I love when a family documents their baby's entire journey into the world from pregnancy through to newborn photos.  I was so excited to photograph this Vancouver home birth, and when it came time for this mama to have her baby, her early labour lasted over 24 hours so she didn't want to call her birth team too early for fear that her labour would keep on slow and steady.   When things decided to pick up, they kicked into high gear and both the midwives and myself missed her birth.  This mom has an amazing birth story of delivering her baby girl unassisted on her kitchen floor and her birth video is still a must watch! 

This was an incredible calm yet eventful home birth. The energy was peaceful, trusting and powerful. Mama had to work hard to get her sweet baby boy out, but once he was out and gave his first cry, we were all in tears. Women are amazing. Babies are amazing. Life is just amazing. I had a hard time choosing which photos to blog, so I just decided to post their slideshow. I chose this song because it played in the background while she laboured. She sang along with the lyrics… so I knew it was the right song to play with Leif's story. Please enlarge the video for viewing. 

When I heard from this second-time mom in the middle of the night, I crawled out of bed and told my husband that I would be back before he left for work, he mumbled "yeah right." But I had a feeling it was going to be quick... When I arrived at this cozy little house, all decorated for Christmas, I settled in on the couch and relaxed while mom laboured in and around her home. The atmosphere was calm. The lights were low, all was silent, and her support team excitedly exchanged smiles and winks when she wasn't looking. Then, things happened fast. All of a sudden she was 6cm, then all of a sudden she was pushing, then all of a sudden the baby was here.  After the birth, mom relaxed into a comfy chair right by the Christmas tree to nurse her sweet babe for the first time. Everyone sat in the living room celebrating what they just witnessed. It was an incredibly beautiful experience… and I drove home at 7am, inspired to plan my next birth for December. 

When I found out this client was doing a home birth in December, I was ecstatic. What could be better than birthing in the comfort of your home, with Christmas music softly playing in the background, your home dimly lit by the Christmas tree lights and surrounded by people you have already built relationships with. Ahhh… birthing bliss. 

Watch their full homebirth story below (expand for better viewing.)

I met this couple early this year before she was even showing. I had an instant connection with them because their journey was a lot like my own. They got married fairly young and are now living away from home as her husband is attending chiropractic school. Yep been there, done that. Now they were pregnant and were going to birth at home (still resonating with me.) 

They were home from school on their Fall break and finally I received a text a week and a half past her due date that things were starting to happen. I went to bed expecting to get a couple hours sleep before next contact, but I got a full nights sleep while she patiently laboured through the night. I joined her at her family home the next morning at 10am and 6cm. She was already tired after a long night and having to battle the unexpected hurdle of back labour but she stayed calm throughout the day. Progress was slow. The midwives debated what to do next, but after sitting at 8cm for 9 hours, everyone transferred to hospital. By the time she got to hospital she had been labouring (with intense back labour) for over 24 hours... you heard me correctly...

So she continued her slow journey at the hospital. Her midwife and her mother (also a midwife) coached her from 8cm - 10cm and onto pushing. This little guy's journey into the world was a slow one. He even took his time crowning, and gave the nurses a bit of a scare that he might have shoulder dystocia, but her mom kept her focused to keep pushing and slowly his body was born into Grandma's hands just after midnight (stretching his birth journey over 3 separate days.) 

The slideshow at the bottom of the post has some incredible birth images. It's a must watch.

My niece was born last year, and I've been meaning to make a shorter, public slideshow to share with everyone. Well, I've finally gotten around to it, and spent the afternoon balling because of it. I'm 2 months away from my own birth (which my sister will hopefully be attending) and it was very emotional to watch her last birth story again. As you will see in the photos, everything moved quite quickly. There aren't many labouring photos because I was helping her as a doula and then she got in the tub and literally birthed her baby. One moment she was in labour, the next she had her baby in her arms, then the paramedics had been called because of her bleeding and we were all at the hospital. It may look dramatic, but it was lovely, and calm and she focused on her new baby girl in her arms the whole time.