Just a little something to say:

Please check HERE for special message.

This is finally Susan W. rather than the DH thereof.

Cliff Notes version of the last five days of my life:

We're both alive and well. Or, Annabel is well and I'm recuperating. The induction was slow to take, and when it finally did and I finally got to the pushing stage, our girl would barely budge and her heart rate kept decelerating with each contraction. Changing my position helped her but hurt my pushing abilities, especially since I'd been at it (the pushing part alone) for 3 hours at that point. I was completely drained and ready for a c-section, but after we discussed our options decided to try forceps first. Turns out the head of OB-GYN at UWMC was there, and is one of the world experts on forcep-assisted delivery, so after that everything went quickly. I ended up with a fairly severe tear (3rd degree), but that was the fault of the anesthesia rather than the forceps--I couldn't control my muscles quickly enough when they told me to stop pushing and she just kinda shot out all at once.

Annabel is beautiful. I think she looks like DH and he thinks she looks like me. (Those of you who've met us both will recognize that this is a matter of nuance.) There are some pictures on DH's fotolog:

Pictures here.

More later, perhaps days later. We're working on feeding and sleeping now.

My father's going in for a PET scan tomorrow to determine if his cancer has metastasized. The results will determine whether he gets palliative care or has a small hope of a cure.

Simultaneously, my grandmother has been hospitalized with severe digestive problems; we don't know the cause yet.

All the -ma you can spare, please.

Requesting a little exam-ma for tomorrow 9-11 AM ADT.

Per a cellphone text message from CASHMERE!!!

Owen Christopher was born at 8:54 pm at 8lbs 6oz, 20 in after 23 hrs of labor & an hour of pushing. Everyone is healthy.

[That must have been on April 11--Cindy]

Wheeee! Welcome to the world, Owen Christopher! Congratulations to our wonderful Cashmere, and her dh!

Crying now.

In the Continuing Adventures of Karate!Epic (now with Shuto Grip!):

Tested for, and Received, my Orange Belt on Saturday morning!

Thanks to all who vibed why-am-I-awake-and-working-out-at-this-hour-on-a-Sat.-morning test-ma to me ;)

We're glad to be home!

Thanks to everyone for the -ma (we needed it) and I want to thank Cindy for being our town crier of the interbunny.

Owen is damned near perfect and I feel like I've been hit by a truck but we're healthy and happy.

So far, so good. More updates when I have the time and energy.

Dashing in to say I had a lovely time in SF and was so thrilled to get to meet many lovely Buffistas (and occasional hangers-on). Special thanks to Java cat for organizing the hike on Saturday, Deb for hosting dinner that night, and Suela for very kindly putting me up and plying me with ginger ale when it became necessary.

I know I am basically a lurker and I have met no one, but I am in need of health~ma. My mom is in the hospital with kidney failure, they are starting her on dialysis, my 7 year old son is having a hernia operation in 2 weeks, and both my husband and daughter have colds. The stress is about to knock me out.

Even though I feel like an outsider, you are the warmest bunch of people and I am constantly blown away by the generosity of spirit exhibited from each of you.

Ehm.

Hi.

I'm incredibly nervous about posting in this thread after all the debate about what is Beep-me worthy and what is not...but...I've been online so frequently since I started posting here that I thought a few people might wonder what happened if I suddenly disappeared.

I will be going dark from this Friday night the 16th to sometime on Monday the 26th (when I will be skipping what is likely to be thousands of posts) because I am leading a group of 27 high school students to England for a 9-day tour.

I request not-losing-any-kids and no-major-disasters ~ma if you can spare it. Decent airline food and going the whole trip without hearing any of the kids shout "pip, pip cheerio" or something equally embarassing would be nice too.

Thanks!