Storytime
Once upon a time the clock in the kitchen struck midnight as the very exhausted soon to be mama crawled back into bed trying to force away the insomnia. A sharp pain started to ache dully in her side, but she managed to roll over, close her eyes and drift off into a fitful sleep. Around 3:30 am however the pain in her side became more intense, jolting her from her sleep. She lay there thinking of what could have possibly woken her as nothing was stirring.
Giving up on sleep, she rolled over and grabbed her phone. One app caught her eye....a contraction timing app. Surely this cramping wasn't contractions....well. Why not time them? Just for practice of course so she would know what she was doing when the time came for her to really use it. She began the timing and after timing four of the contractions a notification popped up saying, "Congratulations you are in labor! Please have someone drive you quickly and safely to the nearest hospital! Good luck!"
What.
She gently prodded her husband, "Babe I think I'm in labor."
He snorted sleepily, "No you're not..."
"Well I'm having these cramps but I don't know if they are contractions or not???"
Well I know nothing about female anatomy...go ask your mom."
And so she trekked up the stairs to the second floor to ask her mom. Luckily they were staying with her parents while they were searching for a house. A slow feeling of dread came over her as she rounded the corner of the room and approached the king bed. Odd.
"Mama?" She whispered.
"AHHHH" Her mother sat bolt upright, "What's wrong? What's the matter?!"
No wonder she felt so apprehensive. Sheesh. "Umm. Mom? Are your eyes even open?"
"Rachel? What's the matter??? Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine. It's just -- my contraction timer says that I'm labor."
"Your what?"
"It's an app."
"You have an app to tell you you're in labor?"
Rachel sighed. "Yes. It's a whole millennial thing. It's weird. But it says I'm in labor. I don't think I am I'm having just cramps."
Her mom led her out into the hallway and surveyed her in the grey morning light, "Well can you talk through them?"
"Yeah of course. They aren't that bad at all."
"Well. Maybe you should go to the hospital and get check out anyways. Where's Alex?"
Rachel shrugged, "He's downstairs. He didn't believe me."
*
About an hour and a half later, of convincing Alex to rise and dress, load the car he returned to find her scrubbing down the bathroom sink. "What on earth are you doing?!"
"cleaning duh."
"Babe. You're in labor-"
"Possibly." She interjected.
"-we have to go!" He finished exasperatedly.
After much coaxing Alex persuaded her to get in the car and start driving. She watched the sun come up, warming the earth with it's orange red fire. "We could be parents today!" She grinned at him.
"I know!" He said driving a little faster than the speed limit.
"But what if I'm not in labor? What If I embarrass myself and I have to go back tomorrow or something. Ugh. I've heard about stuff like that."
Alex reassured her, "Babe if you aren't in labor than I promise we can go to Waffle House on the way home."
They parked at the hospital right across from the church and as they walked through the parking lot she gazed at the beautiful blue sky and the way the sunlight shone golden on the church steeple across the street. Today was Sunday. The Lord's Day.
They entered and were shown to the maternity ward. Rachel was chatting it up with the nurses hoping they wouldn't make too much fun of her when they kicked her out in about 20 minutes. They gave her the last little room on the left. The doctor came in and checked her and laughed at her insecurity that she wasn't in labor. "Well, you are actually at a 7. So congratulations! You are going to be parents today!"
Rachel and Alex looked at each other in shock.
Two hours and one epidural later Rachel had 16 visitors in her hospital room helping her wait. The soon to be grandmothers sat close together discussing what the little baby would call them and researching the the origins of the names. The siblings of the soon to be parents were busying calculating the baby's genetic code and what percentage he had of being born with red hair.
Around 1 pm Rachel decided that she had had enough and it was time to meet her son. So after the nurse ran around trying to find a doctor on call, Rachel threw up and Alex called her a "Viking Warrior Princess" trying to soothe her, Noah was born at 3:17 pm. He has been a summer baby ever since and loves running around with no clothes, no cares. He has been so loved by his entire family. What gift my baby boy is!!! I cannot wait to see what the next 98 years bring him in his life. He is my Treasure, my Heart. Happy Birthday, Cubbers! Thank you for reading!
Giving up on sleep, she rolled over and grabbed her phone. One app caught her eye....a contraction timing app. Surely this cramping wasn't contractions....well. Why not time them? Just for practice of course so she would know what she was doing when the time came for her to really use it. She began the timing and after timing four of the contractions a notification popped up saying, "Congratulations you are in labor! Please have someone drive you quickly and safely to the nearest hospital! Good luck!"
What.
She gently prodded her husband, "Babe I think I'm in labor."
He snorted sleepily, "No you're not..."
"Well I'm having these cramps but I don't know if they are contractions or not???"
Well I know nothing about female anatomy...go ask your mom."
And so she trekked up the stairs to the second floor to ask her mom. Luckily they were staying with her parents while they were searching for a house. A slow feeling of dread came over her as she rounded the corner of the room and approached the king bed. Odd.
"Mama?" She whispered.
"AHHHH" Her mother sat bolt upright, "What's wrong? What's the matter?!"
No wonder she felt so apprehensive. Sheesh. "Umm. Mom? Are your eyes even open?"
"Rachel? What's the matter??? Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine. It's just -- my contraction timer says that I'm labor."
"Your what?"
"It's an app."
"You have an app to tell you you're in labor?"
Rachel sighed. "Yes. It's a whole millennial thing. It's weird. But it says I'm in labor. I don't think I am I'm having just cramps."
Her mom led her out into the hallway and surveyed her in the grey morning light, "Well can you talk through them?"
"Yeah of course. They aren't that bad at all."
"Well. Maybe you should go to the hospital and get check out anyways. Where's Alex?"
Rachel shrugged, "He's downstairs. He didn't believe me."
*
About an hour and a half later, of convincing Alex to rise and dress, load the car he returned to find her scrubbing down the bathroom sink. "What on earth are you doing?!"
"cleaning duh."
"Babe. You're in labor-"
"Possibly." She interjected.
"-we have to go!" He finished exasperatedly.
After much coaxing Alex persuaded her to get in the car and start driving. She watched the sun come up, warming the earth with it's orange red fire. "We could be parents today!" She grinned at him.
"I know!" He said driving a little faster than the speed limit.
"But what if I'm not in labor? What If I embarrass myself and I have to go back tomorrow or something. Ugh. I've heard about stuff like that."
Alex reassured her, "Babe if you aren't in labor than I promise we can go to Waffle House on the way home."
They parked at the hospital right across from the church and as they walked through the parking lot she gazed at the beautiful blue sky and the way the sunlight shone golden on the church steeple across the street. Today was Sunday. The Lord's Day.
They entered and were shown to the maternity ward. Rachel was chatting it up with the nurses hoping they wouldn't make too much fun of her when they kicked her out in about 20 minutes. They gave her the last little room on the left. The doctor came in and checked her and laughed at her insecurity that she wasn't in labor. "Well, you are actually at a 7. So congratulations! You are going to be parents today!"
Rachel and Alex looked at each other in shock.
Two hours and one epidural later Rachel had 16 visitors in her hospital room helping her wait. The soon to be grandmothers sat close together discussing what the little baby would call them and researching the the origins of the names. The siblings of the soon to be parents were busying calculating the baby's genetic code and what percentage he had of being born with red hair.
Around 1 pm Rachel decided that she had had enough and it was time to meet her son. So after the nurse ran around trying to find a doctor on call, Rachel threw up and Alex called her a "Viking Warrior Princess" trying to soothe her, Noah was born at 3:17 pm. He has been a summer baby ever since and loves running around with no clothes, no cares. He has been so loved by his entire family. What gift my baby boy is!!! I cannot wait to see what the next 98 years bring him in his life. He is my Treasure, my Heart. Happy Birthday, Cubbers! Thank you for reading!
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