Breathing Exercises

Breathing Exercises

Ron and Hermione Weasley arrived at the Burrow to find that Harry Potter's birthday party was already well underway. Harry and Ginny had their own house now, of course, but Molly Weasley loved to have a full house. In fact, the party was spilling over into the garden as varied friends and family enjoyed the summer day.

Now nine months pregnant, Hermione's movements were slow and ungainly. She was now four days overdue and very torn between wanting this whole thing to be over and fear of the uncertainty to come. If she was honest with herself, she had been getting the least bit irritable the last few weeks. Her husband might have called that an understatement, but he had learned early in the pregnancy to keep such observations to himself.

Hermione put a hand to the small of her back and stretched, trying to relieve the pressure that was now an almost constant companion. Her back had been aching in an unusually uncomfortable manner all morning. Her abdomen tightened slightly, but she took no notice of it.

The Burrow was full of life. George Weasley greeted them with a harried look, holding one toddler twin under an arm and chasing the other.

"Sorry; no time to chat," he said, a little breathlessly. Ron and Hermione exchanged an amused glance.

"Looks like he's finally met his match," said Hermione.

"She doesn't say anything, but I think Mum's enjoying it," Ron agreed.

As they went into the kitchen, where a large buffet was set out, it was obvious that Fred had fared better, though he was not in evidence at the moment. Fred's daughter, Gin, was sitting primly in a chair, eating crackers and cheese off a plate balanced delicately on her lap. Her mother Angelina sat beside her, holding Gin's sleeping infant brother.

Ginny Potter was at the buffet table, happily loading a plate full. She was in her fourth month of pregnancy now and positively glowing. Hermione smiled a little to herself, remembering how she had looked a few weeks ago: pale, tired, and constantly munching Peppermint Toads to settle her stomach.

Hermione leaned forward on the table for a moment before getting some food for herself. This was one of the few positions that felt comfortable to her at the moment. Her stomach was now so squashed that she couldn't eat much at a sitting, but she found that she was hungry nearly every hour. She smiled at Ginny and exchanged some pleasantries before finding a chair. Ron had also sampled from the buffet and took a seat beside her. He'd nearly been hovering about her for the last week or so. It was the off-season for him, as the Quidditch playoffs were going on now, and the Cannons had already been eliminated. In general, Hermione enjoyed the attention, but sometimes she wished he would give her a little time alone.

It was perhaps two hours later, after Harry had opened his presents, that Hermione realized that the muscles in her abdominal region had contracted several times, and they seemed to be fairly evenly spaced. She quickly found Ron and pulled him aside.

"I think I'm in labor," she said without preamble.

"Really?" was his intelligent reply. "Well, er, okay, what do we do?"

Hermione closed her eyes and counted to ten. Ron looked like he was on the verge of panicking, and she couldn't afford to let herself follow that path.

"First, we need to time the contractions," she said in a businesslike manner. "I'll tell you when they start and practice my breathing while you watch the time."

"Right, good."

Now having a task to do, Ron concentrated on it completely, giving Hermione some time to review in her head all the things she needed to do to prepare for delivery. It felt rather like preparing for an examination.

They had retreated to Ron's old bedroom so that they wouldn't be disturbed, but it was likely they'd be missed eventually. They determined that the contractions were approximately 12 minutes apart.

"Okay," said Hermione, reviewing her mental list. "We don't need to go to the birthing center until they get to 5 minutes. I probably should eat, but only little things like crackers, and I need to walk around."

"Right," answered Ron. He was growing calmer now, as the things covered in their birthing class appeared to be returning to him as well. "Let's go back downstairs. I'll keep timing the contractions, and we should tell Mum."

"We need to contact my parents, too," Hermione added.

The two expectant parents followed this plan of action. Molly offered all sorts of advice and encouragement, most of which, uncharacteristically, went right past Hermione. Then Ron and Hermione went for a walk in the garden. While there, they visited Arthur's workshop, where they were able to find a working portable telephone and contact the Grangers.

These tasks taken care of, Hermione decided to go take a nap.

"It's likely to be a long day, and possibly night," she said. "I'll need some rest. Why don't you go home and get the bags we've packed? I'm sure your parents won't mind if we stay here until we're ready to check in at the birthing center."

Ron was reluctant to leave her, but he did as she asked. At least, Hermione assumed he did, as he left the room, and she lay down. After several attempts to achieve a comfortable position, she managed to get her body to relax somewhat and drifted into a light sleep.

When she awoke, Ron sat watching her, jiggling his knee and drumming his fingers. Their bags were at his feet.

"How do you feel?" he asked anxiously, upon seeing that she was awake.

"Fine," she said, smiling a little. "I should probably walk around some more, though." She did this, in the process checking her suitcase and making sure she had everything. Hermione noted that the house was much quieter now and wondered how long she had been asleep. The two of them went down to the kitchen to find Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sitting and having a cup of tea with Harry and Ginny.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked Hermione.

"All right, I guess," Hermione said. "Uncomfortable, but that's been true for months. The party's over, then?"

The others nodded.

"Fred and George really wanted to stay, for reasons I can only imagine," Arthur said with a twinkle in his eye. "However, fortunately for you, their families were quite tired."

They continued to monitor the contractions, and they at last reached a spacing of five minutes. Ron and Hermione called the Grangers again to give them an update, and then Apparated to the birthing center. Both Floo powder and Portkeys were extremely uncomfortable, and potentially dangerous, for a pregnant woman, so Apparition was really the only option, if they wanted to get there faster than by auto. They were quickly signed in and placed in a private room, where Hermione changed into a light gown of sorts. The contractions were hurting more now, though still somewhat dulled. That changed suddenly, however, when she suddenly felt a rush of warm liquid drain out of her onto the cot.

"My water just broke," she said, to no one in particular, though Ron heard and squeezed her hand. The doctor also walked in as she was saying this.

"It shouldn't be long now," Dr. Harrison said brightly. "Let me just check you."

Her dilation was at 4cm.

"I know that doesn't sound like much of the 10 you need to get to," said Dr. Harrison, "but it will go much faster now that the amniotic sac has ruptured."

The doctor, of course, was right. However, the lack of the cushion in her abdomen caused the contractions to be more intense. She breathed in earnest now, concentrating on the patterns to take her mind off the pain. There was almost no pause between the contractions now. She squeezed Ron's hand with each one and heard him murmuring encouraging words to her, despite the fact that he looked very pale and nervous himself. Sweat broke out on her brow, and Hermione began to feel tired.

Then, without warning, the pains stopped.

"They've stopped," Hermione whispered urgently to Ron. "What's going on?"

"It's okay," he replied soothingly. "It's the transition. We're almost there. You should try to sleep while you can."

"Right," she breathed, then rolled over on her side. Of course, the transition, when the baby moved into position in the birth canal. She sank into a doze. She woke with a new feeling.

"Ron," she said, getting his attention. He had also, apparently, been dozing slightly. "I need to push."

Ron looked panicked for a moment.

"Don't! Not yet! Look, breathe through it." He coached her through this new contraction even as he hit the signal that would bring a nurse. Ron told the nurse what was going on, and she hurried to fetch the doctor.

After that, everything seemed to happen quickly and in slow motion at the same time. The nurse and Ron got Hermione into a semi-sitting position and raised her feet up and apart. Each of them took a hand as the doctor assumed her position between Hermione's legs. Hermione's world narrowed to pushing and breathing; there was nothing else. After what felt like a Herculean effort, the head was finally out, and she felt an immense relief, breathing heavily. The doctor quickly cleaned out the baby's mouth and nose, and it gave a cry. Hermione shared a brief smile with Ron, then pushed once more, bringing the rest of the body.

"It's a boy," said the doctor, while the staff took the required initial measurements. Of course, they had already known this due to magical imaging, but Hermione felt a rush of excitement nonetheless. One final push evicted the placenta from its home of nine months, the umbilical cord was severed, and the baby, wrapped in a blanket, was placed on Hermione's chest as she lay back, exhausted. Hermione folded her arms around the tiny bundle and looked into the bright eyes of her son for the first time.

"Welcome to the world, Andrew James Weasley," she told him, she and Ron having settled on the name months before. The newly named infant stared curiously at her, blue eyes wide under his fair lashes, slightly pointed head only possessing a fine fuzz of the shocking red hair he would grow in time. Despite Hermione's happiness and feeling of accomplishment, she was very tired and therefore somewhat relieved to hand Andrew over to his father.

Ron held him gently, face holding a sense of awe as he looked both at his child and his drained wife.

"Can you believe we made this?" he asked quietly. "Well, you mostly. Hi, Andrew; we've been waiting a long time for you."

Despite everything they had already been through, Hermione suspected that she and Ron had just embarked on what was to be the greatest adventure of their lives.