The best laid plans...

... went haywire and got us our beautiful daughter two weeks early!

On July 31 Lufthansa went on strike, delaying my mother's arrival in Portland by two days.

Later that afternoon, my water broker while at the midwife's for a routine visit. She discovered that OHSU Labor and Delivery was "on divert", meaning that there would be no room at the inn (and, more importantly) the water tub if I showed up there too soon. So she sent me home and told me to come back when the contractions are at 3-5 minutes.

I called Steve, who was at that moment in Spokane on a college tour with Beau -- they started the trek home immediately, getting back to Portland by midnight. A big thank you to our friends Jennifer and Marcus who sat with me, watching stupid movies and chatting as my contractions slowly built.

It's true, you really can sleep through the early part of labor, or at least in between contractions. Steve not so much, he was busy timing them all night... Contractions were down to 5 minutes by Friday morning, which saw me in a frenzy of work triage, essentially designating a number of pinch hitters for some rather hairy deadlines.

We went to the hospital, where they indeed did not turn us away, but we had to wait for a couple of hours until a birth suite became available.

Naturally, the water tub was in use -- but OHSU was prepared for this contingency, and we became the inaugural users of their new inflatable back-up tub.

I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that labor progressed in predictable fashion, and I was able to see it through unmedicated and mostly in good humor; at least until those famous last three pushes. Yowza.

And then: There she was!!!

Freya Rosa Cowan joined us at 9:15 p.m. on Friday, August 1st, weighing in at 8 lbs 3 oz, and 21.5 inches long.

We are smitten, and of course she is the most beautiful baby in the world .