Various thoughts and musings

As Desi Arnaz sang in his role as Ricky Ricardo: "There's a brand new baby at our house."

Here are various things I noted at the hospital. They're primarily tech-related, but neat.

First, the sink. Has anyone wondered how establishments keep the faucets of the sink clean when people keep putting their dirty hands on them? Here, there was a wonderful solution: faucets are pedal-operated instead of hand-operated.

Printout of the fetal heartbeat and placental tightness was interesting, because it gave me a glimpse into what was happening, and some indication of when I needed to comfort My Ruth (before she showed any discomfort).

Instead of transitioning from Labor & Delivery to Mother-Baby (adjacent to each other), we went to the former site of the childbirth center which is now an oncology ward. We actually ended up liking this because there was a second patient bed, so I got some good sleep after all.

Pleasant and professional staff. Would definitely recommend Overlake to anyone in the Seattle or Bellevue area for childbirth. Good experience all around. The midwife practitioners were overjoyed to have their prediction of a c-section proved wrong.

So now we're at home, and transitioning to domestic life with a child.

Introducing Obed!!

At 8:12am PDT, Friday, August 3, 2007, we welcomed little Obed into the world.

Given that this was in the Seattle area, there was rain.

Given that we were inside the Hospital, we didn't notice until I looked out a window.

All went well for My Ruth. We checked in to the hospital at 2pm, started the induction at 4pm, water broke at 8pm, painkillers started at midnight, epidural in at 1:30am [allowing all and sundry to get some sleep], pushing started at 6:30am, and then at 8:12.....

Various vital stats and notes
Nom de blog: Obed
Mass: 4043 grams
Weight: 8lb 15oz
Hair: Blond (for now)
Eyes: Sapphire (for now)

We're all in the hospital through at least tomorrow and possibly Sunday.

The first stage is done, and now....we're in for the ride of our lives....and his.

Eviction Day

Three days and counting on the old ticker...

I know you are finding it mighty comfortable in mother's womb, little buddy. Getting comfortable, growing big on the fruits of momma's diet. But doctor says it is time for you to meet the world.

So. We can do this the easy way or we can do it the hard way. Talk to God about it, would ya? And see what He wants. We've got a lot of people praying for you today. We will not be making this journey alone. But I promise you, either way. We are standing ready and waiting (maybe a bit disorganizedly) to hold you and cuddle you and love you and raise you. Both your daddy and myself have wanted kids since we were very young, and you are bringing our dream to pass. You will no more be all alone out here than you are inside of me. The world is not a scary place for him who serves God.

Plans turned Topsy Turvy

LOTS of news from the doctor's appointment.

They had a machine set up to get the baby's heartbeat when I got there. It took a LONG time to get the baby to move enough to get them happy

Turns out baby is measuring over 4500 grams. What is more concerning to them than that is that the abdomen is measuring bigger around than the head. And the fluid is at only about 8.5

She offered us choice between induction and C-section. We chose induction with extensive monitoring -- realizing there is a good chance this will end up in a C-section. She wanted to start a gel tomorrow morning, another on Friday at noon, and then induce on Monday.

But when she could not get an induction date scheduled before Wednesday -- well, we're getting induced tomorrow at 2pm! We are still doing the gel tomorrow morning. My cervix is "soft" but still a 1. She could feel the baby's head, but the cervix is still long.