The Birth of Baby H
“Birth is not only about making babies. It’s about making mothers - strong, competent, capable mothers who trust themselves and know their inner strength.”
Almost a year ago I had the privilege to join this gorgeous couple on the birth of their baby boy. Here is the story of his birth through my eyes!
I got to meet them late November last year for their Maternity Session, we went to the Boston Public Garden and it was COLD, but we planned for it and this beautiful momma was ready with a nice cozy scarf to make it a bit warmer plus it complimented their images sooo well!
A few weeks later we got to see each other again to welcome their little one… please see below!
January 8th, 2019
I receive a text message at around 6:00 pm from mom saying that she was having contractions for a while but that they are staying at home for a while and will continue to monitor contractions. I get another message one hour later saying that they think the water just broke, they decided to head into the hospital.
I got ready and stayed in communication with them but didn’t head in until she was in triage as most hospitals don’t allow birth photographers in triage. We chatted on the phone as she was definitely working hard through the contractions, so we decided that I should head in. When I arrived at around 11:00 pm she was still in triage and they didn’t have any rooms for her, so she opted to stay in triage until a bed was available. I was allowed to her triage room and was able to support both of them as a photographer but also as their doula.
A few hours later they had an opening in a room (the one with the tub YAY!) and we got to get into the room. She labored a bit in the tub and it helped her so much to not only relax but also to get some soothing through her contractions.
At around 4:00 am she got out of the tub and contractions got very strong. Usually, changes of positions tend to trigger contractions and stronger ones (that’s why doulas and some nurses encourage movement during labor). At that moment she requested an epidural and was at around 7cm. Some complications arose but everything got to be calm a short while after.
This mom worked so hard to bring her little one into this earth. Sometimes there is a misconception that laboring is the only difficult part in birth, but pushing a baby out can definitely take a lot of your energies, especially when you can’t feel all of your body. The evidence shows that the range of pushing for a birthing person with an epidural can be anywhere from 1-4 hours (I think even more). She worked for almost 3 hours when she decided to have her epidural lowered in order to feel more and try to get this little one into her arms.
Baby boy was born on the evening of 1/9/2019 exactly on his due date! The emotions, love, and strength in this room were indescribable!
I am always SOOOO honor to join families when they get to meet the love of their lives for the first time!
Hope you all enjoy the video and images…
