“Yes. You need to get the doctor. This is much worse than it was yesterday.”
“Doctors don’t usually attend births unless something is going wrong.”
“Then who else does the work?”
“Midwives.”
“Why?”
“I have no idea. I believe some very rich ladies can pay to have a doctor but most women do it themselves, maybe have a few friends to help, or get a midwife.”
“Oh,” Julia said, and her reply turned into a long moan of pain. “Like before with just you and Rose. Are you a midwife?”
“No one has named me one but I have attended and helped in many a birth with midwives and with doctors and they were all satisfied.”
“They are not the ones having the baby.”
“True enough. I was just telling you how much assistance I have done and learning I have gained.”
“All right. But you will get the doctor if something happens you do not know or something goes wrong, right?”
“Yes, but nothing is going to go wrong.”
“Why does it hurt so much? It didn’t hurt like this the last time,” she whined.
“Maybe because that was a false alarm. Now your body is trying to push the baby out and the baby doesn’t feel like coming out. Last time was clearly false labor. That can feel pretty real but it isn’t and that is why it stopped. I have no good answer, just that it does and always has.”
“That seems grossly unfair.”
“Most certainly.”
“How does this not rip a woman apart?” Julia asked in a swiftly rising voice that hurt her ears. “Something has to be wrong!”
“It isn’t. I’m sorry you were never informed about the whole process.”
“Why should I be? I was not supposed to be doing this until I was safely married.”
“True, but you are married now and it is time to stop fretting on how much it hurts or how hard the work to birth is, and just get on with it.” Abigail could tell by the wide eyes Julia stared at her with that some of her irritation with the woman had sounded in her voice.
Julia opened her mouth to say something that Abigail thought was probably another complaint and then screamed softly. Abbie felt her stomach and felt sure this time it was real labor. She looked across the bed at Rose who had come into the room and taken her seat.
“Real?” asked Rose.
“I certainly think so.”
“Good. My cousin had false labor several times before she got down to business, and it was a relief when she did. So we settle in for a long time.”
When Julia screeched again, Abbie winced. “I hope for the sake of my hearing it is not too long.”
Julia obeyed nearly everything they told her to do but her temper flared several times. Abbie was tempted to tell her what kind of messes she and Rose were having to deal with just to make Julia be quiet but decided that would be mean. She was not yet tired enough to be mean.
“I am so tired,” Julia said in a soft voice after about three hours of complaining and yelling.
“It is almost over,” Abbie said in as soothing a voice as she could muster. “Now comes the time when you need to start pushing.”
“You certain she is that close?” asked Rose even as she stood up.
“I believe so although this hasn’t taken as long as I thought it would.” She suddenly looked at Julia. “Did your pains come earlier than you said?”
