Now that the baby’s arrived, we’ve decided to up the quality of our family snapshots. So, I’ve just ordered the Olympus EVOLT E-500. After much shopping and a trial run at the local camera shop, this is the one we went with. It was tough to eliminate the Canon Rebel XT and Nikon 20D. The Olympus feels better in my hands, has a bigger screen, and takes better pics in the camera shop. It should be arriving this week. 8 megapixels of fun.
Silas Rock Newcott was born March 23, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. in the morning. He was 8lbs and 19 inches long. He’s awesome. Pictures of his first two days.
Silas timed things perfectly, though we weren’t expecting him for at least another week. We had the idea in our heads that he would be a week late — putting him here two weeks later. Plus, had he come 24 hours earlier, I would have been in San Francisco on a business trip. Instead, Bronwen and I had a perfect afternoon of bonding — walk through Crystal Cove, picnic on the beach — it was as if the day were planned on purpose. Bronwen’s contractions started at 6:00 pm. By midnight, we were driving to Hoag Hospital and Bronwen was 4 cm dilated. We alerted the family. By 4:00 a.m., the anesthesiologist was giving Bronwen her epidural — liquid magic. You could see contractions on the monitor, but what used to be excruciating pain, was comfortable sitting. Beret boarded a plane in DC. We (really, just I) slept between 6:00 and 9:00. By 10:00 Bronwen was ready to push. The doctor arrived at 10:30. Beret (Bronwen’s mom) walked into the delivery room at 10:55 (incredible). Silas was crowning. After 5 minutes of additional pushing, Silas was born at 11:00 — a spontaneous sequence of events that could not have been planned.
Hoag Hospital (aka Hotel Hoag) has got to be the perfect place to have a baby. We gave birth and spent two days recovering from the top floor, in a private room, overlooking Newport Beach and the expansive, gray Pacific Ocean. 24 hour visiting hours. The staff was incredible and delivered top-notch service. We didn’t want to leave. By noon on the third day, we checked out and drove down to the beach and I introduced Silas to one of the best places on Earth.
So sad to lose a baby. Makes my guts tighten to think of it — especially as our baby grows in Bronwen’s belly. Unnerving to think about how life can so suddenly turn to death… and so close to her beginning, before she ever had a fair chance. How would I feel? Bitter. Scared to try again. Jealous. Shattered. Humbled.
Mari and Terry, Bronwen and I can never know your pain. We love you. Your decision to plant a garden in her memory is perfect. Charlotte May McDonald is a beautiful name.
The weekend started out rainy. It made for a great sleep on Friday night and a lazy Saturday morning. We met the Moyers up in LA on their drive back from skiing at Mammoth Mountain. We ate lunch at In-N-Out in Westwood by UCLA and ate icecream cookie sandwiches at Diddy Reese. Then it was up to the Getty Museum. The view from up there is spectacular — you can see the ocean to the West, mountains to the East, LA stretching South. The grounds are perfectly manicured with stone fountains everywhere. The permanent collection includes impressionists. My kind of place.
Sunday I did a little more work in the loft. I’m converting a small area into an office space for me. Bronwen’s got her space, so I’m making a little place for mine. It’ll probably take a few weeks. It’s only about 10 feet by 10 feet, but I have to do a bunch of important stuff like: move the heater, reroute heating ducts, lay flooring, build shelves, frame in area with studs, run electricity, hang drywall, paint. Ahhhhhh… too much! It’s a work in progress.
The new sofa has arrived. She’s a beautiful chocolate brown. Microsuede so plush you can brush it. We ordered it in December — a custom job. We knew we wanted an “L” shaped sectional with very specific dimensions, so we figured we would splurge on getting it custom made from some manufacturer in LA. This is our first big furniture purchase since buying our bedroom set 5 years ago. I think the sofa is more expensive than the bedroom set. Scary to drop a bunch of money on a piece of furniture you’ve never seen before — and one that you’ll have to see every day. The good news is the sofa fits, looks, and feels great. It’s exactly what we wanted. And we had 5 people comfortably sitting on it. So, does anyone know how to take care of microsuede? I hear you can put lipstick on it and it comes off with water. Will post pics soon.
