How far along am I ? Harper asks as she continues to breathe heavily from the contraction she just endured, setting her head back against the pillow that’s underneath her head.
You’re going pretty fast, surprisingly. You’re almost at nine centimeters, which means that very soon, it’ll be time to start pushing. I’ll be back to see if we’ve progressed, but don’t get up and start walking around because it would happen pretty fast at this rate, alright ? Dr. Criss tells her before leaving the room.
Harper looks up at us with a big smile despite being in tons of pain. You guys are about to have a baby.
Joey tightened his grip on my shoulder, kissing the top of my head. Yeah, we are.
Within 30 minutes of the doctor leaving, Harper hits 10 centimeters and Joey and I are escorted to the waiting room as our baby was being born. Before we leave, we make sure to give the mother of a child a hug and kiss since she said that she probably wasn’t strong enough to see the baby after its born because the last thing we wanted to do was have gotten our hopes up for the last few months and ultimately, take the baby back. As we sit in the waiting room, I hold onto my husband’s hand as we wait for any news whatsoever. We’re probably fathers right now.
He looks up at me with a soft smile, nodding his head. He tightens his grip on my hand before moving closer to me to set his head on my shoulder. We probably have a little boy right now.
A little boy, I whisper in disbelief that I’m currently 21-years-old and about to have a baby with a man I married when I was 18. My entire life flashed before my eyes because it feels like so much has happened in such a little amount of time, but I was entirely grateful for how everything has worked out in my life so far.
After about an hour and a half of waiting in the abandoned room, a nurse wearing light blue scrubs walks in. Hi, are you two Kade and Joey ?
We immediately stand up to walk over to her and Joey tightens his grip on my hand. Yeah, that’s us.
She smiles widely, nodding her head. You two are the fathers of a beautiful, healthy baby boy. He’s eight pounds, two ounces and ready to meet his parents. You can follow me.
I look over at Joey to see tears welling up in his eyes along with mine as we hear the first fact of our baby since he was exposed to the outside world. We walk behind the nurse into a room that had two chairs along with a clear bucket that was lined with blankets, probably where our baby boy would sleep while he’s in the hospital. I look on the side of the bucket to see his weight and length written on a little blue sticker.
The nurse leaves for a few minutes before coming back with a little bundle in her arms that was wrapped in a white and blue swaddle blanket. Joey and I shoot out of our chairs to meet the lady halfway before she hands our baby to my husband since that’s what we discussed that beforehand. When he was settled into Joey’s arms, we both look down at him to see his beautiful face. His arms are moving inside of his blanket as he lets out a little yawn, making tears fall down my face as I see how adorable my baby is.
The nurse instructs me to take my shirt off since skin-to-skin is important when a baby is new. I listen to her, taking my shirt off before sitting in the chair that I assumed was mine for the night. The nurse unwrapped our baby from his blanket before placing him on his tummy against my chest. When our skin touch for the first time, Joey and I watch as he opens his eyes to reveal a dark brown color that makes my breath hitch when I see the gorgeous orbs.
Now, what’s the little guy’s name ? The nurse asks, picking up a marker to write on the sticker that already shows how much our baby weighs.
I look at Joey, motioning for him to tell her what we’ll be calling him since he ultimately picked the name. Joey reaches out, grabbing our baby’s hand as he struggles to pick his head up against my chest. My husband lets out a small sigh as he smiles down at our boy. Matthew Justin Laine-Brooks.