It was summer when I first met and sat down with mama. She had three precious sons already, and was excited about her fourth child….at that point, she had no idea whether it would be another boy or a little girl. We sat on my patio and talked about motherhood, raising children and all the excitement around birth. She had previously had her births photographed but the photographer was no longer shooting. And that’s when she found me! Yay! We talked about what her previous pregnancies and births were like, and then what her dreams and desires were for this one.
It was a Sunday, when I got the text message that she thought things might be happening that day. EEEEK! I was so excited! I had Christmas mini sessions all day but since I lived only a 7 minute drive from her home, I was ready any time. I have a ringtone downloaded for my birth clients that sings “It’s baby time. It’s baby time. It’s baby time” to an eccentric beat and it makes me laugh every time.
Just after finishing dinner with my family, I got a message that said her midwife was on their way and she’d let me know, Shortly after this, I got “COME NOW” and bam! I grabbed my gear and out the door I ran!
When I arrived, Dad was busy trying to fill the birthing tub and mama was rockstar-handling her contractions in the bedroom. They were coming fast, and hard.
Funny side note As I was taking some “ambience” images, the room, the equipment, the birthing tub filling with water, I began to see the hose rise up….OH NO it’s going to come out of the tub into the living room….so I run around the tub to grab it, except it happened faster than I moved. WATER EVERYWHERE! It happened so fast that I slipped in the water, camera in one hand in the air, flying across the living room floor on my behind. I grabbed the hose and shoved it back in the tub…but the “damage” had been done. I was soaked. insert me laughing hysterically. Dad was apologizing and grabbing towels to clean but I was ok- and so was my gear.
Of course, in my rush out the door, I forgot my extra clothes. I text my fiance to see if he could drop off a pair of pants. I’ve been at the house for about 20 minutes. I walk back into the bedroom and the game was on…there would be no time to finish filling the tub to birth in. Baby was coming NOW and the bedroom was where it was going to happen.
I helped the midwife prep the bed for delivery.
Mom was ROCKING this labour. I’m ALWAYS in awe,
Dad grabbed the birthing ball, grabbed moms hands and it was go time.
Whenever this part happens, it’s like time stands still. Everything is slow motion and I never can accurately figure out how much time passed - but this time, I KNEW it was FAST.
And there he was, in his perfect chubby glory, newborn squawks and telling everyone he was here. I checked the time stamp on my camera and it was MINUTES from the time she started pushing to when he was out!
We all were marveling at how quick and how amazing it was,
The look of relief on mama’s face, it’s one of my favourite moments; you can just see how hard they worked and how amazing it is.
I stayed for some post partum time before heading out. I was back in the door of my home 2 hours after I left!
The following weekend, I went back to their home to take some lifestyle images of the family, all three big brothers and their new baby. OH MY WORD are these boys ever adorable!
Thank you so much for inviting me into your home, your space and to be part of this beautiful time of your lives!