The latest....

Elijah Derek Murray, 8lb, 7ounces.

No time to update further, but I wanted to thank everybody who emailed, texted, prayed, and called. All is well, just got out of the hospital observation ward and plan to catch up on some sleep.

Quick update

Got a mild case of high blood pressure (pregnancy-caused), so they're inducing me at 8pm GMT tonight. Thank you all for the messages of support.

Despite the abject pain of having had contractions for the past 57 hours (with about 5 hours of broken sleep during that), I still found WICKED PLEASURE today in walking into the Day Assessment Unit (for pregnant women). Why? None of them are admitted there in active labor. Yet I was (I think the referral was a mistake). Seeing a group of 5+ women staring at me with identical deer-in-the-headlights expressions was very amusing.

Tea minus owwww

Irregular contractions started at 10am Saturday.
Waters broke at 4:30am Sunday.
Went into the hospital for a check, got sent home at 7am to "progress more." Was 2cm dilated at that point.
Currently 4:15pm, contractions are approximately every 7-10 minutes for about 45-50 sec each.
The hospital wants us back in when the contractions are approximately every 3 minutes for 1 minute each.
I'm eating dried apricots and feeling very sorry for myself.
Bruno is reading me inspirational birth stories and I am switching between glaring at him through contractions and being somewhat inspired.
I am too lazy to post a picture, so this update will be a wall of text.
I'll update again at some point when I can.
That is all.

Tea minus 4

Random picture of the moment: Warm waters running into the ancient Roman spa at Bath.

I haven't popped yet. Also I'm having some issues with legit emails winding up in my spam folder, so if I've missed an email from you over the past few months, forgive me!

Got checked out at the hospital today and pronounced sound, although I'm supposed to go back in if I get any more symptoms of pre-e. Ankles/feet are still swollen... walking is hard, but doable! B has been working from home as much as possible. Periodically I catch him looking at me with an appraising gleam in his green eyes, kinda like I'm some sort of roasting chicken, as if at any moment I'll leap up and shout: "DING! My waters broke! The baby's all cooked!" Someone needs to tell the man that a watched pot never boils.

And, a bit off-topic for the general tone of my blog, I read an interesting letter today concerning a patron's complaint to a library about a specific book being included in the collection. It's one of the best responses I've ever seen to a censorship request.

Off to a baby shower tomorrow. I'm hoping to hold out a few days longer in order to see the new Batman flick, but we'll see.

T minus 5

Since I'm living in England, maybe that should be tea minus 5? Either way, the due date is rapidly approaching. I've had a few symptoms of pre-eclampsia, so they're keeping an eye on me. In fact, I'm going in tomorrow for another blood pressure profile. Fortunately, blood tests, etc, have come back normal, so I should be all right.

The UK is a little bit more laissez-faire about pregnancy than the US tends to be. There's less emphasis on induction/c-section and more on natural birthing. They don't give you an internal exam until you're very close to the due date or actually overdue. This suits me just fine.

Here's something to drool over - homemade sausage gravy.

Ingredients: Sausage (plain), Flour, Milk, dash of pepper, a little butter. Crumble the sausage in, remove when cooked but leave the drippings. Make a roux. Add milk after letting the flour brown a bit. Cook until it thickens. Add sausage. Serve over homemade biscuits.

I made buttermilk biscuits from scratch for this good old southern dish. Warning: it's fattening, even with skim/lowfat milk, so don't say I didn't warn you. On the other hand, one serving of this for brunch should hold you until dinner.

That's all for now. I'll try and keep updating more often as things progress.

Like Groundhog Day...

The doctor leaned over with a concentrated look on her face, prodded at my stomach, then stood up straight and smiled.

"You got a long way to go. That baby is gonna be in there for another 3 weeks, the way things look."

Here's a picture of B at Kew Gardens the other week. I really wanted to go up the steps into their new treetop exhibit, but it was so crowded that we didn't. Next time, maybe.

That's all for now.

Happy Birthday and Other Random Things

Firstly, a happy birthday to my dad, who probably celebrated the day by working on his new boat. Here's a picture of him (R) and our good family friend, Hugo (L) a few years ago. The living room was undergoing renovations at that point in time. Dad's done some tinkering around with the rest of the house and the place is looking great, with new doors and quite a bit more space. I can't wait to go back and visit - hopefully next spring.

Things continue to go well over here, despite us getting all of July's expected rainfall in one day yesterday. B and I visited Kew Gardens last weekend. He gets in free through a work deal and is able to bring in a guest (me!) for half-price. Parking is usually £5... we were driving through the parking lot and saw a fellow waving at cars. None of them stopped, but we rolled down our window to see what was up, and he handed us a ticket he didn't need! So hey, free parking.

I'll write more about Kew next time. The camera is still charging and I'm only posting because I can't sleep. And trust me, I know I should sleep. I know. I know. But if your pelvis was as sore as mine, you'd be more sympathetic!

Anyhow, here's a few pictures I've been meaning to post. I really enjoy looking back on all the photos of the places we've been, and if I ever get access to a scanner, I'll definitely put a few more up. For now, I'll just keep posting the ones I've got on the hard drive already.

Aira Force, near Ullswater in Cumbria, England. Its waters inspired Wordsworth, and the word Force derives from fors, the old Norse word for waterfall. It's a bit of a hike, but all the trails are well-beaten. It's nowhere near as tough as Helvellyn (see previous postings).

We took a trip on a vintage steamboat across Ullswater, which is the second largest lake in the District. From Pooley Bridge (which is where we stayed), we went across to Glenridding, Howtown, and then back again. This is one of the islands in the middle of the lake. Any Arthur Ransome fans out there? Does this picture remind you of something? (Although the island in the book wasn't "real," it was an amalgamation of Windermere and Coniston Water, where Ransome stayed in his childhood.)

In closing, here's a picture of the Portara in Hora, Naxos, Greece. It's the last thing you see when you pull away from the island. Countless generations have stood upon that hill, looking for faraway sails or waving goodbye to loved ones as they sail into the distance. We stayed a few miles from the port town in Plaka, near Agia Anna. Rural enough to be relaxing, but within an easy bus ride to town. We were right on the water, but had views inland to Mount Zas - the perks to staying on an island is having it all in front of you all the time. And we definitely plan on going back.