9 lbs. 6 oz! Delivered by C Section. More details later.

Still blogging from hospital.

Wow, way way better nurse after the shift change, she is a real pro. Not too talkative, but at least she's doing her job well, to our untrained eyes at least.

No significant change recently, we are at 6cm, but are due to be examined soon. We'll cross our fingers.

Dandy.

She hasn't been turned in two hours, I got the wrong meal, her IV bag ran dry, and worst of all the doctor is over an hour late.

I can't wait to get the comment card.

Second breakfast was about as bad as it looked, lunch looked and tasted slightly better. Not going to be any culinary highlights during this hospital stay.

At about 11 a.m., her pain got so intense we had the doctors put the epidural in. Our was administered by a Russian doctor who seemed extremely competent, but was almost unintelligble. It was rather hard to understand his jokes and small talk as he took a rapid fire medical history and performed the procedure.

The procedure itself was rather exciting, mostly due to her IV tube becoming clogged. This meant a new line had to be inserted, which would ordinarily be no problem. Unfortuately, while our nurse should have done this before the doctor started he didn't. To make matters worse, last night's nurse had secured everything too, well - securely. I had to jump in and help the nurse while he tried to make the new connection and move the tubes. I was removing tape, unscrewing stuff (I have no idea what it was), applying pressure here etc. I think the highlight of the event was when I got bled on. I felt like a real pro.

She is trying to sleep now, but it is difficult under the circumstances, and she's not the best sleeper anyhow. I caught another hour's worth after lunch, but she's just been resting. She's hooked up to a blood pressure cuff, and a pulse monitor on her finger. She finds the pressure from both a bit annoying, and particularly dislikes the cuff inflating itself every so often to take her blood pressure. Completely understandable.

She was on oxygen for a bit, but we're not completely sure why. The doctors and nurses seem to tell us less and less as we get farther into this, and I'm not sure how big a stink to make about it. I awoke from my nap to find the doctor and nurse discussing something, and next thing you know - O2 mask. We feel like we are headed for a C section - which we were trying to avoid.

More later - I have to go make her feel a bit more comfortable.

Her water just broke! I wont go into any detailed discussion about it. If you are curious, I'd try Google.

Surprise, they just brought me what Hobbits might call "second breakfast". Looks slightly gruesome, but i'll eat some anyhow I'm sure.

Bleh, that was just fuel, but the price was right - 1.73.

She's not feeling so great, still a bit hungover from the morphine, and her left side is sore from sleeping on it last night. Turning over to the other side is a bigger ordeal than you might think, but she managed. Started the second, more potent drug to induce about 20 minutes ago. This also means no more eating or drinking for her until after delivery. The drug is administered via IV and has Dextrose in it for some nourishment. Luckily she got down a Luna bar this morning, but no coffee. I imagine the caffeine headache that's looming will be basically unnoticed in the coming excitement.

Been awake for about an hour now, she's been up for 30 minutes or so and feeling woozy from the morphine. She isn't crazy about the after effects of the morphine, but I doubt she'd have slept so well without it. As it is, she probaby got 4 solid hours, and 2 fitful. I'm at about 5, which should be plenty.

The nurse just recommended the breakfast burritos downstairs - I'm on my way.

Just had a visit from the nurse. She "repositioned" the Cervidil, looked painful. She was also kind enough to remove the monitors for a while, though they'll have to be reattached later. Some good news, the baby's head is on top of the cervix, and the cervix is feeling thin.

Think we're going to try and get some sleep soon.

Just saw J & J from our childbirth class and they looked exhausted, she just delivered next door. Oddly enough, we watched her contractions and her baby's heartbeat on the monitor in our room. Small world.

My wife is holding up well, and truth be told, has for almost the whole preganacy. Every so often now, she stops talking and gets a look of pain or concentration or something else entirely. After a bit it passes, and she's back to normal. She's definitely planning on pain medication during labor, so hopefully none of this process will be *too* painful. Easy for me to be somewhat detached from the contractions - I'm not having them.

Among the many supplies in the room are something called "chux". Anyone have any idea what those are? It just wouldn't be any fun asking the nurse.

Just finished dinner from Izzy's deli on Wilshire. Her - 1/2 Turkey Salad Sandwich, cup of matzoh ball soup (plus fruit salad and green salad not touched). Him - Tuna melt with cheddar, fries, bit of slaw (also not touched). The spawn is so big that he's mushed up her stomach to point that she just can't eat too much. She just told me she's topped off, sounds like a car.

Just had a nursing shift change. From a good nurse to a great nurse, things are lookin up. :)

Ruth and I are at the Hospital. We arrived about two hours ago and have already had a few surprises. First, she is hooked up to monitors, and will be until the delivery is over - apparently this is standard for induction. Second, she gets to wear these over the thigh compression stockings from now until a week after delivery! Sexy!

We are, by the way, in the room where Amy Irving delivered both of her children. We feel so honored.

More details later.