Sunset: 4 (Sunrise) (28 page)

Landon helped Ashley out of the van, while right behind them Dayne did the same with Katy. Inside the emergency room waiting area, there were only a few people seated in chairs—a man with an Ace bandage around his ankle and an exhausted-looking woman with a sick child in her arms. But no one seemed in critical condition, and the staff behind the desk responded quickly to the arrival of two pregnant women in advanced labor.

It took twenty minutes before they were registered and taken to separate rooms. Ashley had time for a quick good-bye before she lost sight of Katy. By then, Katy’s contractions were coming every five minutes, and Ashley’s had slowed, but she seemed to be in more pain. As she and Landon were set up in a labor room and a nurse hooked her up to a monitor, Ashley stretched out on the hospital bed and silently recited the verse again.
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Please, God, give me Your peace. Let my baby be okay . . . please. Be with Isaac James.

“We’ll let the monitor pick up the next few contractions.” The nurse was young, but she seemed adept. “Use the call button if you have any concerns.”

When the nurse was gone, Landon stood at the side of her bed, the way he had when Devin was born and of course when she had Sarah last summer. His clothes were drier now but still damp as he stroked her hair and whispered to her. “We’ve been here before. You can do this.”

And she could; she knew that. God was with her—she could feel His presence. But even still something about this delivery felt different from either of the last two. With Devin, she’d gone into labor during a tornado and her blood pressure dropped. He’d nearly been born in the basement of the Baxter house, but she’d made it to the hospital in time to have a C-section. Then with Sarah, they’d known what terrible loss awaited them in the hours after her birth. But this time . . .

Ashley was hit by another contraction. She worked with it, releasing short bursts of air while the pain grew and peaked. As it tapered off, her thoughts picked up where they left off. This time there seemed to be something very wrong, something in the severity of the pains. But whatever was going on inside her, the situation was shrouded in the unknown. At least it felt that way.

A few contractions passed before a doctor and a nurse finally made their way into the room. The doctor apologized and wasted little time as he conducted an exam and asked Ashley questions about her contractions. As he finished, he crossed his arms and his brow lowered in concern. “You’re definitely in labor, but the baby’s transverse. Sideways. That would explain the severity of your pain.” He looked at the monitor again. “So far the baby’s heart rate looks good, but if he doesn’t turn on his own, or if I see any sign of stress on the baby, we’ll have to do a C-section pretty quickly.”

“How . . . ?” Landon looked concerned. “How will you know . . . if he becomes stressed?”

“The nurses can read your wife’s monitor at their station.” He gave a firm nod. “As soon as we see any sign of struggle, we’ll be on it. I promise you that.” He smiled at Ashley. “A lot of times babies turn on their own. We have to give him time for that to happen. At least as long as his heartbeat stays steady.”

With that the doctor asked if they had any questions, and when they didn’t, he excused himself with a promise to be back often.

Again tears blurred Ashley’s eyes. “I don’t like this.” Her voice cracked. “I knew something was wrong. Can’t it ever just be easy?”

Landon pulled up a chair so his face was closer to hers. “With you—” he kissed her cheek—“nothing worthwhile ever is.”

Two hours passed slowly, but with every exam the news was the same. The baby was still transverse. Ashley survived the terrible waiting and intense pain with God’s strength and the support of Landon and because the baby’s heartbeat remained unaffected. The doctor offered her an epidural, but he felt fairly sure that the medication would increase the odds of a C-section. So rather than that, Ashley tried to endure. She felt strongly that a traditional birth would be better than a C-section, since traveling through the birth canal was better for a baby’s lungs. Even if she had undergone the surgery before. That was different, of course. They had known Sarah wouldn’t survive, but this baby was supposed to be healthy.

At least up until now.

Once in a while Landon would leave long enough to get an update on Katy in the room four doors down. He kept Ashley at least a little distracted with a constant stream of information. Katy’s exam had gone better than Ashley’s. She was dilating, and the contractions were progressing fairly quickly.

Ashley’s dad, Elaine, Cole, and Devin were gathered in the waiting room watching a John Wayne movie. The rest of them had gone back to Kari and Ryan’s house.

As Ashley’s most recent contraction let up, she readjusted the cold cloth on her forehead and nodded to Landon. It was eleven o’clock, and they hadn’t had news from the other room in almost an hour. “Please . . . find out how Katy’s doing.”

Landon looked doubtful, but he didn’t hesitate for long and Ashley understood why. Her next contraction couldn’t be far off. He hurried out of the room, and after less than a minute he returned, his face lit up. “The doctor said it’ll be anytime. Katy’s been taken into delivery.”

“No problems?” Even in her own haze of pain and uncertainty, Ashley was grateful for Katy and Dayne. After all they’d been through, the birth of their firstborn would be the sweetest highlight of their life together.

“None.” Landon took his place beside her again.

A smile came over Ashley, and she closed her eyes. “I think . . . when the doctor comes back in . . . we should ask how much longer.” She opened her eyes and searched Landon’s face. “A C-section wouldn’t be so bad, right? I’ve done it before.”

“Of course not.” He took the cloth from her forehead and waved it around, trying to cool it down again. After a few seconds he patted it gently to her cheeks and neck, and then he set it once more on her head.

She was about to ask how Cole and Devin were doing when the doctor walked into the room and closed the door behind him. He took a deep breath. “That last contraction was harder on your baby.” He glanced at a clipboard in his hand. “His heart rate dipped more than I’d like. If I see it again, we won’t hesitate. As you know, we can deliver the baby by C-section very quickly if there’s a problem.”

He performed another exam, and this time there was good news and bad. The baby had turned and was head down in the birth canal. But because he’d been in the wrong position for so long, Ashley wasn’t dilated whatsoever. The doctor explained the situation to them. “You’ll need several more hours of labor to get to the point of delivery. Now it’s a question of how much the baby can take.”

“Why wait?” Landon had slid to the edge of his seat, his back straight, body tense. “Let’s go ahead with the C-section now.”

“We will if there’s any further concern.” The doctor’s expression was more reassuring than before. “Like I said, we’ll watch very closely. We still want to avoid a C-section if possible. If the conditions are right, a natural delivery is always best for the baby’s lungs.”

When he was gone, Ashley’s tears came in earnest. She rolled slightly onto her side and held out both hands to Landon. “I’m not sure I can do this.” She was exhausted and tired of waiting. “I’m trying to feel God’s peace, but I’m not sure . . .”

“You don’t have to feel it.” He cupped his hands around hers and kissed her fingers. “God’s here no matter how we feel.”

His words comforted her, and she held on to that truth and to one very certain fact. However the delivery took place, every contraction brought them that much closer to the moment they’d been looking forward to for months.

The beautiful, miraculous first look at their newborn son.

As Dayne rushed into the delivery room alongside the gurney, as Katy squeezed his hand and fought another wave of contractions, he was overwhelmed by one very amazing detail. Their baby was about to be born on the Fourth of July. The day God had brought him into this family. The timing seemed too spectacular to be a coincidence, and the joy in Dayne’s heart made him feel like he was floating.

Katy was panting, her face twisted in pain. She groaned when the attendants parked the gurney and the doctor positioned her legs for delivery.

Dayne leaned close to her face. “I’m here, honey. It’s okay.”

“I have to push!” Her face was red, her eyes wide. “I feel like I have to push!”

“Just a minute.” The doctor was adjusting the sheet across her stomach and checking the baby’s progress. “All right, Katy . . . wait for the next contraction, and then you can push. Any minute now.”

Any minute?
Dayne felt a layer of sweat break out across his forehead. His heart banged around in his chest, and he felt like his knees might buckle.
Dear God, help Katy. . . . Be with our baby. . . .

The very first breath of life is from Me, dear son . . . the first and the last.

Dayne felt the gentle response deep in his soul, in a place where he knew the answer could’ve only come from God. He thought about Ashley’s baby Sarah and how her life had been a direct picture of this truth. That life was God’s to give and His to take. The certainty of that fact took all the worry out of the moment.

“Dayne, I can feel it. The baby’s coming!”

“You’re doing great.” He put his arm around her shoulders and supported her. As he did, he whispered near the side of her face, “You can do this, sweetheart.”

The doctor nodded and looked up at her. “Okay, you can push. Push hard, Katy.” In a mirror that hung behind the doctor, Dayne could see the top of his baby’s head. The doctor sounded calm and in control. “Keep pushing . . . a little more. That’s it, good.” The contraction ended. “Rest for a minute. The baby’s almost here.”

Katy was completely out of breath. She leaned against Dayne’s shoulder. “Hold me up. I need you.”

“I am. I won’t leave.” Dayne’s heartbeat tripped into double time. The rest of his life would be changed by the next few minutes. “I can see the head.”

She tried to see the mirror, but another contraction was already hitting her and clearly she needed all her strength to push. This time, the baby’s head made it out, and on the second half of the contraction, the little body slipped into the doctor’s hands.

“Congratulations!” The doctor’s voice rang through the room. “You have a little girl.” The doctor waited a few seconds, and at that instant, their daughter’s first cry filled the room.

The miracle of it all was more than Dayne could take in. Tears welled in his eyes, and he leaned over and tenderly kissed Katy’s lips. “Can you believe it? God gave us a daughter!” The words sounded like they were from a script, like this was a scene from some incredible movie.

Their little girl’s cries tapered off, falling to little more than an occasional whimper.

The nurse smiled at Dayne. “You can cut the cord.” She motioned to the spot across from her. “Here. I’ll show you where.”

Dayne looked at Katy, and he noticed that there were tears streaming down her cheeks. She smiled and nodded at him, silently telling him that she would be okay. He blinked so he could see clearly. And then, for the first time, he looked full into the precious face of his daughter. Whether she could see him clearly or not, she looked at him. Straight at him. And the connection ran through Dayne like nothing he’d ever felt.

“Hi, little girl.” His voice gained strength. “You’re a miracle.”

“Hurry.” Katy sounded weak but anxious. “Bring her to me so I can see her.”

Dayne leaned over her and followed the nurse’s instructions as he cut the baby’s cord.

The nurse placed a clamp on it and finished wiping the infant clean. Then she wrapped her quickly in a blanket and handed her to Dayne.

It was another first—the first time he would ever hold his baby girl in his arms. There would be so many other times along the journey of life. The long nights when Katy needed a rest, the times when Dayne would wrap her in a towel after a bath, and the night before her first day at kindergarten when she needed her daddy to help her not be afraid. He would hold her anytime she skinned her knee and anytime anyone dared to break her heart.

But of all those times, this was the very first.

Dayne brought her close and kissed her feathery soft cheek. “I’m your daddy, honey. I’m so glad to meet you.” He carried her gently, carefully, as if she might break if he rushed or held her too tightly. Then in the sweetest moment of his life, he lowered her into Katy’s arms. Tears slid down his face as he looked at her. “She’s beautiful. Just like you.”

A soft gasp came from Katy as she looked at their daughter. “Dayne . . . this feeling.” She lifted her teary eyes to him. “I’ve never imagined anything like it.” She studied their daughter, and a quiet sob filled her throat. “I can’t believe from that first day of seeing you at the theater . . . that God would bring us to this . . . this moment.”

“She’s perfect.” He reached out to the baby at the same time she worked her arm free from the hospital blanket, and as Dayne touched her tiny hand, she took firm hold of his little finger. His baby girl, holding his hand, and Dayne felt that little touch to the center of his heart. He met Katy’s eyes. “What’s her name?”

Katy smiled, looking more beautiful than ever before. “I like your idea.”

“From last night?” He looked at their daughter. “Hey, I think you’re right. It fits her.”

“Sophie Kathleen.” Katy beamed at the infant in her arms. “I love it. Elegant and sweet and . . . and so girly.”

Dayne studied her dainty nose and sweet little lips. “She looks like a Sophie.” With his free hand he touched his fingers to her fine, damp hair. “It doesn’t look very dark.”

“No.” Katy grinned. “I think she’s gonna have my blonde hair.”

The nurse came back. “I need to weigh and measure her.” She held out her arms, and Katy handed the baby over. “Just a few minutes and you can have her back.” She looked at Dayne. “You can go tell the family in the waiting room if you’d like. They’re welcome to come in.”

Dayne waited until the nurse walked away before touching Katy’s face. “I’ve never loved you more.”

“Or you.” She cupped her hand around the back of his head and slowly pulled him to her. “I can’t believe we’re really here.”

He kissed her again, and as he drew back, he motioned to the door. “I’ll go tell the others.”

Katy nodded. “We’ll be here.”

He tried to take a complete breath, but his chest was too tight, too full from the joy and love that knew no bounds. He pictured Sophie Kathleen’s sweet face, her innocent eyes, the sound of her cry. His daughter, given to him on the Fourth of July.

As Dayne left the delivery room and headed down the hall to his father, as he tried to imagine his baby in his dad’s arms for the first time, he remembered the way he’d felt that July 4 a few years ago. After a lifetime of wanting a family, after looking for the Baxters and finding them, after knowing about them and longing for them, it was on Independence Day that he’d been with them for the very first time.

And now, on the same day, God had given him a precious child, a daughter who would be his always, even long after she was grown up and moved away. For though time would one day take her from him, Dayne was sure of one thing.

That little girl would never let go of his finger.

Just after midnight the doctor made his decision. By then Ashley was almost delirious from the exertion of the contractions and barely able to concentrate on what was happening around her. She was in the middle of another series of pains when the doctor came in and checked her again.

“It’s time,” he announced. “I don’t like the baby’s progress. We’ll take him by C-section.”

“Landon.” She held up her hand. “I’m afraid.”

“The doctor said it’ll be fast.” He walked beside her, and as they entered the hallway, Dayne appeared from one of the rooms.“We had a girl. Sophie Kathleen. Seven pounds, three ounces. Twenty inches long.” Dayne was grinning so big his smile lit the space around him. But then he seemed to notice the urgency of the moment, and his expression changed. “Is . . . everything okay?”

“Yes.” Landon’s voice was firm, no room for doubt. “Tell your dad they’re doing a C-section.”

Dayne stopped and watched them go. “We’ll be praying.”

Ashley felt another contraction bear down on her, and she held on to the thought that everyone would be praying. The pain ripped into her and racked her body for what felt like a full minute at least. When it let up, she couldn’t quite catch her breath. “Landon . . . help me!”

“You’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” He was right beside her as they wheeled her into a brightly lit room and a group of people seemed to surround her, all of them working on her at once.

Someone came up to her opposite Landon and asked her to roll onto her side. “We’re giving you an epidural, Ashley. You’ll feel a lot better after that.”

In the recesses of her mind she knew what they were going to do, that they were going to insert a needle into the fluid around her spine, and she could hardly wait. Maybe then she could focus on what was happening and how her baby was doing.
My baby boy, Jesus . . . please let him be okay. Please . . .

The response came over her gradually, a warmth and a peace, and at the same time Ashley realized that the epidural was probably taking effect. The doctor was asking her to roll onto her back again, and he was explaining something about feeling a slight tugging and discomfort and saying that the baby would be born in just a few minutes.

“How are you?” Landon was stroking her hair. “Talk to me.”

It took a minute or so, but Ashley finally realized the pain was gone. Completely gone. She was exhausted but she could breathe again, and the truth about what was happening around her hit her like a splash of cold water. She was about to give birth to their son! She opened her eyes wider than before. “I’m . . . I’m much better.” Now nothing could stave off the excitement growing inside her.

At that moment, another medical person covered her mouth with an oxygen mask. “Just for a few minutes,” he assured her. “We want you to be strong.”

Ashley’s fear returned, so she looked at Landon. As long as she could see his eyes, everything would be okay. It had to be. God wouldn’t bring them this far only to have something happen to their baby.

A couple of nurses erected a screen below her chest, a barrier so she couldn’t watch the operation taking place. The situation was just like when Sarah was born, but Ashley refused to see it that way. This was different. It had to be different. The ultrasound had shown that their son was perfectly healthy.
Give me Your peace, God.

The doctor was right. She felt a series of tugs and pulls but no pain. The pain was behind her for now but not the strangeness of the moment. She was on a slight decline, her head lower than her shoulders, the oxygen mask still in place. Landon moved down by her knees so he could watch the surgery. A few minutes passed while Ashley watched her husband, her strong firefighter, the man who had loved her for so long. With God and Landon she could get through anything. That much time had already proven.

Suddenly the doctor peered at Ashley over the screen. “Were you expecting a boy?”

Ashley stared at the man and sucked in hard on the oxygen streaming into her mask. She nodded and thought how strange the doctor’s comments were. Of course they were expecting a boy. The doctor had seen her charts by now, right?

Landon looked as confused as she felt, and then his mouth opened. “Ash, it’s a girl. I’m serious.”

Her mind raced, and she shook her head. No, the baby wasn’t a girl. Why would Landon say such a thing? She motioned to one of the nurses and pointed to the oxygen mask. She needed to talk but she couldn’t until . . .