Who says a maternity session can't be done at full term or even the day before the woman goes into have her baby? I think a time frame on this time in a woman's life is ridiculous. Pregnancy is magical and I know one of my most cherished photographs for myself was one that I took the day before I gave birth.
Most women shy away from that because they feel uncomfortable, but I say, even if you can only get a shot on your cell phone, you should do it! It's a wonderful memory to have documented. Luckily my friend was up for a few shots the day before she went in to have her second child Dean, you can find Dean's birth story blog post here. Her are a few of the images captured.
For those of you that didn't see Dean's sneak peek blog post you can see the full story here.
Katie is my best friend of 10 years. When she asked me to document the birth of her 2nd child I was elated and quickly made plans to attend the birth.
Katie had been scheduled for a C-section and went into the hospital about 6 a.m. that morning. The doctors got her settled in and hooked to the monitors. The day prior to her arrival she had been having on and off contractions. I have to admit I was a bit nerves. I thought, for a second, we might be running her to the hospital in the middle of the night if they continued. She assured me it was nothing to worry about and was actually pretty happy about them, since she hadn't felt a contraction before and always wondered what they felt like. Her first baby was an emergency C-section so she was not able to deliver naturally like we all had hoped.
Once she was all settled, the nurse did confirm that she was having contractions, but they weren't cause for concern. They told us, once the doctor arrived, they would get her going and headed in to have her baby.
12 hours later, lol, they finally took her into the OR and little baby Dean made his debut. We all couldn't wait to get a glimpse of him. A few minutes later Dean was brought into the nursery accompanied by his daddy, Ryan, and a while later he was reunited with his mommy. Even though the wait was a long one for mom and dad, it was defiantly worth it once little Dean was safe in their arms.
Katie and Ryan...he is perfect in every way!!! You are amazing friends and parents. I love being there to document every special moment in your lives. I can't wait for the next one...I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a little girl this time ;)~. I hope you love these moments captured just as much as I do!
XOXO,
Jen
P.S. Better quality can be viewed if you click on the "youtube" link in the bottom right hand corner. Or by clicking on the flower shaped icon and changing the quality to HD. Enjoy!
My first newborn session with a little girl! Love it and love her! This is my niece of course and I have been able to shoot her mommy's belly and her birth! SO WONDERFUL! The best part of photography is being able to document mine and my family's lives. It's such a gift to be able to have images like this to look back on! LOVE MY JOB! (to see her mommy's maternity session click here & to see her birth story you can click here)
What can I say about this birth story? It was a challenge. There were lots of twists and turns. But, then again, what birth isn't that way? This had to be one of the most strict hospitals I have ever attempted to work with. However, when all was said and done...I GOT MY SHOTS ANYWAY, LOL! There's no stopping this lady!
Luckily I had very helpful clients who had very helpful family members who advocated, insisted and literally took on my camera when I wasn't allowed in. After shooting at this hospital, I think I could work anywhere. It was a great learning experience, professionally! I just wanted to take a minute to thank my clients and friends Katie (mommy) & Ryan (daddy) for having me and advocating so hard to have me present. I would also like to say thanks to Ryan, Stacy and Sarah (Katie's sisters) for grabbing the camera when I needed you too. I appreciate the team effort, LOL!
For those of you that don't know me, Katie is my best friend of 10 years. We met way back in our twenties when we worked at a restaurant as waitresses. Oddly enough, we had gone to high school together and had even hung out with the same people, but had never met. We often joke that it was probably better we didn't know each other in high school. Otherwise, we would have gotten in A LOT of trouble together.
She has been present at every single one of my births and now I have been to, and documented, both of hers. As a matter of fact, one of the very first jobs I ever used my camera for was to document the birth of her first son, Ryker. Here are some of my favorite shots from the birth that I took that day.
My work since then has greatly improved (phew, lol). I was using auto, a kit lens and a basic editing software here. But when all is said and done, I cherish this work. I made what I had work and I love these pictures. I suppose one of these days I may post this birth story on the blog.
Anyway, enough about that! Lets get back to why we are here...Baby Dean's birth story sneak peak!!
What else can I can say about this family? I love them tremendously. Thank you so much for choosing me to not only document your lives but for being the best friends in the world!
I was so happy to be a part of this birth. This is the second birth I was invited to be a part of and the first live birth I have ever witnessed. I just have to say, the experience couldn't have been any better. It exceeded all of my expectations. Not only did I get to witness my very first niece being born naturally, but it all took place on Mother's day. How perfect is that? In fact, it almost seemed like she planned for it that way. I do believe that's a typical girl for you. Who could think of a grander entrance? I wonder if that's a sign of things to come?
Day 1:
After a week of on and off contractions, the loss of her mucus plug and her membranes being stripped, my sister, Natalie, was 50% effaced and dilated to 4 centimeters. Still no labor. The doctor finally called her on Saturday and said he thought maybe it was time for an induction. She agreed and off we went! We arrived about 11 am, they prepped her for the induction and started the Pitocin.
Fast forward 12 hrs. later. After some games of Yahtzee and watching some reruns of Theresa Caputo's show, she still wasn't having any progress. Around 11 pm that evening the doctor said it was time to turn off the Pitocin and get some rest. The baby just wasn't ready to meet her momma yet. My Aunt and I packed up our things and went home. My mother stayed the night with my sister at the hospital as the "stand in" for her husband Alex.
Just a bit of back story here, Alex is a soldier in the Army. He has been in Afghanistan, on his second tour, for just under a year . He is scheduled back in a month. Together they have two boys, Jayden and Jordan. This is their first girl, and I do believe she is going to be spoiled rotten! Even though daddy couldn't be there in person, we had Skype set up for him. In addition to that, I came in to document the birth for their family. I know it won't ever replace him actually being there but my hope is that he is able to relive the birth of his little girl through the images I have captured. Thank you Alex and my sister for all you do for our country and for the sacrifices you have made for us all!
Day 2:
We all arrived and they got her started on the Pitocin again. The doctor arrived about 11 am and decided to break her water, since the couple hours that had past didn't change anything. This whole time my sister was sitting pretty and in no pain. However, once they broke her water it was on and popping, LOL! It was like 0-10 in 60 seconds. Well not really. I'm exaggerating here, but you get the picture. In a matter of minutes, they had called for an epidural and moved her to a delivery room. Everything was in full swing.
The doctor came in and got her epidural going, but before we knew it the baby was on its way. And my sister was calling screaming for the doctor because she had to push. There wasn't really even time to get the pain relief going. It was pretty insane. The words that come to mind are...controlled utter chaos, LOL. If that even makes sense? I guess if you are a doctor in the maternity ward then you know what I mean, LOL. We were rushing like crazy to get everything set up so daddy could be apart of it, via Skype. And the doctor and the nurses were rushing to get all their gear in place. To be honest, I had to keep reminding myself to snap away because I was kinda stunned, LOL. It was like one of those scenes in a movie but being played out right in front of my eyes, except so much more. It was real life. It was amazing. I was so thankful to be apart of such a miracle. I loved it so much! I must admit I'm a bit addicted now. I think I could shoot births for the rest of my life and be happy.
I made a phone call to my dad when Natalie was dilated to about an 8, or so they said, and 11 mins later Avynn was here. She was beautiful and perfect. I thought, I will never ever forget this day! I can't thank my sister enough for letting me be a part of it. I love you Nat and hope you love your pictures as much as I do!
This was the second birth I was invited to document. I had the pleasure of documenting my first birth story back in 2010 when I got my first DSLR and was only doing this as a hobby. I may post those someday...maybe? They were taken when I had very little experince with anything other then auto so they aren't that great but I still cherish them! Anyway, I am just about done editing the event and wanted to put up a preview before I actually blog the birth story and post a slide show.
On another note, I downloaded and purchased BlogStomp today and am using it for the first time with this post. So far I LOVE IT. It is such a valuable time saver/tool for photographers and/or anyone else with a blog. I haven't had a chance yet to study the software. But, with just the little amount of time I've spent with it so far, I can tell it is very user friendly. I love how clean and professional it makes everything look and I wanted to say thank you to Jasmine Star for turning me on to it ;). She mentioned it in one of her workshops that I purchased on CreativeLive, which is another awesome educational resource for photographers. I have hyper-linked all the sites mentioned in case anyone is interested in checking these tools out for themselves.
Here are some more of my favorites from the day:
Thanks so much for taking the time to look. Happy Wednesday everyone!
