Bridget Grace

Bridget: a strong protective woman; in mythology, goddess of fire, wisdom and poetry

Grace: having God’s favor; in mythology, the Graces were the personification of beauty, charm and grace.

Bridget was due on December 12, but her due date came and passed without occasion. The bi-weekly doctor appointments consisted of the doctor confirming there was no softening of the cervix and certainly no dilation. Being our second child Bill and I were planning the different scenarios of who would take care of Collin while we were at the hospital. Neighbors were called and lined up, a nanny service was purchased and we waited. Luckily for us, my parents showed up on Thursday, December 17 to stay a few days before going on to Hong Kong to visit my sister.

On the morning of December 18 I was having a hard time sleeping because of lower abdominal pain. So at 4am I went to sit on the couch and try to sleep in an upright reclined position sitting tailor style. I thought at the time that Bridget was trying to drop into my pelvis and I thought the tailor position would help, but now I realize I was having contractions. Note to self: your contractions are at the bottom of your abdomen. You never felt contractions higher up on the uterus. The contractions went away by 7am and would come and go periodically throughout the morning. By 2pm my mucus plug came out and the contractions started coming regularly. I tried to get some sleep because I knew that I wouldn’t get any in the hospital after the birth. At first the contractions were every 15 minutes and by 4pm they had progressed to 10 minutes and were too intense to try to sleep through. I need to stand, walk around and breathe through the rush.

We left the house by 6:45 and headed up to Seattle to Swedish Hospital-First Hill. During the car ride the contractions were about 3 minutes apart and too difficult to talk through. We made it through the rain and to the hospital in 30 minutes. The triage nurse anticipated we’d deliver in 2-3 hours, and I thought she was crazy. Bill reminded me to be firm with the nurses if I didn’t want to have an IV and it worked, they let me progress without having the IV. Bill was excellent allowing me to lean on him, reminding me to breathe or offering a new breathing rhythm. The nurse filled the jet-tub and we used the rocker to wait for it to fill up. When the rushes got really strong I said “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOppppppennnn” through the peak of the rushes and tried to focus on my cervix opening for the baby. Sometimes I would tell Bridget that we were excited to meet her. When the tub was ready I was able to labor for about 10 minutes before my water broke. That was intense; it felt like a bullet of water shooting between my legs. The nurse came in with her long plastic gloves that reminded me of what ranchers wear when they are checking on their cows. The water was clear so she said I could stay in the tub if I wanted, but my body started to push and I wanted to anchor myself for the pushing so we got out.

We made it to the bed and I was on my right side holding Bill’s hand and the side of the bed. He remembered to stay really close and helped me through the last contractions. The doctor said I was at 6-7 cm and left the room, but two contractions later my body was pushing so hard that legs involuntarily curled and my top half moving towards my stomach like a sideways sit-up. I knew I wasn’t stopping Bridget from coming out! I was nervous that I wasn’t dilated fully yet and I could feel her moving past the cervix and then retreating a bit with each contraction. Three contractions later she was out and in my arms. Bridget Grace Yount, born December 18 at 9:18pm, 8lbs, 1oz, 19-3/4 inches long.