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A Las Vegas Birth Story

I have known Sheeva for quite some time as we used to work labor and delivery together here in Las Vegas. She moved on to another facility, and I have since retired, but I was so excited when she reached out to me early in her pregnancy to book her birth session with me. I truly am honored that she chose me to document such a huge moment in her life.

Her last baby was whisked away and taken to the NICU right after delivery, and she just felt like she missed so many of those first moments and wanted me to capture as many of them as I could, for fear of missing them again.

She chose photography only for her birth story, and we were sure to meet ahead of time for coffee to talk about her wishes and hopes in documenting her story. She had so much on her plate emotionally, and I was inspired by her desire to move forward just as we had planned. I learned this long ago about Sheeva; she is an incredibly beautiful, strong, and hardworking woman. I hope that through her birth images, she sees that. That is what I hope for all of the families that I document, for them to see the beauty from another vantage point, for them to be able to look back on their birth images and see the beauty and strength that I see.

It is hard to choose just a few favorites, but here are some of my favorites from Isaiah’s Birth Story.

Because she is such a genuine person, Sheeva has such a welcoming nature about her. It was beautiful to see her friends surrounding her throughout her labor and birth with love and support. Her friends all took turns being at her side.

Big sister came to love on her mama a bit at the right time. She was so adorable and patient. It had been such a long process for everyone, and I could see mama’s eyes light up when she came into the room.

Sheeva was so tired by the time delivery finally arrived, but she still maintained her composure and looked so beautiful.

I love coming back the next day or two for a Fresh 48 session. I typically stay around for the first hour to two following delivery to capture some of those first moments and then like to step away to give you the space and time to bond with your baby and rest in the quiet. Parents feel less rushed to capture images of the family holding the baby or feeling rushed in their time with their new baby.

Big sister was just so cute with her new baby brother. She hovered over him the entire time and was just enamored with him!

A Centennial Hill Hospital Birth

I have been dying to get this birth up on the blog! There is just so much story and love woven throughout it all. If you have been following me on my social media sites, you may have remembered me talking about this family when posting their maternity portraits. Chris was deployed for most of their pregnancy, and it was literally down to the wire on him making it home and not being sure whether he would be able to come home at all for their delivery. Luckily, he came home just over a week before Susan went into labor which worked out well in everyone getting settled again and working through all that goes into everybody readjusting.

Susan homeschools her three children, all while running a successful photography business, Purest Light Photography; she is extremely talented and works so hard to keep it all going. I can’t even imagine how hard it has been doing it with a spouse halfway across the world. I think we often focus on the sacrifice that our military personnel makes during their deployment, but it really is a sacrifice for the whole family.

She wanted her children present for as much as possible, and the plan was to have her sweet Aslinn help ‘catch’ the baby. Because having her children involved in the process was so important, we discussed capturing some early labor at home if it worked out. She lives so close to me and wanted to labor as much as she could at home before heading to the hospital.

I stay in close contact with my birth clients in the weeks leading up to their due date to stay in the loop with how they are feeling and how things are going. Susan and I often texted in the weeks leading up to her birth. It finally got the call at 2:30 am that contractions had woken her up and were staying consistent and strong, so I headed out the door and to her house to capture some footage while her children slept!

 

After laboring at home for a few hours, it became clear it was time to head to the hospital as they became stronger and stronger, and Susan was no longer able to walk or talk through them. So we woke up the kids, loaded up the car, and headed out.

Luckily the staff seeing how uncomfortable she was and being her fourth baby, settled her right into a labor room. The staff was so great in helping keep her comfortable and accommodating her requests for a low-intervention delivery.

Little Aslinn was so helpful at right by her mother’s side during the whole process. It was so tender to watch!

This poor mama just had so much back labor, he would just not rotate off of her lower back, and it was such a struggle for her to get comfortable at all during this stage.

With support from her husband, friend, and staff, she tried hard to get him to rotate down.

When this guy finally came down and delivered, the room was full of staff ready to assist as his fetal heart rate tracing was showing distress.

It turned out to be a true knot in his umbilical cord, a very rare and often dangerous situation.

Because of the distress and meconium-stained fluid, he was taken to the warmer initially for stabilization. He perked right up and let everyone know he was okay. I know it felt like an eternity to Susan and Chris.

This mama was so happy to have her baby in her arms finally!

I know it will take this mama a long time to process this birth and their experience. Although this little (okay, not so little guy) came hard and fast, it was such a hard and emotional birth for this mama. She put on a brave face through it all, and when it was over, you could see all that emotion right there. Birth is powerful and incredible, it is like nothing else in this world, and for each family, it is so different.

From child to child, so different.

Thank you so much, Hinds family, for letting me document this one for you.

 

A Spectrum Inspired Story

I am a local Spectrum-Inspired photographer, meaning I am a part of a group of photographers that offer sessions for families living on the spectrum to raise awareness and education about autism. Please go check them out and the incredible work they are doing worldwide!

But before I get into this beautiful story, I wanted to let you know that I’ve got a special surprise at the end of this post!  I’m taking part in a blog circle with some photographer friends of mine.  We’re linking to each other’s posts, so you can check out what they’re up to.

But, for now, let’s get into this beautiful family story!

I already knew this mama as she is an OB/GYN here in Las Vegas, and in my role as a labor and delivery nurse, I have had the pleasure of working alongside her. Tracy is an incredibly intelligent, kind, compassionate, and talented physician who is well-respected in our community.

A year ago, I had completed a family film for another client I work with, and as Tracy watched it she cried and said she wanted something just like it. She shared that she had never had family portraits officially taken as they just weren’t sure how that would look or unfold with Thomas, and was ready to take the step in having them done. I then shared with her about Spectrum Inspired and their amazing work; she was totally on board! Tracy is so active in the autism community and so passionate about spreading awareness, so the opportunity was perfect!

After submitting an application, we were paired at her request and got to work scheduling her session, where we also added the option of a family film! I am passionate about family films as they show more than a photograph alone can!

You can find their family film here, and be sure to read on to hear their story and see the still portraits we captured during their session.

I have been hanging on to this story for a bit as I wanted to post in April during Autism Awareness month. There are so many powerful, encouraging, and inspiring stories to share. I hope that out of them comes education and awareness as to what the many faces of autism look like and how it is lived out in each family!

Thomas is eight years old, and his diagnosis is- Autism Spectrum Disorder and apraxia.

Thomas was born prematurely due to complications, but his first year progressed well, with Thomas meeting milestones, including walking and interacting with others. By the one-year mark, Tracy began noticing that his words were rare and that he failed to respond to his name being called. As most parents would, she assumed he was just mildly delayed. As the months passed, she began realizing he never reached out to be picked up, and his 20-word vocabulary quickly disappeared. At 18 months, her concerns were addressed with her pediatrician, who agreed with the red flags she had observed and sent them to a developmental pediatrician, where his diagnosis was received. It was an emotionally shattering experience for this family, not because they were afraid of Thomas being “different” but because of the struggles, they knew he would face. It meant he could not share how he was feeling with his family or express his fears or excitement with them.

After their diagnosis, they learned everything they could about autism and apraxia (meaning difficulty in speaking sounds, syllables, and words). Thomas’ biological father, who had been a part of Tracy’s life since high school, became uninvolved and was no longer willing to be in Thomas’ life. Thankfully, his grandparents and her family rallied around her and became a source of strength and support valuable in navigating their struggles as a single-parent family and an OB/GYN resident.

When Thomas was four years old, Tracy met her husband, Justin. Tracy says that the incredible bond between Justin and Thomas began the first time they met and that there was a connection between them right away. This does not come easily for Thomas, as he does not engage or interact with others until he feels comfortable and safe. Justin has become Thomas’ biggest fan and spends every day at therapy with him. Justin adopted Thomas as his son. He doesn’t see Thomas as autistic but as his son, whom he adores and supports. This was so very evident during their session.

When Thomas reached the 5-year mark, his family was told that being non-verbal at his age meant his likelihood of speaking was slim. But they didn’t give up and continued with PT, OT, and speech therapies.

They were completely blown away when Thomas finally spoke his first words a year and a half ago, “I want eggs.” His vocabulary has grown through lots of hard work and gradually over time. He is now able to express himself better with words and small phrases. It has opened up so much for Thomas and his family.

Thomas does not like loud noises and wears his headphones if overstimulated. He also does not enjoy large crowds unless it is people that he knows and trusts.

Photographing and filming their session in a documentary approach was perfect for this family. I was able to come in with no time constraints and focus on being in an environment where Thomas feels safe and secure and where their day-to-day life unfolds. Home is really where your memories are made, after all!

By watching and observing, my goal was to show not just their struggles but also their victories, the ability to overcome obstacles, and the love this family shares with each other.

Through lots of communication and their application with Spectrum Inspired, we could settle on what moments we wanted to capture in sharing their story.

Thomas loves dinosaurs, sharks, Disney movies and characters, and his iPad. It was so great to observe him just being himself! He constantly had his characters and his iPad with him, arranging his characters just so and interacting with his mom, dad, and sister. He is silly and engaged with things that he loves.

Thomas also loves water and the motions of jumping and spinning. Spinning in circles was one of the earliest signs that Tracy noticed with Thomas.

They have a small trampoline he often jumps on to relax and decompress. As soon as they moved to their beautiful home with a large space in the backyard, one of their first additions was a large trampoline for Thomas to jump on.

Little Natalie was also born prematurely, but over a year and a half, she shows no signs of delays or autism.

As we sat and talked during Natalie’s nap and while Thomas had lunch, we talked about difficult textures and sounds for Thomas. Many times children with autism have difficulties with textures in foods and clothing, which limits things they like and can tolerate.

Things like haircuts can be traumatic for children with autism, and she had expressed their challenges with navigating this with Thomas. His haircuts are done by his aunt, whom he trusts, and there is a whole process to it; as the conversation unfolded, we decided it would be perfect for documenting this aspect of his life as well, as he needed a haircut. So with a phone call to his aunt, we arranged it spontaneously, and I am so happy she could come over and was willing to document it! Keeping him still, occupied, and with just the right amount of distraction was a process you could tell had taken lots of time to fine-tune.

We wanted to end our day by capturing family portraits, so as the afternoon set in, we all headed to a beautiful park in their community and let the kids play a bit, and then gathered everyone together for portraits. By this point in our day, I was pretty blown away and so moved by them all.

Their love for each other was evident in everything they did and naturally. I am so grateful that they were willing to trust me in their home and tell their story. I am grateful I saw Thomas’ warm and gentle nature and can’t wait to see what lies in store for him and his family as they continue to navigate life on the Spectrum. I do not doubt that he will continue to grow and learn through the support and love he receives from his family.

As we head into April and autism awareness month, be on the lookout for stories like Thomas’, and into learning about and volunteering for organizations that help spread education and awareness on autism and the many facets and faces of those that live on the wide spectrum.

There are so many incredible stories to be told and so much to be done in educating our communities about autism and life on the spectrum.

Thank you so much to the Wurm-Donofrio family for being willing to share your story with us all!

If you are interested in documenting your story or applying to be a Spectrum Inspired photographer, check out the Spectrum Inspired community and apply!

Now be sure to follow our beautiful blog link to check out the incredible work of a group of 5 very different photographers and the varied stories we have to tell!

Landon’s Story

To comfortall who mourn, To sonsole those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

Isaiah 61:3 NKJV

I am continually blown away and amazed by the people God has put in my path throughout my life. I have been blessed to walk alongside and rub shoulders with some powerful and resilient people in my lifetime. You know these types of people, the ones that leave a mark on people that surround them often without even knowing it. These people inspire me to be better, live life with more intention and passion, and live in the here and now. 

The Ewells are one of those families. I met them in October 2016 when I was their labor nurse for the birth of their third child Landon. I had just come out of a delivery when I received my next assignment. As I learned their prognosis and what they were facing as they came in to deliver Landon, I can honestly say that my heart sank. I quietly tucked myself in the supply room and prayed. My heart just ached for them and what I knew they would be facing, and I just wanted to have the right words, to provide the best care for them, and to have the strength to hold it together through their delivery.

Who would have known then what would unfold through Landon’s story? Well, I know that God did. I know He has a plan for everything, and I believe he does not place heartbreak and pain in our lives, but He will always carry us through. He is always there and knows where it will lead us. This beautiful family has become an important part of my life. I have been blessed to have stayed connected to them outside the hospital and seen them walk through the darkest of life’s valleys. It has not always been beautiful, incredibly raw, and painful for much of the time.

From the moment I met Landon, I wanted to tell his story. I wanted the world to know him and his impact on me and the world around him. I knew that their story would inspire others just as it did me. During a recent film-making workshop, our project-long assignment was to choose a cause or something we cared deeply about and tell its story.  Immediately, I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to tell this family’s story. I prayed that they were ready to share their lives with the world. I am so glad that they were.

I hope that their story inspires you as much as it did me.