The Birth of Grey Allen
Rachel and I met for the first time less then two weeks before her birth. When she initially contacted me and told me that her due date was December 28th, we decided to book the birth and cross both fingers that she didn’t have a Christmas baby! At a routine appointment a couple of days before Christmas, her doctors thought she might need to be induced or have a repeat c-section due to low fluid, but they decided that baby was doing okay and she could stay pregnant until she went into labor on her own. Great news, as we all wanted to see her get the VBAC she was hoping for.
Christmas came and went with no appearance from the little guy. Then Friday evening at about 7:30 I got a text that said that Rachel had been having regular contractions for several hours and her water had broken. They would be heading to the hospital soon! I had a cup of coffee and headed up to the hospital as well. When I arrived Rachel was at about 5 cm and laboring really well on her own. She was going to try and go without the epidural if she could. Since I had asked her ahead of time if extra labor support from me would be something she thought she could benefit from, I offered a little extra help with encouragement and massage while Daddy was out getting something to eat. Since I have a lot of birth and doula experience, I love it when I get the opportunity to support moms in labor AND document the process. Sometimes I think I’m actually a doula disguised as a photographer. 
When Daddy got back from getting something to eat, he jumped right in and did an awesome job at being a great support to Rachel.
A couple of hours later Rachel had only dilated one more centimeter and she was getting very tired and discouraged. Her doctor suspected that baby could be facing the wrong way. She was a rock star in labor, but didn’t know how much longer she wanted to go without some relief and rest. She decided to try changing positions to try and get the baby to turn and take it from there. A little while later, she decided she would go ahead and get an epidural and rest. Once the epidural was in place and she started to get relief, she was 10 cm in no time at all and it was time to push!
Soon her doctor arrived and after about 30 minutes of pushing, little Grey was born healthy and beautiful at 8 pounds, 11.2 ounces, exactly on his due date! I was so happy that Rachel achieved her VBAC! As you can see, Grey is quite the little cutie. Congratulations you guys!
**Be sure to click the little “HD” in the upper right-hand corner of the slideshow to watch in HD! Enjoy!
The Birth of Toby Jase
I met Lindsey at our homeschool co-op last year. The minute we started talking about birth, we immediately had a ton in common! A little later when she became pregnant with her fourth child, I was THRILLED when she asked if I would come and photograph their home birth!
I received a text from Lindsey about 11:00pm on Sunday night saying that she had been having contractions since about 6:00pm. I fully expected to get maybe a couple hours of sleep and then head on over to their house, but to my surprise, I didn’t hear a peep until morning. I figured the contractions just fizzled out, so I started getting ready for co-op that morning. Then I got a text at about 7:30am that said that her contractions were five minutes apart and the midwife was heading over. YES!! I was super excited for this birth already, and a daytime birth was just the cherry on top!
I arrived at Lindsey’s house about 9:00am to find her husband Jonathan helping her labor and the birth tub filled and ready for her to get in. The midwife had arrived and their three older kids were playing quietly upstairs. Lindsey and Jonathan seemed to be in a pretty good rhythm and Lindsey was doing great at moving around and listening to her body. After a few hours of getting in and out of the tub and changing positions no less than one million times, she knew it was finally time to push. Their youngest decided she needed to be near mama in order to take her nap right about that time, so she came downstairs, and fell asleep under a blanket on the couch right next to her fiercely pushing mama! Lindsey had to work pretty hard at this stage, as baby presented face-sideways. Their beautiful baby was born at 12:40pm with a little bit of bruising but a very peaceful spirit. They didn’t find out the sex of the baby beforehand, so they called their two oldest children downstairs so they could all look together. A BOY!! Big brother’s reaction to his very first brother was priceless and SO FUN to watch. Lots of jumping up and down and a few tears of joy were involved. He was a healthy 7 pounds and 5 ounces, their biggest baby so far!
What a privilege to be present for this birth. To see a family with everyone close and involved in welcoming a new family member is so beautiful, and a huge part of what home birth is all about. That was one of my favorite things about my own home birth!
A huge congratulations to this wonderful family and I hope you enjoy your slideshow!
**Be sure to click the little “HD” in the upper right-hand corner of the slideshow to watch in HD! Enjoy!
The Birth of Eva Judith {Cincinnati Birth Photographer}
Katie’s due date had been passed for ten days when I finally got the call Thursday evening that they were pretty sure she was in labor. I thought, “Great! I can probably catch a couple hours of sleep before I head out!” But it ended up being one of those times that I was too full of anticipation to fall asleep. I was in touch with Katie and Andy’s doula Molly, trying to determine when the best time to head out would be since she had not yet been checked to determine dilation. I ended up leaving for the hospital by about 1:00 am. I arrived to Katie laboring on the birth ball, with Andy and Molly by her side. By the sounds of things, I thought she might be close. A check while I was on my way revealed that she was 7 cm. Katie was handling things beautifully and was heading into the most intense part of labor. She had expressed before the birth that she wanted to go unmedicated, but that if things got too intense, she wasn’t dead-set against medication. After a couple more hours we all thought she might be complete, but she was only 8 cm. Even though she was laboring like a rock star up until this point, she said she was done. Now, this is the declaration of EVERY laboring woman at on point or another. But this woman meant business. There was really no arguing with her. She used her super-serious mom voice to let everyone know that any attempts at reassuring her were futile. So the anesthesiologist was called, but was having a busy night and took a little while to get there. The epidural was literally right outside the door when one last check let us know that Katie was complete, and it was time to push. Katie went right to it and pushed her baby into the world not too long after. Oh, did I mention she pushed her TEN POUND baby into the world?? And she did it like a pro! What a sweet, squishy little sweet heart! Congratulations guys! Thanks for letting me be a part of such an awesome birth.
**Don’t forget to click the little “HD” in the upper, right-hand corner of the slideshow, and watch in full screen!
The Birth of Reese Nicole {Cincinnati Birth Photographer}
The first time I met with Amanda, I was very excited to be a part of her birth. We had a lot in common in that her first birth experience left her in need of a very different kind of experience for her second birth. I could relate very well to that, and was really looking forward to offering her whatever support I could. Amanda’s doctor was in full support of a VBAC. (YAY!) Usually I am the “silent” member of the birth team, but I am always ready to offer support if it is needed.
As her due date approached, she had plenty of contractions that kept us all guessing. I wondered if she was in labor at least three different times, when finally at about midnight on night, her water broke. YAY!!! And then…nothing. She was instructed to go to the hospital and her birth team worked hard to help get contractions going. Things started picking up eventually, and Amanda was experiencing some pretty intense labor. I got a text about 1:00am the next night saying that she had not dilated any further than when she got there. Then another text about 3:30 saying that she was going to get some pain relief and rest her exhausted body. Days of contractions and 24+ hours of labor is no joke! Apparently, that did the trick, because I got another text just before 6:00am saying “She just got checked and she’s 9 centimeters!”" WHAAAAATT??? I leaped out of bed. Should I brush my teeth? Or not brush my teeth? Brush my teeth. I quickly got dressed, grabbed all my gear, and sped like a race car driver to the hospital. I walked into her room to find that little Reese was born ten minutes earlier. 
I was so sad that I missed it, but SO happy that Amanda got the VBAC that she wanted so badly.
Luckily, Amanda’s awesome doula stepped in as the super iPhone-ographer, so this slideshow is a bit of a collaboration. I hope you enjoy it!
**Don’t forget to click the little “HD” in the upper-right hand corner!
The Birth of Alexander {Cincinnati Birth Photographer}
I awoke to a text at about 1:00am that said “Christine is in labor and she’s progressing a lot faster than we thought!” Now I never quite know how to judge things like this, especially coming from super-excited daddies! Couple that with my own excitement, and I just have to get as much information as I can and take my best guess as to where things are at so that I don’t show up too early, or too late. Christine’s labor did indeed ramp up pretty quickly, going from zero contractions to contractions 4-5 minutes apart in about 1.5 hours. I arrived at the hospital a few hours later to find Christine and Chris laboring together in the bathroom by (LED) candlelight. It sounded like Christine was doing great and she continued to labor into the next day. Even though she doubted herself at times, as most mamas in labor do, she hung in there and achieved the unmedicated birth she wanted with the help of Chris and her awesome doula, Erica. Baby Alex was perfect and is the first grandchild on both sides! I can just imagine the spoiling that is in store for this little guy. Congratulations everybody!
**Don’t forget to click the “HD” button in the upper-right hand corner and watch in full screen!
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