This island was abuzz last week when a woman had a baby on board a Washington State Ferry, Bainbridge Island to Seattle (a 35 min. trip).
You might think this happens all the time, thousands of people, daily commuters, pregnant women living on an island…
But you would be wrong.
I was living on this island when I was pregnant, and what was the major worry of all us moms in the birthing class? What about the ferry???
Our instructor said calm down you crazy hormonal bitches, women don’t give birth where they don’t want to. Knowing next to nothing about it, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Okaaaaaaay, if you say so.
(And that’s the line to remember, all you currently pregnant women living on Bainbridge Island…)
In typical island fashion, when the labor kicked in full force and they needed medical assistance on board, they had to turn people away. There was so many offers of help. A retired midwife and OB/GYN nurse helped, or mostly cheered and supported in the first aid room, I’m told.
And also in typical island fashion, a friend of mine knows the mom. She told me her friend just felt really light contractions and was only going to Swedish Hospital just in case. The baby wasn’t due for 3 more weeks, and their first child took 12 hours of labor.
But WHAM, strong contractions hit once the boat was under way, and by the time the vessel was docking, Baby Lucy was debuting.
Really? Babies can be born in under an hour?
Mine was two weeks late, failed to respond to three kinds of inducing, and ultimately required a c-section. It was not a cake walk or a boat ride.
By all accounts, Lucy’s mom handled her unexpected birth story bravely and awesomely and went home the next day with her new, healthy daughter and her totally rockin’ birth story.
Maybe Lucy will be a sailor.
And maybe the general rule of thumb should be that babies are born where babies want to be born, yes? On land or by sea…
A big congratulations to Lucy and her family! May all your future ferry rides be peaceful, calm and uneventful.
