audrey (bidabble) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-07-08 20:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, audrey, elphaba thropp |
Who: Audrey and Elphaba
What: Pregnant lady coming through!
Where: Baxter’s Bakery
When: Late May/Early June
Rating: Low
Status: Complete
Elphaba was feeling sore today. She had been trying to get a client’s accounts finished, but her lower back was just not playing ball. After about an hour of failing to concentrate, Elphaba had decided to go for a walk to Baxter’s Bakery, hoping the exercise might loosen her muscles somewhat. Plus she counted today as a good day where she felt like she actually wanted to eat something. Not much, but something.
She took her time heading to the Bakery, enjoying the thankfully good weather. Pushing the door to the Bakery open, she smiled at the staff and waved at her friend Audrey. “Hey, how are things?” she asked as she approached the counter, purse in hand.
Audrey wasn’t due until the end of September, but this was her second pregnancy in only a few years. She felt like her body was falling apart already! Sagging, showing, bursting at the seams. At least she was in her second trimester now, and things were starting to settle. She was at work behind the counter, eye caught by the wave. Then a bright smile crossed her lips. “Elphaba! Hi!” She came around to give her friend a hug. That’s how Audrey was. “Things are good! How are you? Look at you, you’re glowing!”
Elphaba smiled and hugged her friend in return. “Well, thanks for lying,” she laughed, knowing she probably looked like hell. At just over 6 months, she didn’t feel like she’d hit that glowing stage that everyone seemed to say women hit in the later end of pregnancy. She still felt dizzy and nauseated with not much appetite, but she tried to keep going regardless. “I’m ok mostly, just tired and sick,” she sighed and rested a hand on her growing stomach. “How about you?” she asked, referring to the bump her friend was just starting to show. “Do you have a bit of time to talk?”
“Don’t be silly! I only speak the truth.” Audrey said, grinning, as she pulled back. “Remind me again your due date? We must be getting close, right?” Audrey moved around the counter. “I sure do! But let me get you a sweet and a drink first, okay? Then we can sit for a few minutes and you can catch me up on everything.”
Elphaba found them a table to sit at and waited for Audrey to return, she really was a dear. “Thanks, I’m due end of August, so not all that long now,” she told Audrey when she came back to sit with her, Elphaba thanked her for the drink and the sweet treat, reaching for her purse. “How much do I owe you?” she asked.
“That’s only… ten? Twelve? Twelve! Weeks away.” Audrey said, trying and failing at the mental math. Those skills went out the window when she was pregnant. She gave Elphaba the total (with the friends and family discount, of course), and then ran off to process her transaction at the register. When she came back, she was carrying drinks and treats. “I think we deserve this!” She grinned as she flopped into the opposite side of the booth from her friend.
Elphaba laughed as Audrey came back and sat down with her. “Thank you,” she smiled kindly. “Yeah, about that,” she replied, feeling her anxiety start up again. “I can’t believe how quickly it’s gone. Now all of a sudden I’m...this big,” she gestured to her stomach. “And woefully unprepared for what’s to come,” she admitted, keeping her eyes cast down from her friend as she did.
Audrey laughed. “I remember how that went with Ben. I felt pretty normal, and then all of a sudden, it was… boom! She grinned. “Big mama! But it’s totally normal. I hear a lot of women go through the same thing.” Then Audrey took a big bite from her pastry. She’d been craving the sweet, cream cheese filling in this one. Elphaba’s words made her shake her head, though. “No, don’t be silly. You’ll be fine. You’re giving birth in a hospital, right? They know what they’re doing. Do you have a doula lined up?”
“Well I hadn’t really thought about not giving birth at the hospital. Should I? Did you?” Elphaba asked, worried she’d missed something important in her limited research. “And I don’t...what’s a doula? Is it something I need?”
“No.” Audrey shook her head, looking a little horrified at the question. “No no no. I was perfectly happy to be surrounded by professionals when I went through that whole ordeal.” She took another bite and chewed for a moment, then swallowed. “A doula is a health advocate who’s trained to help take care of women in labor. She would work with the doctors and nurses to make sure your needs are met. I didn’t have one, though I hear they’re all the rage.”
“I guess it’s something I can add to the list of things to research,” Elphaba told her with a little smile, pulling out her cell phone and writing herself a new memo. “I’ve always just assumed that I would go straight to hospital when my labour started and that would be it,” she placed her phone on the table and leant forward with her head in her hands. “God, I feel so unprepared for this,” she told Audrey despondently.
“That list never stops growing,” Audrey sighed, smiling softly. “I mean, you can totally put your whole birthing experience into the hands of your OBGYN, but it’s probably best for you to read up on all your options. Or talk to someone else who can help you.” Audrey finished up her food and then sipped again from her drink. “You’re gonna be fine. I promise. I felt that way the first time around, too! I think everyone does.”
Elphaba ran her hand through her hair and looked up at cast a quick smile at Audrey. “There seems to be so much information out there, so many differing opinions and I worry that if I get stuck into it all I’ll never get out and I’ll choose all the wrong things and screw up my child so they’ll hate me for the rest of my life,” she rambled before taking a big breath. “I don’t want to inflict the same damage my father did to me on my child, but I worry I might do it inadvertently. It seems the closer I get to my due date the more that worry increases.”
“I understand.” Audrey said, giving her friend a nod and a smile. “It’s a totally natural fear. I often feel the same way. But I can assure you, you’re putting more pressure on yourself than anything else. You’ll make the right choices, I can guarantee it.”
“I know, you’re right, you’re right. It’s what Lúthien tells me and I suppose I should really start to believe it,” Elphaba sighed. She looked down at the treat Audrey had brought her and started to eat it. “Sorry,” she said around a mouthful of comforting cake.
“It’s absolutely all right. I’m here to talk, always.” Audrey smiled over at her friend. Then she took a bite of cake for herself.