The Crying Bridge

The Crying Bridge--Chapter 45

  The rest of the autumn passed quickly, with no more ghostly crying or messages from beyond on the kitchen dry erase board. If Del was truthful, she almost missed it, at least a little. But the peace and quiet was nice. Autumn became winter and the renovations on the cottage were complete. Del had been excited to move into their new larger bedroom and not have a combined living room/bedroom anymore. But she had been heartbroken when the clawfoot bathtub had been damaged in the attempt to move it. Luckily, the new master bathroom had a shower so they weren't without a way to bathe and, as a Christmas gift, Evan had a large jacuzzi tub installed as well. It was large enough for both of them and that had proved to be a rather nice perk.

For New Year's Eve, they had flown with Dan and Jenny to Las Vegas where the two had gotten married at a tacky Elvis chapel. Jenny had informed Del that she and Dan had decided that she would stop using birth control on their wedding night and six weeks later she had shared the news that she and Dan were expecting. Del and Evan were so happy for them and excited that their own kids would have a playmate so close in age.

Del's pregnancy had progressed rather easily, with her experiencing the typical pregnancy complaints as she moved into her third trimester. After their midwife had expressed concern that Del's pelvis was slightly out of alignment she had recommended that Del begin seeing a chiropractor on a regular basis. Del had discovered that she loved the bi-weekly adjustments and they took away many of those aches and pains she had started experiencing around her twenty-eighth week.

Now, Del was just a day over the thirty-nine week mark and everyone was extremely pleased she had managed to carry the twins so far. At the moment, she was seated on her birthing ball in their bedroom, her head and arms on the edge of the bed as Evan massaged her low back, helping her through yet another strong contraction. Del slowly circled her hips on the ball, making it move with her as the contraction peaked. She moaned with the intensity of it.

"You're doing great," Evan said softly. "Only a few more seconds, just ride it out. Let your body do all the work."

The contraction finally eased and Del sat up, taking the bottle of water Evan offered her. It was 2:30 am. Her labor had started yesterday afternoon around 4:00 pm. It had started slowly and they had taken steps to help move things along and for the last three hours, the contractions had been strong and regular. Amanda, their midwife, had arrived just after 1:00 am along with an assistant. They were letting Evan and Del handle the labor, only involving themselves if asked.

Del used the birthing ball, walked around the cottage with Evan's help and even walked up and down the porch steps for awhile, even though the March morning was rather chilly. After another two hours of brutally intense contractions, Amanda suggested Del get into the jacuzzi tub. She and her assistant filled the tub with warm water and turned on the jets while Evan donned swimming trunks and helped Del undress, assisting her through two more contractions during it all.

The instant Del sat down in the bubbling water, her back against Evan's chest, she knew things were going to move quickly. The contractions became insanely powerful and she barely had time to recover before another was upon her. "Evan, I can't do this," she cried. "It's too much, I can't take it!"

"You can, honey, you are doing it. We're so close," Evan assured her. "You are amazing, just trust your body. You were made to do this. This is what you wanted and soon you'll be holding Caleb in your arms and Emma will come soon after."

Amanda echoed all Evan was saying, impressed with what a great birth coach he was. "Del, Caleb is coming," she told her. She had just checked Del's progression. "You're fully dilated and I can feel his head. When you feel the urge to push, go for it."