23 - Haley
23
Haley
Thankful that my pencil skirt was bunched around my waist, I jumped out of bed, yanked it down to cover myself, and then pulled my blouse back on. By the time I stepped out into the living room, Sara was waddling forward, knees bent and pain splayed across her face.
“I think I’m going into labor!” she hissed out.
Any embarrassment I had felt at being interrupted like this disappeared in the blink of an eye. “Oh no! Did your water break?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so? There’s a sharp, stabbing pain right here.” She touched a spot underneath her belly. “It’s like the worst stomach cramp of my— ahh!” she cut off with a cry of pain.
The bathroom door flew open and Jordan came running out. Fortunately he’d had time to put the undershirt on. “I’m here,” he said, taking Sara’s hand and putting another on her lower back. “Let’s sit down, all right? Easy, now. Right here, behind you.”
Sara didn’t seem to notice he was in his underwear, but none of us cared at that moment.
“Where’s the pain?” he asked.
She clenched her eyes shut and pointed to her lower abdomen.
“Surface level? Deep?” Jordan clarified with the precision becoming of his profession.
“A few inches deep. It’s… kind of spasming. I don’t know how to explain it better,” she managed to force out. Her face was flushed.
Jordan’s eyes widened. “A spasm?”
Sara nodded.
“Is she going into labor?” I asked. “I had false contractions when I was pregnant…”
“Neither,” Jordan said absently. “I’m going to put my hands on you, Sara. Is that okay?”
“Yes, do anything!” she cried out in pain.
While Jordan gently touched her lower abdomen, I held my sister’s hand. She squeezed my fingers so tight it was almost painful, so I whispered reassurances to her. I couldn’t tell if that was helping, but it let me feel like I was doing something .
“THERE!” she hissed. “Right where you touched.”
“You’re certain?” Jordan pushed.
“Why? Is that bad?” I asked.
“You’re certain the pain is right here?” Jordan insisted, ignoring me.
Sara’s head swung in a nod. “It’s starting to fade. I think.”
Jordan turned to me. “Get her a glass of ice water.”
Like a nurse attending a surgery, I ran into the adjacent kitchen. By the time I returned with the water, Sara’s face had returned to a normal color and she was breathing easily.
“It’s called Round Ligament Pain,” Jordan calmly explained. He took the glass from me and handed it to Sara. “That’s the ligament that supports the uterus. Sometimes, if a woman in her third trimester makes a sudden movement, the ligament gets strained too much.”
“I had just jumped up from the couch,” Sara admitted. “Well, not jumped . Not in this condition, haha. But I got up quicker than normal. I remembered that I needed to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer.”
“She’s okay, then?” I asked. “The babies are okay?”
“Fairly certain, yes,” Jordan said, sitting in the chair next to Sara. “Round Ligament Pain usually only lasts a few minutes. I’m surprised you were able to climb those stairs to get up here.”
“It wasn’t easy.” She laughed softly. “Sorry for interrupting… um…”
Now that I knew Sara was okay, my embarrassment returned threefold. “It’s fine! You didn’t interrupt anything.”
Jordan cleared his throat, and crossed one leg over the other to cover himself a little bit more.
Suddenly, there were more footsteps pounding their way up the stairs. The door swung open without anyone knocking, and Harper, Sara’s husband, burst into the room.
“I ran five stoplights to get here,” he said, falling to his knees in front of his wife. “Tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m okay,” she said, holding his hands and smiling.
Harper hung his head in relief, then glanced up at Jordan. “Who are you?”
“Your wife’s obstetrician for the evening,” Jordan said, steepling his fingers together on top of his knee. “Your wife experienced a minor strain to her Round Ligament, but it has passed. Everything is okay.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Harper said, then turned back to Sara and me. “Why is your obstetrician in his underwear?”
“Would you believe this is how all doctors make house calls these days?” Jordan asked hopefully. “As a way of making our patients more comfortable?”
“I would not believe that, no,” Harper said.
“Jordan was here to see me…” I began to explain.
Before I could finish, Bran’s door clicked open. Carrying a blanket in one hand and rubbing his eye with the other, my son asked, “What’s happening, Mom?”
“Aunt Sara had a little tummy pain,” I explained. “But everything is okay now.”
“Oh. Okay.” Bran blinked. “Why is Coach Jordy still here? Are you two having a play date?”
Jordan and Harper both struggled to cover up their laughter, but I was too embarrassed to do anything but usher my son back into his bedroom.