What follows is a log of the process leading up to Taran’s birth as recorded by Kip, Dylan and I, with the inclusion of the tweets of friends, excluding the private messages. (I might have missed a few which I will add as I find them)

This turned out to be surprisingly useful thing for us to have done, not only to let family and friends how it was going as it was going, but when some medical person needed to know when, say, my waters were ruptured or when I stopped having solid food, it was right there, time stamped in our twitter logs.

I had a few folks expressed surprise we were doing this, using twitter to live blog the birth of Kip’s and mine daughter, but a large reason of why I joined Twitter was in anticipation of doing just this.

OCTOBER 30th
kiplet: [07:08am] Houston, we are go for pre-flight check.
jemale: [06:14pm] Begin phase one of Induction-the Prostaglandin Gel.
BZedan: [06:24pm] @jemale—All I can think to say are theatre things. Like about being off-book.
krisdresen: [06:31pm] @jemale And with that you’ve successfully brought whatever faint biological ticking I may have had to a halt. Godspeed, Jenn!
rstevens: [06:40pm] @jemale If you have a Halloween baby, you are officially even cooler than I thought.
kiplet: [06:57pm] Taran’s heartbeat jumps when she hears us speaking.
kiplet: [06:57pm] (Also, there’s commercials for metal detectors on the teevee. Yup. Recession.)
mamavandiver: [07:05pm] @jemale are you still at home? Hope you have Gayla tomorrow.
kiplet: [07:43pm] Gel insertion. (But first: pibroch!)
BarryDeutsch: @kiplet I have only the fuzziest idea of what that means, but good luck!

OCTOBER 31st
jemale: [01:15am] Back at Good Sam for Phase 2 (which will hopefully not suck as much as Phase 1)
jemale: [01:16am] This time we aren’t leaving until we have a baby.
BarryDeutsch: [01:25am] Jenn and Kip are having a baby! Wheeeeeeee!
kiplet: [01:50am] @BarryDeutsch It’s an old Jethro Tull joke. —We’re back for the long haul now. IV’s inserted and the first dose of the next stuff is ready.
jemale: [02:25am] So the placement of the misoprestol wasn’t so bad, but the I.V. start was unfun–especially as it took two attempts.
rstevens: [ 07:11am] @jemale I heard the hot moms club is taking new members **today only!**
jemale: [08:30am] @rstevens then I’d better get my game face on–or at least brush my hair.
jemale: [08:34am] My doctor is Johnny Cash today.
kiplet: [09:12am] The contractions make a lovely mountain range on the chart. —Also, Jenn is now a cyborg.
jemale: [09:13am] Phase 3 of induce Taran has begun–the picotin drip.
jemale: [09:14am] Also a side order of anti biotics due to my having strep where I never had considered having strep before.
jemale: [09:17am] And that’s pitocin-damn one handed typing.
kiplet: [09:46am] It’s like Christmas morning except all the presents are antsy and waiting for the kid to come open them.
jemale: [10:25am] So that’s a contraction!
gmcneely: [10:45am] @jemale yeah. they’re not bad at first, but they…get old.
quirkybird: [10:47am] I will now concede to micro-journalling, as I’m listening to the amplified sounds of a nervous fetus post-contraction, & it’s quite a thing.
quirkybird: [10:53am] Jenn did not take me up on my suggestion that she treat her IV tower as a lamp-post and do a Gene Kelly impression on it. Whatever, Jenn.
kiplet: [11:18am] Apparently, http://longstoryshortpier.com/ is PORNOGRAPHY! Who knew?
kiplet: [11:19am] Earlier, Dr. Murray was very enthusiastic at the idea of making Jenn “painful.” (To whom, I’m not entirely clear.)
quirkybird: [11:21am] There is a topiary shaped like a bunny in the hospital garden down below. Delightful.
kiplet: [11:31am] Love is tying her gown shut in the back.
kiplet: [11:32am] Jenn’s IV stand is nicknamed “Bob.” Short for “Kate.”
quirkybird: [11:50am] Jenn says these contraction things are like period cramps from hell. Only the Food Network can ease her pain.
kiplet: [12:06pm] When Paula Dean says “boil,” she says “boale.” When she says “clothes,” she says “cloaothes.”
jemale: [12:21pm] I’ve just been forbidden solid food. Progress!
krisdresen: [12:24pm] @jemale It’s the little victories, eh?
quirkybird: [12:30pm] Nothing like being told “Oh good! You didn’t miss the doctor coming in to rupture my membranes” upon stepping back in the room.
kiplet: [12:32pm] Dr. Johnny Cash only knows the words to “Ring of Fire.” Distressingly appropriate, you ask me.
kiplet: [12:56pm] And now for the breaking of the bag of waters…
quirkybird: [01:07pm] 1 centimeter of PURE CERVICAL GLORY.
jemale: [01:14pm] Bag of waters: ruptured. Meconium spotted. Also! a whole centimeter of dilation.
goraina: [01:14pm] @jemale I can’t believe you are Twittering your child’s birth. I love it!
kiplet: [01:20pm] Hoo-hah is at one centimeter. Repeat: hoo-hah is at one centimeter. Developing…
quirkybird: [01:28pm] Jenn seems to think I am grossed out by amniotic fluid goosh. She does not realize that this is dinner table conversation where I come from.
quirkybird: [01:28pm] (well, at least until my dad goes pale & begs my mom and me to change the subject)
jemale: [01:38pm] Try BAGS of water. I mean, wow. There goes Taran’s swimming pool.
quirkybird: [02:35pm] Birth-day burritos for everybody! Except Jenn. And Taran. Only cranberry juice for those jerks.
kiplet: [02:48pm] Jenn dozes. Or at least her eyes are closed. Mostly. —Also, the topiary rabbit in the garden? Topiary velveteen, baby. Topiary velveteen.
quirkybird: [03;03pm] Dude on the Food Network says: “Tomatillo salsa? MONEY.”
quirkybird: [03;04pm] Also, every time Jenn says that it’s hurting more, we all say “yay!”
quirkybird: [03:06pm] Inevitable variation arises: “Taran Jack Manley? MONEY.”
quirkybird: [03:06pm] (“healthy white babies are a recession-proof commodity”)
kiplet: [03:24pm] @quirkybird Please. Like Gramma would ever let that happen.
kiplet: [03:26pm] Mantastic? —I haven’t been watching enough teevee. My immune system’s way way down.
kiplet: [03:39pm] More pain! Yay!
rstevens: [03:40pm] @goraina @jemale Seriously, there is nothing more hard core than a mother Tweeting during childbirth. Is this a first?
jemale: [03:43pm] Ah, to think I asked Dr. Murray only two days ago “how will I know when I’m having REAL contractions?” Ah, youth.
kiplet: [03:57pm] Painkillers! Yay!
quirkybird: [03:59pm] Man, just WATCHING that last round of contractions made ME want to ring the nurse for some sweet opioid relief.
quirkybird: [04:14pm] Even the nurse is horrified by the skeletal lady on the Food Network dressed up as Marilyn Monroe and cooking with satin gloves on. AUGH.
kiplet: [04:17pm] “That’s the first buzz I’ve had in seven months,” says Jenn.
kiplet: [04:18pm] “Stay high!” says the nurse, on her way out the door.
kiplet: [04:22pm] “I love everybody right now,” says Jenn. “Except Bill Sizemore.”
douglaswolk: [05:06pm] also, @jemale + @kiplet (and their housemate @quirkybird) are currently livetwittering the birth of their daughter! I <3 THE FUTURE
quirkybird: [05:27pm] Pregnant lady on an exercise ball: MONEY.
quirkybird: [05:33pm] This part of Casino Royale is FAR too quiet for Taran’s preferences.
quirkybird: [05:34pm] Any world that contains Daniel Craig and Eva Green is one worth being born into.
quirkybird: [05:36pm] Still just 1 centimeter. Damn you, cervix! The graph of the contractions is looking very pretty, though.
kiplet: [05:37pm] The birthing ball has arrived! “Much better design than the birthing pyramid,” says Bill.
quirkybird: [05:39pm] Kip’s brilliant plan for distracting Jenn from a contraction: running over her toe with his swivel chair.
kiplet: [05:46pm] Dylan’s man-crush (?) on Daniel Craig is also brilliantly distracting.
quirkybird: [05:47pm] @kiplet: any world that contains Daniel Craig is worth bringing a child into.
BZedan: [06:00pm] @quirkybird—And yes, most definitely.
BZedan: [06:00pm] @quirkybird @kiplet @jemale The Future: tweeting the labor of soon-to-be Queen of All Saints Taran (and being the primary thread of my day)
quirkybird: [06:12pm] Daniel Craig is having man contractions on the TV. Jenn is having lady contractions on the ball. It’s a rich life.
kiplet: [06:15pm] We need printouts of the contraction tape for Taran’s baby-book.
kiplet: [06:15pm] “Look! That’s where you made mama swear like a sailor.”
jemale: [06:20pm] Quote my mother “fentanyl is nice.” I concur. And given my last several contractions, I think some more might be in order.
quirkybird: [06:38pm] Jenn is apologizing for sighing with relief. Isn’t she precious.
quirkybird: [06:41pm] “If only the cats could be here.”
kiplet: [06:52pm] Photos! http://kiplet.livejournal.com/27286.html.
quirkybird: [06:58pm] Taran’s Lullaby: the Bond theme.
rstevens: [07:00pm] @kiplet @quirkybird I still can’t believe you guys are liveblogging a birth.
looori: [07:04pm] @quirkybird @kiplet @jemale I’m very happy that Daniel Craig is an integral part of the birthing process.
quirkybird: [07:06pm] @looori – and now we’ve moved on to Barbara Stanwyck.
quirkybird: [07:07pm] @rstevens – yeah, neither can I. Did I mention the mucus plug yet? Enh? Did I?
quirkybird: [07:13pm] Contraction chart now looks like “Hill” setting on a treadmill program rather than earthquake readings.
quirkybird: [07:17pm] Woop. Never mind.
quirkybird: [07:43pm] For some reason the new nurse seems to think we’re kind of weird. I have no idea why.
quirkybird: [07:53pm] Yay, the doctor and her reassuring sense of humor have returned. And those are some yucky damn contractions over there.
quirkybird: [07:53pm] Curse you, cervix.
quirkybird: [07:59pm] I love this doctor. She tells Jenn “this is YOUR gig.”
quirkybird: [07:59pm] Natural or C-section? I smell an INTERNET POLL.
quirkybird: [08:02pm] The 6 of us are actually actively discussing this with Jenn. It is like a reality show where the judges confer about the contestants.
BZedan: [08:05pm] @quirkybird—Alas that there are no video confessional booths.
quirkybird: [08:05pm] @BZedan – I like to think that the womb is the ULTIMATE confessional booth.
rstevens: [08:06pm] @quirkybird I vote that Chief O’Brien locks onto the baby in-womb and transports it directly into @jemale’s arms.
BZedan: [08:07pm] @quirkybird—If we could hear her, there would be much deriding and sass.
quirkybird: [08:13pm] Epidural on the waaaaaaaaaay.
nfagerlund: [08:19pm] @quirkybird—I’m gonna second @rstevens’s suggestion
quirkybird: [08:20pm] TARAN FOLLOW THE SOUND OF JON STEWART’S VOICE
BZedan: [08:25pm] @quirkybird—TARAN! There is a world of biting quips out here that you’ve so got to be part of.
quirkybird: [08:38pm] Jenn is currently being a total Amazon in the face of some seriously gnarly needles.
quirkybird: [08:44pm] Jenn has asked that we say something scandalous on the internet about Taran, since she is being so annoying.
quirkybird: [08:44pm] I hear that Taran was having an affair with Heath Ledger and then dumped him and that’s why he OD’d.
quirkybird: [09:00pm] Kip, on the epidural’s effectiveness: “Houston, we have achieved warm and tingly.”
kiplet: [09:04pm] Jenn is making all sorts of interesting new beeping sounds.
quirkybird: [09:17pm] Phrase of the hour: “space catheter”.
quirkybird: [09:22pm] RN: “Now you’re set, except for your shave.” Jenn: “ug.” Me: “we’ll get a barbershop quartet!” Kip (sings): “Goodnight, sweetheart…”
kiplet: [09:33pm] “Good night LADIES.” —Somebody hasn’t watched enough Music Man.
looori: [09:33pm] @jemale @kiplet @quirkybird http://tinyurl.com/5pvr32.
kiplet: [09:34pm] Tasty tasty ice chips!
jemale: [09:34pm] I totally lost it with the numbing shots for the epidural. I’m tired in all ways.
kiplet: [09:38pm] @looori FTW! FTW! FTW!
looori: [09:41pm] @jemale Scott has been told that his kidney stones thing will be more painful than childbirth. I’m sure this is very reassuring to you now.
jemale: [09:42pm] @rstevens that’s what I’m talking about.
jemale: [09:48pm] @looori I love you.
jemale: [09:48pm] @looori well I do get a baby out of it and all Scott gets is some stones.
quirkybird: [09:58pm] Kip: “why did the ghost go to the bar? …For the BOOS.” And so the dad humor begins.
looori: [09:59pm] @jemale Scott says, “Yes, but my stones only wake me up in the middle of the night *once*.” Lori says, “\/\/”
quirkybird: [10:01pm] The doctor adds: “A skeleton walks into a bar and says, ‘gimme a beer, and a mop.’”
quirkybird: [10:01pm] C-section it is!
quirkybird: [10:02pm] (damn, I think I owe my mom some money now)
quirkybird: [10:03pm] (Jenn is SERIOUS about the Halloween birthday.)
looori: [10:03pm] @jemale @kiplet @quirkybird Scott says, “But we were hoping for a B+ section!” More dad humor.
quirkybird: [10:14pm] @looori The ENTIRE ROOM just said “boooooooooo” as a single unit.
quirkybird: [10:14pm] Kip and Jenn’s mama Kathy are gonna go down the hall to help Jenn out, while the peanut gallery chills out here.
quirkybird: [10:22pm] Jenn admits as how, on the surgery consent form, she started to fill out the “PRINT NAME” field by writing “print name.” Little bit tired.
quirkybird: [11:04pm] That’s one pretty kid.
quirkybird: [11:19pm] 11:08pm, 10.5lbs, 22in, a little cap of swirly black hair, a nice set of eyebrows, and one heck of a grip. Welcome to the world, kiddo!

NOVEMBER 1st
looori: @jemale YAAAAAY! and love from all of us. Paul Smith is going outside to smoke two cigars because your baby is so big.
jemale: [01:20am] Overwhelmed, relieved and feeling very surreal.
jemale: [01:28am] For those of you not following @quirkybird, 11:08pm, 10lbs 5oz, 22.5″ via c-section with a full head of curly brown hair and eyebrows.
kiplet: [02:17am] She’s here. (You knew that.) We’re tired. Thanks to everyone who followed our little show. We have the best friends.