Read Online Claiming Noah by Amanda Ortlepp - Free Book Online

warm bath? A lot of women find that helps with the pain.’
    The bath did help, but after a while Catriona’s skin started to pucker and her back felt stiff. James called the midwife and together they helped her to get out of the bath and back into bed.
    â€˜Well, the good news is that your cervix has opened up a bit,’ the midwife said a couple of hours later. ‘So, we’ll be able to break your waters now.’
    â€˜Thank God for that.’
    Catriona stared out the window while the midwife rummaged around with some surgical equipment on the medical cart in the corner of the room.
    â€˜What’s that thing?’ James asked as the midwife approached Catriona with a long plastic hook.
    â€˜It’s called an amnihook. It pierces the amniotic sac.’
    â€˜I don’t want that thing going anywhere near my baby!’
    Catriona couldn’t help but laugh at the terrified look on James’s face. She had read about amnihooks in her pregnancy books, but she had never thought to tell James about them. ‘It’s not as bad as it looks. It’s just like bursting a balloon.’
    â€˜That’s exactly right,’ the midwife said. ‘It shouldn’t touch the baby, and your wife won’t feel any pain.’ She turned to Catriona. ‘Usually, after the membrane ruptures, you’ll start to feel pressure from the baby’s head resting on your cervix, which can be uncomfortable, so get yourself ready for that.’
    After fourteen hours in the hospital without a single contraction, Catriona was more than ready for her labour to start. Her baby had taken control of her body for the past nine months and now it was dictating the conditions of its arrival as well.
    James took hold of her hand and smiled at her in a way she knew was meant to reassure her, but she saw his gaze dart towards the amnihook. A few seconds later Catriona felt the sensation of warm liquid between her legs.
    â€˜There you go,’ the midwife said. ‘I told you it was easy. Now we’ll give it a while to see if your contractions start naturally.’
    But the contractions didn’t start. After another two hours, the midwife was back in the room. ‘Okay, we have to move on to Plan C now. Your little one seems to want to stay put, so we’re going to have to get things moving.’
    Catriona sighed and leaned back against the pillows on the bed. James was stroking her hair and she was trying to resist the urge to tell him to stop touching her. She wanted him to go away for a while, but she knew he wouldn’t leave. ‘I can’t believe it’s taking so long. Is Plan C the drip?’
    â€˜That’s right. We’re going to put you on to a Syntocinon drip. It mimics the hormone Oxytocin, which your body produces when you’re in labour. That’s what starts the contractions.’
    â€˜Will it definitely work?’ James asked.
    â€˜It will definitely augment the labour, but the pain can be more severe than if contractions start on their own, so you’ll need to prepare for that,’ the midwife said. ‘We’ll keep the monitor on you full-time now, so you’ll need to stay in bed, I’m afraid.’
    James smiled at Catriona. ‘It won’t be much longer now. You’re doing really well.’
    Her contractions did start, and they were as painful as the midwife had warned, but they progressed at an infuriatingly slow pace. As the hours went on Catriona grew sick of waiting, sick of being in bed, and sick of the sound of James’s voice telling her it would all be over soon. Every half-hour the midwife increased the dosage on the drip, which increased the intensity of the contractions. Before long Catriona was barely able to draw breath before the next contraction hit. But they kept telling her she still had a long way to go.
    Twenty-six hours after she had arrived at the hospital, Catriona was physically and