Stockholm Syndrome

I was eight and a half months pregnant and I definitely didn’t feel sexy. Natalia on the other hand was absolutely radiant. She still managed to wear tight dresses and 6-inch heels.

“I have my birth plan all laid out. Everything should go according to plan,” she says smiling. We were at Consol watching the Penguins take on the Kings.

“How are you wearing heels?” I ask her.

“Look good feel good. Although you may not be feeling good you look amazing. You’re skin looks flawless and you’re hair is super shiny. You actually have colour in your cheeks so you don’t look dead and pale as per usual.”

“Oh thanks.” I say while rolling my eyes. Sidney gets a goal and I start cheering.

“Daddy scored!” I tell Carter. He smiles and claps along with me. I feel the baby kick and I know he’s excited too.
The Penguins lose 3-1 and we go down towards the dressing room to meet Sidney.

“Daddy!” Carter says while walking towards Sidney. Sidney picks him up and kisses his head.

“Nice goal,” I tell him.

“Thanks. Sucks we didn’t get the win.”

“Next time.” We heads towards the car and I’m the dreading the car ride home. Pittsburgh was in the middle of a blizzard and it was only going to get worse in the next couple of days. We safely make it home and Carter is crashed out. I put him to bed in his room and then crawl into bed. It was New Year’s Eve but I was too tired to go out. I spent a couple hours tossing and turning and eventually gave up. I go downstairs and look outside. The streets were covered and the storm had gotten worse. It was 12:30 a.m. when I felt my water break. ‘No you’re early’ I think to myself. I call Natalia immediately but she doesn’t pick up. I call Carl twice before he finally picks up.

“Nix what’s wrong?” he asks sleepily.

“I’m in labour. I need you guys to come over and watch Carter,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm.

“Okay we’re on our way.” He hangs up and I check on Carter. He’s still asleep so I grab the monitor from my room and wake Sidney up.

“Baby wake up. It’s time,” I tell him gently.

“Mmmm what?” he says groggily.

“The baby’s coming.” His eyes open wide and he shoots up.

“Okay what do we do?” he asks frantically.

“Get dressed. Nat and Carl are on their way.” I change into leggings and a sweater and I take the monitor downstairs. I grab paper towel and begin cleaning the spot where my water broke.

“Babe we can do that later,” Sidney tells me. I feel the first contraction hit and I grab the counter for support.

“Fuck that hurt,” I groan. I didn’t remember being in this much pain this early with Carter. Finally Natalia and Carl arrive and I get my coat on.

“He’s asleep right now. The monitor is there, if you have any questions just text Sidney,” I tell them.

“Be careful guys. It’s super icy and a lot of the roads are closed,” Carl tells us. I groan and Sidney ushers me outside. We get into his Range Rover and there’s black ice everywhere. They sky is black and it’s snowing so hard you can’t see five feet in front of you. Another contraction hits and I count that my contractions are already less than ten minutes apart.

“Ow ow ow ow,” I say through my teeth. I see Sidney press on the gas and I start getting anxious.

“Maybe you should slow down.”

“It would help if I could fucking see,” he says irritably. Another contraction hits and I try to breathe through the pain.

“Those are really close together,” Sidney says panicking.

“Don’t panic. We’re going to get there,” I say calmly. The pain is getting more intense I start internally panicking. What if we don’t get there in time? I try to focus on the road but the pain is getting unbearable. I notice we’re going pretty fast when I see another car coming towards us head on.

“Sidney!” I yell. He turns the steering and we start spinning out of control. It feels like we’ve been spinning for several minutes before the vehicle crashes into something hard and we come to a stop.
I open my eyes and Sidney’s arm is draped across me. I unbuckle my seatbelt and hop out of the vehicle. We were in the ditch on the side of the free way and our vehicle had hit a cement staircase that led to the overpass.

“Fuck!” Sidney yells. I feel another contraction and I open the backdoors. I lift the backseats up so there’s more room.

“Sidney it’s happening,” I tell him panicked.

“What do I do?” he asks, his voice strained.

“Blast the heat. Get the blankets from the trunk and call 911.”
Another contraction comes and I cry out in pain. The pressure is becoming too much and I know I’ll have to push soon. I hop into the vehicle and take my leggings, shirt and underwear off and I drape a blanket over myself. Sidney appears again and he looks terrified.

“They’re on their way but they said it’ll be around twenty minutes.”

“We don’t have twenty minutes. I need to push. Babe you’re going to have to do this. When the head comes out it’ll turn to one side, on that next push be ready to catch the baby because it’ll happen quickly. Make sure you support the head and when the shoulders come out lift the baby’s body towards my stomach,” I tell him. I start to push and the pressure increases.

“That’s it Phoenix! I can see the head!” he exclaims. I continue to push and coach myself about breathing in my head. “Okay the head’s out!”

“Make sure you catch him,” I say through my teeth.

“Okay one more big push babe.” I gather all my strength and push as hard as I can. I feel him come out and Sidney puts him on my stomach.

“You have to drain the fluid. Hold him and tilt the head down at a 45-degree angle.” Sidney does what I say and then I reach for my baby. I put him on my bare chest and start rubbing his back. He starts crying and I let out the breath I was holding. A wave of emotions washes over me and I’m so happy he’s breathing.

“I need to deliver the placenta,” I say abruptly. Sidney puts another blanket down under me and I push again. After delivering the placenta the ambulance finally arrives and they transfer me from the Range Rover to the ambulance. I look down at my baby and I burst out laughing. The absurdity of the situation and the influx of emotions I was experiencing was making me batty. We get to the hospital and they take the baby away to examine him. I start crying and Sidney consoles me.

“He’ll be back they’re just making sure he’s okay. Phoenix I am so in awe of you. You coached me through delivering a baby and you were so strong through all of that,” he says looking deeply in my eyes.

“I can’t believe I have a freeway baby. I never thought I’d be one of those moms who has a crazy birth story,” I say smiling. He starts laughing and I can’t help but join. They bring my baby back and I look down at him. He had my blue eyes but his hair was very blonde.

“Wow. What a crazy story. But your baby is the first of the New Year so congratulations. Other than that both mom and baby are perfectly healthy. Way to go Dad,” Dr. Cooper says smiling.

“Actually it was all her. She talked me through everything,” Sidney replies.

“How did you know what to do?” Dr. Cooper asks me.

“I took a first aid course once,” I say tiredly.

“Well it paid off. I’ll give you guys some privacy.” He leaves the room and I look down at my second born.

“We still need a name,” I say quietly.

“There’s one name I really like,” Sidney says sheepishly.

“What is it?”

“Noah.” I mulled it over in my head and looked down at the sleeping baby.

“Noah Crosby. I love it,” I say smiling.

“Really?”

“Really. Noah Everett Crosby?”

“Perfect,” he says before kissing me. Noah Everett Crosby was 6 pounds 7 ounces and born at 1:27 a.m on January 1, 2017.

I wake up to crying and I instinctively reach for the crying infant.

“He’s hungry,” Sidney says while handing me Noah. Noah latches and I feel the oxytocin flowing through my body. Once he finishes I hear a knock at the door and Natalia and Carl come in with Carter. Carl hands Carter to Sidney then Sidney sits beside the bed.

“Look Carter, it’s your baby brother Noah. Can you say Noah?” Sidney asks. Carter just looks at the baby and reaches out for him.

“Remember to be nice,” I remind him. He touches Noah’s forehead lightly before giggling.

“I still can’t believe it. You guys were on the news!” Natalia exclaims. The local news had come and interviewed us. The whole world now knew that hockey superstar Sidney Crosby had delivered a baby on the side of a freeway.

“You should have seen her. She was solid. I was the one who was freaking out and she totally kept her cool and told me what to do,” Sidney says grinning.

“Even as a mom you’re a badass,” Carl says smiling. Carter plays with his toys at the foot of my bed and Noah sleeps quietly in my arms.

“You’re next,” I tell Natalia.

“I’m so freaked out,” she says, her eyes wide.

“I’m like worst case scenario. I’m sure your birth plan will all go according to plan.”

“I hope so. But these two are on a road trip during my due date,” she whines.

“Well if Carl’s not here I will be. My parents are flying in tomorrow so I’ll have someone to watch the boys. Either way I’ll be there for you.” She smiles and holds my hand. I look around at everyone in the room and realize how blessed I am to have to have these wonderful humans in my life.

Notes

Yay for freeway babies. Thanks for reading!