more push,” I grunt and push. Just as I said the baby slide out with this last push.
You pull it up from the water and place it on my chest.
“A baby girl!” I say, finally able to take a moment to catch my breath and admire the baby.
It was short lived as the pain of my next contractions began. You take our first born and placed her in a near by bassinet. This time I knew what I was doing. When you came back and say I could push, I grabbed the wall of the pool and bare down hard.
“Get OUT!” I screamed and push. It was bigger than the first. But between being more desperate to get it out and my hole stretched from the first baby, the head of the second baby was making its way down faster than the first.
“Help me up,” I whine when the head is just barely outside of my lips. “Need. Ughhh. Gravity.”
You nod and grabbed my hands. With a lot of effort on both our part we get me to my feet. I place my hands on your shoulders, bend my knees slightly, amd push hard.
“Auuuuhh,” I groan and push. The head peaking further out. “Come- uuuuu- on!”
I bear down again and again, when finally I feel it all move quickly and painfully. The head slipping from my hole. You move your hands to between my legs just in time for me to give one last push to get baby number two out.
“It’s a boy!” You cheer and hand him to me.
You help lower me and baby down to a sitting position in the pool so I can relax. For a bit we’re able to actually take breather. Baby number three taking some time to want to come out.
“Oh- take him“ I suddenly say after a bit and hand over our second child to you. “It’s time for number three.”
The weight of the third baby is much heavier than the last two. The head feels much larger too. I toss my head back and try to focus on breathing it quickly fails when breathing turns to screaming. “Ahhhh! It’s. It’s so much bigger!”
“Help me to the bed,” I urgently plea as the contraction ends.
You nod and don’t hesitate to begin to help me move. I looked down at my half deflated belly, still massive and hanging heavy on my body. It was much lighter with two of my babies but with how exhausted I was it still took a bit to get me to bed. Which meant I didn’t have enough time to get into bed before my next contraction. Resulting in me bent over gasping and pushing with my hands on the side of the bed.
“It’s coming!” I scream, pushing. “It’s going to tear me open!”
You look down and see that what I’m saying might be true. The skin is already pulled right and just the beginning of the head is out. Still my body pushes and the head stretches me further. There was no stopping it.
“It burns!!” I cry. I bury my face in the bed letting out a scream as I push against and again. When the head finally pops free. My legs barely keep holding me up as I moan and grunt through the last few pushes until the baby falls into your waiting hands.
“I did it,” I gasp. You help me to the floor and hand me our third baby.
“You did do it!” You say and kiss my forehead. “I’m so proud of you.”
“It was all worth- ah!“ I get cut off by a familiar pain running through me. I look up at you with panicked eyes. “There’s a fourth baby.”
I don’t have time to register your reaction before I’m screaming out in pain. You rush over and take the baby in my arms away. I very quickly fall to my side lift a leg up.
“It’s big!” I cry out. My eyes looking like I’m on the verge of tears. “I don’t know if I can- ah! Push another one out!”
Even though I said it I knew that I had no choice. I began to push even if I didn’t want to. The baby moved slow through my abused birth canal. Each push was long and painful and continued to give little results.
“Help,” I whine at you after the latest contraction. I’m exhausted. My body lays limp on the floor too tired to sit up.
“Let’s try on all fours,” you suggest nervously.
I reluctantly nod. We get me into the new position and it does seem to help a little. I scream and push and the head seems to move further than before. By the time I’m at a full crown, my head is resting against the floor and my abused, destroyed and bulging hole is up in the air.
“Almost… there. Just a little more and it’s out,” my screams have turned into please and whines. “One more push….”
I grunt hard and push. The head finally pops free. “Oh yes!”
I gasp and with the little energy I have left a focus it all into getting the baby out of me. It only takes one more push with everything I have to get the fourth baby out of me. You quickly catch this one just like the last three.
“You did it!” You cheer. Holding the baby out for me to see.
“I did it!” I gasp out. I let myself fall to the floor too exhausted to hold myself up. I keep looking up at you and you catch my gaze snd smile even wider at me.
