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“Wasn’t going to miss this for anything.” He grimaced as Jenny squeezed his hand with unbelievable strength. Then, when she finally relaxed, he swept her up in his arms and transferred her to the bed. “I love you to the moon and beyond,” he said as he held her hand. The nurse passed him a damp cloth, and he used it to wipe the sweat from Jenny’s forehead.
“Jenny, you’re fully dilated; it’s time to start pushing,” said the nurse.
“You can do this, babe,” said Rick, utterly overwhelmed with emotions. The woman he loved more than life itself was enduring suffering and pain, and there wasn’t a thing he could do to help. He felt utterly helpless, clinging to her hand like he was a toddler.
Jenny roared as she pushed, squeezing Rick’s hand in a vice-like grip.
“That’s it,” said the nurse. “I can see the top of her head. Now, I’m going to attach a sensor that will monitor her heart rate.”
Rick locked eyes with Jenny as he gripped her hand. “You’re a lioness, my love. You can do this.” The pain in her eyes cut him to the very soul.
“OK, Jenny, let’s push.”
Once again, her ferocious cry filled the birthing suite as she pushed. Rick watched in awe as every muscle in her body seemed to contract. He could feel her strength as she roared like a wild animal.
“Rick, I need you to press the call button,” the nurse said calmly, once the contraction had passed.
“Is everything OK?” he asked, pressing the button.
“Everything’s fine,” said the Nurse. “I just need another set of hands.”
A moment later, the door to the suite opened, and another nurse and a doctor dressed in a white coat entered.
“Jenny, I’ve got a few people to help me here,” said the nurse. “Your baby’s heart rate is dropping during the contractions, and we need to get her out as soon as we can. I’m going to need you to push with everything you’ve got.”
“I can’t do much more,” she said, voice laced with pain and exhaustion. “I don’t know how much more I can push.”
Rick had never felt more useless in his life. He was a combat veteran, a Navy SEAL corpsman who had saved lives, and yet there was nothing he could do to help his wife bring their daughter into the world.
“Jenny,” said the doctor. “If you can’t push her out, I’m going to have to pull her out. This baby needs to be born.”
Jenny looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Baby, I don’t think I can do it.”
“If anyone can, it’s you, babe. You’re an amazing, powerful woman, and I can’t believe how lucky I am that you're my wife.”
“Jenny,” said the doctor. “She needs to come out now.”
“Push, babe, push,” said Rick.
His wife inhaled slowly, a look of calm on her face. Then, she pushed with everything she had.
“That’s it, Jenny, she’s coming,” announced the doctor. “One last push and she’s here.”
The look of sheer determination on Jenny’s face was unlike anything he’d ever witnessed. He’d seen men dig deep and achieve the unachievable, but never anything like this. Her scream came from deep down in the depths of her soul, and sent shivers up Rick’s spine.
“Dad, we need you,” said the doctor.
There was a new cry in the room, and it brought tears to the hulking SEAL’s eyes. He stepped away from the head of the bed, and one of the nurses handed him a pair of surgical shears.
“Congratulations, Dad,” said the doctor who was cradling his daughter.
He cut the cord, and the doctor whisked his daughter across to a waiting infant warmer, gesturing for him to follow. He watched with tears in his eyes as the doctor checked her vitals before swaddling her in a cloth and passing her to Rick. “That’s one very healthy little girl.”
Rick had never thought of himself as an emotional kind of guy. But after seeing his wife’s determination and now holding his beautiful baby daughter, the tears flowed. Taking the precious bundle across to his wife, he couldn’t contain his joy, smiling like a Cheshire cat.
“Look at you, Dad,” Jenny croaked, her face flushed with sweat.
“You did it, my love.” He passed the bundled infant to her mother.
