Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Me: I love you.
Mack: I love you more.
Pfft. Doubtful, but I refuse to go down that rabbit hole that is the back-and-forth of the who-loves-whom-the-most discussion he always tries to pull me into.
Once I put my phone back in my desk drawer, I stand to my feet and head back to the whiteboard with the intention of writing out the first problem on the worksheet to make it easier to go over with my students.
But halfway to the board, I feel this intense popping sensation, and then, warm fluid gushes down my legs.
Oh no.
I look down at my feet and see a puddle of clear liquid.
Holy hell. I think my water just broke.
“Ms. Dayton?” Seth Brown’s voice fills my ears. “I don’t want to embarrass you, but I think you just peed your pants.”
I open my mouth to offer some kind of explanation that won’t freak out my whole class, but my stomach turns hard as a rock as an insanely intense contraction rolls through my body.
Goodness, I don’t think this is a Braxton-Hicks…
“Holy schnikes!” I groan and have to brace my hand on the board to stabilize myself as I breathe through it.
“Ms. Dayton?” Seth Brown’s voice is back. “Are you okay?”
“Mmmhmm.”
“I don’t think you’re okay,” he continues. “You look like my aunt Brooke did before she had to go to the hospital to have her baby.”
“Oh my goodness!” another student calls out. “You’re going to have your baby, Ms. Dayton!”
“Are you going to have your baby right now?”
“But someone has to be here to catch your baby!”
“I can catch a baseball really good!”
“Anyone got a glove?”
My class is in shambles now, but all I can do is shuffle over to my desk and pull out my phone again.
Help, I text to the one person I need right now.
And I swear, not even ten seconds later, Mack comes bursting through my classroom door like Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld.
“Katy?”
“My water broke,” I manage to breathe out while another contraction starts to roll through my body.
He’s at my side and wrapping his arm around my waist. “We need to get a move on it, babe,” he whispers quietly into my ear. “Looks like we’re going to have our baby today.”
All I can do is nod through gritted teeth.
Holy moly. I’m about to have a baby.
Mack
“You can do it, babe,” I coach as Katy pushes with a contraction. “You got this.”
She grabs the backs of her thighs, and her face strains as she pushes with all of her might. My girl has been in labor for the past sixteen hours, and she’s been pushing for the past two. I know she’s tired, but I also know that she’s getting close. I can actually see the baby’s head at this point.
“You’re almost done, Katy,” Dr. Wethers encourages. “The head is right there. I think with the next contraction, the baby will be here.”
Katy looks up at me, her breaths slowing during the short break.
“You okay?” I ask her and she nods.
“Just ready to meet our baby.”
“I’m so proud of you,” I say and kiss her forehead. “Strongest woman I know.”
She smiles up at me, and I don’t think she’s ever looked more beautiful than she does in this moment. Sure, she’s sweaty and her hair is a mess, but she’s having our baby. Right now, Katy is delivering our child into the world. Nothing could ever be more beautiful than that.
“Okay, Katy, here it is,” Dr. Wethers announces. “Give me another big push with this contraction, and I think we’ll have a baby.”
Katy takes a big inhale of oxygen, grips the backs of her thighs, and pushes with everything inside her.
“That’s it,” Dr. Wethers says with a smile. “Keep going. Keep going.”
I watch as our baby leaves Katy’s body. And then, I hear the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard—our baby’s first cry.
“You did it!” Dr. Wethers cheers. And the two nurses in the room do the same.
“Good job, Katy!”
“Way to go, Katy!”
“And it’s a girl!” Dr. Wethers announces as she clutches our baby in her hands. “Congratulations, Mom and Dad, you have a daughter.”
I have a daughter? Holy shit, I have a daughter!
“You ready to cut the umbilical cord, Dad?” the doctor asks as she smiles up at me.
But I don’t even know what to say as I stand there, looking down at Katy’s and my daughter. All I can do is nod.
One nurse hands me surgical scissors, while the other holds the umbilical cord with a gloved hand. “Just right there, Dad. Right between my fingers.”
I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience as I cut my daughter’s umbilical cord, and a moment later, Dr. Wethers places our baby on Katy’s chest.
And I can’t fight the tears of joy carving paths down my cheeks.
“She’s so beautiful,” Katy whispers as she stares down at the tiny, precious little face.