Seren's Story

February came and went. It was very difficult to hide my pregnancy at school. I had gained little weight in my face, so I really had to hide behind bulky jackets, even in the late winter/early spring weather. My friends thought perhaps I was going through a depression, and after I quit the cheer team, they had started to shun me.

I received a call slip from the counselor’s office in the first days of March. I went to her office. “I’ve been thinking about our discussion many months back, and I wanted to follow up with you.” She began. “I can see that you’re getting pretty far along.” I had taken my jacket off upon entering.

I sat down across her desk from her without a reply.

“May I ask when you’re due?”

“The end of this month.”

“Oh my.” She smiled. “And have you been under the care of a doctor?”

“I’ve been a few times. I’m giving the baby up for adoption.”

“Well, that may be best at your age. I’ve noticed that you’ve been able to hide your pregnancy from your teachers and classmates fairly well. Being that you are due soon, I would highly advise that you notify the school and perhaps take a leave of absence until after the birth.”

I stared at her, almost confused and didn’t reply.

“Of course, I am required by law to keep our conversations confidential, but it would be to your benefit to do such things.”

“I understand, and I’ll consider it.”

Two days later I sat next to Chase in chemistry at the lab tables. Suddenly I started to feel different. Not pain, just different, but I knew immediately what it was. I nudged him in the leg and when he looked at me, I tapped at my watch.

“It’s happening now?!” He said in a hushed whisper. “What do we do?”

“Nothing, it’s okay, it’ll take time.” I whispered back and noticed the teacher had stopped lecturing and was staring towards us.

“Is this something you’d like to share with the class?” He said sternly.

“No, I’m sorry, sir.” I replied and tried to turn my focus back to taking notes, but ended up focusing more on trying to breathe through the contractions as they grew more painful.

The class was released half an hour later and Chase led me to a vacant corner in the quad where we whispered in hushed voices.

“Do you want to go now?” He asked.

“No.” I replied calmly. “It takes hours, Chase; we’ve got plenty of time.”

A few hours later, I wasn’t feeling so calm. My advanced trigonometry class was getting on my nerves because I couldn’t concentrate on both breathing and the midterm. The contractions were now less than 4 minutes apart, and getting quite painful.

Finally the bell rang, and I slowly made my way down the hall to meet up with Chase.

“I don’t care what you say, we’re going now.” He said after taking one look at me as I closed my eyes and nearly collapsed in the middle of a contraction.

He discreetly supported me and we moved slowly out the back entrance of the hallway towards his car. It may have taken 20 minutes to get there, but we finally got there, and he eased me into the passenger side of his car, and he hurried towards the hospital at which I’d registered. It happened to be 50 miles out of town.

“Oh God…” I panted. “My water just broke.”

“It’s… its okay… we’ve still got time, right?” He checked his watch, undoubtedly feeling rushed.

“I don’t know!” I snapped.

“We’re not even there yet!”

“Just drive!” We were at least 20 miles from the hospital still.

With the next contraction, I felt the unbearable urge to push. And I did. “Oh God, Chase! Pull over!!” I screamed as I pushed again.

He brought the car to a screeching halt at the side of the road. “No, Seren, not here… not here…” He seemed panicked as he ran around to my side of the car and flung the door open. “Don’t push… not yet!”

I panted through two more contractions and watched him think.

“Okay, I’ve got an idea!” He said. “Move to the backseat, try not to push. But if you have the baby in the car, there’s more room in the backseat.”

A cop pulled up behind us as I slowly made my way to the back seat of Chase’s car. “Do you two need some help here?” He asked.

“She’s… she’s in labor.” Chase said hurriedly, tripping over his words. “We need to get to the University hospital.”

“All right, son, calm down.” The cop helped to get me settled in the back of the car. “Now, how far apart are your contractions, young lady?”

“Less than a minute.” I breathed, still trying not to push.

“I’ll tell you right now that you’re not going to make it to University Hospital, but I can give you an escort to County General.”

Chase looked at me with wide eyes as I tried my hardest not to push through another contraction. “I don’t care!” I screamed.

“Uhh… Okay.”

“Hang in there young lady, we’ll be there in five minutes.” They both helped me to the police car, and Chase laid my head in his lap as the cop sped towards the nearest hospital.

“We’re almost there, Seren… don’t push yet…” Chase coached me gently when he noticed me holding my breath and bearing down.

We rolled swiftly into the ambulance bay of County General Hospital and the cop instructed us to stay put and he would go get some help.

“Oh my God, Chase, I have to push, I have to push!”

The door at my feet flung open, and if I wasn’t in so much pain, I would have been embarrassed that Dr. Carter and two of the nurses I worked with were standing there.

“Okay, Seren, the baby’s on the way out.” Dr. Carter calmly and gently coached me. “I need you to push really lightly. I can see the head… good.” I felt the baby sliding out slowly. “One more big push, and then it’ll be out!” I pushed hard with the next contraction and a few moments later I heard my baby cry for the first time. “Good job, mom!”

The baby was placed in my arms, and I was assisted into a wheelchair after I delivered the placenta.