The months flew by faster than Kassie expected.
One day Marie was announcing her pregnancy, the next she was showing, then suddenly she was full term and talking about her birth plan with the confidence of someone who’d done this before.
“No epidural,” Marie said, sitting at Kassie’s kitchen table with a notebook full of notes. “I want to do it naturally. Feel everything. Be present for the whole experience.”
“Okay,” Kassie said carefully.
“And delayed cord clamping. And immediate skin-to-skin. And I want Tyler to cut the cord, not the doctor.”
“Those are all great things to want, sweetheart.”
“You think I can’t do it.” Marie looked up from her notes. “You think I’ll cave on the epidural.”
Kassie chose her words carefully. “I think you’re strong and determined. And I think labor is
