Guest Postscript
One last post in honor of O's recently-celebrated natal day, a guest post culled from the internet archives: my Old Man's birth announcement email. I love his description of newborn O, and his breathless, head-over-heels excitement. (I also love that even when he's breathless and wide-eyed, my man is funny.) This email warmed my heart when I first read it four years ago, and it still does today.
From: M.
To: Friends
CC: E.
Subject: Progeny
Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2003 23:03:59 -0600 (CST)
E. and I have made good on our threat to reproduce.
After a grueling and unbelievably intense and prolonged labor (a little over three days, from start to finish), E. gave birth to our son, *O*, at 5:42 am, Saturday, January 4. If you have an hour or two and the capacity for belief in the truly miraculous, I'll be glad to sometime share with you the epic tale in its entirety. But I will say this: E. did the whole thing without the aid of any kind of pain killers or other medical interventions; one hundred percent natural from beginning to end. She was utterly astounding to behold. This was by far the most psychotic act of human will and love I've ever witnessed, and she pulled it off with confidence, concentration, a superhuman strength, and a fearsome grace. This shit is *no joke*.
Kristi -----, CNM, was our midwife, and Rae -------- was our Doula, and we were lucky to have E's mom, J, there, too. Everyone played a key role, and E. labored with a lot of love and support. Kristi preformed miracles before our eyes with her hands.
O. rules. He was *enormous* when he was born: eight pounds and eight fucking ounces! He has two-inch long brown hair, but it's kinda thin in the front, so it looks like a receding hairline with a slight mullet at the back. His face is hilarious--he's got this pugnacious, Irish street-tough, Edward G. Robinson look, his eyes squinted, brow wrinkled, pug nose. Kind of old-mannish? He looks pissed off and impatient, but in an unbearably endearing way. His hands were colossal when he first came out, but they've shrunk a bit in the last two days (I'm not kidding -- babies actually *lose* weight after they're born, once the swelling goes down -- so O. looked especially cartoonish and exaggerated on his first day; the Edward G. Robinson thing is less pronounced now, but he still looks funny as hell). He's a totally chill little dude -- he just hangs out and blinks a lot, he tries to stick his whole hand in his mouth, and he's really been getting into breastfeeding lately. Today he's started puking a lot, too. He's unbelievably beautiful.
I'm sorry I didn't send this sooner; time has been pretty warped lately. There are some decent photos of the young fella on the ------- Hospital web page. I have some much better digital pictures, so let me know if you'd like me to send a few to you. We have the technology to do this, which is pretty amazing, too.
E's doing wonderfully -- she's recovering from a massive trauma, but you'd never know it to look at her and talk to her. She glows beatifically, and the boy loves her intensely. We're all having a blast, and life is looking pretty damn good. I can't wait for you to meet this kid; give us a call any time you're in the neighborhood.
I hope your holidays, etc., have been pleasant, and that your new year blesses you as much as it has us.
M.
From: M.
To: Friends
CC: E.
Subject: Progeny
Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2003 23:03:59 -0600 (CST)
E. and I have made good on our threat to reproduce.
After a grueling and unbelievably intense and prolonged labor (a little over three days, from start to finish), E. gave birth to our son, *O*, at 5:42 am, Saturday, January 4. If you have an hour or two and the capacity for belief in the truly miraculous, I'll be glad to sometime share with you the epic tale in its entirety. But I will say this: E. did the whole thing without the aid of any kind of pain killers or other medical interventions; one hundred percent natural from beginning to end. She was utterly astounding to behold. This was by far the most psychotic act of human will and love I've ever witnessed, and she pulled it off with confidence, concentration, a superhuman strength, and a fearsome grace. This shit is *no joke*.
Kristi -----, CNM, was our midwife, and Rae -------- was our Doula, and we were lucky to have E's mom, J, there, too. Everyone played a key role, and E. labored with a lot of love and support. Kristi preformed miracles before our eyes with her hands.
O. rules. He was *enormous* when he was born: eight pounds and eight fucking ounces! He has two-inch long brown hair, but it's kinda thin in the front, so it looks like a receding hairline with a slight mullet at the back. His face is hilarious--he's got this pugnacious, Irish street-tough, Edward G. Robinson look, his eyes squinted, brow wrinkled, pug nose. Kind of old-mannish? He looks pissed off and impatient, but in an unbearably endearing way. His hands were colossal when he first came out, but they've shrunk a bit in the last two days (I'm not kidding -- babies actually *lose* weight after they're born, once the swelling goes down -- so O. looked especially cartoonish and exaggerated on his first day; the Edward G. Robinson thing is less pronounced now, but he still looks funny as hell). He's a totally chill little dude -- he just hangs out and blinks a lot, he tries to stick his whole hand in his mouth, and he's really been getting into breastfeeding lately. Today he's started puking a lot, too. He's unbelievably beautiful.
I'm sorry I didn't send this sooner; time has been pretty warped lately. There are some decent photos of the young fella on the ------- Hospital web page. I have some much better digital pictures, so let me know if you'd like me to send a few to you. We have the technology to do this, which is pretty amazing, too.
E's doing wonderfully -- she's recovering from a massive trauma, but you'd never know it to look at her and talk to her. She glows beatifically, and the boy loves her intensely. We're all having a blast, and life is looking pretty damn good. I can't wait for you to meet this kid; give us a call any time you're in the neighborhood.
I hope your holidays, etc., have been pleasant, and that your new year blesses you as much as it has us.
M.
posted by E. | 9:00 PM
3 Comments:
Aww. No wonder you reproduced with this guy!
Dude.
That was so fantastic that I am almost forgetting to breathe!
Happy O-Birthday!
Aw, look at the new papa gush. God that's heart-warming. I especially like him likening your son to a soccer hooligan. I love it when new babies look like soccer hooligans. Mine didn't. She looked tremendously concerned.
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