Outside of the birth of my own son, I have never witnessed another life coming into this world. It's something I've always wanted to experience and I always assumed that it would be a close friend of family member. When I began my journey into photography, I had never heard of "birth photography" - however, the moment that you see a session (best displayed in a slideshow) it simply melts your heart. It doesn't matter if it's a complete stranger, each and every time that baby is born and in the arms of the mom and dad, I lose it. Total tears. Every time. Sarah is a fellow photographer so when the opportunity to photograph her birth came about, I jumped on it. I loved every single moment.
Sarah went overdue and was induced at 5:30am on Wednesday. She had been texting me all morning and said that I should come as soon as they were moved to a larger birthing room. Unfortunately, it was a busy day at the hospital and all of the rooms were full! So, we finally decided that I should just come in to the small room (one chair and very little room to stand!) since she was already 8cm. When I walked in, my heart raced because I have never seen anyone in labor, much less at 8cm, without an epidural. It was hard to see her in pain. I was nervous for her but also so proud. She decided to go ahead and get the epi shortly thereafter and it was great to see her relax and get a break from the pain. Not soon after, she was 10cm but the baby was not fully descended. So we waited. Still in the small room. Most of the photos in the slideshow are when she was fully dialated and she still had some discomfort. Finally, they said she was ready to push (but still no birth room available!) so they moved her to another room. I'm not sure what it's normally for. They did a couple of practice pushes, the doctor came in (such a nice guy - I loved him!) and within just a few pushes Leiland was born! He weighed in at 9lbs 3oz and was as healthy as could be.
I am so, so happy for Sarah and Tim. Last year they lost a daughter, Ruth, around 20 weeks. So, while Leiland is their only child here on earth, he has a beautiful sister looking over him.
