
So, this was Nate when we were getting ready to leave the hospital after he was born. (Not a very good pic, obviously. The only way to get immediate photos back then were Polaroids!) But his resemblance to Quinn is there, I think.

I talked to Nate on the phone for a while last night and got some of the particulars leading up to Quinn’s birth. Sandra’s water broke Sunday morning—caught them by surprise at least to an extent, since he wasn’t due for another two weeks, but there had also been some indications that he might come early, so it wasn’t a SHOCK. Once they got to the hospital in the early afternoon, she was already dilated to 4cm, which made everyone think he might come pretty quickly. But he stalled for a while at that point. I got the first news that they were admitted around 3pm and waited on pins and needles for updates! By 8:00 that night, she was still at 4cm, then shortly afterward Nate texted that she was at 6cm! I asked if things were pretty intense and he replied, “She’s getting mean during contractions, lol, it’s ok.” I replied, “Happens.”
At some point after that, she had an epidural, and then I didn’t hear anything for a few hours (and didn’t want to bug Nate with texts if they were “busy!”) I went to bed about 1:00 a.m. (knowing then that Quinn’s birthday would be Sept. 18th instead of the 17th) and let Nate know that I had my iPhone under my pillow.
I woke up several times to “ding ding!” tones from beneath my pillow! After the epidural, things slowed down, even though she was fully dilated (!) and they were both able to actually SNOOZE for a while! They gave her something to gently move things along (the baby needed to move down further before she could start pushing) and then at 3am DING DING “We’re pushing!!” Then: “Looks like a red head!!!!”
Heh. It was another two hours before DING DING “He’s here!!!”
When I talked to him, Nate said Quinn’s hair doesn’t appear quite as red as it did right after he was born (but the pictures I’ve seen seem to have a reddish tint).

I WILL GET TO SEE FOR MYSELF ON THURSDAY!! Yup, flying down (just me) and I’ll spend two weeks there doing what I can to help out. (And baby snuggling!) Scrambling a bit to get laundry done and packing. And yesterday I needed to run to the doctor to take care of a couple of things. First, my eye has been driving me nuts with over-tearing (same eye as I had that tear duct surgery a few years ago). The over-tearing had turned into an obvious infection with me waking up with the eye crusted shut, and I was worried it might be pink eye (and no way could I be around anybody, let alone a newborn, with pink eye!) Turns out it’s a result of the stent from that surgery still in there that migrated up to the corner of my eye and is causing some havoc. When I get back, I’ll need to have it removed, but for now I’m treating it with antibiotic drops. It’s annoying, but at least the infection will be cleared up. And ALSO, on Saturday night after a super fun day with the neighborhood potluck and hanging out with neighbors down the beach, I was walking onto the path from the beach to our house (in the dark, but with a flashlight) and tripped over a seagrass-covered HOLE and twisted my ankle. Fell flat on my face, thankfully cushioned from the seagrass, but man that ankle hurt. It was really bad on Sunday, but by yesterday it was feeling a little better. It’s bruised and little swollen, but the doc felt it was just a sprain. I got myself one of those compression ankle braces and I’ll probably wear it on the plane to keep the swelling down. Today it just feels stiff and slightly achy, instead of spikey, stabby pain. So I THINK I’ll be OK to head out on my adventure!
Speaking of which, I have to admit that I’m a little nervous! Not so much about meeting Quinn, although it’s been a LONG TIME since I’ve held a baby or changed a diaper! (I have a feeling it’ll come back to me just fine). But, I will be out of my comfort zone, and being away from John and the critters for two weeks will probably feel a little weird. I am going to bring my laptop, though, so I can keep up (easier) on news and hopefully blog. I think I’ll have time? Maybe not?
I WANT MORE PICTURES!!!
Update: (Ask and you shall receive!)
