It is our greatest pleasure to announce the birth of our baby boy!

NAME: August Valentine Barker
DATE: August 18, 2023
PLACE: Home / Marblehead, MA
TIME: 9:36am
WEIGHT: 7 1/2 lbs
LENGTH: 19 1/2 inches

Our son was born at home the morning of Friday August 18th during quite a storm, but this little guy is as calm and sweet as can be. Read more about the story of his birth and name below the pictures.

ABOUT THE BIRTH OF OUR SON

On the evening on Thursday 8/17, nearly two weeks after we had expected the stork to arrive, we took the belly out for a stroll on the beach. By 8.30pm we knew it wouldn’t be long until our little one was in our arms. Midwives Ann and Naomi came over and our little boy was born (at home as planned) at 9.36am on Friday August 18th during a storm.

We spent the first 12 hours at home all snuggled together in bliss. That night we were concerned with the way the baby was breathing, so we brought him to the hospital. As our midwife predicted it was transient tachypnea, which is not a big deal, but because the not transient kind of tachypnea can be a symptom of serious infection the protocol is a three day stay in the hospital. The poor little feller was so good natured while he was poked, prodded, oxygenated, hydrated, and monitored. Three days later the doctor diagnosed him as “perfect” and we were able to bring him back home. Since then we have been hunkered down at home, figuring things out and getting to know each other. We think he’s a keeper!

ABOUT THE NAME:
August Valentine Barker

It took Alex and Emily a combined 89 years to find each other, and the baby took nearly two extra weeks to cook in the womb, so it should probably come as no surprise that we took a little extra time to marinate his name.

Magnificent / Mighty
The meaning of August is Magnificent / Majestic / To Increase / variations on the theme of greatness. The title “Augustus” was given to the first Roman emperor. And St. Augustine of Hippo is one of the great theological minds of all time.

Love
Emily and August share the middle name Valentine. The meaning of Valentine is "strong”/ “healthy”, but owing to St. Valentine, the association for most of us is love. Em’s great grandfather, whose generosity was legendary, was Valentine Quinlan. Em’s mom, Valerie / Val Costas (whose name was inspired by her grandfather Valentine) was pretty much universally regarded as the most loving, fun, caring, spirit-filled being anyone had the pleasure of encountering. Beloved saints and departed ancestors played an important role in the pregnancy and birth of our little boy.

August Valentine Barker is mightily loved. We hope he loves mightily too.