One of my greatest honors, and one of the best parts about being a birth photographer for going on 9 years, is photographing a family’s first birth…and then their second…and then their third! I met Brian and Linda way back in 2013 when I was in my first full year of being a birth photographer. Giddy in love, due with their first baby – they were dream clients and working with them helped me fall even more in love with birth photography. I was so thrilled to once again be part of baby boy #2’s birth in 2015, and when Linda emailed me to tell me that baby boy #3 was coming in September, you can imagine my joy! There’s something about traveling the birthing road several times with the same person that is just…special. You’ve seen their doubts and fears and low points, and you’ve seen their strength and power and beauty.
After a long first birth, I barely made it to birth #2, so when Linda called me early in the morning of September 17 I scooted out the door as quickly as I could…I was NOT going to miss this one!
{ be sure to scroll down to watch their beautiful birth film at the end of this post – or just click here to skip right there! }
Another special thing about this birth is that Linda’s midwife, Kelly Jenkins of Blue Ridge Birth, had also been part of Linda’s birth team for all of her births. Being at this birth together felt a little bit like a party!
Sweet Wyatt took a little more time than we expected, I think he wanted to wait for the warm sun to start streaming through the windows. As we waited, we witnessed as Linda went from those early labor contractions into the hard work of birthing her baby, traversing from anticipatory excitement into “I can’t do this, I can’t stay on top of it” and then finally into “I did it.” Each step of the way she was supported, each person in the room fully confident in her power to birth her baby.
One of my favorite parts of home births is that once baby has arrived, the whole family just snuggles in bed together. Even the newborn exam happens in bed. It’s just the best.
I just loved doing a film for Linda this time around – I wasn’t yet doing video when I photographed her first two births. I feel like it adds so much to the story, so grab some tissues and watch the whole thing!
