Checking things out

Birth

Maybe some people really do forget the pain of labor--not me. I went into labor just as my mother arrived from Philadelphia. After 24 hours of moderate, frequently regular contractions we took a harrowing midnight drive to the hospital--through relentless thick fog that slowed us to a crawl along the 73 and, when we reached a detour, along various highways and byways of South Orange County until we got to the hospital an hour later. When Lisa the midwife told me I was only 2 cm dilated I was in despair.... but she took charge and moved everything along amazingly fast after that.
She made me lie on my side and the contractions got a lot worse, but the labor moved along 3 cm in two hours. She broke my water and then the *real* pain started--but for that I was in the tub, sleeping between contractions, and claiming I'd never make it when the contractions came. Around 6 AM they took me out of the tub to monitor the baby. Was I *furious*! I kept demanding to get back in the tub. Then Lisa the midwife came back from a break: "Well Elizabeth," she said, "You can get back in the tub if you want. Or you can push that baby out."
I pushed. Everyone was in the room--Mom, Keith, midwife, doula, and dear friend Christopher--reminding me to curl, showing me the baby crowning, and generally encouraging me. Lisa massaged and guided me so I didn't tear. In all honesty it still hurt so much I hardly cared about the baby crowning and even when, 26 minutes later, she was there on my belly, I still couldn't quite take it in at first. I was mostly relieved the pain was over. The baby was oddly quiet while the cord was still pulsing. She looked like such a little *human* though--all face and fluid and skin--and when she started to cry she became suddenly very real.

Poop

It's a big part of our daily discussion, in between, of course, extended debates on the relevance of Heidegger's Party membership to his theory of _Dasein_. (tentative conclusion: does national socialism really have any bearing on ontology?)

Poop is a great source of anxiety, because they give you this chart before you leave the hospital indicating how many poops there should be in the first few days, and what color they should be etc. (if you were wondering -- black, then brown, then yellow is the desired standard progression). Ruby didn't proceed as set out (didn't poop at all on days three and four, and then not until the evening of day five). Worried Dad was ready to take her to the ER. "For God's sake, man, there's been no brown poop!" Reasonable pediatrician, reached by phone, on the idea of taking her to Urgent Care -- burst of laughter, followed by the reassuring "God, no."

The brown poop arrived on the evening of day five, vesuvially. Our friends Jeff and Kim and their son Rowan were here, and Rowan made reports on the pooping progress, walking back and forth between the bedroom, where changing the diaper was made impossible by the continous flow, and the dining room, where the assembled company ate Kim's generously provided spinach lasagna. Rowan's assessment -- his words said "cool," but his face said "ick!"

Your reward for making it through this post: a reminder that there are lots of photos on the picasa site (though none of poop): http://picasaweb.google.com/Keith.Danner/RubyMonthOne

Ruby Moselle Danner has arrived!

After 30 hours of labor, Ruby Moselle made her slippery purple appearance in the world.
9 lbs. 8 oz.
22 inches

Everyone's healthy.

We're exhausted and amazed. Let the adventure begin!

Keith

Off we go

to the hospital, that is. We still don't know how long til the little one arrives, but the amazing four-way cooperative ballet of Elizabeth, Lindsey, Sara, and I here at the house comes to an end.

Keith, midnight.

Soon, soon, soon

But when? That we don't know. We're at home, with the doula, E is resting, as she didn't get much sleep last night. Elizabeth's mom should be here in an hour or so (a pre-purchased ticket and everything -- what timing!) We'll end up at the hospital sometime tonight, possibly in the middle of the night. I won't be able to post from there, so the next update may contain photos of the new earth being. Our attendance at Thanksgiving day dinner probably in doubt, with a 2 day old infant and all.

kdd 5 p.m.

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

I really liked that book as a young one. Soon, we'll read it to our little one.
We're off to what I would say is our last pre-natal appointment. Contractions have restarted. I'd say we won't get fooled again, but seems real to me.

kdd

Labor not a linear upward progression

Apparently, labor, like social change, is not an unbroken line up to victory. After contractions at 4 a.m. saturday morning that were 10 minutes apart for a couple of hours, the contractions have all but stopped.

We're still really excited, but the stop/start is a little disorienting. Keep calling, but know that it's possible we'll be sleeping, or doing a crossword puzzle, or generally engaging in cave-dwelling behaviour.

k and e 10 a.m. Sunday

Baby Registry

The baby is due November 12 but Elizabeth insists she will be at least a week late. We have been the recipients of incredible generosity of late. But if you would like to buy us baby stuff, we have a few items listed on Amazon.com under our "baby registry" (http://www.amazon.com/gp/baby/homepage/) and we would welcome onesies, socks, side-opening t-shirts and other easy stuff to wear for the first few weeks and months. We would also be very happy for FOOD! like casseroles we could freeze and then thaw during those first few weeks.

Wedding photos!

Pictures of the wedding ceremony and celebration, taken by the immensely skilled Bob Newsom--who did not miss a thing!--can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/keith.danner
Bob's pictures are under "All Things Danner Allen" and a few others under "More Wedding Photos."
Enjoy!

Exploring Riverside

If you are arriving early or staying late, here are some suggestions for things to check out:

California Museum of Photography
3824 Main Street
Riverside, CA 92501
951-827-4787 (main)
951-784-FOTO (info)
http://www.cmp.ucr.edu/

Mission Inn
3649 Mission Inn Ave.
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 784-0300

University of California, Riverside's Botanical Gardens
(closed Aug 24)
http://www.gardens.ucr.edu/
900 University Ave.
Riverside, CA 92521
(951) 784-6962
http://www.gardens.ucr.edu/

Restaurants:

Gerard's for expensive, excellent french food
9814 Magnolia Ave
(951) 687-4882

Table for Two for moderately priced, good Thai food
3600 Central Ave Ste 1
Phone: (951) 683-3621

Good mexican everywhere

Simple Simon's for a good sandwich/salad place
3639 Main St.
(951) 369-6030

Registry

A number of people have asked if and where we are registered.

A range of items are on Amazon.com. The link for the registry page is on the left hand side of the site about 3/4 of the way down. Or link directly (not just for books!): http://www.amazon.com/gp/wedding/homepage/

There are some items and a "partial purchase" option at Felicite.com:
http://www.felicite.com/X/?fourcats

There are also a few items at Crate and Barrel:
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/

And soon, we'll choose a few baby items....

Our current mailing address:
761 Molino Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90804

Our mailing address starting in September:
23 Virgil Court
Irvine, CA 92617

Please consider donating to one of the following lefty non-profits in our name, in lieu of a gift.
Doctors Without Borders: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/home.cfm Click on "donate" and choose "tribute."
AIDS Project Los Angeles: http://www.apla.org/ Click on "donate now" in top right corner.
Haymarket Books: http://www.cersc.org/donate/ Please specify in "comments" that you are giving to Haymarket Books in our honor.

Further link(s) will be posted here.

Keep checking back!

kdd-ega

Air Travel

The closest airport is LA/Ontario International, in Ontario, California (don't go to Canada!). It's considerably to the east of LAX, and will take about half an hour to get to Riverside, as opposed to an hour and a half from LAX. There are shuttles, or you could rent a car. I've suggested using the RSVP "comments" link if you want to try to coordinate sharing a rental car or shuttle, or want to be in the same hotel etc. with someone else.

http://www.lawa.org/ont/


kdd

RSVP!

This is the place! To RSVP, click on "comments" below, and let us know if you'll be there, and _how many_. August 25, Riverside Museum of Art 6 p.m. ceremony, dinner reception to follow. Spouses, companions, and kids very much welcome!

3425 Mission Inn Ave. Riverside, CA 92501

If you want to leave an e-mail or a phone number so that other guests can contact you (there are undoubtedly people some of you will not have seen in years; maybe you'll want to say hello, coordinate hotel rooms or rental cars, or whatever), do so.

I think it's pretty safe, actually.

kdd-ega

Photos

Photo Gallery at: http://picasaweb.google.com/Keith.Danner

RIVERSIDE HOTELS

We're excited about seeing everyone in August!
We have a block of rooms reserved at the Courtyard by Marriott (cheapest option) so please consider staying there.

The Courtyard by Marriott:
1510 University Avenue
Riverside, California 92507 USA
Phone: 1-951-276-1200
89 dollars a night. Ask for the Allen/Danner Wedding Block

The Mission Inn:
3649 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, CA 92501
Phone: 800-843-7755 or (951)784-0300
from 205 dollars a night.

The Marriott Downtown:
3400 Market Street
Riverside, California 92501 USA
Phone: 1-951-784-8000
159 dollars a night.

Here's the skinny: The Courtyard by Marriott is two miles away, and we will have someone locally acting as point person for transportation. Both the Mission Inn (short walk) and the Downtown Marriott (longer, likely hot, walk) are within walking distance of the Riverside Museum of Art, where the wedding is.

If you would like for us to reserve a block of rooms at either the Mission Inn or the Downtown Marriott, e-mail keith.danner@gmail.com. If we can get ten rooms, there's a discount of 20 per night.

Riverside Art Museum -- Exterior

Children's Museum, Seattle

Calder/Allen in Seattle

First Order of Business

The wedding will be at the Riverside Museum of Art on the 25th of August.

Here's the website for the caterer: http://www.thecitycuisine.com/flash/splash.html

more to follow!

kdd