[[[-IF4-P20.TXT-]]] ---------------- Island Fever 4: Paradise Written by: JeremyDCP@hotmail.com M/F, F/F and a whole lot more ---------------- Chapter 20: "Dani Grace" ------------------------------------------- -*- Sunday, August 2, 2015 -*- -*- Sandvika, Norway -*- (Seven weeks after the previous chapter) After Amy and I returned home from an otherwise routine trip to the grocery store, she began to experience some pretty severe back pain and, as a family, we tried to figure out whether or not she was in labor. Amy, who was 38 weeks into her pregnancy, took one step into the house and suddenly complained that she could barely move, and it was difficult just to breathe. Scarlett, a delivery nurse at the university hospital in Oslo, listened as Amy explained she was not having any contractions, but was suffering excruciating back pain. Scarlett said that the local hospital here in Sandvika would welcome her in, day or night, if she wanted to get monitored. Amy decided to wait things out a bit. She took a hot bath, which made her feel a little better. Scarlett suggested that she wait another 20 minutes and if the discomfort did not fade by then, it would be best if Amy went to the hospital for observation. Kaden, who had his first birthday just four days ago, came rumbling over and both hugged and kissed Amy's massive baby bump when she lifted her t-shirt to her midriff. Kaden loved to dote and bop his head against Amy's belly. Really, could anyone blame him? Kaden wanted to meet his baby sister. Amy was stubborn, though, and was pacing back-and-forth 45 minutes later. "My back feels raw," she complained. "But I don't want to go to the hospital again unless I'm sure I'm in labor. I want to be absolutely positive." And then, in her next breath, Amy changed her mind. "Right there," she whined. "I can feel it. It's worse than it was just two seconds ago. My back really hurts. Let's just go. Let's go to the hospital." Kristanna and Pamela helped me pack a few bags to take to the medical facility here in Sandvika just in case Amy was in labor. Trish and Lindsay got the honor of tagging along with us. We did not want to cause a public scene by having six women and one man (not to mention two very special guests) all hovering and fawning over Amy at once. Nor did we want to overwhelm her with too many people and voices, so I capped the number of wives and visitors for her to two at a time. Sometime later, Amy's eyes were closed and she was in dire pain as she lay in a hospital bed with a nurse beside her, explaining the situation. "You're dilated to a four, so what we will do is watch you for about an hour or two... see if it changes, see if it's labor and if you have any contractions, and then go from there. Okay?" "I was at a three two days ago when I went to the doctor," Amy told the nurse. "Is a three to a four not that big of a jump? Is that not a big deal?" "We need to see how you are in one to two hours," the nurse reiterated. "Then we will go from there." As things turned out, Amy was indeed in labor. The ensuing contractions were fairly light, but the hospital staff made the decision to admit Amy and prepare her for an I-V to administer antibiotics to combat _Group B Streptococcus_, an infection that was found in her vagina during a prenatal examination two weeks ago. The "Strep B" bacteria was found in about one out of every four healthy, adult women, and a mother could easily pass the infection to her baby during delivery. With the antibiotics, however, the chances of doing so went down to about one in 4,000. I was not concerned at all. After her I-V was in place and she was given some pain medication, the doctor actually suggested that Amy get out of bed and walk up and down the hallway. He wanted to get her blood flowing and see if the activity would help her progress at all. Amy was in a lively, chipper mood; she danced and bounced throughout the hospital corridors, but suddenly stopped and finished with a slow walk back to her room. "My stomach hurts all of a sudden." Amy had since dilated to a five, and was well on her way. It was time for me to call in the cavalry. This story is not the place for me to explain details and everything that transpired, but during my trip to Ohio with Lindsay nearly two months ago, I made it a point to go to the home of Amy's parents, Robert and Kathleen, and tell them that their daughter was pregnant and she was having a rough go of it. I knew that Robert and Kathleen had issues with Amy (and vice versa), but I implored to them that she was their flesh and blood, and their presence when she gave birth to Dani Grace in Norway would mean the absolute world to her. Long story short, they agreed to be here when the time came. Convincing them felt like a major victory for me. So, Robert and Kathleen arrived at the hospital from their hotel in downtown Oslo after I called and informed them that Amy was in labor. I did not know if this was the beginning of a true reconciliation or not, but Amy cried and became overly emotional when her mother gave her a hand-made blanket with flower designs all over it, saying it was a present for Dani Grace. "I made it myself for her," Kathleen told us. Past dinner-time, and with Amy having not eaten since lunch, the doctor allowed her to snack on some potato chips, pretzels and jello before telling her _no more food_. Robert and Kathleen sat in the corner and shared friendly chatter with their daughter as Trish and Lindsay took turns holding the video camera. Four guests in the room (five if you count me) was excessive and pushing it in my opinion, but I let it slide because two of them were Amy's parents and I could not leave all of our wives out in the cold. Once she was dilated to a six, the nurse broke Amy's water. She was definitely relaxed and in a good mood as they pumped more medicine into her. I must have asked the doctor three or four times if they gave her the antibiotics for the infection that she had (I was worried after all). _Group B Streptococcus_ is harmless to adults unless they have extreme medical conditions, but it can cause a disease in newborns if passed from the mother during birth. Amy fell asleep for a spell past midnight, and I could not help but to smile at the image of her in the same room with her estranged parents, who were now camped out in the corner on a pull-out sofa bed. When she woke up, I held and kissed Amy's hand, telling her how proud of I was of her, how much I loved her, and that our little girl would soon be here. Amy later cried as a hospital employee stood behind her as she sat up on the bed, inserting an epidural - a long, thin needle - into her lower back. The numbing medicine would provide her relief, decreasing the pain and sensations, but not eliminating them completely. I stood right there with her, holding her hand, and wiping away her tears. Moments later, Amy appeared scared and pale as a ghost, so I gave her a foot massage. At 1:00am, Amy was feeling really nauseous and the doctor gave her medication for it as well. Things were progressing slower than anticipated; she was now dilated to a seven and we were playing the waiting game. We turned off the lights in the room and everyone tried to catch a little sleep. At 2:20am, Amy was checked, and she was now at a ten. We had been here for over 12 hours, but now it was in the final stages as the staff began to prepare her for delivery. Amy was shaking and trembling like crazy, complaining of constant contractions, but also felt an incredible sense of happiness and relief. Her pain was mostly gone thanks to the epidural. I awoke her parents and told them the wonderful news. The doctor and an entire band of nurses and assistants were in Amy's room, tending to her, by 2:35am. I held one of her hands, and her mother the opposite one, as the doctor coached and guided her along to the pot at the end of the rainbow. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten... GO GO GO! And big breath. One, two, three..." He must have counted one through ten probably 10 or 15 times, but when Amy let out a loud, harrowing shriek, my senses went into overdrive and I knew that the time was at hand. I was about to become a father yet again! In that exact, split-second, something amazing happened to me. As I held Amy's hand and did my best to encourage her along, everything that I had ever experienced with her over the past two-plus years since we first met on the island flashed in my mind's eye. That very first night, when she showed up at my bedroom door and seduced me like no one ever had before. Amy had some mental issues back then, and I remember coming close to arguing with her later that week when I suggested she seek professional help. As the days and weeks passed, Amy began to dominate and take advantage of a young and very impressionable Lindsay, although all she really wanted was to be taken care of, loved, and controlled herself. I seized control and made her seek the help that eventually set her on the path to wellness. I vividly recalled our visit to Dr. Humala in Peru, the psychiatrist, who diagnosed and treated her. I also remember how beautiful Amy looked in her classy, yellow, business-style outfit that day. How about the night on the boat, when Amy professed her love for me, and her willingness to enter into the _family_ that Kristanna and I were just starting to build? And oh, months later, our wedding. Amy looked so divine in her bridal gown; we got married on Valentine's Day, 2014. It was less than a year ago when Amy went to the hospital to get surgery to correct a mistake from her past. With Kaden already born and Piper well on her way, Amy desperately wanted to be a mother herself. In my mind's eye, I recalled watching the medical team wheel her off to surgery, hoping to undo the fact that she got her _tubes tied_ a decade earlier. After months of trying to conceive a baby and nearly giving up hope, Amy came home from the doctor one day last December like a ball of fire, telling anyone and everyone who would listen that she was finally pregnant. I had never seen her so worked up and happy before! The evolution of her belly as it continually grew and expanded was pure magic to me, and I let her know that during every step of the way. I also recalled just over two months ago, after Trish's father died in an automobile accident in Canada, Amy took the news really hard and complained of extreme stomach pain. She was rushed to the hospital and, for a time, I honestly wondered whether or not our baby would survive. Then, in recent weeks, I devoted everything I had to Amy and making sure that she was comfortable, and at ease. All of my time, my effort, was focused on her. And rightfully so. Just last night, as she lay in my arms, Amy told me that our daughter could not have a better father in the whole, wide world than me. I felt so warm inside! All of those thoughts and images - from the very first day I met Amy up to and including last evening - flashed throughout my mind in a millisecond, an instant. Yet the memories were vivid and clear, and I remembered every minor detail. It was the ultimate precursor, perhaps a sign from God Almighty, for... "Let's go for it. Big breath, everything you got! And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Atta girl, and right back at it... PUSH! One, two, three, four... push push push, harder, harder!" "OH MY GOD!" Amy screamed out. "I see a little hand and arm coming out!" a nurse said. "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" And with that, there was the beautiful sound of a newborn baby crying. I broke down and started sobbing myself at the first glimpse of my daughter, Danielle Grace, born at 2:44am on Monday, August 3, 2015. She looked exactly like Amy! "Do you want to hold her?" the doctor asked, grinning. "YES! YES!" Amy roared as her own mother hugged her neck and shoulders from above, standing over top of her. Robert, her father, had the biggest grin as he patted my shoulder in congratulations. Wow! Her parents were actually here! I still could not believe it. Amy was so happy; she was babbling as she took her baby into her arms for the first time. "I DON'T... I... OHHHHH... I... she's so little!" Amy cradled Dani Grace to her chest and shoulder, skin to skin, as the nurse put a small blanket over top of her. "Oh, hi there!" Amy squealed, kissing her forehead for the first time. "Are you breathing okay?" Overcome with raw emotion, Amy momentarily turned her focus to me and began laughing. "JEREMY! We have a BABY!" Dani Grace continued crying, though, forcing Amy to look back at her. "Hey, it's okay! It's okay, honey... I'm going to take care of you from now on! I'm going to take care of you!" "Good job, Mom!" I encouraged Amy, squeezing her arm. "I am so proud of you right now... you have no idea!" "You're so little!" Amy whispered at our daughter, hugging her. "Tell these doctors and nurses to stop moving you around, it won't be so bad and you won't cry so much!" Amy then looked up at me again, tears gushing down her face and reluctantly said, "I could do this five more times." "Oh, I'm sure you could!" I laughed back at her. What, Amy being the mother of six children? If all of the women in my life had six babies each, I would be the father of 42 - an entire brigade! Amy was merely joking, of course, but it made for a good laugh regardless. A few moments later, Lindsay had the video camera pointed right at Amy as a relaxed and subdued Dani Grace, all swaddled up in a blanket, was resting upon her shoulder as she sprayed kiss after kiss across her face and head. "This is little Dani Grace," Amy told the camera. "She is so fresh, she hasn't even been bathed yet. She's so perfect!" "She's an angel!" Trish commented. When the nurse momentarily took Dani Grace away, Amy had a serious pout. "I want to hold her!" But Dani Grace needed to be weighed. She came into the world at six pounds, five ounces. Her little eyes were open and she let out a big yawn on the scale; Dani Grace was so adorable, such a treasure! They measured her head at 33 centimeters around. "Let's allow Dad to hold her for awhile," the nurse said to Amy, handing Dani Grace to me. "We need to get you all cleaned up, then you can hold your baby again." "She's so precious!" Lindsay whispered in my ear as I cradled Dani Grace in my arms for the first time. Lindsay patted her own stomach - she was nearly three months pregnant herself - and proclaimed, "I can't wait until it's my turn." * * * "Oh my Gosh," Amy sighed, perhaps two hours later. "She's doing so good," I observed. "This is... OHHHHH..." Amy began to get emotional again as Dani Grace was in the middle of her very first meal. "She latched onto me RIGHT AWAY. Like, she had no issues, she just... did it." "This is amazing," I grinned. "She has your ears," Amy swooned, looking down at her as she breast-fed. "You have a little M shape in your ears, Jeremy, and so does Dani Grace." She again kissed the top of her head. "I can't wait for you to meet your big brother and big sister, Kaden and Piper. Oh, Jeremy... look at her eyes! She's just lookin' around, taking everything in." "Probably wishing she was back inside of you!" I chuckled. Kristanna and Pamela arrived shortly after 8:00am, and got to witness Dani Grace getting her very first bath, courtesy of the attending nurse. She was laying atop a bundle of towels at the very foot of the bed as all three ladies stood and openly fawned over her. The nurse applied soap and scrubbed Dani Grace with a sponge, then wrapped her up in warm blankets and took her over to the sink. She applied a light lather of shampoo to the red wisps of hair atop Dani Grace's head, then rinsed it off by holding her over running water. "She is such a doll!" Amy sobbed once the bath was over, with Dani Grace back in her arms in bed. "Look at that little pink beanie hat they put on her head! Dani Grace laid on my chest for most of the night and I just, I rubbed her back and I snuggled her to me, and she just... she LOVES me already." "Hopefully she will learn to love me, too." "Oh stop it, Jeremy! She already does." "Dani Grace grabbed my finger earlier and I just started bawling," I admitted to Kristanna and Pamela. "How cute was that!" Amy exclaimed. "She reached her tiny hand out and grabbed Jeremy's finger, and would not let go!" "Oh, you are in Heaven, aren't you?" Pamela asked Amy. "I just love laying here with Dani Grace," Amy nodded. "Skin to skin, layin', cuddlin', this is... like, this is Heaven. Our family is Heaven to me, and I am so grateful for Dani Grace, and everything all of you have done for me. I... I feel so lucky." "We are grateful for you too, Amy," Kristanna purred, squeezing her wrist for emphasis. "Who got you those?" Pamela wondered, pointing toward a bushel of red roses on the night stand next to the bed. "Let me read the card again," Amy swooned, grabbing the filled vase and inspecting it. "It says... to my sweet wife, I love you so much." Amy began sobbing once more as she continued reading, "I'm so proud of you, and I can't wait to raise our perfect daughter with you. Love, Jeremy." "What an awesome husband we all have," Kristanna said to Amy, but wrapping her arm around me from the side and kissing my cheek. "Who would have ever thought in a million years that when Jeremy went on vacation to Cincinnati with Lindsay back in June, he would also seek out your parents and somehow convince them to come and be here for Dani Grace's birth?" "I think I've talked more to my mom and dad this week than I have in the past 15 years combined," Amy remarked, dabbing at new-found tears with a tissue. "It was so special, so very wonderful, to have them here. I don't know how he did it. How did you do it, Jeremy?" "We need to make sure that Robert and Kathleen have a firm spot in Dani Grace's life going forward," Pamela said. "Oh, I think they will," Amy nodded. Kristanna patted me on the shoulder. "But your own mom, Jeremy, opted not to come. Are you okay?" "I'm fine," I assured her. "Mom wanted to stay home and not cause any ripples or trouble with the rest of the family, my brother and sister, by coming here. It's fine." "No, it's not," Pamela frowned. "My father is flying in from California and will be here tomorrow," I reminded them. "I'm really excited to see him, and for him to meet his new baby grand daughter." "You hear that?" Amy whispered at Dani Grace, stroking her cheek with a thumb. "You get to meet your other pa-paw soon! Pa-paw Dale is flying 5,500 miles to say hello to you! I bet he wants to hug and kiss on you, too! Just like I do!" Personally speaking, I could not have been more thrilled with how the day had gone. Everything about it had been so incredibly amazing. I cannot express just how proud, and how grateful, I was for Amy. She did such a great job from the very onset of her pregnancy, but especially today, and I felt fortunate and blessed to be able to call her my wife. It was fun to look back and reflect on everything that had happened, but it was even better to think about all of the changes that were going to take place going forward. Our lives were forever changed because of Dani Grace, and we were excited, thrilled, and could not be more grateful. Truly, the best was yet to come. "Well, I think for the last time tonight, I am going to ask you this one question, Amy," I said to her much later that evening, as she relaxed in her hospital bed and ate dinner. Salad and french fries? "How you doing?" "I am doing wonderful," she simply responded. "I feel like a million bucks. Like, I have... Dani Grace is just so beautiful! And I think one of the reasons why I feel so good is... I was really nervous to feed her. I was thinking, you know, she was not gonna eat. But she... the moment I tried, she latched on like a champ. And she has probably eaten every two hours since five o'clock this morning." "I feel so blessed right now because of our family." I reached out and squeezed Amy's hand. "I love you." "I love you too, Jeremy. And I love our family. Our little baby girl was born perfectly healthy, with no complications whatsoever, and I get to take her home in two days! Mom and Dad came by for another visit, as did Devon and Scarlett." Amy splayed kisses along the crown of Dani Grace's head yet again. "And first thing in the morning, little sweetie pie, you get to meet big brother and big sister! Oh, I know you're looking forward to that! And Pa-paw Dale, too! You get to meet your daddy's daddy!" Amy had waited so long for this day to finally come. I cannot even begin to express how happy I was for her. Amy had turned her life around in the two short years we had been together. She deserved all of this, and then some. * * * On Wednesday, when Amy and Dani Grace were scheduled to be released from the hospital, I had a surprise waiting for my amazing wife at home. She and I were going to stay in bed and cuddle all day and all night long (with Dani Grace included, of course) while the other ladies waited on us hand and foot, and tended to our every need. As I come to a conclusion on this chapter and the story itself, I realize that I better get used to hospital visits and new children being born because they were soon going to become quite commonplace for me. Not only were Trish and Lindsay each expecting their first child in February 2016, but Scarlett was five weeks pregnant now as well. So that means that when I wed Scarlett on March 11, 2016, she will be eight months pregnant. Wasn't that her plan all along? Scarlett wants to marry me in a maternity bridal gown because she knows how attracted I am to pregnant women. And oh yeah, before I forget... we had a little surprise on Kaden's birthday last Wednesday. Kristanna came home from the doctor with news that she was four weeks pregnant herself with her second child! Our family keeps growing, and getting bigger! That's okay; it just means that there will be more for each of us to love. <<<- THE END, of Island Fever 4: Paradise ->>> ==---- -- -- -- - --- -- -- - - --- -- -- --- - -- - - - - --- -- ----== "Island Fever 4: Paradise" (c) 2015 JeremyDCP - JeremyDCP@hotmail.com Feedback is always appreciated!