First Vineyard Baby of the New Year Is a Sunny Delight

The first Vineyard baby of 2023 did not have to travel from the hospital for a homecoming. Instead, Sol Cove Fischer Turner was born on New Year’s Day at home in Edgartown to parents Lila Fischer and Nic Turner.

“We are doing great, and feeling so lucky to have our little peanut,” Ms. Fischer said a few days later. “He was due on the first and he arrived on his due date.”

The official time was 3:45 p.m. on Jan. 1, weighing in at 8 pounds and 2 ounces.

Ms. Fischer said she and Mr. Turner had always planned on a home birth. They were assisted by midwife Pam Putney, assistant midwife Meg Athearn, with birth support from Kate Hubbell, and Lila's sister, Emily Fischer.

True to his name, Sol was born on a sunny New Year’s day, Ms. Fischer said. His middle name, she explained, is about a sense of place.

“We live on a cove and I grew up on a cove,” she said.

Ms. Fischer’s Vineyard family tree goes back so far she couldn’t count the generations. “I’ll have to ask my father [Arnie Fischer], but he says we arrived on the Island around the time of the Pilgrims,” she said.

Compared to his wife, Mr. Turner is a relative newbie to the Island. “My father was born here,” he said.

The parents did not know the gender before the birth, but one person in the family was quite sure it would be a boy: big sister Zinnia Tide Turner Fischer.

Zinnia is three years old and always knew she would have a baby brother, Mr. Turner said. “She was waiting for this moment and is so in love, doting on him,” he said.

“She is running around, getting socks for him when we need it, she is so loving,” Ms. Fischer added.

Ms. Fischer works for Island Health Care as its public health nurse. Mr. Turner owns Honeysuckle Oyster Farm in Katama Bay. He was out gathering a meal of littleneck clams for the family the night before the birth, he said, which could have helped move things along. Oysters for Sol are down the road, though.

“Soon, hopefully,” Mr. Turner said with a laugh.

This article appears in January 13, 2023.