Please feed the muses here. Thank you!

That took me right back to when Neal was born. It was so heartbreaking to leave the hospital when he was still in the NICU. And he couldn't latch on without help until he was a month old. Throughout my easy pregnancy, I had midwifery care and planned to nurse him exclusively, and then when he had such a traumatic birth, doctors took over my care and his, and when they fed him formula because he couldn't nurse, I cried. That was my lowest point, when I felt that everything had spiraled out of my control. Clement got to hold him before I ever saw him (except for a few seconds after he was born), too. So this whole part felt so real to me - it's like you read my diary! He was so small when we were finally able to take him home that we had to bunch four blankets around him so that he would fit in the car seat. LOL...no one would ever believe that if they saw him now!

Beautifully written. You captured the new parents' emotions perfectly.

One question, though -- fluids pooled in the legs? What's that from? (I'm assuming you know.)

I suspect it's the Lochia. After giving birth a woman has a LOT of fluid to get rid of in only a short amount of time. I never had a cesarean, but I suspect it's similar to vaginal birth in that your body needs to slough off the fluids that held the placenta. That usually takes place over the few weeks following giving birth.

Such a sweet part. Even through all the emotional ups and downs. Here's to hoping all goes well with Julia and the family of three can enjoy their home together soon. Sarah

I can't even imagine the heartbreak of having to leave a child in the hospital and go home empty-handed. I thank God every day that my girls were born full term and able to come home right away with me.

However, they refused to latch to me, despite using every trick in the book - smearing milk on myself to entice them, using that obnoxious tube system thingy on the breast, using shields, stripping them down to their diapers for skin-to-skin time. They had a good, strong suck on bottle nipples though - I suspect my problem was my hideously low, almost non-existent milk supply that turned them off.

I cried every time I pumped, every time they refused to latch, every time I was able to (on a good day) pump two ounces for them, and I cried when, at 8 weeks, I made the decision to just stop pumping and go full on formula. Two ounces a day wasn't worth the depression it was giving me and I wanted the snuggle time with the girls more than anything.

Interesting to see that I hit a note with you - I always like to see when I'm able to more or less accurately describe a situation I haven't necessarily been in before.

I know what you mean about bundling in the car seat with blankets - we had to do that around Kayla's head and upper body because she was tiny (5lbs 2oz). Ashley was bigger (6lbs even), so we didn't have to do that with her.

Thanks for reading!

Thank you, Annie.

The fluids come from two places. The first is the natural swelling of a woman's legs/feet/ankles as the pregnancy progresses. (No one ever gave me a medical term for it.) It can also become worse with preeclampsia. The second is from the IV fluids. With a C-section, they sort of flood your body with fluids (not sure if they do this with a vaginal birth, as I have not had one). So it just sort of adds to the water retention your body already has. It can take up to two weeks for the everything to get back to normal.

My feet swelled at 32 weeks and stayed swollen up until I delivered at 38 weeks. Then, with the IV fluids, my legs swelled up so badly that I could only bend my knees about half their normal range of motion. (It made for some fun stairway navigation once I came home - all the bedrooms and showers are on the second floor.)

Pretty much, yeah. And add all the IV fluids to the natural fluids the woman's body has already been holding on to. Makes for an uncomfortable two weeks while the swelling works itself out again! (As mentioned above, I could only bend my knees about halfway before the swelling in my legs came together and prevented further movement. I needed a step stool to get into my own bed at home!)

Thank you! There's definitely more family interaction coming in the next part.

These last chapters brought many memories for me, too. My Kayla was born at 32 weeks in a very stormy day, with heavy rain, thunder, lightning and wind.

I had a very easy pregnancy until week 30, then suddenly I started gaining over 2lbs every single day and my blood pressure got out of control. I found out that I had preeclampsia. The swelling was so much that it was hard moving my legs and there was no shoe that I could wear. I went to an appointment and my doctor sent me to the hospital and told me that I couldn't leave until my baby was born. I freaked out because I wasn't expecting it would be so soon! They kept me under meds until week 32 because she was too little, but by then I had gained 66lbs and my blood pressure was skyrocketing, so they couldn't wait anymore.

She was born with 3lbs 8oz and had to stay at the NICU for 30 days. At the third day when they told me I could go home I broke down and cried for hours. When she came home she was still little (3lbs 15oz) but thanks God she was very healthy. Now she's turning 6 in two months and nobody would imagine she was a premature.

Your descriptions made the story very real. It's a hard time and Lois and Clark still have the additional stress of the DNA test. I hope it will be for the better (confirming Clark is the father) but I'm on the edge of my seat until we know for sure.
I'm not commenting for lack of time, but I've been reading. I'm looking forward to the last chapters.

Andreia

Another wonderful part, DC ...

And so real, so relatable.

I had really uneventful pregnancies, both full-term, running late--my daughter arriving on her own a day before being induced, and then two years later, my son arriving via being induced. Both were natural births, both fully taking advantage of an epidural .

My biggest issue--for both pregnancies--was sciatic nerve pain. The sciatic nerve pain was only random and overall pretty tolerable with the first pregnancy (my daughter). With my son's pregnancy though, I was a mess. I spent almost 8 weeks--months 7 and 8--in tons of pain, radiating down my leg. Could hardly walk, couldn't sleep. It felt like a lightning bolt was pulsating down my right leg every few seconds night and day. Nothing could get rid of it...walking, sitting, laying down, sleeping. And...I had a busy, almost two year old to take care of--and a house full of gates to climb over--to boot . I was told that the only 'cure' was the delivery of my son--that the baby's head was sitting on the nerve--but thankfully my son shifted on his own and one day it all vanished at the end of month 8. I tell you--sciatic nerve pain--that was the worst thing I have ever been through. It was scary how all-consuming the pain was for those few months...so often on the verge of tears.

But even though my births weren't very similar to the story, the general 'feel' of being in the hospital, all the unknowns, all the changes/challenges, really did bring back a lot of those 'moments' for me. Becoming parents--what a life-altering event.

And--we had a horrible thunderstorm the evening my daughter was born. We were on the 8th floor of the maternity ward, huge windows in the room. The storm--lightning/thunder--seemed like it was right outside of that hospital window. Flashing shadows into the room. Creating more uncertainty as we waited to meet our daughter...

Really love the story--awesome job!
Laura

Geez, I can't even imagine. I spent my pregnancy counting down the weeks, celebrating each time we started a new week without the girls making their appearance, since it was such a higher risk of preterm for twins. I think around week 35 was when I started to relax a little.

But, like you, I went to a regular check and they sent me across the street to the hospital for monitoring and was told that I'd be having the babies that night. I had no symptoms of pre-e other than elevated blood pressure, but I was 4 days from my scheduled C-section and they didn't want to risk anything.

In any case, I love hearing that my descriptions rang true for someone. And yes, I haven't been all that nice to L&C in this fic - the rape, the pheromone spray, the DNA test, the preterm birth, Clark's kidnapping...I'm surprised my characters are still talking to me at all.

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it!

I've always been thankful that I avoided sciatic nerve pain when I was pregnant. Kayla was on my right side, and she would occasionally press on a nerve that would give me back pain, but I would get on all fours and use gravity to move her away from the spot and that usually worked. It was uncomfortable, but it wasn't anything like what you are describing.

Sounds like quite the storm when your daughter was born. I love T-storms, so I would have thought it was cool. But I've weird like that.