Inevitably Yours

“How does it feel?” I asked Quinn as we headed out of the doctor’s office and down to the Labor and Delivery registration desk. We skipped lunch because we were eager to get to the hospital, which was almost an hour away from home. Not all hospitals were safe for wolves to go to. Stary only had a couple of primary care and pediatric doctors but no hospital. As a pack, we tried to take care of emergencies as best we could, but sometimes a hospital was necessary.

“Almost like I need to pee a little, but it isn’t uncomfortable,” Quinn answered. All of this pup stuff was very strange. In order to kickstart the labor, her doctor inserted a balloon into her uterus and filled it with water to put pressure on the cervix. It sounded crazy to me.

Quinn’s stomach growled. “Also, I’m starving,” she laughed.

“Let’s get all checked in, then we’ll find the cafeteria and feed you,” I assured her as we exited the elevator.

“She said no more food after midnight, so there wouldn’t be any complications tomorrow,” Quinn reminded me.

“I know,” I told her. I was hanging on to every word the doctor was telling us. I wasn’t going to miss a single detail when it came to my Quinn.

Registration was pretty seamless. Soon, we were escorted to a room, and they were getting Quinn all set up. They gave her a gown to change into, assuring her since she was induced with a balloon, it was fine to leave her undergarments for now. The nurse was even sweet enough to give her a second one to put on backward, so her backside wasn’t exposed. They prepared an IV sight in her arm so she could easily be given fluids and meds later.

Finally, they had her lay on the bed and started attaching fetal monitors to her. “Is she going to be able to walk around with those on?” I asked as the nurse was hooking the wires into a machine.

She looked at me strangely. “Um, no. We’ll need her to stay in bed unless she needs to use the restroom from here on out,” the nurse answered.

“But that isn’t what our doctor told us,” I said. “She told us to walk around tonight to get things moving. She told us to go down and have dinner as long as we eat before midnight.”

“I’m sorry, but the fetal monitors are in the orders. It’s hospital policy once induction has begun that the mother should remain in bed,” the nurse frowned.

“She threw up her breakfast this morning, and we didn’t eat lunch,” I said. “She’s hungry.”

“Well, she won’t be able to eat anything until after the baby arrives. If she has to go into surgery at any point, we need there to be nothing in her system. It will reduce complications,” the nurse said.

My anger was peeking. I was trying not to explode on the nurse, but this was not what we were told. The nurse could tell I was unhappy. “Why don’t I send a message to the department head and see if we can work something out? In the meantime, I can bring you a popsicle.”

“Thank you,” Quinn said quietly from the bed. The nurse finished setting up the monitors and left us alone.

“I would have insisted we stop for lunch if I knew this would happen. We could have brought dinner to eat in the room,” I sighed. I skipped breakfast to go for one last run with Eros, knowing we would be couped up in the hospital for a few days. Quinn held out her hand, and I took it. I always loved the charge that ran through me at her touch.

“It’ll be okay. Maybe the pup will be so hungry he comes faster,” she tried to joke. I leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

–

The nurse came back a while later and told us they weren’t going to take her off the fetal monitors for the baby’s safety. She gave Quinn a popsicle, which did nothing to curb her hunger. Quinn insisted I get myself some dinner, so I wasn’t cranky for the rest of the night. I refused, not thinking it was fair to eat in front of her. My stomach objected, but I ignored it.

A little while later, Quinn started wincing and squirming in the bed. I called the nurse in to check on her, and she informed us that the contractions were starting. They offered her some pain medication which she accepted quickly. The nurse had not even finished pushing it into her IV sight before Quinn passed out.

I texted Nic to check in, and she replied with a phone call. “So, are you a dad yet?” she asked excitedly.

“Not quite,” I laughed quietly. “Hopefully tomorrow morning.”

“Gosh, M, you’re about to be a dad. You didn’t want pups, and now you’re a mated Alpha waiting on the first one to pop out!”

“I know,” I told her. “I have been present for the last year.”

“How’s our girl doing?” Nic asked.

“Sleeping. They gave her pain medicine in her IV, and she went right out. The nurse said it should be at least four hours until she wakes up,” I told her.

“What did preggers choose as her last meal then?” Nic asked. Nic and I talked for a while longer, and I filled her in on everything that had happened since we got to the hospital. She was just as mad as I was about not being able to leave the room. It was nice to have my best friend to commiserate with while I waited for my pup.

After talking to Nic, I did manage to nap for a little while. The nurses came in about every hour to check on Quinn and our pup. By the time the doctor came to see Quinn in the morning, there had not been much progress, and they wanted to give her the medicine to move things along.

I held her hand and stayed by her side through the start of the medicine, her water being broken to encourage the labor to progress, then the epidural when the pain was becoming too much for her. By evening time, she looked ready to throttle the next person who told her we needed to try something else to move the process along.

Quinn was starting to fall apart when a new nurse came in. “Alright, Mrs. Galbraith. I’m your night shift nurse, and I’m getting you over to mother and baby before I clock out. Are you ready to have a baby?” she smiled at Quinn. I watched Quinn to judge her reaction.

“I’m not really sure he wants to come out,” Quinn said softly. Every new thing they wanted to do only got us a centimeter closer to the goal if we were lucky.

“Nonsense. Since you already have an epidural, I can’t put you on your feet. With your husband’s help, we can move you around and get this whole thing moving, though,” she said. She was positive and assertive at the same time; I respected the assurance she had for the situation. Quinn nodded; we really didn’t have many other choices.

For the next few hours, the nurse came back every 20-30 minutes, and we repositioned my mate. I could tell it wasn’t always comfortable for her, but it was working. Even with pain medicine, she was feeling more and more of it. I even started to feel some pain.

Finally, the nurse brought her doctor back in, and they decided it was time to push. The room was flooded with more nurses as they got everyone ready to go. They put me at Quinn’s side, instructing me on how to help hold her leg up to put her in the optimal position. Our night nurse stood across from me, ready to hold her other leg.

“I’m scared, M,” Quinn linked me. I leaned down and kissed her softly, rubbing the top of her hair.

“I’m right here. You got this, baby,” I told her.

As soon as the doctor was in place, she started pushing. I counted right in her ear as she squeezed my hand through the exertion. Over and over, she pushed and pushed.

“I can’t,” she finally panted.

“You sort of have to,” I said.

“No, I can’t,” she shook her head. “I can’t anymore.”

“An emergency delivery just came in,” one of the nurses called out from the back. Quinn’s doctor sighed and looked at her.

“He isn’t coming easily. If she doesn’t push right now, I’ll have to come back,” she concluded.

“What?” I asked as the room emptied quickly. I looked at our night nurse, who was trying to reposition my mate again. “So she can just quit pushing?”

“It’s not ideal, but we’ll see if giving her a little rest, we can encourage little man to come out. He keeps barely crowning but isn’t staying low enough to get him out safely,” she explained. Quinn g*****d as she was turned on her side. “What’s your pain like?”

“Seven,” Quinn answered.

“Alright,” the nurse nodded. “We’ll get the epidural refilled as soon as the doctor is available. Press the button if she starts screaming, or we get to a nine. I’ll be back in fifteen to move her again.”

QUINN

My insides were going to burst out of me. All I could feel was my child low in my pelvis, and every couple of minutes, my body would squeeze with an excruciating force.

As the nurse left, Michael looked down at me, worried. I felt sweaty and gross. I needed a shower. I wanted something to eat. My mouth felt like cotton. I just had about ten people looking directly into my crotch, and the pup still wasn’t out of me.

“What can I do?” he asked.

“Water, ice, something,” I g*****d. Everything hurt. My h**s, my back. Even my legs were starting to hurt as I regained feeling in them.

“Here,” Michael said, handing me the remnants of the ice cup they let me have earlier. I sucked it down, but it barely helped. “Baby, you have to push. You can’t just give up.”

“I’m exhausted, and I’m not getting any closer, “ I defended.

“I know,” he sighed, leaning his forehead against mine. “So you want to try and close your eyes? Until they come back?”

“I guess,” I said. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to sleep with the contractions undulating through me like a vice.

Michael sat down until our night nurse came back and flipped me again. He asked if she could get me some ice or water, and she returned with a popsicle when she wanted to flip me again. I ate it in three bites, savoring the coolness in my mouth. Again, it only helped marginally.

After a few more flips of my body, my pup decided it was time. All at once, the pain from the contractions tripled, and every fiber of my being wanted to push. Michael jumped up and panickedly called the nurse back; within a minute, the room was flooded with people again.

“I guess it’s time,” my doctor announced, and she came in.

“Ahhhh,” I tried holding back the scream, but the pain was indescribable.

“Page anesthesiology, that epidural needs refilled twenty minutes ago,” the doctor ordered.

Michael was right by my side, holding my hands and whispering in my ear, but I could barely hear him. I needed this pup out of me now. Then we were pushing again. And again. Each push brought more mounting pain. I couldn’t tell if I was crying or sweating. My vision started to blur each time I bore down, trying to listen for the count to ten.

“So close, Quinn, he’s right there,” my doctor called.

“I’m gonna hurl,” I gasped, feeling my stomach retch. I turned, and somehow, Michael had a bowl right there, ready to catch it. I couldn’t even figure out how it was possible when it had been over 48 hours since I ate anything. I didn’t have time to puzzle it out as the next contraction ripped through me.

“We need to cut her,” my doctor called out. There was a sharp pain with pressure under it then I was told to push again.

As if someone had caught my entire crotch on fire, I screamed as my body forced me to push. “Baby, baby, he’s here. One more. One more little push,” Michael said in my ear. I didn’t have a choice; my body pushed for me.

“Congrats, Quinn and Michael. You have a son,” I heard my doctor say. My eyes couldn’t focus on anything. All I could think about was the residual burning pain below. People were talking all around me, and I couldn’t focus on any of it.

Finally, Michael’s voice got through. “Do you want to hold him?” he asked near my head. I slumped back, the pain becoming manageable again.

“I’m okay right now,” I sighed as my lower half quickly went numb again. “Maybe later.” Someone laughed near me, but I just closed my eyes. Being numb was way better than what had just happened.