And Baby makes Three (1 of 3)

Writers: AL, Eimi, Suzee
Date Posted: 28th January 2012
Series: It takes Time to Love

Characters: Tavia, Vandor, U'kaiah
Description: Labor and delivery
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 5, day 26 of Turn 6

Tavia

Vandor

She woke up in the middle of the night very uncomfortable. Her back
hurt and she turned over trying to get into a position that would help
ease it. Glory protested at the disturbance but after a few moments
the ache seemed to subside and she went back to sleep.

When she opened her eyes again the pain was back and Glory was sitting
next to her watching her intently. Tavia smiled and stroked the little
queen who leaned into the scritches. She swung her legs off the bed
and pushed herself upright. Grabbing her light robe for modesty sake,
since she didn't wear more than a light shift to bed, she started
toward the door to go relieve herself. Her bladder always felt so full
these days. But as she walked through the curtains a contraction
hardened her belly and the discomfort mounted so quickly. "Ohhh."

Tavia reached for the back of a chair for support and leaned over
breathing slowly in and out while she waited for it to subside. "Ok,"
she said softly and pushed upright again. It was probably only false
labor. "You've had these before," she told herself out loud. She made
it down the hall to the common bathing room before the next one hit her.
She leaned against the wall for support this time until it passed.

These weren't the easy interesting ones that she'd experienced over
the last week or so. Always before she'd just looked down and tapped
her belly to confirm the hardness she was feeling but these were more
like a severe muscle cramp. Sure it came on slowly and got harder and
harder and then subsided but she really had to think about them when
they were happening. She took care of business when she could function
again and made it back to her room with time to spare before the next
one demanded her attention.

She sat in a chair at her table through the next several contractions,
and then she began to register the collection of firelizards around
the room. It wasn't just Glory's usual court of bronzes and browns
there were more... lots more. Blues and greens arranged all over the
sofa and tables. The little gold warbled and the others began to hum.
"Oh really?" Tavia chuckled. But before she could do more than wonder
she felt a warm gush and the sound of water hitting the floor. "Oh
boy," she said.

She looked intently at her little gold and handed her one of her
prepared notes. "Go to Vandor Glory," she commanded as another,
stronger, contraction gripped her. The little gold chirped and popped
out of sight. Her hands tightened on the sides of the table and she
tried to relax and breathe.

Vandor was in the middle of sleeping when the gold came, chittering and
drawing him out of it. His turns as a healer ingrained in him the
ability to be wide awake and quickly. He was up on his feet though he
stopped when he realised it wasn't a person but a firelizard. When he
woke up enough to take the message and read it, the big healer set about
getting dressed and grabbed a bag that he kept stocked with various
supplies that were handy. "Tell her I'm coming Glory." The healer
stated softly as he pulled a bit of jerky from a drawer and gave it to
her. He began to walk out the door and turned back to Glory,
encouraging the gold to go back to her owner, then turn around and
actually left.

The healer walked quickly, but he did make one stop and that was to a
worker he knew he could count on to follow directions and quickly. He
told the girl what he needed, then continued on his way to Tavia's
weyr. He knocked on the door before taking the liberty to enter.
"It's Vandor." He called out, closing the door behind him.

"In here Vandor," she called from around the corner. She hadn't
cleaned up the puddle under her chair figuring he'd want to see it.
She was between contractions at that moment and had a small glass of
water in front of her to wet her lips.

"How far apart are the contractions? Do you know." Vandor put aside
the bag and moved closer to the woman in labour. "How do they feel?"

"They're about 4-5 minutes apart." She'd helped with enough deliveries
to know the routine and had been keeping track as best she could.
"They're not really bad but I have to think about them. You know...
focus." She smiled a little tremulously. Then she took a long breath
and blew it out as another one started.

"Ah, then you're at a good clip." Vandor nodded and when he saw
another contraction was assaulting her, he moved behind Tavia. His
big hands were gentle as he pressed against her back and slightly up -
one of several techniques to help with pain. "Just breathe, not too
fast, make sure you're getting enough air." Some women did that fast
breathing - whomever had taught them to do that was an idiot. All it
did was make them more likely to hyperventilate.

She nodded and slowed down concentrating on working with the
contractions instead of against them. "I'm going to want to send Glory
with a note for U'kaiah when you think I'm close to delivery. But I
don't really want to wake him up in the middle of the night." The time
difference between Dragonsfall and Dolphin Cove was about 7
candlemarks and for U'kaiah it would still be the middle of the night.

Last updated on the February 1st 2012

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