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 Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 7:26 pm
She looked to Keeta as she came back in. "That...last thing I said," She began, having seen the look on Keeta's face. "I-I'm just...scared..." She sniffed and seemed to be trying to hold back tears. "S'not funny at all, I know..."
She started crying, but within a few moments they turned to chocked sobs and cries of pain as she rose into a squatting position, her abdomen rock hard, and resting on her thighs. She reached between her legs and her fingertips brushed a rather solid bulge. "Oh gods! Keeeeeeeeeeeta!" She all but screamed, terror shining in her eyes.
The sac, itself, was made of far more substantial tissue than that typical amniotic sacs and she didn't know this. It wasn't the baby's head that she felt. She didn't feel the urge to push, but the pain was enough to drive her near insanity.
She gave a grunt-y moan. "I-don't-know-what-that-is!" She kept repeating that over and over, trembling.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 10:13 pm
Keeta froze in the doorway at Jiao'lan's panicky anguish. Something was clearly not right. She had to fight the urge to break down as well, just because she was at an utter loss as to what to do. This was far beyond what little experience she had in this area. Apart from not knowing what to expect physically from Joel, her pregnancy and birth could have been qualified as "normal." Her voice shook as she spoke.
"Jiao'lan I don't know what to do for you....I wish I knew...I can't-" her voice broke. It tore her up to see her friend in such pain, both mental and physical, and all she could do was stand there.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 10:25 pm
She was weak from dehydration and hunger. Her legs began to tremble and quake. She lost her balance, as they gave out and she toppled over, her wings flapping, legs trying to connect with solid ground. There was an rather loud popping sound as one of her talons managed to snag the sac. There was a tiny bit of the membrane on her talon. She wound up on her side and without the baby's head pressing down to act like a drain plug, her amniotic fluid began to leak. The sac's bulge had been what was causing her the high level of pain and the pressure.
As the contraction stopped she was still taking rapid, shallow breaths as she scrambled to her feet and onto the toilet, turning beet red. She thought she was wetting herself. As the baby settled back into postion the flow slowed to a trickle. Jiao'lan was incredibly pale, eyes wide as saucers.
A car horn could be heard outside on the street. The taxi driver had been there for a while now and was growing quite impatient.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 10:37 pm
Keeta gasped as Jiao'lan fell over and it shook her out of her mental paralysis. She rushed to her friend's side to help her right herself, but Jiao'lan was already getting up and heading for the toilet.
"Are...are you ok?" she asked, although she felt rather stupid after the fact. Of course she wasn't ok. But at least she wasn't screaming anymore. The liquid didn't seem to phase Keeta any. Fluids of several different kinds were always associated with birth.
Keeta frowned as she heard the horn outside. Figures they'd send an impaitent cabbie.
"I'll...be right back. I'm going to get the cabbie to wait for us. Ok? I'll only be gone for a minute." Keeta tried to give Jiao'lan a reassuring smile as she hurried out of the room, but it ended up being more of a grimace. Please be ok. Please be ok. Please be ok, was the mantra in her head as she jogged outside.
She stepped up to the door and handed the cabbie 200g to buy them another 10 minutes. Keeta still didn't reveal the situation. The last thing she needed was another person's imput on the situation. The cabbie satisfied for the moment, she hurried back, hoping Jiao'lan was no worse off than when she had left her. Keeta fervently hoped that Jiao'lan had thought ahead and packed a hospital bag somewhere, so that she could just grab it and go.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 10:50 pm
Meanwhile, the flow of amniotic fluid had managed to stop almost entirely and Jiao'lan was trying to mentally pull herself together before sliding off of the toilet stool and making her way toward the corridor closet. She had a bag packed and was able to remember where she had placed it. As she bent over to pick it up her tail moved so it was level with her spine. It was a balance tactic she had learnt months ago, to stay on her feet, instead of falling as her center of gravity had shifted greatly.
The duffel bag was nearly as large as she was so she gave a bit of an effort to drag it toward the door. It had the typical toiletries and other such necessities that either the clinic wouldn't think to provide or could only provide in tiny, sample sized quantities. Her blood sugar had dropped greatly since she had last eaten a glucose laden mango nearly eight hours ago, and felt a little light headed. She sat down rather ungracefully in the living room, and dug in her bag for a granola bar and began to chew on it, knowing instinctively, what the cause of the symptom was.
She also knew, if she was feeling the effects then her baby most certainly was.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 7:23 pm
When she got back to the house, Jiao'lan was sitting in the living room with a bag, as if she had been reading Keeta's mind. She also appeared to be eating something. Well that was certainly a good sign! Offering a tenative smile, she approached.
"Looks like you're ready to go....and the cabbie most certainly is. Is there anything else you need before we leave?" she asked softly.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 7:34 pm
Jiao'lan quickly re-wrapped the bar and stuck it in the bag. "Some help up, might be nice." She said after finishing the bite of food she had been working on. 'And Ke'rehl...' She thought glumly, her eyes showing the emotion for a brief moment.
It was now nearing three o'clock. Her eighth hour of labour. She had heard tales of women being in labour for days on end and this frightened her. Her eyelids were heavy from fatigue. The impending car ride was sure to lull her to sleep, if her contractions would allow it.
Jiao'lan stifled a yawn. "I just wanna get this over with." She mumbled. Although, when the time would come to end the process, she'd be singing a different tune.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 8:22 pm
"That's certainly understandable....Labor isn't easy for anyone."
Keeta helped Jiao'lan to her feet before grabbing the bag. She walked behind her to be there just in case. Her mouth tightened into a straight line as she watched her weary friend. Despite the fact that things seemed to be going better than they had 20 minutes earlier, Keeta worried. Silently she prayed to whatever entity could hear her, that things would be ok, and that there would be someone at the clinic that could help them by the time they arrived.
When they reached the cab, Keeta helped Jiao'lan into the bag before sliding in next to her. The cabbie's eyes 'bout popped put of his head at his occupants....especially after he put two and two together, with Jiao'lan's world-weary look and her round belly. He said nothing and quickly turned around, however, when he caught sight of Keeta's expression that dared him to challenge her. She was simply not in the mood.
"Gaia Maternity and Fertility clinic in Barton, please," she said in an even tone.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 8:33 pm
The cabbie nodded and spurred the engine into life, before starting to drive away. "They don't pay me enough for this." He muttered to himself. Jiao'lan leaned back and sure enough the steady movement started to lull her to sleep. As the city loomed the cabbie kept his eyes focused on the road, his posture tensed.
They stopped at a red light and the cabbie glanced into the rear-view mirror to look at his fares. Jiao'lan tensed in her sleep milliseconds before her eyes snapped open and a moan escaped her lips. She leaned forward and hugged her abdomen. "Damnit, lady! You can't have that baby in here!" He exclaimed, seeming to panic a little bit. "You're gonna have to pay to have the seat cleaned!" He added.
Jiao'lan bit back a cry of pain as the taxi lurched into motion again, the tires squeeling a bit. They hit a rather large pothole which caused her to cry out, tears streaming down her face.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 8:44 pm
Keeta glared at the man knowing he could see her in the mirror as she leaned over and tried to offer Jiao'lan what support she could in a moving vehicle.
"You try having a baby and see how you like it," she said just loud enough for him to hear. "Could you possibly drive any more carefully!" she added as they hit the pothole.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 8:54 pm
"I'm tryin' to ******** get you there before she spits that damn kid out in my cab!" He said, sounding panic-stricken as his driving started to become a little more erratic as Jiao'lan's vocalization became more pain filled. He almost missed a turn and made it very sharply. Jiao'lan was forced to the side of the cab by the force of the turn.
As the clinic came into view he pulled up in front of the door, and hit the brakes a little harder than he had meant to. "Okay, you're here..." He said, shifting into park.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 9:05 pm
"If I thought she was going to have the baby in the cab I would have called an ambulence," Keeta retorted after they had stopped. She flung the fare at him, not bothering to leave a tip. Then she helped Jiao'lan out of the cab carefully, as if to make up for the jostling they had received. Once her friend was safely out of the vehicle, Keeta retrieved the bag and headed for the door of the clinic.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 9:13 pm
Still in the middle of a contraction she was able to get out of the cab, but nearly lost her footing and clung to Keeta to try and keep herself upright. She was trembling. "I've gotta lie down..." She managed, wanting desperately to get inside.
A nurse had seen the taxi pull up and rushed outside to meet them moments later with wheelchair. She positioned it behind Jiao'lan. "Sit down, straight back...I've got a wheelchair behind you ma'am." She said gently. Her strawberry blonde hair was tied into a long ponytail, a blue Alice band in place for decoration, which off set her striking blue eyes. "How far apart are the contractions?" She asked Keeta. The woman was new and hadn't yet met many of the patients.
Jiao'lan sat down as told and gripped the arm rests, teeth clenched as she allowed the nurse to move her feet onto the rests and begin to take her inside.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 9:23 pm
"Ummm....." Keeta faltered at the question. She hadn't been timing them. She'd been more concerned about the level of pain Jiao'lan was in and getting her some help. She could estimate though....
"4 or 5 minutes or so?" she said uncertainly. Keeta didn't recognize this lady and wondered if she knew anything about the uniqueness of Jiao'lan's case. She tried to stand aside as the woman put Jiao'lan in the wheelchair, suddenly feeling useless.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 9:32 pm
"Okay...ma'am, I'm Mellanie...and I'll be taking care of you. No one else is on call but I'm a Nurse-Midwife." She explained. She looked to Keeta. "Are you her, partner?" She asked. "I'll need to pull her chart but if you could fill me in while I get her settled it'd make things go a little more smoothly. I assume she's full-term?" She asked. As she backed through the door and speed-walked down the corridor toward the birthing-suites.
Jiao'lan was doing her best not to make too much sound but was finding it increasingly difficult. She was hunched over in the chair, toed talons curled.
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