Let's name it Igor

When Liz and I talked about Round 2 of labour and birth and everything, we talked about all the possibilities: What if it happens during the night? What if it happens during the day? On a weekend? What will we do with our other kids (the furry one and Schuyler)? We never thought about what to do when the third largest hurricane on record is headed for a direct hit on the island and we lose power. But that's where it all began.
The night before Hurricane Igor hit, tropical storm force winds were already howling outside and we were all spending the night with Kim and Ward and having a civilised dinner when Liz started having some wicked Braxton Hicks. This kept her up most of the night worrying. The next night when (now diminished to category 1) Igor arrived in full force, Braxton kicked up again.
Now, today, the first day after the hurricane and with power just restored to our house at 5pm, it seems the real deal contractions are kicking in. So much for planning. In our plan, we would get Kim to sleep over here while we went to the hospital. Instead, we had dinner at their house and, with contractions kicking in and all our key stuff (including our kid) already at their house for the hurricane, we simply left our sleeping baby and went home to see what happened.
We don't know if it is a girl or a boy but, at this exact moment in time, we do not have a middle name for a girl, so we'll see what we get in the lottery. There are actually miracles left in this busy, busy world.

igor aftermath

Hurricane Igor in action

Igor passing

Making sure the plants are safe from a pissed off Mother Nature.

Tracking the storm while we have internet

Rain, rain, go away...

The waiting game.

hurricane prep 3 - amusing the toddler

The "bump" takes a moment's reflection.

With such a slow storm as Igor which took two days to pass with 24 hours of tropical storm force winds and 10 hours of hurricane, amusing a toddler indoors is challenging. Fortunately, Playfellow-in-chief Kim was on hand to amuse the housebound toddler.

hurrican prep 2

hurricane prep

hidden cove at pink beach

We check in with Kim and Ward and make "reservations" at our favourite place to stay on the south shore. Schuyler shows her little friend Dee Dee the hurricane's waves.

Stay up to date with Hurricane Igor here:

National Hurricane Center

Bermuda Weather Service

StormPulse

We're big stars on The Weather Channel right now since this is the third largest storm on record in the Atlantic and looks to be a real monster with 45 ft waves outside the reef (who knows what inside the reefs!).

john smith's bay

The beach has already started to disappear at John Smith's Bay. Schuyler is, of course, rather more excited by the small dog spotted at the park than the pounding surf.

watch hill park

We went for a quick look at the south shore of Bermuda to see how the waves were looking. At this point Hurricane Igor is still about 600 miles away...