BA5

Its 4am, my wife and I are nestled comfortably side-by-side in our queen size bed, which is perfectly centered, along the tallest wall in our master bedroom. Above us, a ceiling fan gently whorls. Next to it, a skylight lets moonlight enter the room, which shines on the foot of the bed, where our two cats lay intertwined, basking in the moonlight, like a pair of kindred lovers. In the corner, pillows and blankets smother an empty white basinet that waits patiently for our new son.       

Suddenly, I felt a nudge to my right shoulder and then my wife’s voice, “he keeps kicking me…jeesh”. She reaches across the bed, grabs my left hand, and gently lays my palm atop her pregnant belly. Moments later, I feel her entire stomach clamp down as if to hug our unborn son. For the next fifteen seconds, I could feel the definition of my son’s body through my wife’s abdomen. My wife asked, “Did you feel that? He is really moving.” Curiously I thought to my self “It seemed like your belly moved, not our son.” I found it odd my wife couldn’t tell the difference but I held my tongue because as a nurse, she probably knows better than me. I immediately checked the time on my watch, and then placed my hand back on her belly. I asked her “how long has he been moving?” She replied, “About two hours now, but I didn’t want to wake you”. After some time passed, I felt it again. But this time I became certain, her belly moved, not our son. I subtly drew my hand away from her stomach and peered into my watch, carefully counting the minutes that past between these “movements”. I counted to myself “One, Two Three, Four, and Five… Five minutes!” Instantly, our obstetrician’s words reverberated throughout my thoughts “There is plenty of time to get to the hospital, so don’t freak out. Take your time, be supportive and drive carefully. Remember most deliveries take 12 hours.”

Calmly I look over at my wife and said, “I don’t know love, and I think it’s your belly moving, not our son…” She replies, “No, it’s him moving, I’m sure of it.” Respectfully I accepted her response, and laid my palm on her belly again.  Patiently I waited, until again I could feel the silhouette of my son through her belly. I said, “Is he moving now?” She replied, “Ya.” I glance at my watch and thought, “Five minutes again”. I said,”Love, this is happening every five minutes. You’re having labor contractions.” She replied, “Are you sure?” I said, “Well every time you thought he was moving, he wasn’t. It was your stomach contracting.” 

I hopped out of bed and flicked on the lights. She says, “I’m not sure these are contractions. Let’s call the clinic’s emergency line and see what they say”. She grabbed the phone, dials the number to our obstetrician’s after hour’s service, and gets the answering machine. She calmly left our information, requested a quick return phone call and hung up. After the phone call she said, “I’m going to soak in the bath till they call back. Maybe it will calm down”.  Meanwhile, I dressed, gathered the suitcase we already had prepared and hauled it down stairs, placing it by the front door.

The phone began to ring. Hastily I darted to the stairs and jogged up them skipping every other. My wife answered the phone, “Hello.” I sat quietly next to the bathtub, but could only hear the murmur of a woman’s voice. My wife informed her of what had transpired and paused for a response. During that pause my ears transformed into that of a K-9 because I heard every word said to my wife. “Those are contractions; you need to check into the hospital. I will notify your doctor and she will meet you there.”