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.
Thursday, May 23rd, 2019
A Summerlin Hospital Cesarean Delivery
This beautiful couple came to me through a referral from a local photographer that I adore. She has been photographing them for years, and because she doesn’t specialize in birth or Fresh 48 sessions, sent them my way for this portion of their journey. I have been blessed by this Jamie Rubeis over and over in my photography career, and I am so thankful for her in an industry that can oftentimes feel so competitive and lonely.
Shana and Adam are both incredibly talented and beautiful individuals on their own, and together as a couple is just incredible. I had seen Emily through Jamie’s work and have always admired her beauty. Shana is a well-known vlogger and thrifter and stars in AMC’s Storage Wars, and Adam is the owner and president of Black Raven films.
I like to meet my birth and Fresh 48 clients in person before their delivery date. Birth is a personal and intimate genre, and meeting in person and talking about a family’s fears, concerns, wishes, and thoughts ahead of time makes a delivery day or Fresh 48 sessions feel so much more comfortable and relaxed. This particular period is so charged with emotion, and a million different decisions are thrown your way during the hours and days surrounding birth. I try to know what clients wish for ahead of time rather than bombard them with a million questions then!
With Adam and Shana both being in the industry, and especially Adam being an incredibly talented filmmaker, they just weren’t sure they would feel comfortable turning the birth to someone else. So, we decided on a Fresh 48 with an emphasis on the moments immediately following birth. The plan was to come to the hospital when Shana was close to delivery and come into the room immediately following birth to capture skin-to-skin, meeting the baby, weights, measurements, etc. and then come back the next day to capture some more of that classic Fresh 48 session after everyone was showered and rested.
After 19 years as a labor and delivery nurse, I have learned that labor is completely unpredictable and that no two laborers are the same. On the day of their induction, I contacted them via text, and they were so great in sending me regular updates. As the hours dragged by and things weren’t really progressing as planned, I could hear the exhaustion and frustration set in and finally just asked if I could come up a little earlier than planned. As I stepped into the room to let them know I had arrived before heading to the waiting room as we had planned, Adam approached me and verbalized that they both wanted me to document it all start then. Of course, I was so excited that they had come to this decision and were willing to let me into their birth space earlier than planned.
Within 30 minutes of my arriving at the hospital the decision was made for a cesarean section, so I was so glad I came when I did!
Photographers are not routinely allowed into the OR, and it is totally dependent on many variables from patient circumstances, OB/GYN, anesthesiologist, and hospital policies. I respectfully try my hardest to be allowed into the OR with families whenever possible, and because of my history with their OB, anesthesiologist, and the facility they delivered in, I was allowed into their delivery and was able to document it all!
Being in the operating room can be such a scary experience for parents, especially when things haven’t gone as planned. There is such a roller coaster of emotions and I love that they were willing to let me document it all.
Once he was here, it was easy to see why he wouldn’t come down. He was huge! 9lbs 2 oz of adorable squish! He was so alert, and capturing those first looks and skin-to-skin was so special.
I did come back the next day for a traditional Fresh 48. Shana and Adam still wanted to capture that truly fresh feeling in their fresh 48 sessions and just over 12 hours post-op, Shana managed to get out of bed and look as incredible as she did. I was so impressed! For those of you that have had a cesarean section, you know that it is no easy task!
Saturday, May 11th, 2019
