Tuesday, January 11, 2011

A Mother Is Born

Dear Baby Smith Eliot,

Yesterday was your birthday! You arrived so quickly you had everyone in shock- you must not have gotten the memo that first babies are supposed to take their time. You were six pounds six ounces, twenty inches long, and arrived about a week and a half before your due date. I like your birthday. January tenth has a nice ring to it.




You are super cute, and look almost exactly like your dad. But I think you have your mommy's eyes. And we all think you have her feet! You were very alert from the second you came into the world, and only cried for a minute before settling down to stare at all of us. Not because you weren't healthy - you got two Apgar scores of nine, much to your parents' relief. Your birth went about as perfectly as a birth could go, though, so I bet that helped. Your mom's water broke at ten thirty in the morning (while she was on the phone with the OB discussing whether or not her contractions were the real thing!) and you had emerged by ten after one in the afternoon. Everything went so fast your mom didn't even have time for the epidural she had finally decided she wanted. By the time the anesthesiologist got there, she was already pushing, and sent him away with a sigh of resignation.

She did so great though! I think the transition phase was the worst for her, the part which I unfortunately missed because I had gone home- when she was still just at four centimeters!- to drop off the baby and get a quick lunch. By the time I had come flying back into the room, she was ready to push, and had really figured out how to listen to her body. She closed her eyes and rested very deeply between every contraction- so much so that she almost seemed comatose sometimes!- and then when it was time to push, she got right down to work. Everyone kept saying how amazing it was that this was her first baby, because she really seemed to know what she was doing, and was being so brave!

And then there you were, and your mommy's face just lit up. She has been waiting to see you for so very long. When I came back later, after everyone was cleaned up and settled in, I swear my baby sister looked just a bit different than I remembered her. You have made her a mom, and I am so proud of her, and so happy to welcome her to the club!





With lots of love to you both,

Aunt Sarah

11 comments:

Sage said...

He is beautiful and sounds like Laura did great....

Jess said...

Oh, he is gorgeous! What a great birth story. Congrats to your whole family!

Jessica said...

He is so cute! And how on earth does Laura look so gorgeous right after giving birth?

Jana said...

So sweet! Congrats to all of you

d e v a n said...

Gorgeous pictures!! Congrats to the family!!

Hillary said...

So amazing. I have been giving serious thought to taking classes to become a doula because the process never fails to give me tingles.

Congratulations to your sister!

Marie Green said...

What a sweet letter. And your baby sister! How cool that you got to see her transform into motherhood!

B said...

I cannot read a birth story without crying! Congrats to your sister and to you, Aunt Sarah! What a cutie that baby boy is! He and Jamie will be best friends!

Stacy S. said...

Awww, I've been waiting on this post!! Congrats to Laura and family, I am absolutely THRILLED that everything went so smoothly!

Kelsey said...

What a loving tribute to both of them. They will both treasure this!

bluedaisy said...

So sweet...this got me all teary-eyed! Congratulations :)