“How’s the little lady?” Jack asked, his voice braced with concern.
“All’s good so far. With twin births, everything needs to be handled a little more carefully – lots more can go wrong. But everything’s looking right now as it should. She’s already dilated eight centimeters.”
“Make that nine centimeters!” called out one of the nurses.
I smiled. “So, we’re about to have a couple of gorgeous grandchildren on our hands.”
The two of them shared a look of pure love – one of the best parts of being an OB/GYN was witnessing looks like that, the expression of happiness and eagerness at knowing there were going to be more precious little ones in the world.
“We’ll give you all space,” Jack said. “Just keep us informed.”
“You’ll know everything the moment we do.”
I put my hand on each of their shoulders in turn, then hurried back to Sadie. She was in the middle of another contraction, Cammy doing her best to help her through it. She was doing a damn good job with the breathing exercises – enough so that I felt comfortable leaving her to it while I attended to the business of delivery.
“We’re at ten,” said one of the nurses. “These babies are ready.”
“Hear that, Sadie?” I asked. “Number one’s on the verge!”
She smiled and nodded before turning her attention back to Camilla and the breathing exercises.
I positioned myself between Sadie’s legs in the stirrups, getting ready for the big event.
“We’re going to do some pushes,” I called out. “You ready, Sadie?”
“Ready!”
I liked that enthusiasm.
“Push!”
She did, grunting and groaning as she pushed with all her might.
“We’ve got a head!” I called out. “Blonde, like Ma!” Blonde babies weren’t all that common – it was a lovely thing to see. “Keep pushing!”
She did as I instructed, pushing and pushing until more of the first baby came out.
“Good! You’re doing it!”
Another series of pushes got the little one’s head out. We were nearly there.
“Again!”
She pushed hard, and this time my hands were there, ready to collect the baby. One more push and I was cradling baby number one in my hands.
The baby was beautiful, blonde, and healthy with a red face. I snipped the cord and gave the little one a once-over.
“A perfect little girl!”
Relief washed over Sadie’s face. I handed the baby girl to a nearby nurse, who quickly cleaned her up a bit then wrapped her and brought her over to Sadie for a look.
“Now, I know you want to hold the little one,” I said. “And in normal situations, that’s just what you’d be doing. But you’ve got another little one ready to see the world, so that’s going to have to wait just a moment, OK?”
She nodded, sweat pouring down her face. I hated to keep a mother from her child, but the nurse who had the newborn was doing the important work of checking over the little girl and making sure she was as healthy as she looked. With any luck, she and her brother or sister would be in Sadie’s arms very soon.
“Now,” I said. “One twin out means the other’s not too far behind. But that also means you’ve got to push a little more – got it?”
Sadie didn’t seem worried or stressed at all. In fact, she seemed determined.It was damned admirable.