Chapter
8
An
hour later, Tara was in a private room on the Maternity Floor. She was still in labor, having contractions
about once every half an hour.
AJ
had called his mother, Tara’s parents, and the rest of the guys and told them
all to come to the hospital. Now Tara’s
parents were in the room with her, while AJ sat in the waiting room with his
mother and the guys.
Hours
passed, and Tara’s contractions became closer together and more painful. AJ knew it would not be long before he would
have a child. He sat by her bed and
held her hand the whole time.
“It’s
time,” Tara’s doctor, Dr. Hall, said finally.
Tara looked relieved and terrified at the same time, for although she
had been waiting for this moment for months, she knew it would be painful. “Tara, I want you to push for me, ok?” Tara nodded through her gasping breaths and
pushed, squeezing her eyes shut in pain.
She gripped AJ’s hand and squeezed it so tightly, he thought it would fall
off. But he gritted his teeth and tried
to forget his own pain, for he realized hers was much worse. “Keep pushing,” Dr. Hall instructed. Tara moaned and pushed harder.
“Come
on, Tara, you can do it,” AJ said, his excitement and anxiety growing.
“I
can see the head,” Dr. Hall said. “One
more big push.” Tara pushed with all her
might, and suddenly, a loud cry filled the room. Tara fell back against the pillows, panting
and sobbing with relief. “It’s a girl!”
Dr. Hall announced. AJ grinned from ear
to ear. Tara smiled up at him, her eyes
shining with happy tears. Dr. Hall
turned to AJ. “Do you want to cut the
cord?” he asked.
AJ
took one look at it and shook his head.
Dr. Hall chuckled and cut it herself.
A nurse took the baby girl and wrapped her in a light pink blanket. Then she carefully handed her to Tara. Tara cradled the fragile baby in her
arms.
“We’ll
leave you three alone for a few minutes,” Dr. Hall said, smiling. Then she and the nurses left the room,
closing the door behind them.
“Oh,
Tara, she’s beautiful,” AJ said, looking fondly at his new baby girl.
“I
know,” Tara said, grinning. “She’s
perfect.”
***
A few
minutes later, a nurse came in with the birth certificate. “Have you decided on a name yet?” she asked.
“Madison
Lynn McLean,” Tara replied. She and AJ
had just decided on the name moments before.
The nurse smiled and wrote the name on the certificate. Then she left again, giving AJ and Tara more
time with Madison.
Soon,
another nurse came to take Madison to the nursery. “You can see her again later,” the nurse told
Tara. “Right now, you need to get your
rest.” After she left with Madison, AJ
stood.
“I’m
going to go out to see our families, ok?” he asked.
Tara
nodded. “Take them down to the nursery
so they can see Maddie,” she said.
He
grinned. “Will do,” he said. He bent and kissed her cheek. “See ya later, sweetie,” he said. Tara smiled up at him.
“Bye,”
she said as he left the room to go find the others.
***
