Whitefish River There's not much comfort in this place; I'll keep you safe

birth thread, set for 6/30 around 3am
Everyone is welcome! She would have requested that no one come in the den until she was done giving birth, but anyone is welcome to wait outside the den!

Mature Content Warning

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The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: birth stuff

The previous morning, she had woken to an ache in her very round abdomen; the pain had continued occasionally throughout the day, and the healer had attributed it to the fact that she had been overworking herself a little the last few days in order to make sure everything was ready for the arrival of the pups. She hadn't worried too much about it, but had made sure to remain in the den and rest most of the day.

When night fell, she had sensed Emrik's return to his post outside the den. He hardly left at all, except for brief periods of time here and there where she assumed he was eating or maybe stretching his legs. She wasn't at all surprised by his diligence; she knew well his protective streak, and she knew nothing she could say would make him return to his own den for a good night's sleep. She had wanted to ask him to sleep inside at least, but a rare insecurity had kept her from suggesting it. But tonight, she just couldn't bear to see him out there sleeping for one more night. She had waddled outside and insisted that he come in and sleep, and to her relief, he hadn't argued too much about it. She had fallen asleep in her makeshift bed of willow tree branches, the sounds of his breathing eventually allowing her to quiet her mind.

Hours later, she woke with a start as a very painful kind of ache moved through her abdomen. The pain had passed fairly quickly, despite it feeling like it lasted forever, only to return a few minutes later when she had finally settled back on the ground. She stood this time and turned in her bed, sitting halfway back down to ride out the pain. After going through the same pattern of pain and then relief two more times, she knew it was finally time to meet her children. Another surge of pain pulled her to her feet again, and this time, she glanced over at Emrik. She wasn't sure if she had woken him with all of her restless ups and downs. @Emrik ? she said into the darkness, her voice strained and slightly tinged with fear. I think-- her words were cut off when an even more painful contraction seized her body. She moved back to her pallet when the pain subsided but was quickly overtaken by more pain, this time the contraction accompanied by the very strong urge to push. She concentrated on her breathing, glancing to Emrik with reassurance assuming had come to her side. She tried to focus on what her mom had told her once--that her body would know what to do. She tried to focus on following her instincts, riding the waves of pain as they came closer together, and pushing when her muscles commanded her to. A few hard, strong pushes finally delivered her firstborn (@Castor), and she quickly cleaned away the sac and detached the newborn from its placenta. Once cleaned, she moved the pup close to her, licking him and urging him to nurse as she admired his coat of varying shades of cream and brown.

For a few moments, she had a brief reprieve, and she watched her son in the first minutes of his life, completely in awe of him and trying to really grasp that he was part of her.