Oooohkay. Where to begin with this birth.
Let me preface this post by saying that e-friends are totally real. You don’t have to live next door to someone to appreciate their friendship… I know this mama from an internet forum and met her for the first time when she happened to be in Portland over my daughter’s birthday. When she asked me to shoot her birth at a hospital nearly 3 1/2 hours away from me, I knew that I would try my best. As a birth photographer herself, I didn’t need to push the importance of this kind of photography, she knew. So here’s the story:
I beg Aga not to “go” in the middle of the night. Aga overdoes my request and instead goes 9 days overdue. So, I decide to drive to her in Tri Cities the night before the morning of her scheduled induction. The docs said to call in the morning and they’d tell her when to come in. Sounds simple, right? Turns out, the hospitals were so slammed, there was NO room for anyone not about to have a baby on the triage table. That meant, no induction for us. As anyone who has ever been overdue can attest ( <— 2.5 weeks myself) it is emotionally exhausting to be SO ready for your baby and know the end is thisclose but you just can’t seem to get there. After deciding another hospital was probably a better fit anyway, we realize they won’t induce her for another 6 days. Upon examination, nothing is happening in my poor friend’s cervix and so we all sort of give up.
I realize I’m going to have to drive alllll the way back to Vancouver, and will likely have to drive back in a day or two when Aga naturally goes into labor, with a good risk of not getting there in time. What can anyone do about it really? No sense whining. So, Aga goes to bed after a long day of trying to make this baby happen, and her husband I and do the logical thing in this situation and drink a bottle of wine and watch National Lampoons European Vacation. We giggled. A lot. So anyhoo, we both turn in around midnight.
12:15- Knock at the door. Jeff says “she say it’s time to go!” I drink a frappucino in about 3 seconds on the way over to the hospital and am fully expecting Aga to be like, a 1. I mean, she’s been in labor for what seems a very short amount of time.
Nurses come in to check. 6cm!
Babies know the right time 🙂
Welcome Zoey Evangaline.
This is BY FAR the BEST birth I have EVER seen photographed! WICKED job!
Wonderful, I am speechless.
Totally had me crying. Just beautiful!!! Congratulations again, Aga!!
Had tears in my eyes. Made me remember my own birth experience. So beautiful. Congrats to the new parents and to the big sisters. 🙂
so, so beautiful 🙂 Love the story as well!
These are fantastic…..so beautiful and emotional all at once. Congrats Aga!!!
I love these Erin. I especially love that most of them are in color. Aga is so lucky!
I just LOVE your birth posts!! Just amazingly beautiful!
AMAZING! TEARS!!! So beautifully photographed!! Something they will cherish forever!
Awww! <3 This makes me want to have another baby just so I can have some more amazing birth photos! lol
these are gorgeous, Erin! i just love all the perspectives! very tasteful, private and full of emotion. LOVE them!
Congratulations, Aga, on a beautiful baby girl!
amazing. absolutely, unbelievably amazing. congratulations to Zoey’s family…she’s a beauty!!
I love the macro shots!
erin, these are breathtaking. In an instant I was brought back to my deliveries. You are truly an artist, thank you for all you do to inspire the rest of us.
Aga, congrats once again. You have been blessed. She’s beautiful!
So touching! You capture such great moments, those macro shots are wonderful
Oh these are so beautiful! Congratulations Aga!
Oh….blown away. Amazing. I was taken to another zone watching this post. Such amazing work, you must have been exhausted yourself after this! Thank you for sharing!