Personal Request for Courtneybird18

---

I let out a breathy sigh, tossing the baby name book onto the oak coffee table in front of us. My aching back, swollen feet and sore breasts were becoming increasing more difficult to deal with the closer I came to the due date. However, the strange thing was it seemed like the most difficult part of the entire pregnancy was trying to decide on a name.

Growing up, all I ever wanted was to find my prince charming and have a happy, healthy family. I had it all figured out with my heart set on certain names for years but now that I was actually pregnant, the names I had chosen years ago didn't sit so well with me anymore. Choosing a name felt like more work than carrying around my blimp of a body.

With one hand resting on my stomach and the other on Mark's knee, I used him as leverage to help myself off the couch. My immense weight shifting onto Mark's knee was enough to have him groan in discomfort at the pressure and I could only giggle. "Don't complain, you're the one who did this to me." I meant that as a joke of course and Mark's bright smile and snicker told me he took it as one.

"Where are you going?" I bent down and picked the empty cups from our tea off from the coffee table, and took them with me as I began to trail through our living room. "I want to take a break. Maybe get the dishes done and have a snack or something," I confessed feeling the cravings coming on. "Oh no you don't!"

Within mere moments, the cups were whisked out of my hands and Mark stood in front of me with a stern look in his eye. "I'll do the dishes, you go relax." Mark seemed almost as if he had more of a nurturing nature than I did. Of course it was something I was particularly grateful for but, he treated me like I was injured as opposed to pregnant. I was still very capable of doing things on my own and somewhat felt as if my self dependency was being taken away from me.

For someone who is normally so self reliant, having Mark willingly demand to do everything for me made me feel somewhat useless as a wife and future mother. "Mark..."--"Courtney..." I rolled my eyes, sinking my head into my chest and smiled to myself. I knew it was for my own good. I was always the type to push myself and being pregnant was not a time of exception. 

"Come on, let me do the dishes at least," I whined. I knew it'd be no use but I was hoping for a different outcome. I just wasn't use to not having to lift a finger and I didn't like feeling as if I were broken. "Let me do them or... I'll kick you." I watched as Mark set the cups back down on the coffee table and when he turn back around he traced his thumb and index finger around my chin tilting my head up towards him.

"Easy my little warrior," Mark teased pushing my bangs out of my eyes. Just his gaze still gave me butterflies, and with his soft fingertips pressed lightly into my chin he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss onto my forehead. "If you want, once the baby's born I'll flip the apartment upside down and you can clean to your hearts content but, until that baby is born you're just going to have go deal with some down time."

Although I had a hard time agreeing with him, I knew he made a good point. I could be as stubborn as I want but it won't change the fact that come next week, my body's going to need all the strength it can get. "If our child is half as much trouble as you, I'm gonna have my hands full," Mark joked placing both of his hands against my round belly and his hands moved in a slow circular pattern.

What amazed me was it was almost as if the baby could sense we were right on the other side of their confines because as soon as Mark's hands began to move, the baby decided to kick. I peered down at my stomach with a smile, watching the very faint movement from within my body. Although the fuss the baby was putting up came as a discomfort, I always cherished these moments. As for right now, I'll be holding them in my stomach but soon enough I'll be holding their fragile little body safe in my warm arms.

"Well, at least one of us got to kick you." Mark removed his hands with a light hearted smile and softened eyes, It seemed to me like this moment meant just as much to him as it did to me. There were no needs for words. Our little bundle of joy hadn't even entered the world yet and already we knew, we were blessed.

***

"You make chicken and dumpling soup almost as good as your mom babe," I joked from across the table setting my spoon down into the empty bowl in front of me. It was fair to say when it came to cooking, I was the best of the two of us. Mark wasn't a terrible cook but, he certainly wasn't as good as me and neither of us could compare to our mother's.

"Yeah, no one makes chicken soup with dumplings as good as Mamaplier."--"You can say that again," I teased sticking my tongue out playfully to him. His immediate response was to be silly and blow me a raspberry before beginning to clear the table, taking our dishes with him into the kitchen.

"Ahh," I groaned feeling the baby stir. That movement was possibly the most aggressive one yet. I keeled over the table wrapping my arms around my stomach, breathing through the discomfort. My groaning immediately had gotten Mark's attention as, in a moment he was back by my side. He squared down to my level and rested a gentle hand on my knee, running circles as if a means of comfort. "You okay?" I drew a sharp breath feeling another powerful movement and squinted my eyes closed trying to power through the discomfort as the baby pushed down on my bladder.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Move a sec, I gotta pee." Mark stood up with a look of relief to know I was fine, and stood back reaching out for my hand. Eager to get to the bathroom before I explode I took ahold of his hand, and got up immediately beginning to waddle my way by the table, through our living room and down the hallway. I never did make it to the bathroom. I was about five feet away when I became soaked from the waist down, and a gush of fluid dropped to the floor.

"Mark," I screamed waddling my way through the puddle, and entered the bathroom. Immediately I stripped of my pants, and took a seat onto the toilet, where even more fluid continued to leak and initial panic set in. My due date wasn't for another week, so to have my water break now was a bit of a surprise. Of course, for as sore as my back and abdomen had been over the last few days, I knew the baby was going to come sooner, I just didn't expect it to be tonight.

"Mark," I screamed again trembling yet trying to remain calm. Of course I was excited for the baby but now that the time had come, I was more terrified than I could have ever thought possible. "Ma..."--"Yea..." Although he was at the opposite end of the hall, I could see the panic wash over him which was of no help to me.

As soon as his eyes darted to the floor seeing the mess and then back up to me, it was like he didn't have to think twice, he knew what to do. As quickly as he appeared he vanished from sight for a moment rushing into our bedroom. When he reappeared he had my bag in hand and his phone held between his neck and shoulder. "Hey, it's Mark... Yeah. Her water just broke," his voice trailed with him back up the hallway, and his words eventually became inaudible.

More concerned with getting myself in order as oppose to trying to listen in on his conversation, I felt the flow finally come to a stop and pulled some toilet paper from the rolled to wipe myself. The liquid that soaked the toilet paper was a red tinted mucus, and I was more than aware, that was my mucus plug meaning contractions would soon follow.

That was what I was most afraid of- the pain. I've heard it said that childbirth is the closest a woman could ever come to death without dying and I was petrified. Mark and I had discussed the benefits of a natural birth but, both of our mother's advised us against it for a first child and I valued their opinions. After raising a family of their own, I could only assume they knew what they were talking about and perhaps they were right.

"Hey babe," I heard Mark call from off in the distance. I grasped a hold of the sink to help me up, followed by flushing the toilet and by that time Mark had already joined me in the bathroom. "I just got off with my mom. Her and Tom are catching a flight out in the morning." Of course I was excited to see Mark's family again but in the moment, rightfully my mind was elsewhere. "I also called your mom. She said usually you'd wait until your contractions are are a few minutes apart before going to the hospital but since in our first child, it's best to leave soon. Why don't you get yourself cleaned up, and we'll leave when you're ready."

***

"When I say, I need you to start pushing dear." The time had finally come. With my legs up and open wide, I looked over to Mark and took his gentle hand, nodding to the doctor feeling another crippling contraction coming on. Since I had decided on the epidural, the contractions were now somewhat tolerable but still, labour was an experience unlike anything I had ever had before. Of course knowing I'd be holding my beautiful baby in my arms soon enough made all the aches, pains and mood swings worth it.

"Push!" I drew a sharp, deep breath and bore down to the best of my paralyzed ability. "One... two... three..." My body was so exhausted from the 12 hours of labour I had already endured, I was so weak but continued to hold my breath and push. "Four... five... six... seven." I pushed my chin deeper into my chest, groaning and grunting usually all the strength I had in my fragile little body to continue my struggle. "Eight... nine... ten, and stop. Very good."

I let out my breath, panting for oxygen. This was only my first push and I already felt as though I was getting light headed. My face burned hot as I started to sweat, and any muscle in my body that I could actually feel seemed as if they were already being worked into overdrive. "Get ready for another push," the doctor had warned me. I took yet another inhale, I looked back over to Mark who has this point was wearing the most comforting grin, and his bright eyes were shining back at me.

Just seeing he was there for me, was a bigger support than I could ever ask for. I wasn't quite ready to start pushing again but, the thought of being able to see my baby very soon was such a powerful sense of comfort. Again I held my breath and bore down, squinting my eyes tightly closed and pushed along with the nurse's counting. The ten seconds of pushing felt like an eternity of my body and mind, this was the more exhausting thing I had ever had to do but, knowing I was bringing our baby into the world was just the burst or motivation I needed to fight against the exhaustion.

"You're doing amazing, sweetheart," Mark purred bringing my hand up to his lips and he kissed it ever do gently. His words were so calm and soothing. In the moment I felt as if he were speaking to my heart, and in produced a warm glow swooning over my entire body. "The baby's crowning! I need you to push the hardest you can, Courtney, okay?"

Pushing my absolute hardest seemed to be something I probably couldn't do. I was already at the point in which I felt like I could possibly pass out. This was by far the most difficult thing I've ever experienced. "Take a deep breath and when you're ready push again." Already feeling dizzy and weakened, the struggle was taking it's toll on my body.

My mind was hazing over, my entire body ached and all I wanted to do was sleep. However, knowing I'd have my baby girl or boy wrapped in my arms soon was such a drive of adrenaline. I felt like I could take on the world. My grip on Mark's hand tightened, the sweat locked in between our hands was clammy and gross but, not enough to care.

As I began to push with all my might, I felt what I could of my body entirely tense up, and lock. The sweat pouring off my forehead was a sure fire indication of how exhausted I was, but the soft warm hand in mine was a comfort. The entire time I was pushing, I spent it wondering who the baby would look more like: Mark or myself and although I wanted to cry from pain, I found a bright side that made me want to smile.

"Here they come," Mark announced taking a peek between my legs. He bore such a softened smile, and bright beautiful eyes on the verge of tears that was almost enough to make me cry. "You're almost there baby, you're doing great." Of course I wouldn't expect to hear anything less from Mark, but as I looked down to the Doctor and nurse set between my legs, the Doctor and I locked eyes for a moment and he nodded to me with a light smile.

"One more hard push and we should be able to get the shoulders out. From there, it's a breeze." I rolled my eyes at the Doctor's words, he wasn't the one giving birth. He may know what he's doing but, I was the one delivering the child. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be so simple. At the Doctor's go ahead I took another deep breath, sunk my chin into my chest and bore down again giving the push my absolute all.

As soon as I had let go of my breath and opened my eyes, my focus was set on Mark. His upper lip quivering, his eyes beginning to tear, I didn't need to be told. I knew our child hard entered the world. "It's a boy," Mark proclaimed leaning into forehead giving it a soft kiss. "You did so good baby, I'm so proud of you."

Our intimate moment didn't last too long before chaos set in. I watched the Doctor cut the umbilical cord, and instantly whisk the baby away. At first, I didn't think too much of it until I realized there was clear panic that set in on everyone in the room, and I still hadn't heard the baby cry. I waited in silence for several more moments until finally I could feel my heart breaking in two. In a single instance, my whole world seemed to have stopped spinning and felt like it was collapsing down around me. I had never felt such s pain.

"Why isn't he crying. Mark? What's going on, why can't I hear my baby crying." I could see it in his eyes, he didn't know what to tell me. We were both entirely in the dark and clearly terrified. "I-I don't know," Mark confessed taking a tighter hold onto my hand. I could hear faint panicked voices from the opposite end of the world but, couldn't make out what they were saying. All Mark and I could do was stay back, watch, listen to the commotion, praying for the best.

Finally after what felt like the longest wait of our lives, I had heard it. The most soothing, calming sound I hard ever heard. The beautiful cry of a baby- our baby taking his first breath. Instantly I was swept into an emotional tidal wave, sobbing uncontrollably knowing our son was okay. Mark bent down and embraced me in his arms, in a hug that seemed like he was clinging to dear life. Nothing in the world could have felt more moving than holding my beloved husband, listening to the first few cries of our baby boy.

***

Mark and I kept to ourselves and waited, giving the doctor and nurse their space. Of course we were anxious to meet our son, just knowing he was okay soothed our wait. "Mr. and Mrs. Fischbach..." Mark and I finally tore our attention away from one another long enough to look up to the voice. Off in the near distance was the doctor and cradled in his arms, was our tiny bundle of joy wrapped in a small white blanket and a baby blue hat.

"Would you like to meet your son?" It seemed like a silly question, of course we did. We had been waiting the last nine months to meet him and having feared we had lost him made me yearn to hold him that much more. As the doctor was came closer, my awaiting arms were soon filled with the warmth of a beautiful child. He looked so much like Mark, and as I peered down at the angelic face of my son, I felt as if I was holding the entire world in my grasp.

I found myself able to smile when thinking of all the great things he may one day do and Mark and I would always be there to support him. "What happened," Mark inquired still somewhat choking back his emotions. I may have wanted to know just as badly as he did but at the time, I didn't particularly care. My son was finally in my arms after long last, and that was all that mattered.

"The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. That's not exactly uncommon however, this was perhaps the closest I had ever come to losing a child. There was a moment I wasn't sure if he was going to make it but, he was a little warrior and I wasn't going to give up." I couldn't think of a way to properly thank the man who saved my son's life.

Any words I had floating around in my head just didn't seem like enough to properly express my gratitude. However as the Doctor trailed away, I stilled muttered the most sincerest thank you I had ever given anyone. He in response nodded his head with a smile before heading back to the opposite end of the room to the nurse's side, to resume whatever it was they needed to do.

"What about Chase?" Hearing Mark muttered the name caused my ears to perk up, and a bell rang in my head. It was a name I had never seen in our baby book, nor one that had ever crossed my mind. Although I liked it I found it such a random name to pull from out of thin air and I had to wonder where he got it from.

"Hmmm," I murmured staring down at the sleeping angel in my arms, allowing the name to sink in a little bit. "Chase... Where'd you get that from?" I looked up to Mark just to see him look off into the distance at the Doctor and nurse with a faint smile. "It's on his name tag."