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“I don’t know how you stand it,” Lauren laughed and walked over to Helen, who was sitting at the ER nurse’s station with her legs propped on a footrest. “I mean, aren’t you due like any day now? Don’t you want to be at home in bed or on the couch with Max waiting on you hand and foot? You know he would. He barely let you get your own water bottle as soon as you knew you were pregnant.”
“Not exactly,” Helen replied. “I still have about five weeks left. He’s driving me crazy anyway. I think he’s starting to worry too much about whether Luna’s Big Sister shirt comes before our family photoshoot. But I’ve been lucky that other than initial morning sickness, my pregnancy has been going smoothly. Lyn said I could work as long as I wanted to, although this morning, she said I might want to consider winding down in the next week or two. I had a little false alarm.”
“And I also have to admit, I’ve gotten pretty used to scrubs. Maybe I should wear them more often even after the baby comes. I always wondered if Max chose to do it partially because he didn’t want to wear a dress shirt and tie every day.”
“Well, Max likes to pretend he’s still one of us in the trenches,” Lauren said. “But yeah, there’s a reason why scrubs are what we wear in the ER. Leyla and I always joke that we could never do a full shift if we had to get all dolled up every day. Things just move too fast down here; we’d lose the makeup in an hour.”
“Hey, not to be rude, but did you add your consult notes into my patient’s chart? Mr. Anderson?”
“Oh, yes, I did. Let me know if anything wasn’t clear. I think I want to go get some quiet in my office, but just page me if anything else comes up.”
Helen slowly stood up and headed out of the ER, walking gingerly to the elevator. Although she was mostly enjoying pregnancy and couldn’t wait to give Luna a little sister, she hadn’t told anyone that she was feeling a bit nervous about labor and delivery. She’d been having some Braxton-Hicks contractions last night, but when she stopped by OB that morning to get checked out, Lyn6 had assured her she wasn’t in active labor and that the fetal heart rate was fine.
It was a good thing, too. Max was virtually attending a medical director conference and was presenting for the first time in his career. The conference was back in person in St. Louis this year, but Max had opted to attend online once again, not wanting to be out of town in case anything happened to Helen. So, Helen had taken Luna to day care to give him some quiet.
Helen felt another Braxton-Hicks coming and sat down on a chair in the hall. These seem to be happening more often, she thought. She remembered that before Lauren had called her, she was feeling some more discomfort and the baby, while still active, also seemed to be dropping. But she trusted Lyn and surely Lyn would have told her if she were getting close to delivery. Maybe she was just imagining the baby dropping anyway and her little one was simply rolling over for a nap. Still, things could change quickly.
“Helen?” She snapped out of her breathing exercise when she saw Karen approach her. “Are you all right?”
“Oh, Karen, you scared me. Um, yeah I think so. I’m just having some Braxton-Hicks contractions. They’re basically like false labor pains. I was having them last night, but I still have five weeks to go, and Dr. Malvo already assured me I’m not in labor.”
“I see,” Karen replied. “Do you need to go back upstairs? Does Max know this is happening?”
“Yes, but he has that medical director’s conference this week. He’s back at the apartment so he could be there virtually. I don’t want to bother him, you know?” She reached to grab her lower back and moaned. “Oh God, there’s another one.”
“Why don’t we go back to OB? Something could be wrong with the baby. I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but you did say five weeks. That’s still a month away from your due date. I’ll help you walk, but I’m sure we can find a wheelchair and make everything easier.”
Helen sighed. Even though Karen wasn’t a doctor, maybe she had a point.
“If you insist,” she said. “But I am telling you, it’s probably not a big deal.”
“Dr. Malvo is in delivery right now,” an OB nurse named Maya explained to Helen. “So, I’ll be setting you up and checking your cervix, and then I’ll let her know what’s going on when she’s available. What did she tell you when you visited this morning?”
“She did an ultrasound and examined me, and she said the baby looked good but there were no signs of active labor. Just that my body is getting ready and I should go on leave soon. I’ve worked pretty much my whole pregnancy with no issues; just using extra PPE as needed.”
“And she’s been your regular OB?”
“Yes. It’s easier when you already work here and know who to trust, I admit, even though I’ve had people tell me I could’ve gone anywhere in the city, and this OB at this hospital is the best and…you know?”
“Oh, I can imagine,” Maya smiled at her as she prepared to check her cervix. “I just started here a few weeks ago and I barely know my way to the coffee shop, much less who I’d want treating me if I were in a crisis.”
“OK Helen, just relax. Easier said than done, I know.”
Helen nodded and couldn’t help but squeeze Karen’s hand. Karen had admitted she knew next to nothing about being a Lamaze coach and promised to Google labor breathing exercises just in case, but Helen assured her that she and Max had been to enough childbirth classes that she could probably coach Karen through being a coach.
“Good,” Maya stood up. “It looks like you’re dilated about two centimeters.”
“Two?!” Helen gasped. “How can that be? I wasn’t dilated at all three hours ago.”
“Well, babies make their own plans sometimes. The good news is, it looks like the fetal heart rate is nice and strong and your blood pressure is stable. No crises right now. So just hang out for a little bit and I’ll talk to Dr. Malvo when she’s out of delivery. Just hit the call button if you need me.”
Helen groaned and looked at Karen. “This cannot be happening. I have five weeks. Max isn’t even here. I don’t have my birthing gown. Gwen and Calvin aren’t here to watch Luna…”
“OK, OK,” Karen put up a hand. “One thing at a time. First, we need to hear what Lyn says. She’s the authority on this today. You just need to be a good patient, which…yes, I know, that’s not easy for you doctors.”
“Believe me, I know. I gave Max the same speech during his cancer treatments.”
“Well, now you have to take your own advice. Let’s make a checklist.” Karen started tapping on her phone. “What is a birthing gown anyway?”
“Oh, some companies sell these nice gowns in floral prints or paisley or something like that, and you can wear them like a regular hospital gown when you’re having a baby. And it sure is more comfortable than this old thing.” Helen tried to scratch an itch on her neck.
“I see. OK, so talk to Lyn. Get the birthing gown. I think you’ll have to ask Max about that. And…what else?”
“Luna. She’s in day care. I brought her in so Max could focus on the conference.”
“Do you want me to call Gwen? Do you have her phone number on you?”
“No, not right now. Let’s make sure this isn’t a false alarm. She’s a bit of a meddler, and she is Max’s mother-in-law. He can talk to her." Helen could barely get the last sentence out before holding her stomach again. “Suddenly I’m not so sure these are Braxton-Hicks.”
“Let’s call Max,” Karen decided.
“No. Text is fine. He has a presentation today.”
“Text it is.”
Just before Karen could find Max’s number, Lyn knocked on the door and walked in.
“Hi Helen. So…I was just catching up with Maya. I understand things changed pretty quickly since this morning.” She signed into the computer and pulled up Helen’s chart. “But the baby doesn’t seem to be in any trouble, so let’s take another look.” She started reviewing a printout from the fetal monitor.
“Heart rate is still good. And you just had a contraction. Have they been coming more often?”
“I was down in the ER and I was going back upstairs and had one. Then two more since, but I honestly haven’t timed them. Lyn, please just tell me the baby and I will be OK. I have five weeks left. It’s still too early, don’t you think?”
“Anything sooner than three weeks before the due date is prematurity,” Lyn replied. “But…let me go look at your record again. I don’t see any signs of fetal distress, so we may need to do an ultrasound and/or some blood work to see if there’s a risk of placental abruption or a low-lying placenta. Do you have any unusual pain or pain that doesn’t feel like a contraction?”
“No.”
“All right. That’s what I want to hear.” She paused as she read back on Helen’s file. “Let’s get that ultrasound set up. Only 20% of abruptions are caught on ultrasound, but we should still check.”
When the machine started up, Helen looked nervously at the monitor, praying nothing would be wrong with the baby. She and Max had already been through enough; they didn’t need a preemie in the mix.
“I just hope you’re not going to tell me it’s a boy,” she told Lyn, trying to lighten the mood. “Max and I have all the girl stuff picked out.”
“It’s definitely a girl,” Lyn laughed. “Ah. There we go. It looks like I may have underestimated the baby’s weight, or we miscalculated the due date somewhere. Your little girl looks to be about 38 weeks. Around seven pounds.”
“And nothing’s wrong?”
“Nope. All the anatomy looks good. She’s very strong, and she’s starting to drop. Helen, you are in labor.”
Helen kind of laughed and stared at Lyn. “I think I’m still in denial. I mean….as long as you’re sure.”
“I understand. But try to get as comfortable as you can because at two centimeters, your contractions will start picking up soon enough. And don’t forget, you’re a first-time mom so you may be in it for the long haul.”
Helen sighed, remembering that Lyn had told her first-time moms tended to be in labor for 12 hours or more. “Darn it. I just don’t understand how we got this all wrong.”
“Believe it or not, doctors get due dates wrong almost 97% of the time. We’re not infallible” Lyn stood up. “I’m going to step out for a little bit, but you might want to find out what’s keeping Max. Have you considered if you want an epidural?”
“I’m OK for now, but we’ll see how things go. I was hoping for a natural delivery.”
When Lyn left the room, Helen noticed that Karen was already fixated on her phone, as if she was Helen’s official labor and delivery secretary.
“I contacted Max as soon as Lyn said you were in labor,” Karen said. “He hasn’t answered yet, so maybe he’s presenting now or taking a break or something. But I’ll keep…” The phone vibrated, and she looked down.
“He asked if you can talk; he wants to call.”
“OK,” Helen agreed, and Karen passed her the phone when the call came through.
“Babe, what happened?” Max asked. “Isn’t it too early for this? How’s the baby doing?”
“Believe it or not, she’s fine…oh, hang on, ow.” She sighed, trying to change position. “Sorry. Contraction. Lyn did an ultrasound to...look for…complications. And she underestimated the baby’s weight…oh God. And I’m actually two weeks early. Max, I barely…packed my bag.” She let out a big breath.
“All right, don’t worry. Listen, I’m up next in the schedule, and right after I finish Q&A, I’m signing off. Because then they break for lunch and networking anyway. I told Karen to hang out with you. She said that’s no problem. I’ll get a bag together and handle Luna and Gwen and everything. You just keep breathing.”
“OK…please hurry. I can’t do this without you.”
“You won’t have to for long.”
She put her head back against the pillow and looked at Karen. “I better start thinking about that epidural. I thought I could do natural childbirth. I’m not so sure anymore now that I’m experiencing labor. Hopefully not too many people have questions for Max.”
“It’s Max,” Karen laughed. “Everyone always has questions for him. But try not to worry about that. Just focus on the breathing.”
Helen nodded. Max had to hurry up, she thought. If the baby couldn’t wait any longer, she didn’t want to be without him for long either.