i'm actually as tired as i look

momma and baby share the couch

they're so beautiful. charmaine is such a wonderful new mother.

nekkid kepler!

it's shocking for both of us how little we see of kepler's body. she's always wrapped up in something...at least a diaper but usually a diaper, a shirt, a top/bottom thingy and a blanket. oh, and a hat. always a hat.

kepler getting her nails done

every new parent has told us about how sinister newborn's nails are. they weren't kidding. charmaine filed/gnawed off kepler's nails during one of her 'i'm so drunk from having had so much milk' phases.

more nana and kepler pictures

here are some pics of the og kepler with the new school version. perhaps they're comparing lips...

tons of kepler close ups

you can really see how much she's changed over the past few days (the pictures descend from oldest to newest). she's only a week old and it feels like it's moving too fast.

it's worth noting that the flash really makes her hair show up. in person, you can't really make out her hairline...

mies.

well, mies isn't sure what to think yet. although these pictures imply that he's taking the sylvia plath route...

the many moods of sweetie

her first time with jane's blanket (and her first time in the crib)

jane dalrymple (of ian and jane fame) made this beatiful blanket for kepler. here she is modeling it.

the ehrharts get a few final cuddles in

janeen and charles had to go back up to napa to take care of things (afterall, they had been in san francisco since wednesday). here they are soaking up a few more minutes with the little peanut!

momma's (aka nana) first hold

here's a close up shot of nana holding kepler for the first time. plus, a shot of three generations of mounts.

finally at home!

and here we are! after a not so stressful ride in the car, we arrived at back at our wonderful apartment. we were in the hospital wednesday to sunday.

you can see mies and ebi both trying to figure out just what that fuzzy creature that makes loud noises is all about. you can also see momma holding her for the first time!

getting ready to leave the hospital!

we were finally ready to leave the hospital sunday afternoon. after having to get the car jumped because of a dead battery (long story) we were ready to go. the first thing we did to prepare was to put kepler in the cutest outfit ever! jane got her this bear outfit for her baby shower and it is painfully cute. alas, kepler wasn't too happy about it but what does that matter?

kepler's first football game

just before leaving the hospital, kepler and i decided to watch a little of the playoffs. i think she enjoyed it. well, to be honest, she slept the whole time.

flowers

and many of those people that visited brought flowers! even some people who couldn't be there sent them (mom and jane + darko). it was so lovely to have a window full of beautiful flowers!

lots and lots of friends

we had many wonderful guests show up to meet kepler...even more than are pictured here. the nurse actually got a bit upset with us at one point as charmaine was exhausted and we had a room full of people...

we're back!

well, i realize that it's been a while since posting. it's been a very full week. we were in hospital for a total of four nights / five days. we were allowed to come home sunday the 14th (the same day that mom arrived from atlanta).

charmaine is doing wonderfully! she's up and walking and feeling much better. she's already wearing "normal" clothing and looking about two months pregnant.

kepler is doing equally well! we went to her first doctor appointment yesterday and she checked out beautifully! she's gaining weight, sleeping well (she slept for five hours last night!?) and just generally being the cutest thing ever (as the pictures will prove). she does seem to have the hiccups more often than not and has an amazing ability to make her diapers dirty only minutes after getting a new diaper put on...

it's wonderful having momma here. she gets to hang out with kepler and us while helping out with all of the various things that have to get done all of the time.

i'll post lots and lots of pictures today to make up for the week that we've been absent. post comments as much as possible! we want kepler to be able to read this in a few years and realize how surrounded she is/was with people that love her!

the napa grandparents.

charmaine's mother and father were with us the whole time (and reagan too!). it's wonderful to have them so close to kepler! (take the hint momma!)

i like it when you call me big poppa

the feeling of holding her is a wonderful mixture of happiness, awe and fear.

the ladies!

kepler meets her momma!

the worst part of the c-section (well, one of the worst) is that charmaine could not be with kepler immediately after birth. they did put kepler on her chest for two seconds right after she came out but they had to rush kepler to the nursery to make sure everything was golden (and it was!).

this is in the recovery room about an hour after kepler was born.

just after her bath

she's so beautiful.

still in the nursery being checked out...

i think this is the first time she cried. she has a really calm demeanor about her. let's say it's more me than jane...

she may be the cutest thing ever.

7 pounds, 7 ounces.

here she is during her official weigh in.

on a ride to the nursery

right after the surgery they whisked kepler away to the nursery. i was about two feet away from her the whole time!

kepler!

charmaine is the most amazing woman that i've ever known. the way she handled the labor and birth with such wonderful calmness and focus reminded me of all the reasons why i love her.

fifteen hours of contractions ended with an hour and a half of pushing. alas, kepler was apparently face up, too far up the birth canal and, most importantly, her heart rate would drop during every other pushing session. the doctor decided that it's best to perform a c-section and so we were on our way back to the operating room.

the surgery was surreal (i'll refrain from posting those photos) and charmaine handled it so well. it is major surgery...they obviously go through all of the skin, muscle and whatnot that's in the way. kepler apparently handled it well too because she was born healthy and happy at 10.58p on 01.10.07!!!

the long, drawn out process of labor

charmaine was in labor for about 15 hours. this somewhat numbing experience was broken up with a frantic rush to the emergency operating room when kepler's heart rate was down for too long and then disappeared all together (this happened around 130p). fortunately, her heart rate sprang back in the or and we averted the emergency c-section.

i would spend the rest of the twelve hours or so obsessed with kepler's heart rate monitor. labor (and, indeed, all of the pregnancy) was an amazingly helpless journey for me. luckily, the people at cpmc are wonderful at walking you through what's going on and why they're doing what they're doing.

i can still hear the heart rate monitor when i close my eyes.

on our way to the hospital

the journey (read: contractions) began at 5a the morning of 01.10.07. we left for the hospital around 8a.

Happy Birthday Kepler!!

She's here!! Yay yay yay! Born at 10:55pm PST on 10 January 2007, weighing 7 lbs 7.6 oz! The labor was apparently quite arduous and nervewracking, but she's finally here and both she and Charmaine are doing great ;D

Madison took these cute photos with his phone, and I'm sure he will be posting many more very soon....

Whew I am so happy!!

Woohoo they're at the hospital!!

Charmaine started having contractions at around 5am (out there time) and they went to the hospital at around 8:30am. This is *so* exciting!! Looks like Mom's on track to win the pool....

Kepler's Tiny house collection

These are the first of Kepler's tiny house/building collection. She's the one in the middle [heehee]. I made them out of business cards from a neat toy store in NYC-KidO. I plan for them to be the first in a lifetime collection- adding new ones at each birthday, holiday, whatever...isn't she adorable?

left or right?

alright, the chair finally got here and we're all set! now we just need to decide which side of the room to put it on. what do you think?

The Birthdate Pool!

Yes, it's true, as Charmaine puts it, we're "betting on [her] agony and torture!!!!" So she says, but she's already picked a day to bet on herself, don't worry.

So it's a $10 pool and winner takes all. Post a comment to this blog entry with your pick for the day and hour that Kepler will actually pop out (not when Charmaine first goes into labor...we *hope* those 2 times are close but definitely not betting on that ;)

The closest pick is the winner. That is, it's *not* Price is Right rules, so if I pick January 7th at 11:30pm and someone else picks January 8th at 9:00am and Kepler is born on January 7th at 11:45pm, I still win. Get it?

Okay, post away! (i.e., click on where it says "X COMMENTS" just below and then enter your time in the field that comes up in the pop-up).