Julia POV
As my due date approached, my priorities shifted. I filled the nursery with soft blankets and tiny clothes, read every book on newborns I could find, and leaned on my friends and colleagues for wisdom and support. When the baby finally arrived—a perfect, red-faced girl with her father’s eyes—I felt a surge of love so fierce it brought me to tears.
My labor started in the early hours of the morning, a dull ache in my lower back that slowly sharpened with each passing hour. I recognized the signs, but waited, breathing through the waves and timing them as Ethan rubbed my back and whispered encouragements. By midafternoon, the pain had grown intense and constant—back labor, relentless and exhausting. Still, I held off as long as I could, wanting to labor at home with Ethan’s stead
