The Doctor

Josh was a young, handsome first year surgeon at the local university hospital. He was very driven and wasn't the type to take vacations or time off.  He loved his job as a surgeon and was confident in himself that he could do anything he set his mind to.

It was that confidence that lead Josh to decide to have his baby at home.  He got pregnant after a one night stand and made the decision to have the baby then give it up for adoption.  His career was just getting started and he wasn't ready for kids yet but he knew there were a lot of couples out there who wanted kids.  Josh saw this as a challenge, he wanted to be able to be at the top of his game, even while pregnant, and also be able to deliver a kid alone.
 
He had delivered a few babies during his OB rotation and didn’t want to see his baby delivered in a hospital. Even though he was a surgeon, Josh hated hospitals so he decided he would give birth at home. Truth be told Josh was arrogant enough to think that just because he was a doctor, he'd be able to handle labor and delivery at home with no medication and no assistance.
 
Josh’s pregnancy went completely by the book.  Although he was always working, he made time to go to Lamaze class and read up more on labor and delivery. On his days off he would volunteer his time to help out with deliveries at the hospital so he could get more experience.
 
Josh had a very regular routine. Every morning he'd get up early and be in the gym by 5. After working out for an hour and a half, he'd go to the hospital and put in a 10-12 hour day. Even after such a long day at work, he would go back to the gym and take a yoga class to keep his mind and body balanced. Josh was determined to keep himself in the best shape possible during the pregnancy so he'd have an easy delivery and be able to lose the pregnancy weight he gained after he gave birth.

The hospital allowed expectant fathers to take paternity leave starting at 7 and a half months but Josh kept working. Though his feet hurt and were starting to swell, Josh felt the need to prove to others and himself that he wouldn't let the pregnancy derail his career. 

Josh was lucky that he got to wear scrubs most of the time at work because as his belly grew, he was quickly outgrowing his normal clothes. He moved up 2 sizes in scrubs in one month so his belly would have more room. His new uniform consisted of a paternity top that was long enough to cover his belly, and bigger pants. The paternity scrub pants the hospital provided were designed to be worn up over the belly but Josh didn't like them because they created a line across his belly so he just got regular pants but in a bigger size and wore them under his stomach. As his pregnancy grew, Josh found his belly stuck out from the scrub tops he wore even though they were a bigger size. He had to be sure that his undershirt was long enough to cover any skin that might pop out.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, at 8 months, Josh hit a wall. He was getting tired easier and had to adjust his schedule so he missed the gym frequently. Being a surgeon, Josh was usually on his feet all day. 4 hour surgeries were the longest he could stand. Usually about 2 hours into the surgery, Josh needed a break to sit down and visit the restroom. He also noticed the pregnancy interrupting his patient exams. Leaning over to examine the patient got harder as his belly got in the way and frequently hit the patient in the side.

Between surgeries, the tired, pregnant surgeon would go to the doctor’s lounge and try to get some shut eye. The traditional hospital cots were not very forgiving on his strained body so he got little rest.

A week before his due date, Josh started to feel a little bit off. The baby had dropped and was sitting deep in his hips.  It wasn’t anything a lay person would have noticed but Josh knew it was the early signs of labor. He finally decided to call out of work and let the hospital know he would be off 'til after he gave birth so they needed to reschedule his surgeries.

Josh went around his house trying to get everything ready for the birth. He had taken some sterile blankets from work, surgical scissors, clamps, some Pitocen and had a place set up in his basement with pillows for him to labor and deliver on. Josh was ready for everything that could go wrong and had a doctor friend on call just in case he needed help.

Not knowing how long this would take, Josh relaxed around his house for the first day.  He went to the gym around lunch time and got quite a few stares from people wondering why the hell he was there working out when he looked like he was about to pop.  He didn't do too much, just walked on the treadmill and lifted some weights.

He didn’t start having contractions until the next day. The contractions weren’t bad at all, he felt a tightening in his back which rolled around to his front and over his thighs.  The baby, on the other hand wasn’t loving the early contractions.  It was usually the baby that let him know the contraction was coming, it would start squirming around in the confined space, fighting against the contracting muscles.

He had practiced many different labor techniques and was ready to keep himself in control of the situation.  As each contraction started Josh was sure to have himself in a position to deal with the pain.  He would lean against the wall, brace himself on the counter, or sit down in a chair.  The contractions were not bad, but they did take a lot of energy out of him. 

By 11am, the contractions were about 10 minutes apart.  Josh was sitting on his couch and started investigating his belly.  He felt the head of the baby heavy and large in the lower part of his stomach.  The head bulged completely right above his groin and a few inches below his popped out belly button.  At  his belly button, he felt the baby’s butt.  This was a good position for birth, but made it tough as the baby was pummeling him with kicks and punches to his internal organs.

Josh could feel the pressure growing in his hips as the head descended lower.  He knew it was only a matter of time before he would feel the pressure and pain on his cervix.  At last appointment, his cervix was 2 cm dilated.  He could feel himself loosening up down there throughout the labor, but wasn’t looking forward to the point when the head would be barreling thought the ring of muscle.

A new contraction came and Josh looked at the clock, they were now 8 minutes apart.  At this point the pain was getting pretty bad.  The normally cocky doctor was starting to wonder if he could do this by himself.  He decided to go down to the basement where he had set up pillows and a mattress to birth on.  It was best to be in the basement, because he was able to moan and groan and scream without he neighbors hearing him. 

It took a few attempts to lift his heavy body off the couch.  Just as he got off the couch,  gravity really took over and Josh’s water broke.  He was happy he wasn’t on his $8,000 couch when it happened, but knew he would have to have the rug professionally cleaned.  The water breaking gave a little relief to the pressure Josh was feeling in his bottom, but also cleared the way for the baby’s hard and heavy head to crash into Josh’s cervix.  The pain came like a knife as it made first contact.  Josh let out a small yelp and tried to steady himself. 

He shook off his now wet track pants and decided it was now time to get down to business and stripped off his shirt.  He waddled slowly to the basement door and realized that the next time he was in his kitchen, he would have given birth.  No turning back now. 

When Josh got to the basement, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirrors he had strategically set up in order to watch the birth.  His belly was low in his hips and looked like it was ready to pop.  His belly was slick with sweat and the shine made it look bigger than it was.

Carefully, Josh made his way down to the nest he had set up in the basement.  He had a mattress and pillows surrounding it.  He also had a workout ball down there to labor on.  At the side of the mattress were the delivery supplies, and a good amount of water and Gatorade.

For the next few hours Josh labored in the basement.  He was glad that he had decided to do it down there, otherwise the neighbors would have heard his groaning and moaning.  Each contraction drove the baby further and further into the birth canal.  Josh could feel his cervix being stretched around the baby’s skull.  The baby’s head was big, and made slow progress through the cervix, but Josh knew that even as it made it through that first ring of muscle, it had to escape his ass as well.

It was all Josh could do to not push through these contractions.  He just wanted to get this labor over with. He knew he was strong enough to push the baby out, but wasn’t sure he could take the long agonizing process of stretching his muscles around the baby’s head.

After each contraction, Josh tried to regroup mentally, and prepare for the next one.  At this point they were coming every minute, and Josh knew pushing was next on his list.  Trusting his body, he got himself on to all fours.  This position felt the best as he could sit down on his legs and let gravity take over.  His belly hung heavy in front of him, and ached from the hours of contractions. 

The urge to push came like a freight train Josh couldn’t ignore.  He bore down as hard as he could.  It felt good to finally be pushing, but Josh felt defeated as the baby made little to no movement.  After an hour of pushing, Josh had only just begun to crown.  He looked at the mirror he placed behind him.  He could see the bulge in his ass, and the tiny sliver of dark hair coming into the world.

Thirty minutes later Josh could finally see the baby’s nose.  The widest part of the skull was being born, and all josh could so was cures and groan deeply.  He grunted as he pushed again, and the head came rushing out followed by a lot of fluid.

Josh took a few minutes to recover from pushing the head out before he got to work on the rest of the body.  The baby turned inside of him slowly, causing an ache in his hips.  With renewed drive, Josh bore down one last time, and pushed the rest of the baby out.

Victory, he thought.