RP: The Time is Now
Date: August 3, 2011, early early morning
Characters: Ruth Strauss, mention of Jack Avery, and baby Strauss
Location: Ruth's apartment, hospital
Status: Private
Summary: Its time! (Author's note: I have never been pregnant or given birth, so anything seems highly inaccurate, aside from the idea that she delivered fairly fast for a first baby, please let me know.)
Completion: Complete
In the end it wasn’t the pain that woke her. She’d been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a few weeks, and had learned to focus past it. She had stayed at work until last Friday, wanting to be able to save a bit more money and time for after the baby was born. No, it was the sudden soaking wet feeling of her water breaking all over her bedding in the middle of the night. She jumped from the bed, holding out a hand to steady herself on the wall, before ripping the bedding from the bed. No point in ruining the mattress if she could help it. She tugged on her robe over her tank top and panties she’d been wearing to sleep - clothing bunched around her ungainly shape and made it hard to get comfortable. Not that she’d been comfortable for the past 3 months, but every little bit helped.
She froze in the doorway, feeling the now more prominent contraction ripple across her abdomen. She timed them, and taking shallow breaths, she slipped on her sandals and grabbed the handle of her bag, packed and ready for this hospital visit. She winced as she realized she’d left her cheap cell phone, acquired as the summer heat grew to problematic levels, on the night stand. Shuffling back, she grabbed it, her bible, paused for another contraction, and made her way back to the door. She dialed Jack’s number, having prearranged transportation to the hospital. She made a face at the time - 3 am was, to her mind, not ideal, but nothing about being pregnant and giving birth usually was. She paused for another contraction, feeling her heart speed up when she realized how closely together they were coming.
Fortunately, all she had to concentrate on was counting, and Jack had taken care of the rest for her. Soon she was pacing the room she’d been checked into, and pausing at regular intervals. She had refused the drugs, a small part of her wanting the pain to remind her how this all had started. How her life had gone topsy turvy nine months ago and how she’d come to a place where she was content, if not always filled with joy. She wasn’t sure if she would have made the same choices, but hindsight can only ever make you wish you could time travel.
She never would have figured nostalgia as part of the delivery process, but she remembered her mother’s pregnancies, remembered how in awe she’d been as a kid, greeting her younger siblings as they came home from the hospital. How her mother, both tired and exhilarated, had sounded when she spoke to her on the phone from the hospital. She suddenly, fiercely wanted her mother there, but there was no time.
She’d refused to find out what she was having, wanting to meet the baby on its own terms, rather than on any sort of expectation she might have knowing it was a boy or a girl. But when the crying baby girl was placed in her arms several hours later, she wasn’t surprised. Tired, sore, sweaty and a little thirsty, but not surprised.
“Hello, Marianne.” She whispered to her daughter, tears overflowing her eyes. This time, she welcomed them. Blinking hard, she traced the delicate features on her little face. Marianne yawned, and she giggled, unable to stop smiling down on the bundle. Seven pounds, twelve ounces and nineteen inches of pure Strauss. Marianne blinked her eyes and tried to stick one hand in her mouth. Ruth sighed contentedly. She might not have thought she had much joy in her life, but that would all change.
Characters: Ruth Strauss, mention of Jack Avery, and baby Strauss
Location: Ruth's apartment, hospital
Status: Private
Summary: Its time! (Author's note: I have never been pregnant or given birth, so anything seems highly inaccurate, aside from the idea that she delivered fairly fast for a first baby, please let me know.)
Completion: Complete
In the end it wasn’t the pain that woke her. She’d been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a few weeks, and had learned to focus past it. She had stayed at work until last Friday, wanting to be able to save a bit more money and time for after the baby was born. No, it was the sudden soaking wet feeling of her water breaking all over her bedding in the middle of the night. She jumped from the bed, holding out a hand to steady herself on the wall, before ripping the bedding from the bed. No point in ruining the mattress if she could help it. She tugged on her robe over her tank top and panties she’d been wearing to sleep - clothing bunched around her ungainly shape and made it hard to get comfortable. Not that she’d been comfortable for the past 3 months, but every little bit helped.
She froze in the doorway, feeling the now more prominent contraction ripple across her abdomen. She timed them, and taking shallow breaths, she slipped on her sandals and grabbed the handle of her bag, packed and ready for this hospital visit. She winced as she realized she’d left her cheap cell phone, acquired as the summer heat grew to problematic levels, on the night stand. Shuffling back, she grabbed it, her bible, paused for another contraction, and made her way back to the door. She dialed Jack’s number, having prearranged transportation to the hospital. She made a face at the time - 3 am was, to her mind, not ideal, but nothing about being pregnant and giving birth usually was. She paused for another contraction, feeling her heart speed up when she realized how closely together they were coming.
Fortunately, all she had to concentrate on was counting, and Jack had taken care of the rest for her. Soon she was pacing the room she’d been checked into, and pausing at regular intervals. She had refused the drugs, a small part of her wanting the pain to remind her how this all had started. How her life had gone topsy turvy nine months ago and how she’d come to a place where she was content, if not always filled with joy. She wasn’t sure if she would have made the same choices, but hindsight can only ever make you wish you could time travel.
She never would have figured nostalgia as part of the delivery process, but she remembered her mother’s pregnancies, remembered how in awe she’d been as a kid, greeting her younger siblings as they came home from the hospital. How her mother, both tired and exhilarated, had sounded when she spoke to her on the phone from the hospital. She suddenly, fiercely wanted her mother there, but there was no time.
She’d refused to find out what she was having, wanting to meet the baby on its own terms, rather than on any sort of expectation she might have knowing it was a boy or a girl. But when the crying baby girl was placed in her arms several hours later, she wasn’t surprised. Tired, sore, sweaty and a little thirsty, but not surprised.
“Hello, Marianne.” She whispered to her daughter, tears overflowing her eyes. This time, she welcomed them. Blinking hard, she traced the delicate features on her little face. Marianne yawned, and she giggled, unable to stop smiling down on the bundle. Seven pounds, twelve ounces and nineteen inches of pure Strauss. Marianne blinked her eyes and tried to stick one hand in her mouth. Ruth sighed contentedly. She might not have thought she had much joy in her life, but that would all change.