Jarod gets Parker settled in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She is
getting ready to give birth to their first child. Jarod comes
home to find Parker in the kitchen.
As he walks in, his eyes open wide. "What?" she said as she
watched him enter.
"I just don't remember you being that big the other day."
"I don't think I was." she replied with misery.
"What are you doing?" he asked her. He could tell she had
been crying.
"Fixing a sandwich. Would you like one?"
"I can fix it. Why don't you sit down and let me finish that?"
"I can do it."
"I know you can but I can't stand to see you like this."
"Like what?"
"Miserable." he answered. "Are you sure you are okay? Have
you talked to the doctor?"
"Yes, I did. She will come over here so, I don't have to go
into Blue Cove to the baby. She used to work at the hospital
here and yes, I am fine. Why?"
"Because you look like you have been crying." Jarod replied.
Then he added, "I am happy to hear that she will come here.
When are you due?"
"Any day now. I am actually past due."
Parker hands him a sandwich and Jarod takes her hand. "Please
sit down." he replied as he watched her stand on her feet.
"I will in a minute." she responded.
Jarod takes her hand again and leads her into the living
room. "Sit here." he responds as he sits her down on the couch.
"Are you going tell me why you were crying?"
"It's hormones, that's all."
**********
Later in the evening, they get ready for bed. Parker can't
sleep. She gets up and moves into the living room. She sits
in the recliner and turns the TV on low trying not the bother
Jarod. Jarod rolls over in the bed to find his wife gone. He
gets up to find her.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he entered the room.
"Yeah, I can't sleep." she replied.
Jarod sits in the same chair. He puts his arms around her and
says, "Maybe I can help you."
"If you want to help, you can carry this kid."
"I'm sorry. I can't do that. I would if I could."
"Yeah, I bet you would." she said sarcastically.
He puts his head on her shoulder and his hand on her stomach.
He rubs her stomach and watches the TV. Her eyes are starting
to get heavy. Jarod knew it wouldn't be long be she would be
out like a light. He kissed her cheek as she fell asleep. It
was long until he went back to sleep.
**********
The next morning, Jarod woke to Parker's head on his chest.
With his arms still around her, he pushed the hair out of her
face. He sat there watching her sleep. He knew that was the
first good night sleep she has had in a while. She wakes up
and runs to the bathroom.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I had to go. The baby is on my bladder." she replies
back as she ran into the bathroom.
She comes out and sits down on the couch. "What are you going
to today?" she asked him.
"Stay around here. I don't want to be to far from you."
"I will be okay. Go, do what you have to do?" she replied.
"I don't want to leave you here by yourself."
"I will be fine. If I need you I will call."
"Fine but I won't be far."
"I know."
Jarod gets ready to leave. He goes to the Marina. While he
is gone, Parker feels like cleaning the house. She sits down
for a break and decides to call him.
"Hello." she says lovely.
"What's wrong?" he asked panickly.
"Nothing. I just wanted to know if you would bring some
pickles home."
"I sure will." he replies. "Anything else?"
"No, well maybe you home early."
"I bet I can do that. I will let you go. I love you."
"I love you too. See you later." she says as she hung up the
phone.
Jarod comes home early that evening and brings in her pickles.
"What did you do today?" he asked her.
"I cleaned." she said as she took the pickles from him and
opened the jar. She takes out one and starts eating it. Then
grabs three more.
"You what?" he asked.
"I cleaned. I had to do something. I am tried of sitting here
all day." she said as she walked into the other room carrying
her jar of pickles.
Jarod walked over to the table by the couch. He picked up a
book. "What is this?" he asked as he read the cover. She
didn't hear him ask.
"How to be a good mother?" he said softly. He walks into in
the bedroom. "Why are you reading this?" he asked.
"It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out." she
replied hateful. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way."
"It's okay. I know you are ready for it to be over."
"Yeah, but then what? I don't know how to care for a child. I
am going to be an awful mother."
"No, your not. You will be fine. Just wait and see." he
replied as he rubbed her back and shoulders. "You know I
know of a way to speed things up." he replied as he contiued
rubbing her back. Then he hands mirgated to front her body.
"Jarod, you know the doctor told me I can't have sex this
far along."
"I know but you look so miserable. I just wanted to help
speed things up."
"I know you do." she gave him a kiss and said, "I'm tried. I
am going to bed."
"Okay, I will be there later. I am going to eat something
first." he said as kissed her forehead.
She laid in bed for a while tossing and turning. Nothing seem
to help, she just couldn't get comfortable. She got up and
went into the living. She walked over to Jarod and whispered,
"Okay, I can't take it any longer."
He smiled at her, took her hand and lead her back to the bed.
He gave her a kiss and then started with a back rub. He
kissed the back of her neck. She turned around and said,
"Quit playing around." She grabbed him and pulled him down on
her.
"This isn't going to work." she said softly. She pushed him
away and then straddle him. She kissed his lips and his neck.
He slipped his hands up her gown and pulled it off. Her
fingers move down his chest and toward his thigh. She sat in
his lap and moved slowly on him. After a long while they both
fell asleep.
Parker rolled over at 3:00 am and watched the clock. Jarod
was sleeping soundly beside her. She rubbed her stomach as
she felt a sharp pain. After a short while, it past. She
began to feel another pain about an hour later. She reached
over a grabbed Jarod's arm.
"Jarod," she said softly.
He didn't move. She got up from the bed and walked into the
living room. She paced the floor. As the contractions began
to last longer, she called her doctor.
Jarod rolled over in the bed to put his arm around her. When
reached for her he noticed she was gone again. He got up and
walked to the living room. He found her on the phone, and
pacing as she talked.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
"I think the baby is ready to come." she told him.
Jarod hurried up and got dressed. He went back into the
living room. She was sitting in the chair crying.
"What's wrong now?"
"I'm not ready to be a mother yet. I thought I was but I'm
not. Of course, I'm ready to get it over with but to care for
a baby is something I don't know how to do." she rambled on
with tears rolling down her cheek.
"Well, the baby is ready. I have to get you to the hospital.
I told you, you are going to be a wonderful mother. Now lets
go. Is the doctor going to meet us there?" he said trying to
change the subject. He wiped her tears and helped her up.
"Yes, she is on her way. It is going to take her a little
longer to get there that us."
Jarod grabs the suitcase and his wife's arm. "Come on, we
have to leave."
Parker doesn't want to go. "Can we stay here a little
longer?" she asked him.
"And what have the baby here?" he asked her. "No, I want to
get you there now."
Jarod gets her in the car. They head for the hospital. By the
time they get there, she is ready for the baby. The
contractions were getting sharper and longer. "Jarod, get
this baby out." she said as he help her out of the car and
into the hospital.
"Soon, I promise. It will all be over." he said trying to
calm her.
A male doctor walks in her room. "Hello, Mrs. Russell. I am
Dr. Davis. I will be looking after you until Dr. Brown
arrives."
Parker doesn't say a word. She is looks at Jarod as grits
her teeth.
Dr. Davis says, "I need to exam you and I will have the nurse
put you on a baby montor when I am finished."
Parker looks at Dr. Davis and says, "I don't care. I just
want to over." She grabs the bed rail and says, "Take this
baby now!" She lays her head back against the pillow and
grits her teeth.
"I understand Mrs. Russell."
"How could you understand? You are not the one having a
baby." She puts her hand on her stomach and rubs it.
Jarod shakes his head and says, "Now honey. It is going to
be okay." Then he turns to the doctor and says, "I'm sorry
about this."
The doctor replies, "It's okay, Mr. Russell, we get this a
lot from our patients. It is something about being in labor
that brings it out."
After the doctor is through examing her, he replies, "You are
not fully dilated and your water hasn't broken. You have two
choices, one, you can walk around to speed things up or you
can lay here. It is up to you."
Parker looks at him and says, "I'll walk."
Jarod helps her out of bed. He walks the floor with her. He
puts his arm around her back.
She looks him in the eye and says, "Don't touch me! This is
how I got this way to begin with."
Jarod replies, "I'm sorry. I thought you could use some help."
"I don't need any help from you." she replied through grited
teeth.
"Take a deep breath. Remember to focus." Jarod says in a
calming voice.
"I don't want to focus right now." she said as she gritted
her teeth again.
They walked around for couple of hours. "I'm tried. I need to
rest." she responded hasty.
Jarod walks her back to her room. She gets back in the bed
and Dr. Brown walks in.
"How are you doing today?"
"Fine. Couldn't be better?" Parker smarts off.
"I see someone is getting touchy this morning."
Jarod grabs her hand and before he could say anything she
pulled away and said, "I told you not to touch me!"
Dr. Brown turns to Jarod and says, "I am going to give her
some demerol for the pain. It should make her rest. She will
need her strength for the delivery."
"Okay and don't pay any attention to her attitude. She has
always been than way." Jarod said softly.
Dr. Brown gave her a shot and before long the demerol kicked in.
Parker turned to Jarod and said, "Will you rub my back, honey?"
Jarod quickly responded to Dr. Brown, "Can I take some of
that home? I might need to give her some of that again soon."
An hour later her water broke and she was fully dilated. Dr.
Brown comes in and says, "Are you ready?"
Parker quickly responded, "I have been ready for a while now.
I need to push."
Dr. Brown says, "Go ahead, you can push."
Parker grabs Jarod's hand and squeezes while she pushes.
Jarod tries to get her to let go. He watches his hand turn
different colors from her squeezing it too tight.
"Thats good. I can see the head. Push again."
Parker takes a deep breath and pushes. She lets out a cry as
she feels her skin tear from the baby's head exiting her body.
Dr. Brown says, "One more push and the baby is out."
Parker cuts her eyes to Jarod and makes this awful look.
Jarod whispers in her ear, "Come on baby. You can do it."
As the beads of sweats form on her body, Parker gives it her
all. She pushes with all her strenght. Then, she hears a baby
crying.
"It's a girl."
Jarod kisses his wife on the forehead and says,"We didn't it."
Parker looks at Jarod and replies, "We." She falls back
against the bed with relief.
He doesn't say anything else. Then the doctor says, "Jarod,
would you like to cut the cord?"
Jarod all excited says, "Yes, I would love to."
After he cuts the umbilical cord, she hands the baby to
Parker. Parker looks her over. She counts her tiny fingers
and toes. Then responds, "Here you can hold her." she quickly
hands her daughter to Jarod.
Jarod couldn't wait to hold his daughter but he knew what
Parker was doing. "Are you sure you don't want to hold her
longer?"
"Yes. I can see it in your eyes. You are dying to hold her."
Parker quickly responded. She was hoping Jarod couldn't see
the real reason she handed her to him.
Jarod knowing she was scared of her daughter doesn't say a
word. He just takes her. He kisses her little head and
cradles her tight.
A nurse gets Parker settled in a room. She is wore out from
the delivery that she sleeps most of the day. Jarod goes to
the nursery to be with his daughter.
Later in the evening, Parker wakes sitting up the bed and
grasping for air. She yells out, "Don't take my baby!"
Jarod jumps when he hears her. He walks over to her and holds
her hand and says, "It's okay. She's fine."
Parker looks up at Jarod and says, "Where is she?"
"She's in the nursery."
"I want to see her."
"You can. I think you should calm down first. Then I will
take you to her."
The doctor walks in and says, "I see you are awake now."
"Yes, I was going to see my daughter." as she tried to get up
from the bed.
"I want to talk to you first."
Parker is not in the mood to listen all she can think about
is her daughter's safety.
Dr. Brown says, "You have a beautiful little girl but that is
not reason I came. I wanted to tell you there was a lot of
blood mixing during delivery that the lab found a positive
DAT. Not to worry though. The lab has done a Lui-Freeze
procedure that shows us an ABO incompatibility."
Parker looking confused says, "What does that mean? What is
a DAT?"
"Well, a DAT is a direct antiglobulin test. You and your baby
has a different blood type. Your blood and hers mixed during
delivery that caused significant antibody coating on the
cells. Not to worry. Your baby has anti-A antibodies coating
her red cells that came from your blood type. This can cause
Hemolytic Diease of Newborn but a milder case than with some
of the Rh antibodies. I don't want you to worry about this
but is something I wanted you to be aware of."
Parker said, "Can I see my daughter now?"
"Sure I'll walk you down there."
Jarod and Parker look through the nursery window. The nurse
points for them to come around to the door. She opens the
door and they go in.
Jarod says, "Do you want to hold her?"
"I will later. I just wanted to check on her." She says as
she touched her little cheek.
"Are you going to tell me what you were dreaming?"
"It was nothing." she replied as she was satified by seeing her.
"If it was nothing why did you wake up screaming."
"I had a dream Raines was taking her. Now are you happy."
"Yes." Jarod replied as put his arm around her. Then
whispered, "Everything is going to be okay. You're see." He
kissed her forehead.
Parker stepped a side and said, "How much does she weigh?"
"She weighs 7 pounds and 8 ounces. She is 21 inches long. Now
we have to come up with a name for her. Any suggestions?"
"Well, I like Catherine. I don't care what else we put with it."
"How about Catherine Rose Parker Russell?"
"I like that." Parker smiled.