All These Things We Do

Against Brian’s protest for her to relax on the bed, Eloise paced the room she’d been put in when they had arrived at the hospital. She’d been examined by a doctor and told that she was only four centimetres dilated and she knew there was still a while before she would be moved through to delivery.

A loud knock at the door caused her to stop pacing for a moment as she watched the door open and Jimmy to poke his head into the room.

“Is it safe to come in?” he asked with a smile, which Eloise returned as she nodded. He came in and closed the door and walked over to the chair next to Brian.

“Where’s everyone else?” Brian asked.

“Most of them are out in the waiting room, we thought it best that we didn’t all come in at once. Lea was on her way to see you but she kinda got freaked out and Val said they had to take a detour.” He explained.

“Why is Lea freaking out?” Brian asked as Eloise resumed pacing, her hands circling her large stomach.

“Well, she um, she doesn’t want to be put off. She said that it was bad enough seeing Val go through all of that pain and stuff. She doesn’t think she could handle watching you go through it on the day she found out she’d be going through it all in a few months.” He explained with a small smile.

“I don’t blame her. I remember what Val was like.” Eloise said stopping in front of Brian and signalling for his support. Without question he took hold of her hands and placed them on top of his shoulders, and quickly moving his hands to her hips as she bowed her head, leaning into him.

Jimmy watched with wide eyes as she began to moan loudly, almost screaming as the pain of the contraction ripped through her body.

“They’re getting closer together baby.” Brian said quietly, kissing the top of her head as she began to relax again.

“Do you want me to leave you to it? Send someone else in?” Jimmy asked. Eloise looked up at him with a knowing smile.

“You can go if you want Jim.” She said quietly. Jimmy smiled back at her as he crossed the room to her.

“Love you El.” He said placing a kiss on her cheek. “Be kind to your momma.” He added pointing his finger towards her stomach.

“See later dude.” He said turning to Brian. They exchanged a brief hug before Eloise caught Brian’s attention again.

“I’ll leave you to it.” Jimmy said quickly leaving the room as Eloise had another contraction.

*****

Sweat soaked her hair as she collapsed back against Brian’s chest, exhausted. All she wanted was for this to be over, for her to have her babies in her arms.

“Good Eloise you’re doing great.” The doctor assured her. She’d been moved into delivery just under an hour ago and was ready to collapse. “Your next push should deliver the head, it’s crowning.”

All Eloise could do was nod slightly in response as Brian gently rubbed her arms as he placed gentle, encouraging kisses on her shoulder.

“Ok, here it comes.” Eloise whispered as she leaned forward again.

A few moments later, a small cry filled the room as the first baby was born.

“It’s a girl.” The doctor said with a smile as he gently moved the baby to place her gently on Eloise's chest.

“She’s, she’s tiny.” Eloise whispered as she gazed down at her daughter.

“She’s beautiful.” Brian added as he stared down at her, a wide smile across his face.
“Does dad want to come and cut the chord before we take her to clean her up and weigh her?” the nurse asked holding out the scissors to Brian, who took them without hesitation.

“Ok, so when you’re ready, baby number two is almost ready to join their sister.” The doctor said.

Despite feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, Eloise felt more than ready to deliver her second baby. Feeling the need to push again, Eloise sat up and took hold of Brian’s hands. “That’s it, one more push, this one’s a little smaller.” The doctor said with an encouraging smile.

A small cry caused Eloise to look up; it had been barely audible over the noise in the delivery room. She caught a brief glance of her baby as they led him on her chest, telling her she had a boy, before he was quickly taken away by the nurse, with the doctor cutting the umbilical chord.

Words caught in her throat as she watched the worried look on the nurses’ face as she placed her son into a crib and rushed out of the room.

“Please don’t be worried, she’s taking him up to the Special Care Baby Unit because he’s so small due to being prem.” The doctor explained seeing the frantic and panicked looks on both Eloise and Brian’s faces.

“He’s going to be fine, there are steroid injections waiting for him up there to help with his breathing and he’ll be kept in an incubation crib for a few days to make sure he’s okay.” He added with an assuring smile.

“I want to see him, I need to be with him!” Eloise demanded as tears streamed down her face.

“Of course, the nurse will clean you up and take you straight up there, would you like to hold your daughter while you’re waiting?”

Guilt ran through Eloise's body. With everything that had happened in the past five minutes she’d forgotten about her daughter. She turned her head to see her tiny baby girl, wrapped in a white blanket with a tiny pink hat on in the crib across the room for her.

“Please.” She whispered. With a small smile on her face the nurse gently placed the tiny baby into Eloise's arms. As she stared down at the tiny miracle, she felt Brian place his arms around her and place a kiss on her temple.

“I’d forgotten about her.” Eloise answered truthfully in a whisper.

“Understandable.” Brian replied also in a whisper. “But no one is going to hold it against you.” he assured her as the nurse began cleaning her up.

“Shall we go see your brother?” she asked with a weak smile as she allowed her daughter to take her pinky finger in her tiny grasp.

Eloise was placed in a wheel chair with their daughter in her arms, Brian pushing as they followed the nurse to the SCBU.

“El? Bri?” Matt’s voice called out as they crossed the corridor between the two wards. Brian stopped pushing and looked up to see Matt, and most of the others running towards them.

“Where are you going? Is everything ok?” he asked with a worried look on each of their faces.

“It’s ok, our baby boy is in the Special Care unit because he’s too small, we’re going to see him now.” Brian explained.

“Him?” Leana asked with a tearful smile.

“Yeah, we’ve been blessed with one of each.” He replied with a proud smile. “Guys meet Katie Olivia.”

There was a gasp of “Oohs” and “Aahs” from the group as they peered down at the tiny bundle in Eloise's arms.

“Guys, I’m sorry but I’ve got to get to Nathan.” Eloise said with a sympathetic smile.

“Of course, go, we’ll see you later.” Jimmy said with a beaming grin. “Oh and guys, I love the names.”

“Thanks Jim, see you all later.” Brian called as he wheeled Eloise through the double doors into the SCBU.

The nurse led them down the corridor into a small room where there was a small crib in the centre, surrounded by monitors and a larger hospital bed in the corner. In the crib was the tiny body of Nathan William Haner; a tiny blue cloth hat on his head, hiding the black hair that covered his head, a tiny diaper that seemed to cover most of his body, a tiny tube in his nose and three tiny wires monitoring his heart and what ever else.

Tears filled Eloise's eyes yet again when she reached her hand in through the tiny hole in the side of the crib and reached out to touch her son gently, rubbing her finger over the back of his hand.

“He’s so tiny.” She whispered.

“He looks so fragile, like he would break if I held him.” Brian replied, walking around to the other side of the crib to place his hand through the other small hole.

“He’s stronger than what you’d think.” The nurse said with a smile. “He’s responded well to the steroids we give him, I can’t see him staying in for much longer than a week, if that.”

“Will I be able to stay with him?” Eloise asked in panic.

“Of course honey, there’s a bed over there for you.” she replied with a smile, pointing at the bed in the corner. “We’ll have another crib brought in for, Katie, is it?” Eloise nodded in reply.

“Okay, I’ll get your things brought down from delivery so you can get yourself settled, and I can help you with feeding, changing and bathing. I know it’s simple basics but some people find it daunting when their babies are this small.” She said with a warm smile.

Eloise was thankful when she was finally able to stretch out on the bed in the corner of the room. Having fed, changed and helped the nurse bathe both of their tiny babies, Eloise and Brian watched them both fall asleep in their separate cribs. They then climbed into the hospital bed, both facing the cribs, Brian’s arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

“Thank you.” Brian whispered quietly, kissing her cheek.

“What for?” she replied through a small yawn.

“For giving me two of the most beautiful babies I could ever have hoped for.” He replied with a heart warming smile.

“You helped.” She replied, pulling his hand up to her lips to kiss his knuckles. “Love you.”

“Love you too baby, more than you could imagine.”