Chapter 38 #2
“That kind of pressure usually means the baby is moving down,” she said gently, her voice calm in a way that kept me from panicking. “Do not fight it. Just breathe through it and let your body do what it is trying to do.”
I gripped the edge of the tub again as another contraction built, stronger this time, and it pushed down so hard that I could not ignore it even if I wanted to.
“I feel like I need to push,” I told her, my voice strained as my body started bearing down on its own.
“That is alright,” she replied without hesitation, already adjusting to what was happening without making it feel chaotic. “When it comes, go with it. Do not force anything, just follow your body.”
Pressure tightened his hold behind me with one arm wrapped around my stomach while the other came up to my chest to keep me steady as I leaned back into him.
“I got you,” he murmured against my ear, his voice low and serious now.
The next contraction came harder than the last, and this time I didn’t try to hold it back. My body pushed, and I followed it, gripping tighter while everything in me focused on getting through it.
“That is it,” Auntie Treasure said, her tone still soft but more focused now. “Just like that. Let your body lead you through it.”
I let out a shaky breath, trying to process that.
“Alright,” she continued, looking between me and Pressure. “When the next contraction comes, I want you to push with it, not against it.”
Pressure’s arms tightened around me a little with one hand coming up to cup the side of my face. “I got you,” he murmured.
The next contraction hit, stronger than anything before it, and I felt it all the way through my body.
“Push, Pluto,” Auntie Treasure said gently. “Just like that. Let it out.”
I bore down without even thinking about it, my body taking over while Pressure held me from behind.
“Yeah, just like that,” he said against my ear. “You doin’ that, baby.”
It burned. It stretched. It felt like everything inside me was opening in a way that was almost too much, but I didn’t stop.
“Good,” AuntieTreasure said, telling me to breathe through it and let my body do what it needed to do, and I leaned back against Pressure while I tried to follow that, pulling air in slow and pushing it back out while my body trembled from everything it had already been through.
For a second, it felt like I could catch my rhythm again, like I could settle into it and ride it out the way I had been.
Then another contraction came, stronger than the last, and before I could fully recover from that one, another followed right behind it, stacking on top of everything and making it harder for me to stay grounded.
I tightened my grip without even realizing it, my body reacting on its own while Pressure held on to me, and all I could do was try to breathe through it while the pressure kept building instead of easing the way I needed it to.
Each time, I pushed, my hands gripper Pressure’s arm tighter. My body was working harder, and Pressure stayed right here with me, talking low, rubbing my arms and kissing my shoulder like he could take some of it from me if he tried hard enough.
“Come on, baby,” he whispered. “You almost there.”
I didn’t know how much time passed after that because everything started blending together, but I felt it when things changed again.
There was one push that felt different from the rest.
“Right there, Pluto,” Auntie Treasure said, her voice just a little more stern now. “Give me one more just like that.”
I pushed with everything I had left in me, my body shaking as I leaned forward while the pressure built so strong that it felt like it was splitting me open. For a second I didn’t even know if I could do it again.
“Right there, Pluto,” Auntie Treasure said, her voice calm m as she stayed close, guiding me through it without letting me panic. “Do not stop now. Give me one more just like that.”
I cried out under my breath as another contraction came, stronger than anything before it, and this time I bore down with it, gripping the edge of the tub while my whole body worked with everything it had left.
It burned. It stretched. It felt like too much, and just when I thought I couldn’t push anymore, something changed.
“Good,” Treasure said, her tone softening just a little. “That is it… right there…”
Then I felt the release that followed it. It was sudden and overwhelming as my body gave way and everything that had been building finally moved through me.
My body dropped back against Pressure, my strength giving out all at once while I tried to catch my breath, and before I could even process what had just happened, a small cry filled the room.
It was soft at first, then stronger, cutting through everything else.
“Aww…” Auntie Treasure said, and this time there was warmth in her voice. It was something lighter than before as she looked down. “It is a girl.”
For a second, everything felt still, and everything felt light as I tried to catch my breath, my body barely able to keep up with everything it had just done.
I heard Pressure clap his hands behind me with a breath of disbelief leaving him. “Yeah!” he let out, laughing low. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about.”
Auntie Treasure moved carefully between my legs, supporting the baby in her hands while the cord still connected us, and I felt her gently guide her upward before bringing her closer to me.
I barely had the strength, but I looked down just enough to see her.
She was small and wet. She was beautiful with a head full of hair.
Her little cry filled the space while Auntie Treasure worked quickly but calmly to make sure she was breathing right and clear.
“Look at her,” she said softly, adjusting her. “She is perfect.”
I tried to smile, I really did, but my body still didn’t feel right. Instead of that relief settling in the way I thought it would after everything I had just pushed through, something else started creeping in that I couldn’t explain.
It was a strange heaviness that sat deep in my body, mixed with a weakness that didn’t match what I had just done. While Auntie Treasure’s movements shifted around me, but I barely caught it because I was still trying to steady my breathing.
Then I felt a lot of blood…
At first, it blended in with the water, but it kept coming, and spreading in a way that didn’t feel normal, and when I finally looked down, my head already started to feel light.
“Auntie Treasure…” I said, my voice faint. “I don’t feel right.”
She didn’t answer right away, but I heard the change in her breathing, in the way she moved.
“Pressure,” she said. Her tone was still controlled, but there was something under it now. “I need you to help me get her out of the tub.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked quickly, his arms already moving around me.
“She’s bleeding more than I’m comfortable with,” Auntie Treasure replied, still calm but firmer now. Even though I heard her, the words didn’t sit right in my head the way they should have, like my mind was trying to catch up to something my body had already started reacting to.
All I really knew was that I felt weak, and not the type of weak that came from pushing a baby out or being tired, but something deeper that made it hard to hold on to myself. It felt like my strength was slowly slipping away while I sat here trying to understand what was happening.
Pressure helped lift me carefully, wrapping me in towels as they got me out of the tub and on the floor mat.
“Stay with me, sweetie,” Treasure said, her hands moving quickly now as she worked, trying to manage what was happening.
“I am,” I murmured, but my voice didn’t sound like mine.
My arms felt heavy, and I didn’t have the strength to lift them the way I wanted to, while my chest tightened just enough to make every breath feel shorter than the last.
The room didn’t spin, but something still felt off, like everything around me was moving slower than it should have been while I was trying to stay alert.
I could still hear them talking, and I could hear my baby crying. I could feel Pressure moving behind me, but none of it felt as close as it should have.
It felt like my body was starting to give out on me, piece by piece, and I didn’t have control over it the way I was supposed to.
That was when it really hit me that wasn’t right.
“Pressure, call the paramedics,” Auntie Treasure said, and this time there was no softness in it. It was urgency.
“What?” he snapped, panic breaking through now. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Call them now,” she repeated, her hands still working, trying to stop the bleeding. “She’s losing too much blood.”
My head fell back slightly, my vision going in and out as I tried to focus on something… anything.
Pressure’s voice was louder now, and sharp with panic as he moved around the room, grabbing his phone.
“I got you, baby. Just hold on,” he kept saying, his voice shaking now even though he was trying to hold it together.
After a while, I could feel his hands on me, trying to keep me grounded while everything in my body started drifting further away from him.
I wanted to respond and tell him I was okay, or at least make it sound like I was, but the words wouldn’t come out right, and the more I tried to focus, the more it felt like I was slipping somewhere I couldn’t fully control.
Everything around me started to feel distant, like the room was still here and they were still talking to me, but it wasn’t reaching me the way it should have.
All could really hold on to was the sound of my husband’s voice and the way he kept saying he had me.
The whole time, my body got lighter and lighter.