grunting

“I’m never leaving the house again!” Evie insisted with a groan, her round belly tightening as her body prepared to bring another baby into the world. For Evie and her wife, Melinda, the desire had always been to have a big family. Their daughter was two now, her entrance into the world one that she had hoped to never relive. But here she was, thirty seven weeks pregnant with baby number two, far away from home and once again in labour.

She and Melinda had taken the day to borrow their friends lake house. A few hours away from home, but there had been no signs that labour had been imminent, induction had even been brought up. It was obvious that wouldn’t be necessary. “Honey, I don’t want to be catching another one, let’s get you in the car.” Evie’s waters had broken suddenly as they had been preparing to head down to the waters edge, contractions coming strong and fast.

The couple moved to the car quickly, Evie crying out as her body tensed. “Fuuuck! Ohhhh, ugggghhhhhhh!” it was happening faster this time, contractions already close enough together to have Melinda worrying. The nearest hospital was an hour away, their odds weren’t great, but she wasn’t about to say that out loud.

As her wife drove, Evie did her best to try to stay calm. Just once she wanted the birth she had planned, one that didn’t involve their car turning into a birthing suite. Her hands rested against her belly, it had dropped the day before, the weight of it heavy in her pelvis, with their daughter that had happened weeks before she had arrived, she thought she had time, but it would seem that baby sibling was impatient about joining them.

Twenty minutes passed, the hospital still no where in sight and Evie was struggling, pressure was building with every contraction, all she wanted to do was move, pace, squat, anything but staying in the same position. She lifted her hips, trying to find a small bit of comfort. “Hmmmmmmmmnnnnngghh!” The contraction struck without any build up, stronger than the others, she tried to breathe through it, but could only groan from the intensity.

Another twenty minutes went by, her contractions now only a minute apart, Evie had slid her hand between her legs, as if she could keep the baby inside. “Should I pull over?” Melinda asked, glancing at her wife who shook her head in response. “No. ‘We can make it!”

They couldn’t make it, Evie realised, the urge to push growing harder and harder to resist. A contraction began, her body screaming at her to give in and so she did. She bore down with a grunt, lifting her dress and pushing her underwear down to her ankles.

She began to crown with a speed she simply hadn’t expected, panting heavily through the burn. “I’m pulling over!” Melinda said, glancing at the head between her wife’s legs. “Don’t. I can do this, just get us to the hospital.”

Everything around her seemed to blur, all Evie could focus on now was giving birth. Another contraction built and with it, she pushed. Her yells filled the car, her hands between her open legs as the head emerged. She panted heavily, waiting for the baby to turn, the sensation just as strange the second time. “Hhhnnnngggh…” She was pushing again, the shoulders shifting forward and before she knew it, their second child was in her hands.