Post Partum

God, I adore this picture of my Aunt Kitsie. I have coveted this picture for years and she finally allowed me to borrow it to scan it when I was home. Here she is, shortly after her ‘lying-in,’ receiving visitors, her state of confinement over at last. She gave birth the civilized way, drugged to the gills and out like a light. Her husband was banished outside to the waiting room where he spent hours pacing nervously, getting loaded and handing out cigars. The baby is superfluous and has been whisked away by attentive nurses so there is nothing to distract from the most important person in the situation, the mother. She has assumed her rightful place, the center of attention and is chainsmoking, not having been able to smoke (I assume) during labor. I love her full professional make up and glamorous up-do. Although you can’t tell from the picture, her room is full of guests and they’re all carrying on like it’s one giant cocktail party. So much preferable to some hippy home birth on a shower curtain.