The Birth of Sloan Michael
I have had the pleasure of documenting this family from their first maternity session with their oldest right on through the birth of sweet little Sloan. Year after year, they returned to me and trusted me to document their maternity, newborn, birth, and family sessions.
It is an understatement to say I get a little emotional working on their images. In fact, their daughter’s birth was the first birth I documented as I made the brave and bold move in rebranding from posed newborn into specializing in birth photography here in Las Vegas.
There have been so many surprises during this season of their life. They thought they were done having children, and this little one came along unexpectedly. When they surprised me with the news during their family session last fall, I just about died! Of course, documenting this birth was just as important, or maybe even more so, knowing it was their last. So, we began planning right away. Then surprise… COVID.
There was so much anticipation leading up to their birth, and this strong mama worked right up to the days preceding their delivery. They wanted to revel, soak up, and enjoy every moment. This was the first time they waited to find out the gender until birth. It made it so much more fun!
Nicole went into labor with the plan of listening to her body and deciding on an epidural, depending on how things went and how well she tolerated her contractions. She was so incredibly strong and maintained her composure throughout. I was completely in awe of her strength and determination.
Nicole and Shawn are such amazing parents, and being away from the older two while they were in the hospital was hard. Thank goodness for FaceTime and family! It was important to them to capture as much as they could of siblings’ meetings for the first time, and since a Fresh 48 session was not an option because of restrictions, we did the next best thing and documented it as they came home!
The meeting went even better than expected. Big sister was convinced she had a baby sister, so we expected some disappointment, and there was zero! They were both completely smitten by their new baby brother and wanted to check out every little detail.
And lastly, we were able to document their newborn session two weeks later in the comfort of their own home, where everyone felt at home and comfortable. Big brother and sister were still as smitten with their new baby brother, and it was so fun to see how they had all just fallen deeply and madly in love with this little guy.
And finally, their beautiful birth story is told even more beautifully in film. Oh, what I would give to have my births captured forever in a complete birth story. I love that I can give this to the families that trust me with such an intimate and important time in their lives. Enjoy!
Friday, October 2nd, 2020
A Las Vegas Birth Story
There are so many fears and doubts that can hold people back from documenting their birth. I understand so many of those fears and doubts.
Birth is one of life’s most intimate and life-changing moments we experience. You are vulnerable and at your rawest. I would argue that this is why you should document your birth story.
Birth is made up of moments that change us at our very core, moments that cannot be relived or redone. It is also one of the most emotional times in our lives. It can become hazy and fade quickly amidst the loss of sleep, physical changes, and fleeting memories.
Emily found me after seeing a birth story shared on social media and was immediately interested! She says that she hadn’t really considered documenting her birth until she saw this post, and then saw my name mentioned in the thread as a local birth photographer and videographer. She reached out to me, and I am so glad that she did!
One of Emily’s main drives in wanting to document her birth was the fact that her family lives out of the country. Emily and Daniel met while he was serving in the Air Force in Europe. Her family is all still overseas, and wanting to have a way to share their birth with her family was important to her. (Be sure to see their beautiful birth film at the end of the post!)
There was much anticipation and excitement in the months and weeks approaching their birth, and they were so happy to have a way to share that with family and friends who could not be by their sides.
As Daniel is still on active duty, their birth would take place at Mike O’Callaghan Hospital at Nellis Air Force Base here in Las Vegas. Because it is a military hospital, it was necessary for them to arrange clearance for me onto the base. This was the perfect opportunity for us to meet in person and have a nice coffee date (I meet all my birth clients before their birth either in person or via FaceTime). We talked about what was most important to her and Daniel, the types of images and footage they were most interested in, what her biggest fears and concerns were, and I got to see exactly where I needed to go when the big day came.
As Emily passed her due date, an induction of labor was set up.
One of Emily’s wishes was to tell the whole story of their birth experience to share with her family and friends. So, we decided that I would come as she was being admitted to the unit and capture some of the early details of checking in and getting settled, and then would head home and wait for active labor before returning. That way, they could get the rest they needed, all the while adding additional details to their birth story.
This was my first experience at our military hospital, and I was so impressed by their staff and the beautiful experience they gave Emily and Daniel. As a retired labor nurse of 19 years at another local hospital, I am always curious about how different care might be in other facilities. I do have to say each hospital has its own vibe and subtle differences. I think Nellis often gets a bad rap because it is a military hospital, but I have to say I walked away from this experience in awe of the care they provided this family.
After they were all settled in and the plan of care discussed and initiated, I stepped out and went home to get some rest and await their call for my return. In the early morning hours, Emily let me know that she had progressed and had an epidural placed for pain relief. It was the perfect time for me to head back, be close by, and be ready to document more of their story.
It had been almost 12 hours since their induction began, and Emily hadn’t really gotten much sleep but had received pain relief with her epidural placement, so she was able to finally squeeze in a small nap and some games with Daniel. It was a fun way to pass the time.
I love when clients bring personal items to keep at their bedside. It adds such a personal element and something beautiful to focus on. Emily kept a picture of her mother, who is no longer with her, at her bedside.
As the morning wore on, Emily became more and more uncomfortable and the staff did their best to keep her comfortable between position changes and adjustments to her epidural.
Even with the return of discomfort and the hours passed with no cervical change, Emily and Daniel remained positive and patient, trusting the process. I was really in awe of how strong Emily was. She kept such a beautiful attitude through it all.
As Emily labored through another shift change with still not much cervical change, her night shift nurse came in and advocated for Emily, trying everything she could to help her baby rotate. Her advocacy and interventions were just what Emily needed at this stage, and she quickly progressed to complete dilation and was soon ready to push.
Emily was a rock star who worked hard to deliver baby Daniel. Thank goodness this last stage was relatively quick after all those hours of laboring. There was some distress upon delivery, so baby Daniel was quickly taken to the radiant warmer for assessment and stabilization.
Daniel and Emily’s birth team were so coordinated and capable and worked seamlessly to assess and stabilize Daniel so that he could quickly return to his mama’s chest for skin-to-skin.
Finally, Emily had in her arms the baby she had worked so hard for, waited so patiently for, and anticipated for so long.
There was so much story, emotion, and intimate details throughout Emily and Daniel’s birth story, it is one of my favorites to date. So grateful to have been trusted in capturing it.
Nothing captures the emotions and beauty in birth better than video, and I love how beautiful their birth story is in film.
Sunday, June 7th, 2020
This is another beautiful Las Vegas birth story that I have been dying to share. It is incredibly emotional and moving. It holds a special place in my heart because I know this beautiful little family. When they asked me to document their birth, I was just so ecstatic. I am always dying a little on the inside when people I know and love are pregnant, hoping that they will invite me into their birth space. I also understand it is a big investment and such an intimate time in life, so I don’t take it personally when I am not.
I knew Hannah and Christian’s birth story would be emotional and so full of love because of who they are and the special relationship they have.
I worked labor and delivery with Hannah at Summerlin Hospital here in Las Vegas (she is such a compassionate and intelligent nurse), and I have had the pleasure of seeing their love grow and evolve over the past few years. I also had the pleasure of documenting their engagement session so to have the opportunity to document another momentous moment in their life was so exciting! I truly believe there is no more momentous and emotional time in our lives than the birth of our children!
Hannah and Christian are the sort of couple that draws you in. They are so deeply in love, and both so full of light, you can’t help but just smile on the inside when around them.
Once again, narrowing down images in sharing their birth story was incredibly hard; there are just so many beautiful ones!
I love when families choose both film and still images of their birth. I think that the two together tell so much more than just still images can, and each has unique details and emotions.
We talked off and on as their due date approached and as we got into September decided to set a date to meet and talk about the details that were most important to them in documenting their birth, the moments that they wanted me to focus on, and their birth plans. This helps me so much in making sure I honor your birth space and wishes.
Just days before our scheduled coffee date I received a message from Hannah that her water had broken and that she would be going in to be triaged. She was five weeks early, so there was some fear mixed in with all the anticipation.
Once they were admitted, settled in, and got some rest I headed in to capture some of the earlier details of their birth story before active labor really kicked in. We hadn’t really had a chance to talk about all those details and wishes and didn’t want to arrive when she was super uncomfortable and have her make those decisions.
I feel like we captured so much of their story because I moved in and out of the room a few times throughout their labor. Hannah and Christian had decided to keep their room quiet and free of guests (which is a pretty tough task when you know all the staff on the floor you deliver). I was really impressed by their decision, and you could just feel the healthy space that they built around themselves. I did my best to move in and out of the room at different stages of labor as unobtrusively as possible to capture details and then give them space.
They had just learned some of the Spinning Babies techniques, so got to work alternating through some of the techniques.
Things moved slowly for the first day, and although Hannah’s contractions were regular and had become more intense, there was no cervical change happening. Despite this, they both stayed positive and determined to give her body time, trying to take advantage of periods of rest while they could.
She was so great at changing positions frequently, and Christian was by her side at all times, supporting and encouraging her.
That evening her OB came in to evaluate Hannah and their baby, and together they made some changes to their plan of care and continued to labor. I stepped out of the room again to give them space and time for rest. They were becoming weary and needed that time alone. If the weather is good, I will often times sleep in my car, and that is exactly what I did while giving them the space they needed. In the early morning hours, I got a message from Hannah that things were really beginning to change, and she had become much more uncomfortable; they were ready for me to come back up.
Hannah had really hoped that her dear friend Lois would deliver her, and Lois was kind enough to come in both days while Hannah was laboring to care for her. When she arrived on shift that morning, things were progressing and changing quickly.
Her OB was called for delivery, and Hannah breathed through her contractions and the urge to push with the support of Christian and her nurse.
Luckily her doctor arrived quickly since her office was next door, and they prepared for delivery.
I mean, look at them. Their delivery was so emotionally charged and beautiful.
Because he was five weeks early, the incredible NICU team at Summerlin hospital attended her delivery. After some time on mom’s chest, he was taken to the radiant warmer for further assessment and oxygen supplementation.
Caden needed oxygen to maintain his color and oxygen saturation, so the decision to take him to the nursery for further evaluation was made. I could see the emotions and disappointment on both of their faces, but they both understood and knew there was a good chance because of his prematurity, this might be the case. Caden was bundled back up and taken back to Hannah’s arms before being transported to the nursery.
When I document your birth, I plan on staying 1-2 hours after delivery to capture those first moments bonding with your baby. Some of these moments might include skin-to-skin, breastfeeding, measurements, newborn assessments, and just those precious first hours of meeting your new baby face-to-face. Once again, we talk to come up with a plan for the moments that are most important to you!
When babies are transferred to the newborn nursery or NICU unit, there are restrictions on filming and photographing inside those spaces for many important reasons. Completing your birth story is important to me, so in these instances, there are a few options to continue in telling your story; I can come back to your birth space if the baby is transferred back in, your postpartum room, or wherever you are when your baby is released. Because the restrictions in the NICU included only two people being present at Caden’s bedside, and they didn’t want to be split up (understandably) for the next series of images and footage, we decided to wait until he was released from the NICU and back home safe and sound.
Caden spent eight days in NICU before coming home.
Little Caden was still so tiny but thriving and healthy. It was such a beautiful and tender moment to capture them at home with little Caden safe and sound in their arms. I am pretty sure my heart melted right out of my body by the end of their session. It was the perfect way to end their birth story; it all felt complete.
Look how tiny he was! You all know I have a thing for dad’s hands and their babies!
Christian is an incredibly talented artist and performer. I love that they wanted to incorporate that into their session because it is a part of their lives. He had spent plenty of time singing to little Caden while on the inside, so of course, had to capture some of that at home!
Monday, November 18th, 2019
