keithandsusan

Saturday Morning, and No Baby, Yet.

Things here are OK... They gave Susan a break last night (actually this morning ~1AM) when switching her from topical meds to IV pitocin.  She got a chance to eat (Mary Ann's Mom brought in Macaroni Grill takeout), and take a shower.

Things are OK.  Labor is progressing, but Susan's pain tolerance has disappeared and it's been rough.  They gave her a sedative after she ate, but we were up at 4:30 with contractions. Painful contractions. From what I can tell, unfortunately painful.  They gave her some morphine (too early for a epidural), and she has finally fallen asleep.  The docs cannot give any absolutes, but we're expecting delivery some time this evening.

I am doing OK.  I got to sleep a few fractured hours between the nurses coming in.  Caffeine is a wonderful thing...  I'm taking a bagel and cream cheese and Chai break while Mary Ann and Susan are crashed in the room.  The cafeteria has about 20 people in it and the hallways are pretty much deserted.

I am feeling extremely odd right now.  A mix of nervous energy, heartbreaking concern with Susan and the pain, an odd sense of being removed from the world (trapped in this bizarre little medical microcosm), and euphoria at the impending arrival.  There's really no room for tired...

The staff, by and large, have been wonderful.  A few people who, in my opinion, are a little too brusque, but lots of great doctors and nurses.  The doc last night was awesome.  A Ph.D. in philosophy (BA at a small liberal arts college... I cannot remember which one) who decided to become an OB.  She was really great.

I am going to sign off for now, but I will be in touch as soon as more news comes.

The waiting is the hardest part.

Thought I'd get out a quick update.  We arrived at the hospital at 8PM last night, and went through all the associated form signing, poking, prodding, Q&A, etc.  We have a room, and Susan has been placed on a medicine to induce labor.  She was nowhere near starting at first, and the first doctor told us to be patient and that it could take 3 days or more to get through this.

We finally settled down after 2AM, and Susan asked for a sedative around 3:30.  They gave her one and she started to get sleep, of course interrupted every 2 hours for more poking and prodding.  She fell back asleep quickly.  I managed a couple of hours on the torture rack they call a "Dad's Recliner".  Thank heaven for the 24 hour Einstein Bagel and  good, strong coffee! 

There is no wireless access in our room, and I am on lunch break and getting this out.  Susan's best friend Mary Ann is here going through this with us right now.

Susan is uncomfortable (her hospital bed was about as comfy as my recliner), and sleepy, but holding her own.  She is on a restricted diet of clear fluids only since we arrived, and is surviving on Jell-O and juice.  If we do not progress too far, they will give her a break this evening and remove the monitors so that she can shower, and they will let her eat a real meal.

So... a holding pattern for now. 

Keep your fingers crossed, and hope for a quick reaction to the meds.

Hang on folks, it is going to be a helluva ride

Well, we are counting down the hours until Susan and I have to go to the hospital.  Sometime tomorrow we'll get a phone call and head in to start the process of inducing labor.  The expectation is that our baby will arrive sometime on Friday or Saturday, depending on a handful of factors.

We've spent the last few weeks finishing up the nursery, writing Thank You notes for all the generous gifts we've been given, and making other preparations.

We took the dog to the kennel tonight so he is out from under foot tomorrow, and we went out for a celebratory dinner in Ann Arbor at "The West End Grill".  Dinner was amazing.

Stay tuned and we'll try to keep everyone up to date, and get photos posted as they become available.

New Photo Album...

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It is still a little rough (no captions yet), but I managed to get up a photo album of our Christmas trip to Las Vegas. The photo above is the people that made the trip (minus me, the photographer). My nephew Jim, brother Kirk, Susan, Uncle Chris, Mom and Dad. The pic was snapped in the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, among the amazing Christmas decorations.

To get to the album, see the link on the right sidebar.

Honeymoon Photos: SHARKS!!!

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I am trying to get some more pictures up here from our honeymoon in Tahiti/Moorea. I thought this one was very cool. We went on a snorkeling trip and got to watch sharks being fed, up close and personal. These black-tipped sharks are about 5-6 feet long and they were about 10-15 feet away when I snapped this pic.

Greetings From Moorea!

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Hi!

It took us a couple of days, but we managed to get to an internet cafe to post.  We made it to the island all in one piece (after about 30 hours of travel).  We thought we'd put up a couple of pictures for people to see.  The first is a pic from the deck of our bungalow on Cook's Bay.  A great view.

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The second pic is from our second day on the island, having lunch at a place called Painapo Beach. The food was actually better than the view, which is hard to believe, as the water was so amazingly blue!

It has not been all sunshine though.  We've had quite a bit of rain, and it is pretty hot, but better than the snow we left I guess.

We'll try to catch up again before we leave, else we'll put up an album...

T-minus 84 hours and counting...

There are less than 84 hours left before we leave for the airport to go on our honeymoon. Lot's has been happening, trying to get everything ready before we go.

Susan's teaching is over, and she has three more days of work. I have three more days of teaching until I am done. My finals are ready, proctors are lined up, and just two more lectures. I have two days of lab, and then I am ready to bail.

We are putting things together: insect repellent, sunscreen, books to read, a book downloaded to my iPod to listen to on the plane (Life of Pi by Yann Martel), etc.

Mostly we are looking forward to a week in the mid-80's with nothing to do and nothing more formal than t-shirts and bathing suits to wear. It'll be nice to get away from the TV, telephone, newspapers, etc.

I am told that there is an internet cafe about half a mile from our cabin so that we can post pics if we get some...

Cannot wait.

T-minus 23 days and counting!

It is very cold here today, which made me head to the calendar to see how many days until Susan and I head off on our Honeymoon. 23 days. Life is getting better by the day.

Where are we going? See the website here: Club Bali Hai on the island of Moorea in French Polynesia.

We can't wait.

More Photos Trickling In...

(Click to Enlarge) I received an email from Mary Ann, my wife's Matron of Honor a little while ago with some more pictures from our wedding day. MA took them when the ladies were preparing. I like this one.

First Photo: Bride and Groom

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The first photo that we have back is this one from my friend Mike. It's a little grainy due to the low light in the reception hall. I wanted to get one up soon. What an incredible night.