Ruminations on Woden's Day

As you may have read in our last post, we are inducing Emily's labor tomorrow morning. This got me thinking about the Mother Goose rhyme, which sadly calls Wednesday's child "full of woe". Not exactly propitious. So I've looked about for some more positive meaning behind "Wednesday".

For starters, our word "Wednesday" means Woden's Day, the Saxon god known as Wotan by the Germans and Odin by the Norse. Those familiar with Wagner's rendition of Germanic mythology, the Ring Cycle, know this god as the one-eyed, spear-carrying wanderer doomed to die in the twilight of the gods. While Wotan can be a sympathetic character (certainly my favorite in the Ring, much more so than his protagonist grandson, the lunk-headed Siegfried), his is not exactly a cheerful visage to apply to an adorable baby girl. For one thing, he killed one son, and then condemned his favorite daughter by surrounding her in a ring of flame...

Our friends the Romans had an interesting take on Wotan, one that has lingered in the Romance Languages. They had a habit of taking any "barbarian" deity and applying a Roman template to him, a practice called interpretatio romana. This certainly cut down on religious disagreement. For instance, in interacting with the Germans, they considered Wotan simply another name for Mercury. That way, they could acknowledge the German worship of Wotan without it causing conflict with their own beliefs.

Because of this, Wednesday is known as mercredi to the French and mercoledi to the Italians. Mercury, analogue to the Greek Hermes, is the messenger god, a trickster, patron of merchants and thieves. Upon winged feet he carries the word of the gods on high.

While Mercury is not as fatalistic a character as Woden, he's still not the bold huntress Diane or the caring giver Ceres, either. He's a bit dangerous and unpredictable.

Going further afield, another God the Romans considered cognomen with Mercury was the Celtic Lugus. He's an interesting figure whose original traits were largely lost to history, swallowed by the Roman conquest, but he seems to have been a patron to the arts and artists, trade and travel, a figure of strength and success. That all sounds promising for Mather's future. His legacy remains in some place names -- Lyon in France, Lugdunum in Wales -- and in the character of the Archangel Michael, who gained many of Mercury/Lugus's temples in the Roman conversion to Catholicism.

Of course, we also have the date to consider. November 1st is many things to many people; dia de los muertos, All Saints Day, Samhain. November 1, 1960 was the day candidate JFK proposed the Peace Corps; it is the birthday of such dubious luminaries as smut-king Larry Flynt, crooner Lyle Lovett, Chili Pepper Anthony Kiedis, and Jenny McCarthy. Hmm.

Of course, there is an equal chance Mather will be born Thursday. Should I start ruminating on Thor?

Inducing

So, it's happening...tomorrow. We are inducing Emily's labor in the early morning hours in the hopes Mather will be born later Wednesday or perhaps early Thursday morning.

Inducing isn't something you enter into lightly -- it can increase the chances of emergency c-section -- but ultimately, we feel the time is right for both Mather's health and Emily's health.

So we go into tomorrow spirits high and ready to hold our daugher...soon.

Emily carbo loads before her big day!

The final countdown...

Our Monday morning ultrasound and fetal monitoring went well. Mather was a little sleepy - just like her mama. We suspect that she is just resting up for the big day... maybe today?!?

We have an appointment with the OB tomorrow morning. The hot topic will be whether to induce labor on Wednesday.

We'll keep you posted!

Studies in Still Life

Three presentations of readiness:


One for sleeping.

One for walking.




















And one for traveling.
















While Mather continues to teach us the value of patience.

Will the horoscopes prove true?

This is Mather's horoscope for today...

Your determination makes even the most far-fetched plans seem feasible; and that, combined with your unbeatable work ethic right now, makes you hard to stop. You're determined to climb that mountain.

Tomorrow's sounds even better...

A longed-for achievement finally comes to fruition, much to your deep satisfaction. You're quiet -- if not to say mysterious -- about the news. Share it with some loved ones; they're just as happy for you.

My horoscope for today is also enticing...

One last push, and you'll be done -- you just know it! Who are you kidding? There's nothing you love more than having your shirtsleeves rolled up and getting your hands dirty with a big, absorbing project.

Perhaps an overnight labor (climbing the mountain) with an early morning birth (longed-for achievement) on the 28th?

We'll keep you updated!

Bring the Heat!

Greetings! So while Mather seems to be intent on teaching us the value of patience, we've been experimenting with the universe of tricks said to induce labor.

A lot of these revolve around food. First, Emily's mom, Laura, has always regaled her with tales of the canteloupe ice cream she ate while pregnant with Emily. So Em figured that before her own pregrancy could end, she'd have to try canteloupe ice cream. This might sound hard to find, but fortunately San Francisco has the one and only Mitchell's Ice Cream, a 50-year San Francisco institution.

Mitchell's specializes in a wide world of flavors -- while Em was enjoying the canteloupe, I had myself two scoops, Thai Tea and Mexican Chocolate. Yummy! But...no labor.

Another tip came from Anastasia. Her mother went into labor right after eating shrimp. While we were out to dinner the other night with Emily's father, Cary, and his girlfriend, Sheryl, Emily dined on Shrimp Scampi. While it was very tasty...no labor.

One of the classic old wives' tales is that spicy food is a sure bet. Now, there are plenty of ways to spice up a meal. But we've gotten our hands on the direct source.

Back up a little bit: amongst our friends are the Prola family. There's Bob, one of my groomsmen, and Tina, his wife. Then there is Bob's younger brother, the mad genius Ken. Ken is a peace corp volunteer stationed in Belize, formerly British Honduras, the only English-speaking Central American country. Bob and Tina flew down to Belize to visit Ken (newly decorated with an eight-foot beard) and came back with bottles and bottles of Belizean Heat, a Habanero-based hot sauce. While cooking, Emily decorated tonight's ground turkey (for taco salad) with a liberal dose of Belizean Heat.

While I was still in the kitchen, after Emily had already dug in, she called "Bring more Belizean Heat!". She poured on enough she was sweating by the end of the meal...

So if we go into labor tonight, we'll have the Prola's to thank for bringing the Belizean Heat!

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PS Getting away from baby talk for a moment, I wanted to encourage our California-based readers to vote on Election Day. Specifically, I'd really like to encourage all voters, conservative or liberal, to vote No on Prop 90, a slimeball proposition designed to trick voters into thinking it is Eminent Domain reform when really it's a taxpayer trap -- putting the government on the financial hook for zoning regulations. It would cost the state billions of dollars -- a direct cost to taxpayers, that is -- and put a regulatory halt to a lot of the great work environmental organizations try to do. It's very telling that organizations from both sides of the usual political spectrum have come out against it -- environmental groups, business groups, developers, municipalities, and virtually every major newspaper.

In addition, I'd like to encourage everyone to vote Yes on Prop 84, a well-built bond measure that would commit funds to conservation efforts throughout the state, particularly protection for our vital waterways.

However you feel on the issues, remember it is your civic duty to vote!

Taking another look at the horoscopes...

Here is Mather's horoscope and my horoscope for today from the San Francisco Chronicle:

SCORPIO (October 23-November 20): This is probably one of the most important days of the year for you, but don’t be deceived. Seemingly “trivial” events hold great future significance.

CAPRICORN (December 21-January 18): Your love life undergoes an extraordinary change. One kiss is all it takes to transform the two of you into lifelong sweethearts.

Does that sound like a birthday to you?

Alamo Square at Dawn

This is a "companion piece" to Momily's last post. In the early morning hours we still believed we might be going into labor today; we shot this with a foggy backdrop in San Francisco's Alamo Square during our walk.



Ransomed Off goes multi-media!

She tricked me - that sneaky, sneaky baby!

I was completely convinced that I had gone into labor during the wee hours of the night... no such luck!

I was kept awake through most of the night with mild cramping and contractions that were completely unlike all of my practice contractions. I tried for about an hour to time them - that is the first thing they will ask when we call the hospital, "how far apart are your contractions." They seemed to be about 12-15 minutes apart - we're supposed to call when they are 5 minutes apart. So I decided not to wake up Daniel and I tried to sleep. I probably managed 2 or 3 hours of very interrupted sleep. Around 5am I decided to wake up Daniel and let him know the exciting news.

We took showers, had a light breakfast and headed out for a daybreak walk to Alamo Square. Walking is recommended during the early stage of labor because it tends to make the contractions stronger and more regular. During our hour-long excursion, I had about three contractions - two of them were 10 minutes apart, the last one was about 25 minutes later. And, all but one of them fell short of the intensity I felt overnight... not a sign of progress.

We then headed off to our morning doctor appointments. The first appointment was an ultrasound to check amniotic fluid levels and fetal monitoring to check Mather's heartbeat and activity levels. Everything looked good, we could even see her stretching out her toes on the ultrasound. We had about an hour before our next appointment, so we took another long walk which I don't think resulted in any contractions.

The next appointment was with the nurse-midwife at my doctor's office. All of that overnight cramping and contracting was productive - I am now 2cm dilated! The midwife suspects that I'll go into labor within the week. He suggested I go home and get some rest as there could be another sleepless night on the horizon.

So, I'm off to bed at 1:30 in the afternoon - goodnight.

No early bird here!

Unless I have a miraculous 2 hour labor and delivery, Mather is not going to be making an early arrival. However, she could keep to a strict schedule and make an appearance on her actual due date. That would make her very unique, only 5% of babies are born on their due date.

The labor triggering process is still very much a mystery in the medical community. It is thought to be a fine balance between the hormones of the baby's mature lungs, the placenta, and the uterus. We've been encouraging the process with lots of long walks, acupressure and some spicy food - all old wives' tales, but it keeps us amused.

We've got an appointment with the midwife in the morning, maybe he will have some insight on our progress. Although, at the past three appointments, the doctors said, "not much is going on yet, but that doesn't mean you won't go into labor tonight!" It's not really an exact science now is it?

Mother Goose

A little Mother Goose while we wait for the wee one...

Monday's child is fair of face
Tuesday's child is full of grace
Wednesday's child is full of woe
Thursday's child has far to go
Friday's child is loving and giving
Saturday's child works hard for a living
But the child born on the Sabbath Day
Is fair and wise and good and gay

Momily is full of woe, Papasan is loving and giving.

What kind of child are you?

Isabel Gives Mather a Push

Sometimes all we need a little encouragement from our peers. Mather gets encouragement from one of her peers.

The one and only Isabel gives Mather a push at the Office Shower.

Early bird or late bird?

Well, I'm starting to doubt my prediction for an early arrival. This is the Scorpio horoscope (birthdates Oct. 24th - Nov. 21st) from the SF Examiner today...

Your universe is either expanding or contracting, but it's absolutely never static. For this very reason, you're determined not to get too comfortable in the current situation.

Although the Libra horoscope (birthdates Sept. 23rd - Oct. 23rd) could also be accurate, but more subtle...

You cleverly deal with at least three things that should've been handled by someone else. Tonight, it takes a lot to hold your attention, but a Cancer or Leo person has you leaning forward in your chair.

Could "leaning forward in your chair" be a reference to birth? Both of my parents are Cancer's, as is my friend Raleigh. Although the strongest Cancer influence on Mather today was her soon-to-be friend Isabel, the 13 week old daughter of Daniel's coworker Kristen. Dan's office hosted a baby shower today for the three upcoming births in their office. Isabel made an appearance with her parents Kristen and Jerrold. I encouraged Isabel to send an invitation to Mather (in the language of newborn) letting her know that the time has come to meet her loving friends and family.

Only time will tell whether Mather takes after her mother (early bird) or father (late bird) when it comes to promptness.

The second day of maternity leave offered up the distractions of the aforementioned baby shower and a new haircut, check it out...

Week 39

Maternity Leave

Today is the official start of my maternity leave.

Mather and I hung on long enough to get through the October 16th tax filing deadline at work. Now all the distractions provided by busy workdays are gone, and the clock just creaps along... that's the downside.

The upside is that I slept in, went to a morning pre-natal yoga class, ran a few errands, got a manicure and pedicure, made a great salad for lunch, took care of a couple chores around the house, and still had time to just hang out with my feet up!

We're hoping Mather makes an early arrival - I think 10/20/06 has a nice ring to it! But I have lined up plenty of little projects to keep myself distracted if she decides to stay curled up for a few more weeks.

If We Build It...She Will Come

Since last Monday we've been "at term" -- the point at which labor and delivery could come at any time. While our official due date is another week from tomorrow, "term" counts the time two weeks before and two weeks after the due date. So it's pretty imperative we be ready.

Building the crib

To that end, we've been doing a lot of rearranging around our 1-bedroom home. Mather will share our bedroom, with the crib against the wall opposite our bed, where our desk used to be. Of course, she doesn't just need a crib -- she also needs a set of drawers for all her fabulous new clothes and a diaper changing station.

Mather's "Bedroom"

We're feeling ready, and hoping she'll come soon. Above the crib is an adorable string of blue animals from Grandpa Cary and Sheryl, along the back of the crib is the hand-crafted blanket from Meghan Ritchie, and against the wall is Mather's Coat of Arms.


This Coat-of-Arms is the actual (verifiable) crest of Reverend Richard Mather's House in England prior to emigrating to the colonies. My great-great Uncle Charles Lake Ransom, William R. Ransom's brother, drew this illustration of it over a century ago and my Aunt Guin gave it to us during the Vermont Family Reunion. Of course, it isn't ours -- it's Mather's.

Weather Forecast: Showers in the Park

On Sunday, October 1st our fabulous mothers, Laura and Julie, hosted a Baby Shower for Mather in Golden Gate Park's Dahlia Garden. Friends and family arrived to a fantastic spread of authentic, homemade Spanish tapas, sangria and other tasty treats.

Laura presided over one particularly amusing game: she went to each guest with a long ribbon and had them guess Emily's current size. Some were better at this game than others: Bob managed to cut a piece of ribbon that wrapped around Emily and me both. My father had an interesting technique: he cut the ribbon to his own circumfrence. This yielded a surprisingly accurate result.

Many folks brought practical gifts. Other gifts came out of left field, or in this case, from the bushes nearby.

After the guessing games and tossing the frisbee around, we had a chance to open some fabulous gifts for Mather. We now feel so ready for her arrival!

We'd like to thank everyone who joined us in the park in person or in spirit. The real value isn't in the gifts given (as appreciated as those are...). It's the knowledge that all of you support us in this grand adventure and are ready to help out however you are asked. We love you all.

The Stroller Bunny was a big hit.