72. Chapter 71
The first thing that Nicole noticed when she walked into the delivery room, was how Waverly looked so fragile and small as she lay on the delivery table. Waverly had been dressed into a gown and while her legs were propped up in the stirrups at the bottom end of the table. A blanket was draped over the brunette’s legs, and Nicole could only think that this was to prevent her wife from being able to see what was happening down that end. As soon as Waverly caught a whiff of Nicole’s scent, the smaller woman cried out, “Nicole.” as she turned her head so that she could land her eyes on the Alpha.
Walking around to Waverly’s right side, Nicole lent down and wrapped her arms around the brunette’s head as she placed a kiss on the side of Waverly’s cheek. “Shhh, it’s going to be alright. Shhh, we need you to stay calm, so that you can focus on giving birth to our babies. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. I love you, Waverly.” Nicole pulled Waverly into her chest and allowed the brunette to breathe in the calming scent, that she was released from her bite mark.
This was all Waverly needed to slow down her breathing and heart rate, allowing her body to focus on her contractions and following the instructions from the doctor. Nicole assisted Waverly to sit up so that the redhead could climb in behind her wife and support her injured shoulder. Snaking her right arm around to the front of Waverly, Nicole presented her hand for her wife to hold and squeeze during the contractions, all the while providing Waverly’s frame from behind.
The doctor informs both Nicole and Waverly that the brunette was fully dilated, and the first baby was not that far away from being born. Waverly was told that on her next contraction, she was to push until she was told to stop. As soon as the doctor had let Waverly know as to what she was to do, she was hit with a contraction and she gripped Nicole’s hand tight, as she pushed and gave birth to her first pup.
The cry that came from the tiny baby, who was 16 inches long and just fit into one hand of the doctor, reassured both parents that their baby was alive. Looking up at both Nicole and Waverly from behind the screen that covered Waverly’s legs, the doctor smiled, “You have a baby girl, with everything where it should be. The nurse is just going to clean her up and then you both can hold her before she is placed into a NICU cot. And from the sounds of those lungs, she is a fighter. Now Sherriff, do you want to cut the cord?”
Making sure that Waverly is comfortable before moving from behind her wife, Nicole walked down to where the doctor was sitting, and for the first time, she got to see her daughter. Even though she was tiny and looked so vulnerable, Nicole fell in love with her child as she took the scissors from the doctor’s hand. Having done this 7 times before, the redhead knew as to where to cut the umbilical cord, severing the link between Waverly and the pup. Nicole watched as the nurse gently took hold of the newborn and moved her over to a special table, that had a lamp, which the baby was placed under, while the mucus fluid was removed from the baby's delicate skin. Then the baby was wrapped up into a baby pink blanket, which almost swallowed her up, and the nurse placed the tiny bundle onto Waverly’s naked chest.
“With premature babies, it is always best to hold the skin on the skin. It helps them with their care as well as bonding with them. I’ll just lower your gown so that this little one can lie on your chest.” The nurse indicates for Nicole to come and take her daughter for the first time so that the nurse could help Waverly with lowering her gown. Once the gown was down just enough, the nurse helped to unwrap the baby girl and lowered her naked onto Waverly’s naked chest.
As soon as her daughter’s flesh touched Waverly’s, the tears that had been threatening to flow began their journey, as she was unable to hold them back any longer. Looking down at her daughter, Waverly carefully touches the baby's cheek, “We haven’t discussed names yet. What do you think about calling her, Olivia?”
“I think she looks like an Olivia. She is so beautiful. I’m proud of you baby.” Nicole wraps an arm around the back of the pillow, behind Waverly’s head and looks down at the baby being cradled on her wife’s chest. The nurse stands back and lets the family have their moment before she is instructed by the doctor, “Nurse, can you take little Olivia and place her into her NICU crib. Waverly your other baby is going to be born.”
Moving back behind Waverly, Nicole whispers words of encouragement to her wife, knowing that this was not how they both expected their pups would be born. Just like the first pup, the second pup was born and after a short moment, they announced their arrival with a tiny scream, as their lungs took in the air for the first time. Waverly and Nicole were happy to hear that they had another girl, whose umbilical cord Nicole cut after the doctor declared that it was right to do so. And like before this little girl was cleaned up before the pup was placed skin to skin on Waverly’s chest. Nicole this time was allowed to name their daughter, which she chose ‘Charlotte’ as the tiny baby blinked as if to give her approval of the name.
Waverly was still not finished as during this pregnancy; they had decided not to tell people as to how many they were expecting. At the last ultrasound, they were able to clearly see this time they were expecting triplets and would not be surprised. When it came time to deliver the last baby, Waverly was spent and needed reassurance from Nicole that she could do this, “Baby, you are amazing. You’ve carried these little ones for the last 28 weeks and kept them safe. Draw on my strength to help you to bring our last pup into the world. I know you tired, but after you deliver this little one, you can rest my Baby.” Nicole pressed her lips against the side of Waverly’s head and squeezed her hand, reassuring her wife that she had it in her for one last push.
Bearing down, Waverly screamed out as her son was brought into the world. Just like his sister, the little boy was 16 inches long and only weighing 2 ½ pounds. After a quick embrace with his Ma, Waverly named the baby boy, ‘Lucas’ before the nurse took him away to place him into a NICU crib. The nurse that took Lucas in his NICU crib, asked Nicole to follow her, as they moved the babies to the NICU ward. That way Nicole could be with her children, while the doctor and Waverly stayed in the delivery room so that the placenta could be delivered.
As Nicole entered the ward, she was confronted with a room that had a nurse for every NICU crib, and some of the babies inside these cribs were smaller than her and Waverly’s. Following her son’s crib, Nicole noticed that her daughters had already been attached to several monitors, that took their vitals. As all three pups had been breathing on their own after being born, they didn’t need to be hooked up to a ventilator. The redhead couldn’t get over how fragile and translucent their skin was under the clear plastic and that this keeps the babies warm and protect them from germs and noise.
About an hour later Nicole was seated between the three cribs, dressed in a gown that was designed to cover the parent’s clothes and limit the chances of passing onto the baby any kind of germs. With her hands being freshly washed, Nicole reached in through the holes in the sides of the crib and gently stroked Olivia’s little belly with a finger. As Nicole was talking to her daughter, she didn’t hear Waverly come into the NICU ward. “How are they?” came as Waverly was wheelchaired up to Nicole’s side. Turning around with tears in her eyes, Nicole stared at her wife, letting the brunette know that she was just holding it together.
Waverly positioned herself so that she could be along Nicole’s side, moving her right arm around the back of Nicole’s shoulders, Waverly pulled the redhead into her and just held her wife as she freely cried. Until then Nicole had not allowed herself to be vulnerable enough to break down and cry, because she had to be strong for both Waverly and her pups.
Holding each other as they wept for their pups, as they were faced with the reality of being parents of premature babies and all that came along with this. The NICU nurse that was assigned to their pups, stood away off to give them privacy until it was clear that the new parents were ready to be shown around the ward. “Nicole and Waverly, I’m your children’s nurse for this shift. In this ward, we encourage all parents to be hands-on with their children’s care. Over the weeks, we (the nurse waves her hand around towards the other nurses attending to other children in the ward), are all here to help you and assist you with caring for your babies. Now would you like to hold your babies?” Standing next to Olivia’s incubator, the nurse gives the heartbroken parents a simple smile.
Nicole’s cracks, “Yes, we would love to.” Nicole turned and looked at Waverly as she held out her shaking hands. Without having to say anything, Waverly knew exactly what Nicole was trying to convey to her, that she was going to need help with unbuttoning her uniform shirt. Waverly reaches over and slides her hands under the hem of Nicole’s gown and moves her hands up to the buttons and begins to open her wife’s shirt, without revealing the redhead’s naked skin to the nurse. Nicole was able to loosen the ties around the back of her neck so that the top of her gown could drop just low enough to reveal her skin above her breasts.
Nicole helped Waverly with loosening the tie that held the brunette’s grown-up so that the material could be lowered to reveal Waverly’s chest skin. They watched as the nurse gingerly lifted the plastic flap of the incubator, and then as she lifted Olivia out and laid the tiny pup, on Nicole’s chest skin. Tears flowed from the redhead’s eyes as she held her daughter, lightly pressing the small being to her skin, Nicole lent down and pressed her lips on top of the sleeping pup’s head.
The nurse then repeated the same steps as she lifts and laid Charlotte and Lucas onto Waverly’s chest skin. This being the first time since the delivery room was when Waverly was given more than a couple of minutes to look and hold her pups. As with all her other children, after their birth, Waverly was filled with love for the three little beings sleeping against her and Nicole’s chests. Cooing as her babies slept Waverly felt her babies stir as they began to take in their parent’s voices. “Shh, your Mummy and Ma have you. Your safe in our arms. And you have 7 other siblings that are going to look after you. We love you.” Waverly whispers to the pups with a mixture of joy and sadness in her voice.
Nicole reaches out her free hand and places it on Waverly’s back, rubbing the brunette’s back, “It’s like they know who we are.”
While the parents hold their babies and breath in their different scents, the nurse informs them of the type of care, which the NICU ward delivers. She explains how whenever one or both visit their pups, they were to dress in special gowns, that start at the neck and cover the full length of their arms, before scrubbing their hands. This was to prevent the vulnerable pup’s from picking up any germs. The nurse then went on to explain how they follow and use the ‘Kangaroo Care’ model of care. This means that when holding their babies, to assist with the bonding of their babies, they suggest that skin to skin as being the best.
“We’ve found that when premature babies have skin-to-skin touch it helps to calm them, especially when they are unsettled. It’s during this time when your pups will lock on your scent and presence. It’s also been shown to assist these little ones to gain weight, they cry less, can stabilize their body temperature, sleep and breath better, and stabilize their heart rate. Waverly when your milk comes in, we will get you to express your milk, so that way the good stuff can be given to your little ones. In a couple of weeks, they will be able to take to the nipple, but until then they feed through a nasal tube.”
After Waverly and Nicole had a hold of all three pups, the nurse was able to show them how to place the little beings into their incubators. As their pups were reattached to the monitor cords and tucked in under the light blanket that was just big enough to cover their body. Waverly started to yawn, and Nicole knew that her wife would be exhausted after having given birth, she suggested that they both should head back to Waverly’s room to rest.
Pushing her wife’s wheelchair towards the room, where Waverly was spending the next couple of days until the doctor gave her the all-clear to go home. As the pair entered the room, they found Wynonna sitting on the edge of the bed, with an overnight bag situated next to her. “Hey, how are my niece’s and nephew?” Wynonna stood and pulled her sister into a light hug, not wanting to cause the younger Earp any pain.
“They’re beautiful and sleeping in their incubators. We both got to hold them.” Waverly tightens her hold on her sister as if to ground herself, to reaffirm that everything was going to be alright.
“Haught Mummy, you’re going to have to get a bigger van now. 10 pups, five of each. I hope you’ve worked out, what caused all these pregnancies!” Wynonna smirks as she makes light of the situation. “Ouch, what was that for?” Wynonna yelps as Waverly hits her in the shoulder.
“Wynonna, that’s enough. What are you doing here anyway?” Nicole offers Waverly her right arm so that the brunette can grab it to assist herself with getting up out of the wheelchair. Once Waverly was standing and able to move around, Nicole started to cover the hospital bed with extra blankets, as she knew that Waverly wouldn’t sleep unless four blankets were covering her.
“Right, I brought you both some clothes and toiletries. Doc and Jeremy are looking after the kids. They can stay with us, until when Nicole can. Emily also called in and said that the other driver was drunk at the time of the accident and is to be charged. Nedley has asked Dolls to step in and be Sherriff, until when you return.” Waverly smiles as she investigates the overnight bag, noticing that Wynonna had packed Nicole’s Purgatory PD hoodie and her favorite pajamas. Grabbing it with a glint of joy in the corner of her eye, Waverly kisses her sister’s cheek, before picking up the toiletries bag and heads into the bathroom, that is attached to her room. Closing the door Waverly removes her gown and steps into the shower, as the water flowed down and hit the floor of the shower, Waverly took solace in the fact that the sound of the water, would hide her sobs that started to flow from her mouth as the water mixed with the bitter and saltiness of her tears.