Samuel Jacob "Luigi" Orlandi has arrived!

On Thursday, September 17 Samuel Jacob finally arrived. Thanks to everyone for their warm wishes. We apologize for the delay in getting out pictures, but our country cottage has no internet connection. So here are some of our favorite pictures and a brief synopsis of the past week.

Labor & Delivery

The labor was quite a surprise, because it was so fast. I had mild contractions from 4pm to 8am, most of which I slept through. Then, at 9am I felt a weird "pop", which was likely my waters breaking, and suddenly I had fierce contractions that were 3 minutes apart. Four hours later, and a speedy trip to SF Kaiser, Luigi was born! It was too fast for the doctors to administer drugs, despite me begging profusely for some. Sans drugs you can imagine the profanity I was screaming at the top of my lungs during most of the delivery.

The Naming

It took us another 24 hours after Luigi arrived to name him officially. Samuel was chosen because Bob, since he was a teenager, has always wanted a son named Sam. And Jacob was chosen in memory of Jacob Crawshaw, whose tragic passing will always remind us to cherish every moment.

Bringing Home Baby

We still call him Luigi around the house...a habit that will probably last a lifetime. He is very healthy and, after some practice, is a voracious eater. We're not sure where the red hair comes from, but he sure has a lot of it! His long fingers and big feet make me think he will be a tall boy. Extremely well tempered, Sam ("Luigi") is making it easy for Bob and I to adjust to parenthood. After only 9 days with him we are learning that he prefers sleep sacks over swaddles, he makes a special sound when he is truly hungry, rocking chairs work miracles on him, he hates baths and refuses to be pacified by pacifiers (so far - Bob is out buying a few different kinds now to try).

We can't wait for you all to meet him!

Best Bassinet In The World Has Arrived!

Thanks to my super talented auntie Liz, I have the most beautiful, elegant bassinet in the world. And it's one of a kind! She spent a ton of time sewing and hand-stitching the fabric, including the perfectly aligned box pleats and strategically placed snaps and seams.

The bassinet structure is the Pottery Barn wicker set, where the top section can be removed and used as a moses basket and the legs have casters (which is great on concrete floors like we have). Not that I didn't like the Pottery Barn linens that are sold with the wicker unit, but I preferred the significantly more expensive fabric kind found on other websites. But who needs to buy that stuff retail when you have talented family members like I do? So I helped my mom buy the wicker unit on Craigslist for $90 and picked out the fabric, also bought online for a good deal. Then auntie Liz did all the hard work and surprised us with her amazing creation!

I thought you all might enjoy seeing some pictures.

The net (aka my wedding veil) fits on the top to keep the flies and bugs off Luigi while he sleeps...we are in the country, so this happens more often than you'd think.

A front view.

Profile view.

More Farm Visitors

We've had a great time getting acquainted with all the critters and creatures that share our new property with us. Here are some of the most recent.

Bob made a new friend - a quail. He was sitting in the breezeway reading when he heard two quail walk by. One of them stopped and entered the breezeway, walking right up to Bob (about 1-1/2" away), and they looked at each other until Bob made a quick movement to try and get my attention. In all, we've counted 15 quail in the covey that hangs out on the property. No picture of the breezeway incident, but here is a friendly quail chillin' in the vineyard about 10-ft from our front entrance.


These nine wild turkeys come and visit most days, often leaving surprise faeces on our patio. We avoid feeding them so they won't come any more frequently than they already do.


Bob asked me, "have you ever seen a praying mantis?" I told him no, so he made sure I got a good look at this one that was camped out on the wall adjacent to our front door. Freaky!

Counting Down The Days...

Saw the doctor today. Everything looks great. Head is still down (and low), heartbeat is strong and I'm 25% effaced, 1/2cm dilated. "Any day now," she says. But based on the effacement and dilation I am betting on at least 2 more weeks.

We also asked her for any tips on making sure SF Kaiser doesn't try to divert us - September is a busy month for births as you can imagine. She said, in not so many words, "just go...that is your best bet." Got it. If they tell us on the phone to head to Santa Rosa I'll just hang up and go to SF...don't they know better than to piss off a pregnant woman in labor?

So, we're on the home stretch and still feeling great (for the most part). My back/leg is still killing me, so I'm walking and standing a LOT less. And my finger anomaly is so big and gross even the doctor scrunched her nose in disgust this morning. But I am thankful that I am faring so much better than all other moms-to-be in my prenatal yoga class. My Clydesdale-like genetics are finally paying off!