After 8 years of friendship, 5 years in a relationship, travelling the world together, buying a house together, these two decided it was time to build a family together.

These 2 mama's planned for a natural uneventful birth, but instead they were taken for a ride... At 38 weeks pregnant, mama had a routine prenatal appointment. She expected it to be the same as any other appointment, except the midwife asked her to go to the hospital for an ultrasound and they discovered the baby's heart rate was racing at over 200 beats per minute and needed to be born right then and there. The other mama was planning to fly home from Ft. McMurray that evening and then spend the next few weeks preparing the nursery and planning for baby's arrival. Well sometimes the only thing you can expect in a birth story is the unexpected, and everything in this story was unexpected. 

Baby was born 20 minutes after her ultrasound by c-section and you must watch the video to see the rest of the story...

I met Nancy only a couple weeks before her due date. I photographed her gorgeous maternity photos at Jericho Beach in Vancouver.  Then we enjoyed a Starbucks together and discussed her birth plans. They didn't include 2 days of induction or a c-section, but I always say the only thing you can predict about birth is "the unpredictable." 

Her birth story may not have gone as planned but she rolled with the punches and bravely listened to her baby and body the entire time. Her partner and her worked together seamlessly. She was well supported and made it to 9.5 cm before meeting her baby boy via caesarean.  I had the good fortune of being invited into the OR to capture the c-section. Here is Hunter's birth story...

Enlarge this beautiful c-section story for viewing.

When these clients hired me they didn't know that dad wouldn't be present. We discussed what they wanted me to capture and it involved photos of both mom and dad having a natural birth.  Well life is unpredictable and this birth looked a little different than they thought 5 months prior. Dad was away for work and mom trouped on. Then, when complications started popping up one after the other, they whisked her into the OR where I was also able to go and capture the birth of her son so the dad could still experience it through photos and video. 

Here was my favourite photo from the day. A photo of their son BEFORE he took his first breath. This is birth by Caesarean section. It is incredible! 

Please watch Hunter's birth story. It's my first time capturing a birth with 50% video and I loved it!!! The video brings the stills to life. Watch and see.

This mama drove all the way out from Boston Bar to birth her baby in Abbotsford hospital. Abbotsford has a beautiful maternity ward. The rooms are spacious. The bathrooms are large. There a few big comfy tubs to relax in. Everything still has that new feeling (even though our hospital is a few years old now.) She had her birth all planned out (who doesn't!) but things usually don't happen as expected. Her water broke 3 weeks early and her labour spanned over 3 separate days (talk about a long and exhausting journey…) So to make a long story short, this cute little guy was born via c-section. He's a perfect example that c-section babies are incredibly beautiful. 

Here is his entire birth story told in video. Expand it to watch.

This beautiful mother literally looked her "Sunday best" during birth... because, well, she birthed on Sunday and has quite a unique story... At 34 weeks pregnant she heard from her sister-in-law who had given birth that day and invited them to the hospital to meet their new arrival. While at the hospital, this mom (who luckily had her nursery ready but had yet to buy a carseat or pack a birth bag) had her water break right on the maternity ward floor. All those birth pheromones got to her little baby who decided she wanted to come 6 weeks early. Since this little lady was breech, this mom was scheduled for a c-section that night and dealt with a whirl wind of emotions knowing she would have her baby in her arms that night (instead of going home and going to bed early like originally planned.) 

I once heard that the only thing predictable about birth is unpredictability, and that's certainly true with this story. Luckily this family chose to see the humour in the situation (that her water broke in the maternity ward- while wearing her Sunday dress- in front of her in-laws) and are so happy to have their baby girl earthside safe and sound at a precious 5 lb 3 oz. 

This mommy is also a fantastic photographer and blogger and I'm sure she'll be sharing more of this little beauty's story and photos here: http://blog.courteneyrodda.com

Thank you to their midwife who took photos in the OR with my camera:)

I rarely get to play the role of doula these days since birth photography has picked up... but absolutely loved supporting this couple on their journey to becoming parents as their doula and photographer. I've really gotten to know this mom over the last few months and truly consider her a friend now.

She is a planner... I mean seriously, she's a wedding planner, so she had a birth plan in her head. Birth bags meticulously packed, planning to labour at home as long as possible, was ready for the long haul, etc... but when her water broke while at the blood lab, her plans got a bit of a jolt after the paramedics were called and she was taken to hospital via ambulance. Yep. arrived to the hospital all alone, no birth bags, no husband, no labouring at home. I arrived shortly after her and her husband rushed home from Vancouver. She also had 2 great nurses and we all supported her the best we could, but back-labour is hard (unbearably hard) and after hours of labour, no progress, a lot of meconium and infection setting in, she was taken for a c-section. That sort of news is hard... especially for a planner, but she was brave and looked forward to meeting her little girl.

I wasn't allowed into the OR doors, so the anesthesiologist took my camera and got a fantastic photo of the actual birth. The staff were great and let me into recovery to be with mom, dad & baby soon after birth. Here are a few photos from their journey.