As a Raleigh birth photographer, I get to capture such incredible moments in family’s lives! I met with Suzanne last fall to talk about photographing the arrival of her little girl. Her first baby. She was so excited! I remember she and her sister, Leslie (who’s birth I’ll be photographing in the next few weeks!) couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces. How wonderful that their little girls would be so close in age? And to top that off, their brother and sister-in-law just had a baby girl, too! So much to be thankful for in their sweet family! Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to be there to document them welcoming their little ones into the world.

On the morning of March 9th around 11:30am, I received a text – Suzanne’s OBGYN had decided to induce her that day! Her blood pressure was a little high and their family has a history of pre-eclampsia so they decided it’d be safest to go ahead and get labor started. While this wasn’t the ideal situation, everyone was so excited and ready to meet little Adaline! I started to make plans for childcare and immediately got nervous and excited!

They started Pitocin around 4pm and by 5:30pm, she was dilated to 2cm and things were starting to get going. Contractions weren’t too strong yet and Suzanne was working through them well. Around 7:15pm, Leslie told me she was dilated to 4cm and 80% effaced – great progress! She was still working through contractions well and was trying to rest a bit before labor really got going.

I arrived at UNC Women’s Hospital around 9:45pm. I was a ball of nerves, but so ready to start this journey of birth photographer. This was the third birth that I’d documented, but this marked the beginning of transitioning out of weddings and into “new life” photography. I found the delivery room, introduced myself to her sweet family, and began taking photos. Suzanne was incredible. Birth is always beautiful, but every time I have the honor of witnessing it, I’m reminded that women are strong and born to do this. It’s so amazing to get to be a part of such an incredible transformation in the life of a family.

Suzanne’s water broke spontaneously at 11:45pm and we knew that would probably make things move along much more quickly! We could tell almost immediately that the contractions were getting stronger. She continued to work through them with the  help of her husband, Aaron. He didn’t leave her side. That may be one of my favorite things about birth – watching the new fathers step up and really support their wives. Aaron was no exception – he rubbed her shoulder, applied counter-pressure on her back, and held her hand through each contraction.

By about 12:30am, Suzanne decided that it was time for an epidural. She was exhausted and it seems that rest is exactly what she needed because shortly afterward, she was dilated to 8cm! Hearing this was so exciting! Suzanne knew she had limited time to rest and the room began to fill with excitement at the impending arrival of that sweet babe. The nurse was in and out, moving Suzanne into different positions and helping baby move down. We all started to make our predictions for the time of birth – 3:00am, 3:49am, 4:07am. We were all wrong. Little Adaline wanted to stay in there just a bit longer.

Around 4:45am, Suzanne was fully dilated and it was finally time to push! She was so determined and her daughter arrived only 20 minutes later! Adaline Gayle made her entrance into this world at 5:05am on March 10th, 2016. She was a beautiful 7 pounds, 5 ounces and 21.5 inches long. It was an absolutely perfect, life-altering, incredible moment.

Watching someone work through labor contractions after having given birth less than a year ago was such a surreal experience. It brought back memories and I had intense empathy for Suzanne in those moments. Having the honor of watching a baby being born is a mix of witnessing a miracle and feeling intensely connected to that person. In those moments during contractions, I hid behind my camera and photographed her incredible strength, but I couldn’t help but put myself in her shoes and remember those intense surges of labor. It’s amazing that when it’s happening to you, you feel so helpless and weak, but to witness birth is to witness the unbelievable and innate strength of a woman. I’m so amazed that I get to capture these moments for such incredible women!

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