Katie Holmes and Suri Home From Hospital  4/20/06

Actress Katie Holmes has been discharged after giving birth to baby girl Suri on Tuesday afternoon (18APR06) in a Los Angeles hospital.

The birth went so smoothly, the former Dawson's Creek star was sent home from the facility within 24 hours.

Holmes delivered the baby just down the hall from where actress Brooke Shields gave birth to her daughter Grier the same day.

A source close to Holmes' family says, "(Suri) has lots and lots of dark hair and big, blue eyes. She's going to be a beautiful baby."

Cruise sent an email to TV host Diane Sawyer, whose interview with the star aired Friday (14APR06) on US TV'S Primetime.

Sawyer read the email earlier today (19APR06) on Good Morning America.

Cruise wrote that the new baby was "glorious" and also said Holmes "was and is a champ through the whole labour process".

Hordes of paparazzi are currently camped out in front of the couple's Beverly Hills, California mansion hoping to score the first photo of the baby, which is estimated to sell for $2 million.

The actor cancelled promotional duties for his new film Mission Impossible III scheduled for today (19APR06).

The film has premieres scheduled in Rome, London and Paris next week (beg26APR06).

A spokesman for Paramount Pictures said decisions as to which events Cruise will attend will be made on a day-to-day basis.