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A Las Vegas Family-Centered Birth

August has been my busiest birth month to date. I took on more birth clients this month than I ever had because each was so unique and special ( I still have one more to go at this point).

I limit the number of births I take a month to ensure that I am available when you go into labor, no matter the time of day. I don’t book much of anything else while on call for birth for the same reason.

Sarah Beth is a local photographer and dear friend. She is an extremely talented newborn and birth photographer (in fact, we are each other’s birth backups!); you need to check out her work! Sarah Beth Chamberlain Photography.

I was so honored when she reached out to me early in her pregnancy to book me! She knew early on what type of birth she wanted and where to deliver, and she worked hard to make it all come true. They are a military family and had delivered in two different states with their two older children and two different types of facilities with two entirely different experiences. Their oldest son was born in a hospital setting, and their second child was in a birth center. She found her second birth more in line with her wishes and really felt that if things were progressing normally in her pregnancy, and if she was not high risk then a home birth is what she really longed for. We spent time talking about her hopes and dreams for this birth, and she decorated her birth space just as she wanted.

She had gone early with her previous two deliveries and experienced preterm contractions for months leading up to her birth. She just wanted to make it to the 37-week mark to feel confident delivering at home. She went right at the 37-week mark! Sarah had an appointment with her midwife April Clyde of Serenity Birth Center on the day she went into labor things were looking great, but she just really had the intuition that it was going to happen soon. Her adorable son was especially eager to meet his baby brother and told the midwife that it would happen that night.

There is no better way to share their birth story than in Sarah Beth’s own words!

Everett aired his wishes for his little brother to be born all day on Tuesday. A number of times, including at our 37-week prenatal appointment that morning, he brought up the fact that it was a full moon and a lunar eclipse. He’d heard that lots of mommas go into labor under a full moon, and he was eager to get the party started.

That night we did our usual evening stretches, walking, and spinning babies exercises to try and encourage Waylon to turn out of his posterior position. At around 9:30PM I started having frequent but light contractions. After having rounds of prodromal labor since week 32 of this pregnancy, and that being the norm for all of my pregnancies, I didn’t really put too much hope into this being the start of labor. However, I phoned the midwives and our birth photographer anyway just to give them a heads up. Josh and I went to bed. Either way, we needed rest.

At 1:50 AM, Evangeline came into our room. It had been months since she woke up in the middle of the night, but she was at my bedside, wanting some cuddles. I told her to wait just a moment so I could go potty, and then we could snuggle. After emptying my bladder, it became obvious that my water had broken. I woke Josh and returned to the bathroom. When he rose and came to check on me a few minutes later, I needed a whole stack of towels for clean up. Somehow, I think Evangeline awoke because she sensed something stirring. I probably would have slept for another hour at least.

After calling our birth team to let them know things were happening, contractions began to pick up pretty rapidly. Evangeline was eager to wake up Everett, but we managed to keep her from doing so for about an hour. I had woken up quite hungry from the contractions doing work while I slept, so Josh brought me snacks. Strawberries, blueberries, and corn chips. I’d regret the corn chips later, but I needed the energy. I sat on the birth ball, leaned on the wall with Josh applying back pressure, and couldn’t decide whether the tub or the toilet felt like a better place to hang out. Sarah, one of our midwives, arrived and checked for dilation. I was just 3 cms, so we had some work to do. I tried to stay out of the tub as much as I could, although it offered some relief to those powerful contractions that come after the cushion of a bag of waters has been emptied. I walked the hallway, rocked some more, and did whatever I needed to do to tell my body to get things moving. Sure enough, gravity and good labor positions eventfully led to some signs of transition. We sent for Sarah and April.

This stage felt nothing like either of our first two babies because this baby was not quite in the same position. He’d been posterior for weeks, and although he’d started to turn, it felt like he wasn’t nestled in quite the same. Nevertheless, I felt hot and nauseous, and I knew this meant that the tide was shifting toward delivery. I got in the tub and had Josh apply back pressure. A few contractions in, the nausea took over and up came those tortilla chips. With that heave however, I felt Waylon shove firmly down into my pelvis. That was the nudge we needed. Josh continued to squeeze into my back while I labored in the tub, waiting for the urge to push. Sarah wafted peppermint at me to ease the nausea. I was exhausted, and dozing off for a second or two between contractions. It seemed like it took so long, and when I felt that first pushing wave begin I cried out “yes”. I was so ready get this done and hold my baby.

With each wave of pushing contractions, I tried to squeeze in two to three pushes. Josh squeezed hard on my back to offer relief. After the first three waves, I was thinking okay, where’s my baby. Two to three pushes was all it took for big brother and sister. Waylon seemed so much harder to squeeze through, and he was descending slower. I needed to feel progress, so I reached down after each surge to feel for him, measuring his position in knuckles. At one point we made backwards progress, but it only made me fight harder. With the next wave I began to roar with each push. I heard Josh chuckle from behind me. This “beast mode” was new to him too, and amusing. I had to admit to myself it kind of was. Finally, Waylon was crowning. I reached down to feel his little head and was surprised to feel fingers. He had surfaced with a forward presenting arm. As I played with his fingers, waiting for one final wave of pushes, he grasped my finger. Sarah unwrapped his cord from around his neck. One final push, and he was out. I brought him up to my chest and snuggled him up. He had a perfectly round little face and was completely peaceful. As we rubbed his little back and stimulated him to get him to use his lungs, he finally let out a little cry. I could see he had a complete tongue tie like his brother. We also discovered that he had a knot in his cord, which was neat to see.

After some snuggles in the tub, Everett cut the cord, and we got out to warm up in our cozy bed. Waylon had his newborn exam, weighing in at 7lbs, 12 ounces, and 21 inches. He had his tongue tie clipped, and he latched right away when he was brought back to me. Such a relief to have him nursing easily. He’s been a pretty awesome feeder since. Everyone in the family is just smitten with him.

This was the most tender home birth I have seen; Sarah Beth was surrounded by and loved on by her family her entire labor. You could just feel the anticipation and excitement from big brother and sister and their awe of the whole process.

As soon as I documented those first tender moments with their baby and the newborn exam, I stepped out to give mama her much-needed time with her baby. I generally stay 1-2 hours post-delivery to capture those first moments and skin-to-skin.

I returned the next day for a Fresh 48, which is always fun because I get to continue documenting those first days with your baby. There is nothing like it; everything is so fresh and new and you are just soaking in what you have done and just how much you love this little human that you have created and finally get to hold in your arms. It truly is life’s greatest love story, in my opinion.

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.