I just had to include a sibling shot with big brother, Dudley. Does it get any better? And I would love to know Lani’s secret at looking so stunning with a newborn. Wow.
 Congratulations, again!

Sorry for the brief post. I’m trying to wrap things up before a HIGHLY anticipated vacation. This preggo photog is ready for some R%R!

Mellissa was due on Monday, April 23rd. I don’t give much credence to due dates, so I was surprised to be getting a phone call from Mellissa Monday evening. It wasn’t THE call, however. She told me that they had seen their doctor and had an ultrasound, and for several different reasons, the doctor had decided it would be best to schedule a Cesarean section for Wednesday morning. I could hear the disappointment in Mellissa’s voice; I knew she had been hoping to have a natural birth and experience all that has to offer. But I could also hear that she trusted her doctor and was resigned to this new reality. I jumped on board, added the C-section date and time to my calendar, and relaxed, thinking that for once there would be no surprises. Ha!

Tuesday morning Jason called me to tell me that Mellissa had started having contractions. He said they were not too intense and that the doctor thought they’d likely proceed with the scheduled C-section the next morning. I told them to enjoy their day and to of course let me know if anything changed. That evening I texted again, asking how the day had gone. Jason said the contractions had continued for most of it, though they’d stopped an hour or so ago and were just starting up again. I went to bed with my alarm set to get up and meet Mellissa and Jason at the hospital as they checked in. At 2am Jason called saying they were going to the hospital with intense contractions that were two minutes apart. I was happy to hear that Mellissa was getting to experience labor after all — a good thing for mama and for baby. Eli decided he was going to make things happen in his own way.

At 2:59, Jason told me to come to the hospital. They were proceeding with the C-section a few hours early. Jason and his mother got to witness Eli’s birth at 3:53am. I waited in the recovery room and got to photograph the beautiful after party. It was such an honor to be in the presence of so much love.

Congratulations, Mellissa and Jason. I couldn’t be happier for you and Eli.

She also loves to be close to her mama, Stina, and to play with her daddy, Ryan. While Tove was off exploring, I took a sec to catch my breath and this gorgeous shot of Stina and Ryan as a couple. Love the cherry blossoms surrounding them! Peekabo with Ryan, and one last family shot before we were ALL done.

Stina and Ryan, thanks for letting me come play with you and Tove. What a fun (and exercise-filled) morning! Enjoy!

Wednesday morning, around eleven, Corey texted me to let me know she had had her membranes swept at her midwife appointment that day. I mentally prepared for her labor to pick up maybe later that evening or the next day, but didn’t think I’d need to change my plans for the day at all. Apparently, Corey started having contractions on the way home from her appointment, but didn’t know exactly where they were headed. At 2:19, in the middle of Abby’s preschool, I got a call from Neil saying they were on their way to the birth center. I could tell from his voice that they were in a rush. I told him I’d be there as soon as possible. I grabbed Abby, ran to the car, dropped her off at my mom’s house and headed to the birth center. Yes, I used the carpool lane illegally (though I hear that’s nothing compared to Neil’s drive home from work!).

I walked into the birth suite at 3:15 and was told by a student midwife that I was just in time. Corey was in the pool, breathing heavily, and I heard her say, “I’m not ready to push yet. Someone’s going to have to remind me how to push.” She had just been checked and was complete. I clicked away with my camera, SO thankful that baby was not out yet. Corey did start pushing just minutes later, using her breath to guide baby down and out. It was quiet and peaceful and perfect. Corey’s hands were right there ready  to catch Elliot as he came out, and the midwife untangled him from a cord that was crazily wrapped around his body. I just love the images of Elliot on Corey’s chest as she looks up at Neil with love and joy and pride.

A little while later, Elliot’s big brother and grandmother came by to join the family. These are some of my favorite sibling pics ever. Liam was over-the-moon happy with his little brother. Such a perfect way to spend an afternoon!

Congratulations to Corey, Neil, and Liam! What an unforgettable day!

Lani texted on Sunday evening saying she had been having mild contractions since the afternoon and had had some bloody show the day before. I thought things would likely pick up during the night, but it wasn’t until six in the morning that Dex texted saying that Lani’s contractions were now five minutes apart and so intense she couldn’t talk through them, though they weren’t ready for me to take pictures yet. Those are good signs that things are moving along, so I packed up and headed their direction, hoping to avoid traffic. I hung out at Starbucks for a couple of hours when Dex texted again saying they had summoned the midwife and I could come on over.

When I entered their house I could hear Lani vocalizing through a contraction, and I knew that she was working hard. The midwife arrived shortly after I did, and after watching a few contractions, offered to check Lani’s cervix to see how far along she was. Sadly, even with all the work Lani was doing, she was just two centimeters. The midwife recommended relaxing in a bath and distracting herself with movies until contractions got closer together. Knowing how hard Lani was working already, I wondered how long she’d be able to keep doing what she was doing. The midwife left, and I headed home, half expecting/hoping to be called right back. But the afternoon went on and no calls came.

After a preschool board meeting that evening, I texted Dex asking for an update. He said that contractions were still intense, but they had spaced out to twelve minutes apart, and he’d let me know when things changed. I went home and went to bed with my phone right next to me. At 2am Dex texted again saying Lani had transferred to the hospital to get some rest with an epidural. She was seven centimeters dilated. It was so good to hear that Lani had progressed so much and that she was able to rest now. At that point she had been laboring for well over twenty-four hours already, and she still had a ways to go. I joined them at three, and was SO impressed with the care Lani received in that hospital. When I transferred from the birth center to the hospital with my first child, I had to fight with the staff over things that were important to me: things like avoiding episiotomy and delaying cord clamping. But each request Lani and Dex brought up to the nurses or doctor was accepted as the way that staff preferred to do things anyway. What a great (and different) experience!

I am thrilled for Lani and Dex. They had a long struggle, but I know they’d say it was worth it to hold their sweet daughter in the end. Here are a few images from Tuesday, after transferring to the hospital.

Lani did such a great job birthing her daughter. Check out how she held her own feet as she pushed. Yes, there’s some yoga at work there.

Sweet Gemma weighed six pounds eight ounces and was twenty and a half inches long. One long, slim baby girl! Congratulations, Lani and Dex!

When Bea woke up, we did a few shots with her parents. This is probably my favorite part of a newborn session: watching new parents marvel over the little one they’ve created. It never gets old. The kisses and snuggles and looks of awe are so beautiful. It reminds me how miraculous each baby really is.

Heidi and Gary, congratulations on your wonderful girl. It was so much fun to work with you all!

I wrote quite a bit of Ephraim’s birth story here, so today, I’ll just share a few things I loved about this birth:

• Dear friends. Kelly and I have been friends since our daughters were six and ten weeks old. Kelly’s husband, Lance, and my husband, Trevor, are scarily alike, and our families just GO together. I photographed her son, Peter’s, birth, and it was an honor to be there for Kelly again. It’s an incredible experience to be present at a birth, but it is even more amazing to watch close friends welcome their baby. Yes, there were tears.

• Being at home. Home brings context to  a birth. You are surrounded by your things, your people, your life, and your baby is born with all that history and love and comfort right there. I know that home birth is not right for everyone, but it is SO right for this family. I hope you see that context I’m talking about in the slideshow.

• The Miles Circuit. Kelly had LOTS of prodromal labor, and even when things got more regular, contractions were still spaced pretty far apart (15-20 minutes). And they were much more intense than you would expect from that spacing. Sometimes that kind of spacing and intensity can be a sign that baby is not in the ideal position for labor/birth, but that’s where the Miles Circuit comes in. It’s a series of positions a mama can assume that help baby get into a better birth position. I’ve seen it work twice now, and wow, does it work. An hour and fifteen minutes into the circuit, Kelly went from contractions twenty minutes apart to five. That’s good stuff!

• Siblings present. Naomi (4 years) and Peter (22 months) got to witness the birth of their sibling. During Kelly’s labor they bounced between playing with their grandma and good friend and checking on Kelly every once in a while. When things got more intense and birth appeared imminent, both kids hung out with us and took it all in. I LOVE that in their world, birth is a normal part of life. You’ll see shots of Peter being held by Nancy, a family friend, who offered reassurance when things got loud, and then moments later a shot of him playing happily on the floor next to the birth tub. You’ll see Naomi offering comfort to her mama with a touch on her shoulder, as well as inspecting the midwife’s toolkit, like the future midwife she is. Birth is a transformation of a mother and a father, but also of a family, and I think Ephraim’s birth illustrates that like no other.

• The gender announcement.  Naomi had the honor of announcing her sibling’s gender to us all. The expressions on Naomi’s face are so telling. She’s excited to see what gender the baby is, and then a little bit puzzled (and a tad let down?) when she saw that the baby was a boy (not the girl we had all been thinking it would be).

• Time for processing.  Ephraim’s birth was very different from Kelly’s other two experiences. And when we expect birth to go a certain way, because that’s what’s happened before, or because we have certain “plans,” it can take a while to come to terms with the way things actually happened. I know this first hand, and so do many, many other women. Sometimes time and distance and yes, I’ll say it, photos, can help that process along, turning something that might not have felt exactly right, to something that is actually empowering. I’m so honored that these images can be used for that purpose.

Now, here are a few images from Ephraim’s birth day.

And here you have the whole story.

When we started, Liam was pretty awake, so we did some interactive shots in his parents’ beautiful bedroom before stuffing him full of milk and sending him off to dreamland. Once asleep, Liam settled pretty easily into some poses, though, like all babies, he had his own ideas about what he would and wouldn’t do. Here he is in another one of Trevor’s creations. Love the blues with Liam’s skin.

Michele told me she loved seeing Liam all wrapped up, especially after a bath. I’m the same way. What is it about a baby with his head covered? Adorable.

We ended with some more shots of the family together and around the house. Doesn’t he look thoughtful in daddy’s arms? And the shot of the three of them on the bed – wow. Just gorgeous, Michele.

I’ve been enjoying these sessions with first-time parents lately. Everyone has different challenges, struggles, strengths, successes, but there’s also a lot that first-timers have in common: amazement at the little one they’ve created, shock at how different life is all of a sudden, dreams for the future. Being in their presence helps to bring those feelings back to me and remember what it was like when I was a new mom with Abigail. It was SUCH a difficult time (she was a major challenge, that one), but I miss it, too. I think all of my clients are doing a better job savoring those fleeting weeks than I did. I’m so happy that they’ll have these images to look back on when they are veteran parents, too. Congratulations, Michele and Pat! You’re doing GREAT!

 When she woke up we did a few shots around the house. Cathy even played piano while Calvin, Hayley, and I listened. I loved the afternoon light pouring through their windows while Cathy fed her daughter. So beautiful. And how adorable are those little toes?

I love babies who look right into the camera. Hayley gave me just a few moments of eye contact, and that’s all we needed. After another quick nap in daddy’s hands, we bundled up and went outside for some family photos. Hayley seemed to like it, and I think it was good for mama and daddy to get out of the house, too.
 Cathy and Calvin, thank you for inviting me over for the afternoon. You are an adorable family of three and I loved getting to know you. Congratulations!