Arianna's Birth Story

This is a pretty long post, a more condensed and somewhat more rhyming one is on the baby blog. Scott had three jobs during the labor and delivery: provide support, make note of all the people and events that happened, and take pictures.

Arianna Macias Cummings’ Birth Story

Sunday night, November 7, 2010, while out at Deckers, I started to have contractions. At first we weren’t sure whether they were contractions but when a particularly hard one hit me on the way to the car, we started to get excited. To test them for staying power we decided to go to Camana Bay for lattes and hot chocolate and to walk around.

At Camana Bay the contractions continued even through the walking so we headed home to see what would happen, convinced that we would be calling Dr. Richter to come to the hospital. However, like the previous Friday the contractions died down when we went to bed.

On Monday after picking up Bruma and Brupa and then dropping them off at Smith’s Cove for a sunset, Scott and I headed to Dr. Richter’s to get the catheter put in. We learned that Tanya and Ian, a couple from our Lamaze class, were also doing the same thing!

There were two babies about to be born so Dr. Richter had to head to the hospital which meant that we had to wait. Around 6:30, Dr. Richter returned and we got the catheter in. The plan was to go out to eat afterwards but it was pretty uncomfortable so Scott ran out to get Chinese takeout and we went home to eat.

While eating, I started to cramp. When we went upstairs I gushed blood which made us very worried. Bruma reassured us that it was perfectly normal and a good sign. I called Melanie and Stephanie (we’d called Mom and Dad earlier) and settled in to try to get some sleep.

At 6:00 the next morning we got up, showered, and got dressed. Bruma and Scott made a breakfast of scrambled eggs and oatmeal and, at 7:15, we left for the hospital. After first going to the wrong entrance, we made it to maternity to check in at 7:30. Tanya and Ian were already there so we chatted some with them. They’d also had blood and cramping but Tanya’s cramping had stopped the night before so we thought maybe it was a good sign that I was still in pain.



Hooked up to the fetal monitor

At 7:40 we were moved to room 8 and met the midwife who was going to be helping us, Mairead. She got us hooked on the external fetal monitor at 7:55 and left us to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. We had to do the monitor for a bit longer because on one of the contractions her heart rate dropped to 90 and they were worried that the contractions were impacting her. After the extra time everything was okay so they think she just moved away from the monitor for a bit (wiggle worm!).

Mairead and Marion

We started to go for a walk but ran into Dr. Richter so we turned back. He inspected me and said that I was around 3.5 cm dilated, pulled out the catheter and put in the prostaglandin gel. We had to be on the fetal monitor for an hour so we watched a Blue Planet episode. After the fetal monitor showed that everything was good, we walked around and explored. The contractions started to get more intense as we walked.

When we returned to the ward to eat lunch the contractions seemed to lessen. Another walk got them going again so we kept that up in hopes that we could really jump start labor. After a while, I started to get very tired so we returned to the room for a bit of a rest and to watch some episodes of “How I Met Your Mother”. I had a few contractions about seven or so minutes apart while we watched the episodes and found that getting on all fours on the bed helped them feel better.

At 2:00 p.m. we were moved to Delivery Room 3. Dr. Richter inspected me and indicated that I was somewhere between 5 and 6 cm dilated. He broke my water which is when we realized that she had passed her meconium inside which would change some of the procedures when she was born. Since they wanted to avoid her inhaling any of the meconium, they would do their best to keep her from crying when she first came out. She would also be moved to the care unit before we could hold her as the midwife worked to suction everything out of her nose and mouth. We wouldn’t be able to hold her until they made sure that everything was okay.

After the water broke while hooked on the fetal monitor

The contractions started to come more frequently. We tried watching more episodes but I couldn’t focus very long because of the contractions. We decided to put on some music and look through vacation pictures. We also started trying our comfort measures. We found a few positions that helped like standing with my elbows on the bed and rocking. Scott also used the tennis balls to massage my lower back. I sat on the birthing ball which helped in between contractions but didn’t feel good at all during contractions. The contractions were starting to last about a minute and I had only a minute or two in between them so we were excited that things were moving along. Mairead said that I should be between 7-8 cm at the next check and Scott joked that with how things were moving I was going to be at 9 cm.

That’s why it was really disappointing when I was still the same dilation at 4:15 when Mairead checked. She tried moving the baby’s head out of the way to release more of the amniotic fluid so that the baby could move further down and help open up the cervix. Scott says that I passed a “lake” and Mairead said that with the size of my bump and the amount of fluid I was passing, this was most likely going to be a small baby (didn’t quite turn out that way).

I was laying in bed at that point because I was getting tired being on my feet all the time so Mairead told me try laying on my left side. She warned me that the contractions would feel different. I was offered pain medication at this point but I wanted to wait even though the contractions were coming pretty quickly. After working through about 5 contractions on my side on the bed, I realized that I DID NOT like lying down. The contractions were starting to come almost one on top of the other. I had only about 30 seconds to a minute between each one. Scott wanted me to try pain medication but I really wanted to exhaust all of the comfort measures that we had in our arsenal before we went for the pain medication. One of the things that we hadn’t tried was water so we got into the shower (no baths in the hospital). The hot water felt very good and helped for about 30 minutes before its usefulness wore off.

We returned to the room and tried a few more things but none of the comfort measures that we had did anything to ease off the pain. At this point the contractions were just about constant and I was barely getting time to breathe in between. Each single contractions wasn’t very long but they were very frequent. We were trying to work through a contraction standing with my elbows on the bed when my legs buckled. Scott caught me and had to hold me to get through the next contraction. I didn’t want to get in bed because I knew that it hurt more when I was lying down but I no longer had the strength to get through the pain on my feet. We tried doing things on my knees but my legs were spasming too hard to allow me to keep myself up. Mairead came in to check and I was only at 7 cm. That meant that after four hours of labor with contractions one on top of the other I’d moved only about 1 cm. That was a disappointing blow.

After a series of particularly painful contractions that were about 1 minute to 1.5 minutes long with less than a minute in between and sometimes only about 20 seconds in between, we decided to talk to Dr. Richter and Mairead about an epidural. Dr. Richter indicated that he thought I had until at least midnight before I was going to have the baby and I was still far enough away that I could get an epidural. We decided to do it.

It took nearly 45 minutes for Dr. Anwar (the anesthesiologist) to get the epidural in because the contractions were so intense that my arms and legs were shaking uncontrollably during the contractions and there was only about half a minute in between each one which wasn’t long enough for her to get it in safely. First Scott held me up and tried to keep my body still during the contractions so that Dr. Anwar could work but when his back gave out from supporting all my weight, Mairead had to do it.

Resting after the epidural

When the epidural went in, it wasn’t working well on my right side so Dr. Anwar gave me another shot and told me to lay on my right side to help the medication work there. Dr. Richter came in to inspect me again for Dr. Anwar’s records. An hour after Mairead’s last check and the hour of intense contractions that caused all the trouble with the epidural, I was still only at 7 cm dilated. At 7:30 I was resting well and was ready to settle in for at least the next four and a half hours before this baby was supposed to come. I was hungry but wasn’t allowed to eat anything so Scott took my dinner but threw most of it away because it wasn’t any good. At 7:50 we watched a Blue Planet DVD and, at 8:00, we were introduced to our new midwife Hamerika.

Hamerica checking the fetal monitor

Dr. Richter wanted to use Oxytocin to try to get labor moving some more since I’d seemed to stall. Hamerica came in at 8:10 and got the Oxytocin started. Within 5 minutes I started to feel pain even with the epidural. By 8:30 I was really pushing for something because the contractions had returned. Although much less intense than they had been without the epidural, the pain was starting to slice through my right side. Before Dr. Anwar had left at 7:30 she had mentioned an infusion of the epidural medicine so that the medication would be continuous but no one had given me one yet. I pointed that fact out to Hamerica. As she was getting the infusion ready, the pain started to spike back to where it was before.

At 8:45, Hamerica examined me and said she must call Dr. Richter because I am ready to give birth; the baby is right there! I didn’t believe her because the pain in my right side was pretty constant, intensifying with the contractions but lingering the whole time, and it felt similar to when the baby would move and kick into my side during the pregnancy. I didn’t think she was in the birth canal; it felt like she had moved up into my rib cage in protest! All throughout labor she had been moving a lot and kept moving away from the monitors when we were hooked up and kicking and punching me in between contractions. I hear that is pretty rare as most babies settle in for labor and stay quiet; she has always been a wiggle worm!

Dr. Richter arrived at 9:15 and said that it was time to start pushing. He gave Scott the option of looking down the birth canal to see her head. Scott had indicated before that he was going to be a strict above the waist guy during the delivery but the temptation to get the first glimpse of the baby was just too much! He was able to see her right at the beginning of the pushing and watched throughout the delivery as the baby got closer and closer to coming out. It was amazing watching the excited expression on his face as the baby got closer and closer!

The pain in my side was so intense that it made the time in between contractions much worse than the contractions themselves. I would push with each contraction and as soon as it ended my leg would start shaking violently again and my side would feel like it was being ripped apart. Dr. Richter held that leg and told me to focus on what I would do with pushing on the next contraction instead of on the pain. He said that the pain would go away as soon as the baby was out so it was important that I get the baby out.

Dr. Richter was on my right trying to keep my right leg from going crazy, Hamerica was on my left holding the leg that was still partially numb from the epidural, and Scott was close to my face on my left counting for the pushes and encouraging me. At some point he said “Just one more push” and I stared straight at him and said “Liar!”

After an hour of pushing Arianna Macias Cummings was born at 10:12 p.m. They pulled her out, suctioned her immediately, then took her over to the care unit and laid her down to clean her off. She was screaming her head off. While I pushed out the placenta and Dr. Richter stitched me up, Scott was able to be over by Arianna talking to her and taking pictures.

Arianna screaming her head off in the care unit

Dr. Richter, Arianna and I after Hamerica cleaned her up

They measured and weighed her while they worked to get all the messy amniotic fluid off her. Arianna weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and was 52 cm long (about 20 inches). She was in the care unit for 30-45 minutes, screaming the whole time. Arianna was not pleased to be out of her nice warm home and all by herself while they checked everything out. Finally, I was able to hold her. After some time breastfeeding and being together as a family, Arianna was taken by Hamerica to be washed and changed. Per Scott’s instructions, she was put into the Texas Longhorn receiving blanket.  She was then taken from the delivery room and met us in my regular hospital room. It was an exhausting day but we had a beautiful baby girl by the end of it!

Arianna's first step on U.S. soil

This morning we headed over to the U.S. consulate to register Arianna's birth with the US government, get her a social security number, and order her a passport.  When we crossed the threshold I said to Katie well here is Arianna's first taste of U.S. soil and the consular officer inside chuckled.  We were very lucky that the consular officer from the Embassy in Jamaica is on island this week and so we could turn in all the forms without having to send them off island for processing.  It was an extremely fortunate coincidence as otherwise our paperwork would not get processed as quickly as it would have to be shipped to Jamaica for processing instead of being sent directly on to the U.S. 

Arianna got her picture next to the flag and amazingly enough, Katie's roommate from the maternity ward was also in to register her child so there was a happy sharing of first week at home experiences.

Arianna's day trip to Northside, Rum Point and East End

With a successful excursion under our belts last night to Camana Bay we decided today to get very adventurous and take Arianna around the Island.  The morning actually started with Katie and I going to the General Registry to register her birth and get her birth certificate.  Today was the first day we could do it since yesterday was a national holiday and Friday we didn't get the necessary paperwork from the hospital until too late in the day.  After getting home from the Registry, we packed the two vehicles and headed up to the Northside of the Island where we had lunch on the water at the Over the Edge Cafe.

After finishing lunch we headed on to Rum Point and took Arianna out on the dock to a gazebo where we got the photo's of four generations of the Carlisle, Loski and Cummings women and four generations of the Macias middle name.  After an hour or so at Rum Point we headed east to the Wreck of the Ten Sail Monument and the Blow Hole.  Arianna had been fed some expressed milk while we were at the registry and that knocked her out as she was asleep almost the entire four plus hour excursion waking only to be fed at the Monument and again briefly at the blow hole.  She is still struggling with the whole when is day and I should be awake and when is night and I should be asleep concept.

Katie is furiously working on the birth story and will cross post it both here and the baby blog.  We kept pretty good notes of everything that happened on November 9, 2010 and so she has a lot to write about. 

Grandma Gail and First Outing to Camana Bay

Tonight we packed up the cars (we have to use both our car and a rental this week since we cant all fit into the Yaris or the rental) and headed over to Camana Bay for Arianna's first outing.  We got her in the stroller and walked all around even taking her up to the top of the observation tower where we all got to see the sunset over seven mile beach.  The clouds were kind enough to be just high enough over the water that we saw the sun come out from under them and sink into the sea.

FAQ's

In talking with various relatives we have gotten some questions that seem to be on the minds of a lot of you so in the spirit of the web age here are some Arianna FAQ's.

1. Is Arianna a US citizen:  YES, she was born of two US parents and was born as and has an absolute right to US citizenship.  We are filing a record of birth abroad with the consulate and getting her a US passport and social security number later this week.

2. Is Arianna a Cayman Islands citizen: NO, even though she was born here, the Cayman Islands doesn't give citizenship based on being born here.  You are only a citizen of Cayman Islands by right if you are born of a Cayman Islands citizen mother in the Cayman Islands.  This is because of the high number of ex pats who live here and because they don't recognize all the children of Cayman Islands males who marry foreigners.  Those children are allowed to remain on island as dependents of their dads but must apply for Cayman Islands citizenship when they reach the age of 18. We have a couple of students at ICCI who are currently going through this process.  Even if you have a Cayman Islands mother if you are born abroad you must apply at 18 for citizenship.

3. When will Arianna be visiting:  Her first trip is planned to Miami in March for the winter seminar, Mommy and Ari will accompany Dad to do some shopping.  She will be traveling to Denver and Chicago in June when Katie graduates from DU with her Masters and we visit family.

4. Who does Arianna look like:  At first she looked like her Mom but in comparing photo's of her parents at her age she seems to favor her father according to her grandparents.

5. How is she sleeping: Her days and nights are still mixed up so she sleeps during the day and is up and active at night.  We trying to work in walks and other daytime activities to get her reset and sleeping normal hours (as normal as a newborn can have).

Katie proudly noted this morning that she gained 21 pounds during her pregnancy and when she weighed herself this morning she had lost 17 pounds of that gain.  The Doctor had said at the end that she had a lot of water weight and it would go away quickly and it has.  We expect it to go up next week as she resumes normal life but it does indicate how all her hard work to stay healthy during the pregnancy paid off. 

Grampa Russ; First Bath and Swing

The two best purchases we have made came off of E-Cay a sort of Cayman version of Craig's List.  The first was a swing we picked up the week before Arianna was born.  The swing sits downstairs next to the couch and gives us something to put her in to get the movement feeling that helps calm her down.  The second is the bassinet we got on the day Arianna came home and that is pictured in an earlier post.  Here are some shots of Arianna with Grampa Russ, getting her first bath last night and enjoying her swing. She also went for her first walk this morning to the end of Selkirk Drive and back. 

Russ and Gail Arrive

Russ and Gail arrived this afternoon for a week.  Scott chaired a session of the Healthcare 20/20 conference being put on by the Ministry of Health in his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors of CINICO all morning and afternoon.  Arianna still has her days and nights mixed up so she is sleeping during the day and staying up most of the night.  Yesterday we found a bassinette on E-Cay so Arianna now has a downstairs bed to go with the pack and play bed upstairs.

The Cummings Women

Arianna comes home

Katie and Arianna were released from the hospital this morning and right at Noon we arrived home.  Katie is working on her birth story and will post the full tale in a few days.  She has been introduced to gypsy who was a bit startled that there was a new young human in her house.

Pictures from Arianna's first full day

Katie and Arianna are still in the hospital and will be through Friday morning.  In the next few days we will do some longer blogs on the birth but for now here are some more photo's from yesterday.

Arianna Macias Cummings

Arianna Macias Cummings was born at George Town Hospital Grand Cayman last night at around 10:15.  She weighed seven pounds thirteen ounces and is 52 CM long (hey its a British colony they measure in the metric system).  Mom and Baby are doing very well.  Will update with full story when Mommy gets out of hospital in a few days.

Bruma and Brupa

Katie's grandparents from North Carolina, Joyce and Chuck, arrived this afternoon and are going to be around to help this week after the youngster arrives.  Tonight we went to the doctor who started the process of induction and we are supposed to be at the hospital tomorrow morning at 7:30 to see if it worked and if Katie is dilated enough.  Katie has taught Brupa how to use Skype and he will be calling our parents with the news and they will then chain out to the rest of the family.  Hopefully that will mean that when everything happens it should get out quickly.  God willing, by this time tomorrow our family will be three.

Dinner at Deckers and Walking Camana Bay

With the weather somewhat threatening tonight we decided not to head out to East End but instead do dinner on Seven Mile Beach.  We decided to go to Deckers and get some Caribbean Lobster.  It was a fantastic meal and afterward we went over to Camana Bay and got some hot chocolate and then walked around the shops and out to the island in the sound.

Walking Seven Mile

This morning we decided to head over to Seven Mile Beach for a long walk to see if that would get Katie into labor.  We started at West Bay Public Beach and walked north about a quarter mile before doubling back.  We ran into one of our instructors who's wife had just given birth and after taking a picture of the three of them got him to take a picture of the two (three) of us. The winds have been really up this weekend so the waves were crashing into the shore around us.  Afterward we got some Popeye's spicy chicken for lunch but our future daughter seems to like spicy food so it didn't phase her at all.  This evening we may head out to East End for dinner depending on the weather.  Regardless of when our daughter decides  to make her appearance, this is our last day together just us as even if the little one doesn't come tomorrow, Katie's grand parents arrive in the afternoon for two weeks.

Gypsy's Verklemptness

Today was a beautiful day. The sun was out, the skies were a vibrant blue, a breeze was blowing, and the temperature actual got down to the low 80s. It was beautiful!

It was time to open the windows and let some of the beautiful fresh air in. This sent Gypsy over the edge!

She would go sit by the back door. Then she walked in, yelled at us at things were different and moved to the front windows. Our afternoon was punctuated by her cries that things were just not like they normally were.

Yesterday we changed some things around in the house (see baby blog) and she was not happy with that. Today the windows were just too much. She was very verklempt. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy having the windows open but everytime she moved from inspecting outside one she insisted on reminding us that they were open!

Good news for us (not so much for Haiti)

Hurricane Tomas made his long slow turn to the the north some 150 miles east of Jamaica and is not going to impact us at all, instead crossing Hispaniola on the Haitian side and then heading north into the Atlantic through Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas.  The hurricane is as close as it will get to us today and it is a bright sunny day here on Grand Cayman.  With Katie hitting 39 weeks yesterday the last thing we wanted was weather excitement and it seems our prayers have been answered.  Today is my last day of work as I go on Paternity leave starting Monday joining Katie who went on maternity leave this past Monday.  I am off until mid-December and we have set up Katie to be off through February between her legally mandated maternity leave and vacation/sick days.  Katie's grandparents arrive Monday afternoon and Monday evening we see the Doctor for the catheter with an eye toward inducing Tuesday morning.  Next Saturday I am chairing a conference as part of the Healthcare 20/20 Conference for the Government of the Cayman Islands but obviously only if all goes well with mommy and daughter early in the week.  Katie's parents also arrive next Saturday followed closely by my father who arrives on the 18th so we are enjoying our last weekend alone for a while this weekend.

Nothing new to report

Haven't posted this week but only because I have been lazy.  No news on baby front just a lot of hurry up and wait.

Any Day Now

Not a whole lot to write about for this blog that is non-baby related and we are trying to keep most of that on the baby blog so someday we can put it into a book for our daughter.  We are in any day now mode and so the days just seem to run together.  It does look like a very late season Hurricane is going to visit the Caribbean starting later today and through next week.  Its current track is not good but most of the models have it reaching the central Caribbean and then turning north before Jamaica so while it is disconcerting it is not yet a major worry and we are cautiously optimistic it wont be an issue.  We will be keeping a close eye and if it does come our way will have to go to the hospital to ride it out.  I am trying to wrap up as much at work as possible so that I can take several weeks off after the baby comes.  I have been asked to chair a session of the National Healthcare 20/20 conference in a couple of weeks and other than that am working on clearing my schedule for rest of November and early December.  The nice thing about using almost no vacation days this year is that I now have 36 of them and since 20 of them expire if I don't use them by Dec 31, I will be using those 20 plus about 10 more to have a good six weeks of Paternity leave. 

Penguin Cake

Today we are celebrating the September and October birthdays at work. It was a perfect excuse for me to use the penguin cake pan that my mom gave me a while ago. It is a "cupcake" cake pan. The pan itself is made up of smaller, piece-sized sections. You bake the cake and then put the sections together to make the penguin. After you have decorated it, each section can be easily pulled apart to make a separate piece.

The cake recipe I used was a bit dense but it meant that the cake wasn't crumbly so that it was easier to get the pieces level after baking. For next time, I will probably use less almond flavoring or even try vanilla as the almond taste is pretty strong. Of course it is whole wheat as well since I don't have white flour in the house.

After the cake that one of the students brought for the ICCI shower, I really wanted to try decorating the cake by making little flowerettes using a special tip instead of smearing the frosting on. I experimented on little cupcakes to get the technique down and then set to doing the penguin. I still don't have the hang of getting the flowerettes close enough together the first try so I did have to do some "patching" to fill in spots. I also didn't produce consistently sized flowerettes but I think it looks pretty good for a first try!

There is a God

33Miles has a worship song, "There is a God". As I was baking this afternoon, I had on ITunes and had it on shuffle through all our music, and the ITune shuffler decided to play it.

The words hit me strong today. Here is just the first verse and the chorus.

FIRST VERSE:

There's a beauty to the dawn, a rhythm to the rain
A silence in the soul that I just can't explain
There's a breath of life I breathe, a beating in my heart
A magnificence, a scary sense of what lies past the stars
Beyond what we can see behind the mystery
I know that it could only be

CHORUS:

There is a God; this is the proof
That all around the evidence is speaking the truth
From the center of my soul to the edge of the universe
Creation is crying out believe it or not
There is a God

Through my faith journey over the past few years nothing has struck me so much as evidence of God as this life that wiggles, kicks, and continues to grow inside me. Yes, every finger, toe, eyelash, and hair can be explained through science and the specific cell signatures that grew out of the first merger of cells between Scott and I. Science has mapped out how I now have a 5 pound 10 ounce baby girl squirming inside me that started off as a mere collection of cells but faith gives me the wonder at what is happening. I choose not to divorce science and faith. I choose to see the wonders that can be explained through science as more evidence of a God who has created this world where two cells can combine and know what to do next to create a new human life.

Whenever she decides to join us, this baby girl will be a unique person. She will probably look a little like me, a little like Scott. and a little just like herself. She will probably act in some ways like me, someways like Scott, and someways just like herself. All of these things can be explained through the scientific mapping of her DNA but faith allows me to see the unique combination of everything that will make her HER as specific choices by a God who sees the path for her life.

This baby girl is a combination of the science that conducts the manual labor and the God that orchestrates the whole thing as he watches over her. She is the most powerful evidence in my life that there really is a God.

The problem with crying wolf

So once again the local news is full of coverage and everyone is in a tizzy about the possibility of Tropical Storm Richard forming to our south later tonight or tomorrow.  Whenever that happens invariably we have students asking us about classes being cancelled and generally everyone on edge.  The problem is that this is about the fifth week in a row that we have had some kind of storm warning, flood watch etc. and at some point it just feels not real.  That I suppose is the real danger you stop being so sensitive to the weather channel and all the hurricane websites and stop being completely prepared and then bang the storm really comes.  With Katie just three weeks from her due date tomorrow, we are still paying close attention but really just want the season to be over with and no excitement to come our direction.  Even if we get the storm it will likely only be a tropical storm which means no classes but also means no need to put up all the hurricane shutters etc.  So, we are once again we are on storm watch and hopefully this is just one more time of crying wolf and the real thing passes us by like TS Nicole and TS Paula did with just a slight glancing blow of rain and no more excitement than getting to see the warning flags flying in all the roundabouts. Meanwhile just because I am sick of the rain and to show how pretty the foliage here can get below is a shot of the side of Friends Hall our main classroom building and what we get to see every July and August when the trees here are in full bloom.

Thursday Morning Update

Looks like it has formed but to our south and is eventually headed west so just more rain unless it takes a weird turn.  Right now the center is just to the right of directly south of us.

Buccaneer's Feast

Tonight to celebrate Katie's 27th birthday we went to the Buccaneer's Feast at the Marriott Beach Resort. The dinner was on Seven Mile Beach at the Solana restaurant. It was a buffet style feast with Alaskan King Crab, BBQ ribs, a pasta station, sushi, tons of other hot dishes, and a lot of desserts.

After the meal, there was a pirate show with a DJ, fire dancing, and pirate sword fights. Katie made some new friends and we both enjoyed a great meal and a good time.

Happy Birthday Katie

The big birthday party is tomorrow at the Buccaneer feast over at the Marriott but today of course is the Big Two Seven for Katie.  Will post pictures of the feast and show this weekend.

Watching Paula

Late season storms are always a headache because they form to our south and give us little lead time.  TS Paula is now forming to our south and west and will be in our neighborhood all week.  No idea yet which way it may move so we are watching it closely.  As you can see Grand Cayman (which is directly to the right of the Saturday projected location) is in the outer loop but outside the watch cone.

Rum Point Harry Potter Morning

As today is a Longhorn-football-free day we went this morning up to Rum Point. We did bring our swimsuits but it was pretty windy so the normally glass smooth water was choppy. We decided just to enjoy the sun and read Harry Potter instead of getting in the water.

As we are working on recapturing the wonder that is Cayman, Scott took a bunch of pictures that normally the tourists take but we normally ignore when we go. It really is a pretty place and captures the typical Caribbean view.

Of course there is also the silly picture of Baby C now that she has grown so much! 4.5 weeks to go! When it is calm, we think that Rum Point will be a great place to bring her so that she can get used to the water.

Losing the Wonder

When we first arrived on Cayman, so many things that captured our attention. We were fascinated by the cow in the Ivan damaged building, enthralled by the chickens that crowd around your car at the grocery store, and interested in the crabs that would play "chicken" with the car as we were driving.

Now that we have been here three years, we have lost some of that wonder over the little things that make Cayman unique.

A few days ago, as we were heading home from the college, we saw a car with a white license plate (a tourist) parked in the middle of a field right in front of a bull covered in white birds. The tourists were taking pictures while the bull politely allowed them to. We'd passed that bull many times and the birds were just a part of the scene but we'd never thought of it as anything special. We'd lost that wonder at the little things that make Cayman, Cayman!

After dropping Scott off at work this morning, a white license plate car about 200 yards in front of me suddenly pulled to the side. I was going to stop to see if I could help but then I noticed the camera. Yet again a tourist had pointed out to me what we miss on our day to day trips through Cayman. She had stopped to take a picture of the newly erected, quite funny looking, goat farm that sits right along the bypass. Although we'd noticed it, we never thought anything of it. We've lost the wonder!

We need to work harder to notice the things that make this place special, the things that stand out to visitors as uniquely Cayman!

The Ritz Carlton

Although we have been on Cayman well over 3 years, we had yet to visit the only five star resort on the island, The Ritz Carlton.  We have students who work there and have driven past it literally hundreds of times as it sits right on Seven Mile Beach road, but had never gone in or been to an event there.  Last night we finally got to see what all the fuss is about as we attended a gala dinner put on by the Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants which honored graduates of the two local colleges who got degrees in accounting. 

As we pulled up the long driveway into the Ritz our first question was parking but that was quickly answered by the valet who met us on the road and indicated that valet parking was a part of our tickets to the event.  Feeling very special, we pulled right up to the main entrance, handed our keys to the valet and headed in.  Employees of the resort pointed us in the right direction as we headed to where the dinner was being held.  The Ritz is a huge complex of several buildings on both sides of Seven Mile Beach road.  Our event was in the main resort on the land side of SMB road.  The dinner was in a huge ballroom and as the reception was going on we spent some time "exploring" the resort.  It was dark so we couldn't see the outside amenities but did get a chance to wander around inside and see the gallery.  The inside was very nice but not so much that it  blew us away.  The dinner was good and it was great to see several of our students recognized who had graduated last year with degrees in accounting.  Ironically, the keynote speaker was Don Seymour a local businessman who is a graduate of the University of Texas (yes I watched the game yesterday afternoon and we shall speak no more of it!).  We were both tired after the excitement of yesterday morning (about which you can read on the baby blog) and the adrenaline rush was wearing off so by 10 p.m. we were ready to skip the dancing part of the evening and just head home.  It was nice to see what at least part of the Ritz was all about.  A huge part of the Ritz's reputation is their service and we could definitely see that was deserved.  I am just not sure we could ever stomach paying 500 or more a night for a room no matter how good the service might be.  It was a fun evening though and certainly helped take our minds off the worry of earlier (and of course what turned out to be the real tragedy of the day, the Texas-OU game).

Cayman "Snow" Day

In Texas we used to get a lot of grief from our neighbors to the north when we would have a snow day at the first sign of some snow flurries or a little bit of ice. Today we learned just how different living 1300 miles south of DFW can be. Today we had a "snow" day.

All the public and private schools were closed. The government college stopped classes for the day. Govenrment programs such as NEPP were cancelled. ICCI closed down for the beginning part of the day. People didn't show up for their dentist's appointments (we were able to get in quickly!).

Yet the temperature was 86 degrees with a heat index of 99 degrees.There were no snow flurries, no ice. There was lots of rain and wind and we were on a tropical storm warning (complete with red flags with black squares) but nothing that would normally cause an entire country to shut down. Yes, there was some flooding. Yes, some roads were impassable. Yes, there were some wind gusts. No thunder. No lightning. No trees knocked down.

Some may ask, "what?!? A little rain shut everything down?!?" Yes, here in Cayman the rain and wind with the red nautical flags with the black squares threatening the possibility of another hurricane developing caused the country to go into "snow" day mode!

Lots of Rain and Wind Today

Lots of wind and rain today as the storm has seen its center move north of us but it is so large we are still in its rotation.  As you can see from the radar at left the storm completely covers the western caribbean.  We had to cancel classes last night because of flooding and today is 50/50.  The public schools have already announced they are closed today.  We are nice and dry inside and the winds are just a nuisance so far and not any real issue.  Our home is high enough that we don't have any problems unless there is a really high surge and this storm is not bringing that problem.

Tropical Storm Warning

All night long we have been getting rain from the system that is about to form Tropical Storm Nicole.  This morning we were officially put on tropical storm warning though the NHC site tracking map which I copied below shows the storm to our north.  We are the Island outlined in blue just below the center of the storm and to the right.  You can also see that the sister islands Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are under the same warning.  Right now it has stopped raining and we are hopeful that the flooding which usually comes with these storms will be limited.  The college again has Lake ICCI and too much more could flood our parking lot and lead to cancellation of classes.

40th Anniversary Dinner

Last night was the Fortieth Anniversary dinner for the college.  It wasn't lost on me that I am the same age as the college.  The dinner was held in the Governor's Ballroom at the Westin Causarina Resort on Seven Mile Beach.  There were 320 seats sold for the event and the room was packed by the time the event started.  There was a rain storm outside which drove the reception that had been planned for the lawn overlooking the beach inside but no one really noticed. 

There were graduates present from every decade and the Master of Ceremonies was the Hon. Anthony Eden who was actually a member of the very first class at ICCI in 1970.  He is the past Minister of Health and is currently a Member of the Legislative Assembly.  The music for the evening was a jazz artist named Devon Edie who was incredible on the saxophone.  Our featured speaker was another early graduate of the institution Carlyle McLaughlin who after attending ICCI in the 70's and getting his Bachelor degree, went on to get his Masters in Accounting and CPA and became a Senior Partner with Ernst & Young as well as founding his own computer company.  In his speech he talked about all the roles he has had with ICCI suggesting that everyone in the room consider their roles at ICCI.  He came up with ten including scholarship recipient, student, graduate, ambassador (he was one of first ICCI students to go abroad for Masters), alumni, spouse of ICCI graduate, faculty member, Board of Trustees member, Donor, and Parent of ICCI graduate.  A Power Point of forty years of photographs was shown as were two videos, one made in the Seventies and one recently which really helped show how far and how wide and impact the college has had.

Today is a Family Fun Day out at the college with an open house and lots of kid related activities.  Tomorrow a couple of the local churches are doing services in honor of the college.  It really was a fantastic start to the weekend of events and we look forward to a great day today.  Before we head over to the college today we are going to an event out at Camana Bay called "Yeah Baby" which is an expo of merchants and schools of all things related to kids.

Cayman dog "walking"

On the return trip from Cafe del Sol (our local "Starbucks") where I was working on my Capstone Proposal, I saw Cayman's version of dog "walking" just as I was pulling into the Butterfield roundabout near the industrial district. I wish there had been a camera in the car as it would have made the most hilarious picture.

Riding into one of the busiest intersections on the island was a man on a bike, not an odd occurrence at all. Sitting right behind him on a piece of plywood about 2 ft by 3 ft was large yellow lab (or mutt with strong lab tendencies)! I couldn't see how the wood was attached to the bike but the lab was balanced on all fours on the wood happily being carried along. It had to be fairly secure because the dog didn't once teeter and did not seem at all concerned at his method of transportation.

Only in the Caribbean....

The Big 4-0!

Yesterday was Scott's 40th birthday. We had planned an evening of sunset and sushi and were pleasantly surprised when we also received a hotel stay at Sunshine Suites right behind our favorite sushi place.

ICCI has a visiting consultant this week as they prepare for accreditation. There was some confusing with getting a place for her to stay and the college ended up with a prepaid night at Sunshine Suites that wasn't being used. Kira, the Business Manager, graciously let Scott and I use it for his birthday!

After an afternoon of giving Gypsy lots of lovins in the other room while one person packed so that she couldn't tell we were leaving (she has been very needy lately), we set off to pretend we were in a far away land!

We've been to the little grill here (see Sunshine Grill Dinner) at the hotel but have never stayed in any of the rooms. Each room has a kitchen area with a big fridge, stovetop, sink, and a little dining table. It is set up nicely to allow visitors to do a bit of cooking for themselves to keep their costs down. Scott really liked the flat screen TV and watched some football while I got ready since it always takes me much longer!

After getting all dolled up we walked over to Yoshi's.

We get sushi ("fake" sushi lately) about twice a month but it is Scott's favorite on the island so he wanted to do it for his birthday. To make it more special than the normal takeout we get, he decided to go for the Love Boat. When we first arrived on the island, we used to go to Yoshi's all the time and each visit we would get the Love Boat. It is a "boat" (they used to use this really cool wooden boat for the sushi but we haven't seen it in a while) filled with sushi that comes with multiple courses. You get to enjoy miso soup, tempura, rice, teriyaki chicken, and, afterwards, mango or green tea icecream (we both always get the mango). It is A LOT of food (hence the reason we stopped getting it) but since we were in "vacation" mode we scarfed it all down! We did some substitutions for the sushi rolls so that they were all "fake" sushi and I could eat them but Scott really enjoyed getting to have nigiri and sashimi sushi (one is just cuts of the raw fish and the other is raw fish over rice). After packing up some of the leftovers so that Scott could eat his customary "midnight sushi" (usually eaten around 8 p.m. because we aren't night owls...), we headed back to the hotel.

With me 8 months pregnant and Scott exhausted from many weeks of running like crazy with work, we ended up crashing! We'd planned to change back into shorts and go walk on the beach right at sunset but when we got back to the room we were just too tired to go back out. We'd brought "Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban" to watch (I'm rereading the books and we are watching the movies as I finish each one). Only about an hour into the movie (which is the most inconsistent from the book of them all so far!) Scott just couldn't keep his eyes open. We had the "midnight sushi", tried to make it a bit further in the movie, and then decided to call it a night. Scott zonked out around 8:30! Aren't we just the happenin' couple!?! We are turning into my parents! :) It will just get worse when Baby C joins our family!

He needs to get a lot of sleep because this next week is going to be NUTS! He has visits from Ministers, meetings with the Education Council, a mock accreditation visit, and ICCI's 40th anniversary celebration on top of his regular responsibilities! After everything calms down, I'm sure that he will update everyone on all the events of this week.

The Right Place to Be

There are no less than three major hurricanes active today and fortunately not a one of them is in any way affecting us or appears as if it will.  Karl was nice enough to wait to form to the west of us while Igor and Julia didn't even knock on the door of the Caribbean the way Earl did before turning north.  The season is still barely over 1/2 way done but so far at least it has been another quiet one for us.  Knock on wood, lets hope that continues.  Fortieth Anniversary week is next week and we are finishing the first week of the fall term today.  With 225 students this is our biggest term since we got here.

Zachary Alexander's Baptism

Yesterday up in Naperville our nephew Zachary Alexander was baptised.  I am the Godfather and my cousin Chuck Hughes graciously stood in for me since I couldn't get up there for the ceremony.  It was good practice for Chuck as he will be Godfather to my daughter when she comes in a couple of months.  We really wish we could have been there.  Zach along with his parents Jo and Brent and his brother Nicholas were in our thoughts yesterday.  We send all our best wishes up north.  There was also a surprise 60th birthday party for my Mom who was there for the baptism.  Anyone who has pictures from either the baptism or the birthday party please email them down to us we would love to see them.  Thanks.

40th Anniversary of College

This month is the Fortieth Anniversary of the college.  We have a huge weekend of events the weekend of the 24th and the media blitz about it is on going.  This morning I was on TV talking about the anniversary and the upcoming events.

40th Anniversary TV Appearance

Football Season

As many of you already know, the first day of the college football season is celebrated as a holiday in the Cummings household a tradition begun by my beautiful wife some five years ago when she gave me a first day of football present the morning of the Texas-UNT opener in 2006.  This year I was presented with a small book that had the words to the Eyes of Texas and the sonogram photos of our little girl with various Longhorn and football related stickers strategically placed on the photos.  I got to watch the Texas game from the comfort of my own living room since it was on the main ESPN channel that we get.  The Horns were solid if unspectacular and it was good to see them win though they aren't nearly the team of the last two years that challenged for a national title.  With the youngster due in early November football this year really is taking a backseat to real life. 

We finished our summer term last week and have a week of administrative duties before we start the fall term on the 13th.  Late last week it looked like we might get our first storm of the season next week in Gaston but right now it is up in the air whether he will reform and if he does whether he will track our way.  If he had you know that Katie who is a huge Beauty and Beast fan would have been humming Gaston's song from the movie and play all the time.  Next week is our nephew Zachary Bernard's baptism and we want to send our love and thoughts up to Naperville to him and the whole Bernard family.

New Government Position

So I know I will get some grief from my brother and sister about the appellation before my name but here is the link to my appointment to the CINICO Board of Directors on the government web site.

CINICO Board