For Ida Akiko, life began somewhat earlier; however, it was on April 17 that she began to breathe air. The day began early when Ella awakened at 2 AM and determined that her "bag of waters" had broken. After cleaning the house for an hour, we headed out. Above is a photo of Ella preparing to labor.
Here I am doing a complicated dance to intensify Ella's contractions. This did not quite succeed, until Hugh Hochman
arrived on the scene with a CRUCIAL ham and swiss sandwich to provide me more power. Which worked, because after intense pain (no medication for various reasons) Ida herself came leaping out of Ella:
There had been much discussion about what her name would be, and not until this last moment were we certain; as has been widely reported, Ida is named after an almost-forgotten relative on Ella's father's mother's side. Ida's middle name is Akiko; her grandmother Motoko-san says that this name is derived from the "old name" (Aki) of Hiroshima, where the Kashimadas arose, dwelt, and waved their samurai crest.
Soon after Ida's birth, experts warmed her up and even washed all that cheese off of her:
Many began to comment on the lushness that is Ida's hair; some nurses were reprimanded for ignoring their other patients just to linger around Ida!
And just as Ida had sussed out the outside-of-Ella world, she had a surprise visit from her cousin Elsie who is of course something of a superstar in the blog world, and a favorite of her Uncle Pete.
Ida's Aunt Maggie, Elsie's mother, also came to visit. She's Ella's sister. Elsie's father, Arthur, recently was released from incarceration on a 4 year old "dog off leash" violation; he came to the hospital but there are no pictures of him here.
And not soon after, we were cleared (too soon?) to go home...
