I remember the first time I met Angelica and Josue.  Love just radiated from them.  We sat in a Bill Millers and talked about what they envisioned for their story.  I had the honor of telling their story from the moment they announced that they were expecting a boy, all the way through his first year.  I figured it was time to tell his story, since he is almost 2 and a half now!  LOL  I have LOVED watching him grow!  I hope you enjoy reading Valentin's birth story from their perspective.  I know I did. :)  

I am finally making some time to blog!  Yay!  I have been gathering some birth stories that I wanted to share and today I am sharing Kennedy's birth.  I met Destiny a couple of years ago when I was working on my "seasonal mommas" project for my studio.  Basically I wanted to photograph one woman for each season, and since the seasons are so different, I wanted to use different ethnicities to represent each season.  DJ was exactly what I was looking for to represent my spring goddess, and she accepted.  As we planned for the session she became interested in a birth story.  Before long I was on call for her! 

The morning of March 22, 2015 I was getting ready to head out for a pregnancy reveal session when DJ let me know that she was at the hospital.  We still figured it could be a while so I told her to keep me posted and notified my clients that we may need to reschedule depending on when baby decided to come.  I was en route to the session when DJ's mom called to let me know she was 6cm!  I called my clients and let them know what was going on and headed back towards SAMMC.

I walked in and DJ was happily visiting on the phone with friends and family and enjoying the company of her mother.  Things were moving right along, I think I was as excited as she was to know that we would be meeting miss Kennedy soon!

I asked DJ to share her birth story with me so I could tell it from her perspective.    :)   

So excited to share this momma's beautiful (fast!) birth story with you!  It's always humbling to be chosen to document birth, and I am honored to be there for a little one's journey earth-side.  Ashley texted me at 4:15 in the morning to tell me she had been contracting every 4 min for almost an hour.  She didn't call yet, so I laid in the bed, debating whether I should go ahead and head up to the hospital, or wait to see what her progress was when she got there.  I knew she had planned to labor at home as long as she could, so I opted to hop in the shower and head up there, just in case.  She texted two more times while I was in the shower, I had a feeling she was going fast.  I was at the hospital at 5:30, by 6:15 they had her in a room.  She was 5cm when she arrived in triage at 5:30, and between 7 and 8cm by the time they got her settled in the room.  After some intense laboring, and waiting for the doctor to arrive (staff telling her "don't push yet!), little Elijah was born just before 7:30 AM.  It was a beautiful birth, and Ashley was absolutely amazing!  I hope you enjoy their birth story!

Wow!  It's been busy here lately; I have neglected my blog!  Ok, so I will do my best to get everything all caught up!  Today I will start with a couple of beautiful births that I had the honor of capturing.  These two amazing mommas agreed to allow me to put their birth stories in my portfolio, and it was such a privilege to work with them and experience that sacred time in their lives.

Kamelli's Birth Story

Kamelli delivered her fourth baby, her first daughter, on January 10, 2014.  I knew that Kamelli has a history of delivering early, so I kept my phone with me.  On the 9th, I had a feeling something was going to happen, but I shook it off and went to bed.  My mom had just gotten into town and we were getting ready to do some sewing when I checked my facebook page on the morning of the 10th.  No news was good news, so I logged off and got the kids off to school.  When I checked again, I found out that I had just missed a message from Kamelli's husband.  They were at the hospital and she was in labor... and it was two hours later!  I knew that she usually goes fast, so I had no time to spare.  I rushed to grab my stuff and tried to contact them.  Kamelli had forgotten her phone at home, and I didn't have her husband's number.  Note to self: make sure everyone that might possibly need my number has it in case mom forgets her phone...

Kamelli waited for me to arrive before letting the midwife in attendance break her water.  Labor progressed at a steady pace...she was so quiet, moving through contractions with grace.  Her husband supported and comforted her, resting when she did during quiet periods. I couldn't help but tear up as they welcomed their little girl, and her first cries filled the room.

Summer's Birth Story


During our first consult, Summer sat across from me in Starbucks with her gorgeous little flaxen-haired toddler and smiled.  As her little guy grinned at me and showed me his "coffee" (hot chocolate), she started off with, "This is a surprise pregnancy, and he is our fifth child!"  Her sense of humor was quirky, and we hit it off from the start.  She hadn't ever had birth photos taken before, and we were both looking forward to documenting it! 

Things were going great, when she gave me a call.  "Can we do my maternity session early?  They have decided that my blood pressure is too high and they are inducing me in just a few days!"

I moved some things around in my schedule, and we got her maternity session done just in time.  Only two days later they admitted her for induction.  I kept in contact with her as her labor progressed, and around 9 PM on Jan 16, she sent me a text that she was at 5 cm, and it was going to be a long night.  I had a feeling I was going to get a call, so I headed to bed early and tried to make myself sleep...

At 3 AM my phone rang.  I signed the guest log at 3:45, and stepped into the dark silence of the delivery room.  Summer's husband sat next to the bed, holding her hand and praying with her.  I could tell that contractions were close together and strong.  Before long Summer called for the doctor, and it was time to push!  Her sweet little man was born at 4:24 AM, just 39 minutes after I arrived!  No matter how many times I witness it, birth has a way of taking my breath away...

That's all for today, but I'll be back to tell you about more of the beautiful bellies and adorable babies I have been working with!  Wait...how can anything so amazing and so much fun be called work???  Oh, well, come back and see me!