Having a Baby -- Semi-Live Blog

I'm about to head to Dallas sans Marty to sit out in the waiting room and wait for grandbaby number 2.  We don't know if this is Luke or Lily, but we know it's coming.

My baby girl went to Presbyterian Hospital (I love that it's a Presbyterian name) last night.  Erin is having consistent contractions, the baby has headed to the out door and everything is on go. 

I'm on go too, with promises to Grandma Marty to keep her informed and with help from Nikkie and Erica to keep me from worrying about Grandma Marty so I can focus on worrying about daughter Erin and baby Luke/Lily.  I'll keep you posted.  It's really pretty cool.

1:20 p.m.
In the room with Erin, Lyle, Larry and Eileen -- it's a party.  Mother to be is doing well, she has lots of wires connecting her to lots of things that provides lots of information.  She is progressing, slowly. 

Just so you know we will not be talking about dilation, fluids, or effacement.  I have a hard time writing about my baby's cervix -- so just quit thinking about it.

It's a nice room, big, with lots of really cool bells and whistles.  It's a long way from when our first was born and they wouldn't even let me in the delivery room.  Now they deliver in the room and even have a baby toaster ready and warming.

I suspect it will take a while for all of this to really climax, so to speak.  Luke/Lilly will greet the world at the right time, we are waiting.

3:20 pm
Still here, still in labor.  The contractions are working and they are a bit more intense and more frequent.  Epidurals have really made this whole process much more civilized.

This is one of those times when I really miss Marty.  She would have been right in the middle of the whole thing, knowing the right things to do, the right things to say and the right ways to offer comfort.  I'm a substitute, but a pretty poor one, I keep telling her everything will be all right, that there are babies everywhere that have been born, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Erin is doing great but I suspect she misses her mom too.  Eileen is here and she helps.  Having that maternal caressing is really important and wonderful for to see for the grandpa to be.  We miss Marty.

Lyle is doing wonderfully.  He's rubbing, caressing, getting out of the way, being present. 

We are waiting for the doctor to return and check the nether regions again and the nurse, who is Austrailian,  is checking her contractions even as we speak.  They will then decide if they need to increase the pitocin, crank it up so to speak.  More later.

5:46 pm

They just ran us out of the room, finally.  Frankly it was a tad nipply cold in there.  The baby has decided to start seeking the doorway to the world.  Luke/Lily now has a clear path and has dropped into the right position and they are ready for Erin to start pushing the puppy out the door.

She had done remarkably well.  We had left for just a bit before the doctor came to check her and when we returned she was in really good cheer for someone who has been in labor since early this morning.  She is doing well, a bit anxious about what lies ahead, but that is the way it's supposed to be, it's anxiety about the new child she and Lyle will have and it's an anxiety all parents feel for the rest of their lives.  Welcome to the club.

We are now in the waiting room, a place not completely unfamiliar for me, but at least we are waiting for good news, good things, instead of waiting for news about surgery. 

It reminds me a lot of when Matt was born, 30+ years ago.  Thirty plus years ago in Paris they wouldn't let me in the delivery room.  I stayed for the labor, coached my little heart out and then was sent to the sidelines to pace.  Time is excessively slow in any hospital waiting room.

We shall see if it's a Luke or a Lily soon.

7:10 p.m.
Lily Jewell, born at 6:15 p.m. weighed in at a hefty, but really cute 8 lbs. 11 oz..  Tonight she has blue eyes and ten fingers and ten toes and is perfect.  She is laying on her new mother's chest even as I write, gurgling and squirming away and starting to nurse.

My baby girl and her hubbie did a great job.  It didn't take too long once the little critter found her way to the out door.  It's pretty amazing.

I don't think there is anything like it in the whole world, seeing a new born, a new baby, a new soul for this world.  She is a blank slate and in my mind can do anything she wants to do with the rest of her life and the rest of her life is all ahead of her, how cool is that?

What can I say -- it's my new grandbaby and I like it fine, pretty perfect.