today scout is 2 years old. in honor of the day, i present to you some never-before-seen (on the blog at least) photos of the day of her birth.
scout was born at home early in the morning around 5:00 AM on july 26th, just hours after her due date. for those who are curious, i used hypnobabies and this inflatable tub during my "birthing waves" (the term "labor" is a bad word in relaxation therapy). i was standing in the tub when i delivered her. the midwife who caught her lifted her up into my arms, and i remember she didn't cry but her eyes were wide open and she was staring at me. i stared back, taking her all in--those eyes of course, and that hair (a family trademark)--and sort of breathed/panted to her, "we did it, we did it." it was, as they say, a moment.
it was a few moments more before i finally remembered to look under the towel and announce to kristopher we had a baby girl. carefully, i shuffled over to the bed and k took the first photo of the baby and me (top photo). i was exhausted, to say the least, but exhilarated, relieved, grateful.
the rest of the photos were taken by me, while the midwives were examining the baby. i wish there were more photos of k and me and the whole experience, but i suppose i'll give myself a pass seeing as i was a bit--um--preoccupied?--pushing another human being out me. one thing i'd failed to notice about the baby during our first moments together was her size--the scale in the photo reads 9 pounds 7 ounces, but the numbers fluctuated back and forth quite a bit, and her official recorded weight was 9 pounds 10 ounces.
you might be wondering where the older kids were while all this was happening. believe it or not, they were in bed--they'd slept through the whole thing! about an hour or so after the birth, we decided to wake them up and introduce them to their sister. can you imagine waking up to a surprise like that? i hope they'll always remember it.
okay, this post is getting longer than i intended, and we have some celebrating to do. bye for now!
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