Chubby little baby

The day continued like this, with a new task presenting itself every hour and repeating itself multiple times over the day. Six hours in, they were glad that his lungs hadn't developed fully yet, causing his cries to be loud enough to be heard but soft enough to allow them to keep their calm after they heard the sound for the umpteenth time. Jason was starting to understand why Nick and Elizabeth were in need for a moment for themselves. Taking care of such a small infant was no easy task. Though the individual tasks weren't difficult, it was demanding. They take up all of your time and energy, leaving whatever little you have left to enjoy the new life you have put into the world. Meaning that neither time nor energy was left to spend on one another.

After another six hours the babysitting had come to an end and they had received a phone call from Nick and Elizabeth telling them they were about to pick Sam up. Though the day had been challenging, they had made it through and they felt confident they could do just as well, if not better, when their turn came around. When Elizabeth and Nick arrived, looking a lot more relaxed and refreshed, they were glad to have their son back in their arms. Looking at his sweet, sleeping face, was the perfect ending for their day out. "Thanks you guys. We really needed this. Even if we just get one day off each weekend, I am confident that we will be able to get through these demanding times without any trouble." Jenny chuckled, "Well, I am glad we were able to help. It was good practice for us. Will Sam be home with you guys tomorrow or do you have something planned to make the most of Nick's last day of leave?" Nick answered, "I hope he wasn't too much trouble. Tomorrow Sam will be staying at my parents' place. So, we have a last surge of relaxing time before my classes start full time again."

After wishing them good luck and a good night, the time for the handover had ended and so had their day of babysitting. Now that he had returned to his parents, Jenny already started to miss having little Sam around. When Jenny and Jason turned in for the evening, a lot earlier than they normally would have done, they started talking about the day and how they planned to handle their upcoming change in life. "I hope that this is something you get better at with practice and build some kind of stamina for, because if everyday is as tiring as this, I don't know how we are going to keep time and energy for you and me." With an exhausted voice combined with a contradictory big smile of her face, Jenny replied, "Yeah, tell me about it. Just one day and I am pooped. But I don't know. I kind of look forward to having our own little chubby baby around. Draining our energy like there is no tomorrow." A remark that caused them both to laugh as they imagined it.

But despite their enthusiastic preparations, Jenny's due date came and went but no baby. The more days that passed, the more frustrated Jenny became. Though her pregnancy hadn't given her too much trouble, she missed not being able to sleep more comfortably, she missed being able to see the lower half of her body, she missed her freedom to go and do as she pleased. Out of frustration she was alternately talking to Jason and their unborn baby and most of what she was saying had turned to nonsense despite her medical background. "Jace, I am going mad. Why won't he just come out? Doesn't he want to meet us and see the world? Should I knock and see if he is awake?" Jason chuckled at his wife's silly questions as he made his way over and sat down next to her. While he gently rubbed her considerably sized belly, he said, "It seems that our little bundle of joy is quite content with his current living quarters and he simply doesn't feel like coming out yet. Maybe we should give him a bit of push by making it a bit more uncomfortable in there."

This time it was Jenny's turn to laugh as she understood what he was referring to. They had received a list of things that might help speed the labour along. She had gotten the list on her due date and was advised to look it over if she was late by more than five days, which would be tomorrow. Jenny grabbed the list of things that could induce labour and they looked it over together. Jenny had learned these tricks when she was studying pregnancy and labour for class but she didn't think she would be needing them. But with the fifth day around the corner, it seems she no longer had a choice and would need to use whatever means necessary to get things going, knowing full well that most of these had been disproven or unproven but couldn't hurt either.

With a sigh she got off the sofa in their room, where they had snuggled up and headed towards the bathroom. But before they could pick what to do and before Jenny was able to reach the bathroom, she was startled by a sudden gush of water leaving her body without control. Feeling like she had peed herself, she slowly turned towards Jason and said, "Jason..., Honey..., either I just peed myself or my water broke."