Elise Evelyn Bongorno

Miss Elise made her grand entrance on Saturday, Jan 23rd at 8:30am. Like her sister, she was born at home, but she made quite sure that her birth was uniquely hers! After 3 hours of fast and intense labor (3 3/4 hours after my water broke) our wonderful midwife caught her (literally...I was standing/squatting next to our bed with Chris holding me up and Elise shot right out!) before we could get the birth pool set up and before my mom or our doula (Melissa) could get there (they both arrived within an hour)! Phew. Elise was 6 pounds10 ounces, 19 and 1/2 inches long. She was pink with a touch of dark hair and she nursed like a champ from the start!

Big sister Nora slept through the first 2.5 hours and woke up just as Grandma B arrived to play with her. Nora was a good little doula herself, helping with a few contractions before Grandma B made it upstairs. I could hear her giggling and reading in the bathroom, which was a wonderful thing to focus on as the contractions got stronger.

Moments after birth, Chris brought Nora upstairs to meet the baby. This photo was taken by Grandma B 5 minutes after Elise was born:

We opened the curtains to let the sun in and Melissa captured a few great shots:

Nora was very eager to hold Baby Elise and she was immediately a natural, gentle big Sister:

Grandma B held Elise while Nora got her first mums as a big sister:

Elise was calm and alert from the start:

She is clearly a genius
Nora made red velvet birthday cupcakes downstairs with Grandma B & Mimi:


Nora checking Elise's umbilical cord:

Downstairs for the first time: