Birth photography

In early December I had a conversation with Val of Happy Ely After Photography and she so very graciously agreed to be our birth and postpartum photographer. I was elated at the thought of having pictures to document the moment my son or daughter entered the world! Little did I know that sweet Jonathan Francis would enter the world rather quickly and Val would nearly miss the whole thing completely!

She gave us close to two hundred photos and its hard to pick just a few to share... so maybe I'll share more than just a few! (Some might be a bit graphic, but they're important because they tell the story in all of its raw beauty.) I wish she had been there for the actual laboring part, but we didn't call her in time because we simply didn't know things would progress as rapidly as they did. All in all, I'm really happy with the pictures she got and I'm so thankful for the images to help me remember the events of Jonathan's birthday. 

So, without further ado, photos from the afternoon and night of Sunday, December 30, 2012. The day we met our sweet baby boy.

L&D Room 10 - Where Jonathan took his first breaths outside of the womb...
& where he was actually born - just outside that bathroom door straight ahead!

A random, compact, excellent visit with the Harks!

The two bracelets all the girls made for me

 Love this.

Little One's heartbeat was in the mid-140s through the entire pregnancy

"Okay Love, see ya later! I can handle this, no need for you to stick around here right now."
Matt left to get dinner, tidy up at home, etc. and a little over an hour later I called him to come back.
I was in pain and wanted his help through contractions. Boy, did things pick up from that moment!

When Blinn went home, we sent Val home because we thought the Pitocin would take longer to kick in and we didn't feel the need for photos of the waiting game. We agreed to give her a call when I was dilated to 5-6 centimeters since labor often progresses quickly from that point. By the time we made the call, I'd chosen to have the bag of water broken and Little One arrived mere minutes later. The first photo Val took when she got back was this one: 

Disbelief that our babe was already here. Amazed that he had a son.
Shocked that the midwife tossed him a babe so fresh and new! I love that Blinn's expression
was captured in this moment, it says so much.

The first time I saw our boy.

The first time I touched sweet J

I'm amazed at how quickly a woman can switch into maternal mode. He was still attached and yet
I was trying to calm him down, shh-ing him and reassuring him that his mama was there.

The circus of women (and Blinn) trying to free Jonathan from all the wires that
were attached to me. Hilarious!

The hot potato is passed back to Papa as I tried getting onto the bed.

And there he was: Our son. We got to gaze at him together and laugh and smile
and weep with thanksgiving. So freaking beautiful.

This is the end of photography installment one... more to come soon!