Woolf Brebner

Aug. 3, 2005

2:07 a.m.

9 pounds

St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Birthing Center

“I had to stop myself from crying and yelling, ‘Schedule a C-section!’” said Miranda Purves, 34, the willowy lifestyle editor of Elle magazine, about the drug-free (ouch!) albeit doula-aided birth of her chubby firstborn, named in double homage to her favorite author, Virginia Woolf, and her husband Adam’s spirit animal. Mr. Brebner, also 34 and an associate at the law firm Sullivan and Cromwell, prepared for the experience by reading The Birthing Partner by Janet Balaskas. The couple has been married five years and lives in a Park Slope three-bedroom, where Mom is also getting accustomed to the lesser-known pain of breast-feeding. “They tell you it’s not going to hurt—they keep it from you!” she complained. And this affable little tyke apparently packs a lot of pulling power! “He could suck a mongoose through three feet of garden hose,” Ms. Purves said.