[bhdire8]

Gradually Martin had got half his wardrobe over within the next few weeks. They have waved goodbye to Angela, and Martin had secretly relieved a bit with that. It was a bit hard to live with a mother, no matter that's his real one or an in law. Much to Martin's relief, Alex's dad couldnt make it to visit them in place of Angela and the school had forced Angela to stay one more week with them.

Alex had reached 39 weeks. He was massive but had insisted on doing some yoga everyday. He was sitting in front of Martin now, his belly almost spilling over his lap and breathing deeply.

[lxcttrll]

He'd been having contractions on and off for the past week, but found them to be nothing to worry about because of how irregular they were. Alex leaned contently against Martin, mostly performing breathing exercises because all the other poses were difficult with his belly. He felt a particular twinge of pain, shifting slightly as it strengthened, not paying it much attention.

[bhdire8]

Martin put his hands on the little mountain of belly and felt it contracted a bit. He knew this could go on for days like this before Rosemary is ready, or it could be the first sign of real labor. Either way, he let Alex breath through it.

[lxcttrll]

Alex took deep breaths, rubbing his large belly as Rosemary squirmed weakly within him.

[bhdire8]

Martin put his palms on the lower back of Alex and started rubbing smoothing circles. His hands were warm and should help with relaxing the burdened muscle there. Over the past few weeks back pains and pelvic pressure were getting more serious and this had become their routine activity too.

[lxcttrll]

Alex leaned forward slightly, releasing a small sigh of relief. His jaw clenched when he felt his belly and back tighten, jumping as he felt Rosemary drop properly into his canal.

[bhdire8]

Martin could feel the Alex's whole body clenched tight. He was not at an angle to see how much lower the belly had dropped to but he could guess what had happened. "Hmm so Rosemary had descended. This is good, she is ready to be born now." Martin sit up a little to let Alex relax into him again, rubbing the underbelly together.

[lxcttrll]

Alex hesitantly relaxed into Martin, gripping his hands. "Sh-Should we go to the hospital now or later? I-I don't want to risk anything with her, not with my anemia, you know that..."

[bhdire8]

"Her descending just meant birth is imminent, bot that she would pop out right now." Martin soothed Alex and kissed his head. "With your anemia it is actually great to have her descended. It would mean she is ready for a natural birth that have way less bloodlost than a c-section. So Rosemary here really is helping you out. Besides, your symptoms are controlled quite well, with the close monitoring of me, thank you very much, so I would say it wont be a big problem now."

[lxcttrll]

Alex calmed slightly at Martin's words, rubbing his belly gently. "I just want her safe, so we can bring her home sooner and start our lives with her," he rambled as his belly relaxed slightly.

[bhdire8]

"She will come when she's ready. We can only wait and see now. Well that's provided she won't go overdue. Either way, I promise you I will do whatever I can to keep you both safe." Martin nuzzled Alex's face and said.

[lxcttrll]

Alex sighed shakily and nodded, trying to calm himself down as he nervously rubbed his belly. He didn't want labor to progress too quickly and have a forced home birth.

[bhdire8]

(Hospital birth?)

Martin kept a close eye on Alex to monitor his braxton-hicks to see if they really were only braxtons. So far they had been aligning up slowly, maybe once per 2 hrs, but it had been sporadic. They went on their usual routine, consisting of the yoga in the morning and some strolling around the garden. He had suggested Alex to lay around the couch see if he could nap awhile. They eventually past the day wtihout any further drama.

[lxcttrll]

((yeah))

Alex wasn't too worried throughout the day (tried not to be, anyway), settling in bed with Martin that night with no problem. The contractions weren't so strong as to keep him awake until early the next morning, cracking his eyes open at a particularly sharp pain in his back.

[bhdire8]

Martin was nudged awake by the pushing of Alex and the faint calling of his name. He opened his eyes and yawned. "What is it babe? Toilet break? Cramped legs or contraction?"

[lxcttrll]

"Really bad contraction," Alex mumbled through slightly clenched teeth. "Mostly in my back."

[bhdire8]

"Ok babe let me get the phone to time it. If you would kneel down beside the bed i could apply pressure on your lower back, should help with the pain."

[lxcttrll]

Alex slowly moved from the bed, kneeling next to it and rubbing his back in an attempt to get rid of the pain.

[bhdire8]

Henry got behind him using loads of pillow to prop Alex up, letting him lean his upper body towards the mattress, his legs wide apart to accommodate the belly, which was supported by loads of cushions. He then started press down on the lower back, getting the pressure points to counter the contraction pain.

[lxcttrll]

Alex sighed in relief at the hands alleviating pressure on his back, shakily running a hand through his hair. He knew he was going to have his baby today, with it being nearly six in the morning and the contractions becoming worse.