Poppy's PoV
*please note there are details of labour in this chapter. Nothing bloody but just so you know!*

Within a few hours, the labour was progressing quickly. Time seemed to drag, yet fly. As I glanced at the clock in the labour room, I never really took in the time, only that a few hours had passed at a time.
From my unpainful, ten minutely tightenings the pain got stronger, the contractions got stronger and they came more regularly. Stella was there, monitoring me every step of the way and keeping us all updated. Sierra was so overwhelmed with excitement that she didn't leave my side, just holding my hand or hugging me when it was needed, as well as feeding me the odd treat to keep my energy up. Sam was beside me too, watching every step from the edge of the room making sure that everything was going to plan.
I was moved from the ward into the labour ward around mid-afternoon and then everything seemed to blur into one. The excitement, pain, adrenaline, they all merged and time flew as my body prepared itself for labour. By the early evening, my waters had broken in one big splash and Stella knew this was the beginning of the birth. The only pain relief I wanted was gas and air which I didn't use for as long as possible to make sure it worked when I needed it. As the contractions stopped me in my tracks, I began to feel tired and lay down on the hospital bed. Stella guided me through the whole process, offering me the gas and air which I began to use as the contractions became unbearable. The first few breaths caused my head to spin, I felt dizzy but also high, but soon that feeling settled and the pain began to decrease. Stella had to do an examination to see just how far through the labour was as my contractions seemed to get even closer together, barely feeling like I had any time to rest. After getting myself prepared, the exam was over in a minute and Stella offered me a smile.

"You're doing amazingly, Poppy. You're at 6cm dilated." I needed to get to 10cm to have this baby, so being over half way made me overjoyed. Any time my mind wanted to convince me I couldn't do it, I reminded myself of what I had overcome and what Calum would be doing if he was here supporting me. All of this made me feel so much more confident in getting through this. Sierra's phone began to ring in the corner of the room but she barely acknowledged it, wishing to ignore it as she cared for me.

"Answer it, Si." I said just before another contraction came, my sentence stopping as I sucked in a sharp breath and breathed out slowly. These were definitely working hard to get my body ready for this. Crystal had spoken to me a few times about labour so I knew roughly what to expect but actually going through it was something else. I still had 4cm to go, so a phone call now annoy me less than if she answered it whilst I was pushing!

"I- Okay." Sierra went to argue but knew better than to do anything other than agree. She grabbed her phone and answered it quickly. "Hey Luke." She stepped outside for a moment to speak to him.

"How are you feeling, Pops?" Sam asked, the contractions catching my breath for a second before I nodded and answered.

"Yeah. Going good." I scrunched my face at the uncomfortable hardened feeling that my stomach was having. It was as if my stomach had turned to stone for a moment. Stella felt around, watching the clock for the time as she counted the seconds.

"This is going swimmingly Poppy." Stella smiled. "I'll just pop out to speak with my cover and I'm going to have my lunch break. I reckon we will be looking at birth before bedtime."

**

This was it. The labour was here. Every contraction now felt unbelievably strong, my stomach hardening as my bum felt squashed as if something was pushing on it. Every contraction caused my body to push but Stella had told me to hold off. I listened, fighting my body's natural reaction as hard as I could before she did another examination. It was now turning dusk and I'd been doing this all day. This was normal for a first birth though, so everyone kept telling me, it was often about a day long.

"Here we go Poppy, you're at 10cm now. I can feel the head. When you feel a contraction, I want you to push down into your bottom like you're trying to poop." I let out a giggle, slightly high from the pain relief. Sierra was gripping my hand tightly, a mix of fear and excitement on her face.

"This is it!!" She squealed. The first contraction came and I put my chin to my chest and pushed heavily. It felt like I was turning red, my breath held as I put all my effort into this push.

"That's it! That's it!" Sam said from the bottom of the bed. "They have so much hair!" He laughed. It broke my concentration and I let out a laugh, stopping the pushing as the contraction eased. Within a moment, another was there. I squeezed down again, pushing as hard as I could as everyone cheered me on. The high I felt from everyone willing me on was euphoric, probably alongside the pain killers and adrenaline. The contractions came one after the other and I pushed harder each time, finally being told something that excited me even more.

"One more push and the head will be out, then the shoulders and we're done!" Stella said excitedly. The following contractions were my mission and I pushed like the world would end if I didn't. Suddenly, the pressure down below became worse than I'd felt before and Stella announced the head was out. Another couple of pushes and she manipulated the shoulders of the baby so that they came out easily. She pulled the baby out and wrapped them in a towel, rubbing them clean as the baby let out an almighty cry. Sierra hugged me tightly, Sam chuckled to himself. I breathed out a sigh of relief, exhausted but over the moon.

"Congratulations Poppy. The baby is beautiful!" Sam said, taking the baby from Stella and giving them a little cuddle.

"I want to call Calum. Don't tell me the gender yet." I said, pointing to my overnight bag where my phone was sitting in the side pocket. Sierra grabbed it and called him as Sam laid the baby in my arms, tears filling my eyes as their little brown eyes looked up at me, their head of hair dark black. They looked so much like Calum and it filled me with joy. This was the start of the best part of my life, even if it was going to be short lived.