I may be getting the hang of this-I just ate breakfast, and now I am typing, with BOTH HANDS. It is remarkable!

Now that my hands are free, I can talk about the election. I am sure you have all received emails about why we shouldn't slit our wrists, and what the Dems did wrong, and the neato election map that shows the US as more of a purple than red and blue. I suppose that is the most heartening thing about this unbeleiveably disheartening election: W may have had a decisive win, but it was no landslide. Almost half of the country voted against him. We are not alone. And now he has to clean up his own mess, or at least be raked over the future historical coals for not doing so.

But the W voters are not evil, and most are likely not insane. They did just what I did; they voted their conscience, they did what they felt was right. Some, it appears, did so out of ignorance (thinking Iraq bombed the WTC, and that they had WMD-there are reports on this all over the net, I don't want to look it up just now), but they all voted in an effort to make this country better, and honestly felt they were doing the right thing. So instead of screaming, redfaced, at your redneck cousin this Thanksgiving, try to have a discussion about how great it is that we can speak out against the President - and we can, you know; Jon Stewart is not in jail, and all the liberal bloggers out there have not gone missing - and still remain united as a country, based on that right alone. Maybe it's just that Tiny Muffin makes me optimistic for the future, but I think we will all be okay. A good friend emailed this quote around after the election: "The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hey! It's my birthday tomorrow! Wooo! I am not the type of person to lament people not remembering my birthday-I announce it far and wide as soon as mid-October hits. This year I have been slightly lax, but I have been demurely mentioning it to HH for a week now ("Woo! Almost my birthday! Woo!"). Not that he needs reminding; his is on Wednesday.

BabyHead got her social security card in the mail today. It's the cutest social security number ever.

My boobs and my baby are in agreement that it is time to eat, so this will be short again. She is in her fishy chair, though, so I managed to get more typing done today because I got to use both hands. Yay!

baby: fussy, yet cute. eats a lot

me: unkempt, yet more kempt now that I got my eyebrows done. I can now fit into my brother's pants, which will do for now until I can get into my own, non maternity things. Learning totype with one hand.

HH: sexariffic, which is going to waste for at least the next month. sorry charlie.

1. We voted today-I love to vote. I wish we could vote more.

1a. Old women were sufficiently charmed by BabyGirl at the polls.

2. A complete stranger in the coffee shop acted as if she knew us, in fact she knew the baby's name so we must know her but I can't place her for the life of me.

3. My obstetrician told me that there was nothing he could do for the pain in my hoo ha. I am getting a little sick of complaining to doctors about unreasonable discomfort only to be told that is sucks to be me and the pain will go away in 6-8 weeks. Awesome.

4. My bank has randomly decided to charge me for non-Citizens ATM transactions, and also $3 a week for some reason from my savings account only. I so don't feel like calling them, but I can't have my account drained $3 at a time.

5. My phone bill has also gone up for some unknown reason. I have to call them now, too. Crap.

6. Okay, end on an up note. Ummm...I had a buffalo chicken sandwich for lunch today, and my baby is the cutest, smartest and most beautiful baby ever popped out of a woman. Hooray!

Queen Poopsalot is sleeping, HH has gone to procure movie rentals, and I have awoken from my percoset induced snooze (my below bits are still a little ouchy, folks. Just a little info for the fans). I haven't had time to type out the birth story yet, but let me just sum up: It was Awesome, in the true sense of the word. I shuddered for a good half hour afterwards, despite blankets and very dry hospital heat. I in no way wanted to "go natural", but Oddie had other plans for me, as I showed up to the hospital fully dialated and gave birth approximately one hour later. No druggie-wugs for me. I was in real labor for about 3 hours, which is lightening fast under any circumstances and especially so for a first baby. My doctor showed up at the very last minute, in fact. I had to refrain from pushing until she arrived. Pushing, much like the Presidency of the United States, is Hard. There was a lot of blood, which I did not notice until my stepfather walked into the room and nearly fainted at the sight of the clean-up garbage bag-It looked like the clean up bag from the set of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The birth itself was intense and really cool and supremely trippy and strange and fantastic. I can see how it would suck if you weren't prepared or were in any doubt whatsoever, though. It is a full commitment deal; if you aren't sure you want to do it, don't, is my advice. Wait til you are ready and then it Rocks! Wooo!

BabyGirl is 9 days old today, we've been to the coffee shop approximately 7 times so far. I watch a lot of tv, as feedings take about 40 minutes and she does that every 2-3 hours round the clock. Breastfeeding is great and all, but it's a lot of downtime. You can only coo about how earth-shatteringly cute the baby is for so long; soon you reach for the remote and watch Season 6 Buffy and all the new Jeopardys. When *will* Ken Jennings lose? It's going to become the Ken Jennings Show soon. I haven't done a load of dishes for 9 days, which is nice for a change. I could write a book about how super extra great HH is; he did everything a girl could want during labor and delivery, and has continued the tradition with the possible exception of getting terrible headaches for the past 3 days. That has to stop.

I have to go wake the girl up; she's not supposed to sleep more than a couple hours during the day so I can possibly get some sleep at night. This plan has not worked so far, but the pediatrician says to keep trying. I had something else to say but I forget what it is. I should write this stuff down, so I can then, uh, write it down.

Mmmm, no sleep, lots of tv, my boobs are out and about all the time. Lisa sent us a gift package of cookies and HH and I ate the entire box of sugar cookies in one day. I wake up before the baby often because my boobs tell me it's time. I can't make any of the phone calls I want to; for some reason it just doesn't happen. Weird. HH goes back to work a week from Monday, I am frightened. The hospital is sending a doula, though, so it should be okay- I get to avoid total responsibility for a little while longer. Lastly, someone please come and make my hair look nice. Perhaps bring along some clothes that fit, yet allow easy access to the boobies without making me flash people, like I did today at the coffee shop.

That's right, the reason I didn't blog on Wednesday was because...

...well, because my mom blew a fuse in our house and the dsl was knocked out for a while. But then...

...I went to the doctors and I was 3 cm, so the doc stripped my membranes. Then we went shopping and then to lunch.

Okay, okay, but THEN, at 5:28 am, Thursday, October 21, 2004, my sweet sweet baby was born. She's the cutest goddam thing ever to set her enormous flipper-like feet on earth. I will post the entire birth story at some point, but that point is not now. She was born 7 lbs, 3 oz, 21 inches long. If I know you and haven't sent you the link to many, many pictures of her, email me and I will send it along. If for some reason you are a stranger but read this anyway (does anyone do that?) and can prove somehow that you are not insane, or that you have lots of cash, email me as well. Posts will be erratic for a while until we get some kind of schedule or routine going on, but I will do my best. Perhaps you could all pool your money and get us a laptop, then I could blog from the couch, which is where I am pretty much all the time now. (Girlfriend likes to eat, and I have 30 to 40 minute stretches of time whilst I am being feasted upon)

I have a feeling that an enormous, yet gross, poop is in my immediate future, so off I go for now. Check back, Internet, I will be back.