We’re finally back from the hospital; they kept us an extra day to make sure that Elsa and Lynne were doing OK.
As promised, here is some video of Elsa about 10 minutes after she was born, when they were at the tail end of measuring and checking her and getting ready to take her back over to Lynne.
We have a lot more photos and video to share, and I’ll keep posting them as I get time to sort through them and upload them.
After over 28 hours of labor, on 1:34 PM Christmas Day, our daughter Elsa Marilyn Harris was born at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle.
She was 8 lbs. 13 oz., 20 inches long, and beautiful.
Mom is recovering, and we’ll post many more photos and video of Elsa in a few days when we have a bit more time. For now, we’re a bit overwhelmed!
Here are a few of the first photos we took of her:
 |
| Elsa’s Birth |
Thanks for all the good wishes before, during, and after what was a long, trying, and rewarding birth. We are so happy and proud that she’s finally here!
As of today, we’re 41 weeks, 2 days into the pregnancy. Doctors don’t let babies go longer than 42 weeks, so by sometime this weekend at the latest we’ll finally get to see her!
But, it could be even sooner. Tomorrow (the 24th), they may induce Lynne, but we won’t know if we’re on the schedule until they call us tomorrow morning. If we are, we could have the baby by tomorrow evening. Exciting!
We ended up getting 16″ of snow here at our house, and we will be walking up and down our driveway for at least a few more days. For those of you who have never seen our driveway, let’s just say that it’s a bit steep and a bit long. UPS doesn’t deliver, for instance. We regularly have seasoned service people (cable repair, plumbing, etc.) say it’s the most harrowing driveway they’ve ever seen. Walking down in labor and up with a newborn will be an interesting experience.
Here’s a picture I took yesterday; it’s very beautiful at least. Today, the mountains were out behind the lake but they weren’t yesterday when I took this picture.
Wish us luck on our icy drive to the hospital this week, and we’ll keep you up-to-date as we know more.
It doesn’t snow very often in Seattle, but when it does, there’s all-out panic.
Yesterday, Seattle Public Schools canceled all classes because the weather report hinted that there might be a dusting of snow. Of course, it never came.
This morning, though, Seattle got hit with a major storm during the morning commute. It started with rain which got everything wet, and then the temperature dropped, freezing all of the rain into a sheet of ice. Then a foot of snow got dumped on top of the ice. Traffic chaos ensued.
All of the Seattle TV stations are in 9/11 mode, with round-the-clock helicopter shots of empty highways and action reporters beaming back live pictures of steep hills where cars might just, any second, crash. One of the broadcasters breathlessly noted that tonight we’ll see “some of the most dramatic freezing we’ve ever seen!”
Here’s some video I shot around 9am from our living room; we have had another 6-8″ additional snow since the video (and it’s still coming down):
It is pretty chaotic, though. There are buses and trucks jackknifed across the highways, and people have abandoned hundreds of cars all over the roads. Seattle only has like a dozen snow plows, and all of the abandoned and crashed vehicles make it even harder to clear the roadways.
There’s no way we will be able to surmount our steep driveway anytime soon, with temperatures expected to be below freezing until at least next week and another storm on the way Saturday night.
We had the foresight to park one of our cars at the bottom of our hill so, when baby comes, we’ll have to put our crampons on over our shoes, trek down the hill, and hope we can safely navigate to the hospital.
Fun times!
Many of you have checked in to see if our baby has come yet, the December 14 due date having come and past.
Well, no baby yet, and no overt signs that she’s coming imminently.
On average, first-time mothers deliver eight days late, so we’re not too concerned yet.
For now, it’s just a waiting game.
Thanks for the good wishes; we’ll keep you posted!
We’re now less than a week before the due date and, so far, there’s no sign that her arrival is imminent.
By pure gut feeling, we’re guessing a 50-70% chance that she comes this week, although on average first children come eight days late. But we’re hoping she makes it out before Christmas.
The Christmas tree is up, the hospital bags are packed, the Hushamok is ready, so we’re just waiting for her to decide to make a break for it.
When she comes out, we’ll post pictures and video here, so stay tuned…
Recent Comments