as predicted three days ago, odin's cousin is coming tonight! ruby, the little fairy princess, decides to help things along with a belly touch and wave of her wand ( unfortunately out of the picture frame ).

stay tuned!

boy, this should really help the sweeps week ratings for the snowdeal show ® :-)

you might see pictures faster than i can post them here by going here.

maybe i'll post a running commentary below. we'll see if i can keep it up through the night.

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05:30 p.m. EST: we arrive home after going to little odin's first peds appointment. diane greets us and tells us that she's having the baby! contractions are 3 minutes apart and not very strong.

05:30-07:30 p.m. EST: guests arriving ( close friends and family ) many meeting little odin for the first time.

8:00 p.m. EST: diane's taking a bath. i have a sudden craving for hot chocolate, so i'm going to venture out and get some cocoa. i hope i don't miss much.

9:46 p.m. EST: whistles. not much going on. hot chocolate being made. house cleaning being done by the obsessive compulsive amongst us. contractions are still 3 minutes apart, but increasing in intensity. still not strong enough "to take her breath away". midwife doesn't think she needs to be here yet. maybe by 11 p.m.

11:27 p.m. EST: hmmm. i thought second births were supposed to go fast. we're on the third pot of coffee for visitors. contractions are still three minutes apart, but getting "quite strong".

12:40 p.m. EST: diane is on the couch, commenting casually that she's feeling like she might want to start pushing with the contractions. time to call the midwife.

1:05 p.m. EST: o.k. the official bets on when the official time of birth will take place are in.

me:    2:45 a.m.
michele:   2:57 a.m.
cindy:   2:53 a.m.
gina:  3:30 a.m.
deb:    3:11 a.m.
steve:  3:20 a.m.
diane:   3:45 a.m.
kris:   4:48 a.m.
pam:    3:37 a.m.
wendy:   4:25 a.m.
linda:    4:05 a.m.
dan:    2:49 a.m.
wendy jo:   2:39 a.m.

1:15 a.m. EST: the widwife arrives.

1:40 a.m. EST: well, most of the bets are wrong. diane is "only" dilated to 6 or 7 and the midwife declares that she'll have the baby in more than a couple of hours but before breakfast. hmmm. maybe a nap is in order.

2:00 a.m. EST: the water breaks! and she's pushing!

2:18 a.m. EST: it's a girl!