Birth Photography
Sweet Cyrus is a big brother now, but in August we had a little fun at the lake before his little brother joined their family! There is something so magical about maternity sessions. There is seriously nothing I love more than an expecting mother. Those last few weeks of waiting and anticipation can be extremely magical.
One thing you learn about birth photography is births are 100% unpredictable. I often get asked the question- "What happens if you miss my birth?" Well there isn't a one size fits all answer here. The most common answer I give is, I will get there as fast as humanly possible and start documenting right when I walk in the door. There is so much more to your baby's birth story than their actual birth and there are so many moments right after the baby is born that often get overlooked. I have never missed a birth because of reasons I could control, I have missed 2 births total and both times those babies didn't want to wait for anyone, let alone their photographer to show up.
Mabel was born 5 minutes before I walked in the room and just minutes after her parents arrived at Baby & Co, she really didn't want to wait for anyone. I normally write out my version of a baby's birth story but Kathryn has already written hers out, you can read it here.
By the time I arrived, mom had already moved from her birthing tub and to the bed. Their midwife was going a quick check up on mabel and reminding mama to eat and replenish fluids.
Dad also surprised Mom with a beautiful ring as her "push present" she now has a series of beautiful unique bands signifying her family.
A few hours after birth Mabel was born, Mom had her CranioSacral Therapist show up to do some gentle adjustments on her and Mabel.
One thing I absolutely love about working with midwives is they usually do the baby's first check up on the foot of the bed or right next to mom and dad. I love this approach because you can see how calm everyone is.
Mom was off taking a bath and relaxing in the tub, so Dad got some special 1 on 1 time with sweet mabel. Skin to skin with dad benefits both Dad and baby!
After the sun came up, sweet big sister came to meet her new baby. To say she was smitten with her would definitely be an understatement.
You can watch Mabel's birth story - including footage from before I arrived below!
One night Lily and Craig were at our house, it was about 7pm and she could barely keep her eyes open. I flat out told her she was pregnant. She didn't believe me at all, but first thing the next day I got a text from her with a positive pregnancy test! Not only are they expecting their little one next February, but this is their "Rainbow Baby" !! A rainbow baby is a baby that is following a miscarriage, or loss. I am so excited to not only help announce their pregnancy but I am thrilled that they want me to photograph their birth also! Congratulations you two! I am so excited for this journey you are on!!
Because of the difference in images in the adorable family's gallery they are getting two blogs. Monet is an amazing birth photographer here in Denver and I was a tiny bit (a lot-a-bit) nervous to have her and her family in front of my camera. They couldn't have been more natural though and they made my job so easy. I really love maternity photography, more so than any other type of photography. There is something so beautiful with a mom going through this beautiful transition into a mother, even if it's for the 2nd, 3rd or 4th time. Pregnancy is such a personally life changing time and no pregnancy is the same. I really believe that every mom should have this chapter documented with every child.
There is seriously nothing more beautiful than seeing your family expand.
I truly love to fill my photos with light and love.
There is such a special sweetness in being able to participate in creation.
– Pamela S. Nadav
I love this quote so much. You can see the sweetness just radiating from this family. I can't wait to share the rest of their maternity session with the world!
If you would like to book your own maternity session send me an email at Hello@photoartbyjessica.com
Back in May I had my first Colorado birth. It was a cold rainy day and I was so glad I still had my big jacket still in my van. This birth story is for some new friends I made right when we moved here, it had been months since I was able to document a birth story and it was so wonderful be allowed into her birthing space.
Mama had such a beautiful birth at University of Colorado Hospital with the midwives from the Center for Midwifery. It was such a dream working with this birth team. They were so patient and compassionate with this family. This was probably the most beautiful hospital birth I had ever attended.
I am so excited to be booking births in the Denver Metro Area for the remainder of 2016 and the beginning of 2017.
I realized last week that I NEVER shared the full birth story of sweet little Rowan. I really love it when mom's write their own birth stories. I will never forget Rowan's delivery. Jonea was so strong and even though her birth plan went into the toilet she handled the changes so amazingly. Sweet Rowan was born with a True Knot in her cord which is extremely rare. Head over and read Jonea's birth story in her own words.. There is swears and complete honesty :) There is nothing more amazing than being allowed into a woman's birth space.
I am now booking a select number of births in the Denver Metro Area. My first two births booked, contract signed and deposit paid, are discounted by 400.00. All birth stories include a full maternity session and full birth coverage. I would be honored to tell your birth story and I am so excited to be offering birth stories in Denver Colorado.
I am honored to finally share the birth of Theodore B. His birth story is actually one of my favorites because literally the day before he was born, his mama and I were joking around about me being able to attend. Cierra never officially 'booked' me for her birth, it was more of a "if I can be there, I'll be there" type situation. Well Cierra messaged me the NEXT day saying she was heading to the birth center because she wasn't sure if she was in true labor or not. I was on standby and I got a text not even 2 hours later saying to head on down. Little did we all know.. Theo would be born shortly after the text. I arrived right as he was crowning and was able to spend a few hours with them documenting his first few hours earth side.
I am booking a small amount of births this year here in Denver and I have a few spots still available. If you're interested in booking your birth story please email me.
I have known Jessie and Jon for several years. I have documented a lot of major milestones in their adult life together. I was so honored and excited when Jessie asked me to be in the room to photograph the birth of their son Jacob. Their birth was a wonderful reminder how it's so important to have someone at your birth that can be your advocate. Someone that is familiar with your birth plan and your wishes, someone that can be your voice while you are in labor. Although Jessie didn't have her picture perfect labor, she did get the beautiful unmedicated water birth that she so badly wanted.
I have a very small preview of Rowan's beautiful birthday. She was born covered in amazing birthday frosting and was the sweetest, quietest, most serene baby I have seen in a long time. I can't wait until I am able to share her whole birth story with the world! She was born with a True Knot in her Umbilical cord! Thank you so much Jonea and Josh for letting me be there with you for this amazing night!
Like I have said before, I LOVE everything related to birth photography, including maternity and in home newborn sessions. I truly love lifestyle newborn sessions. There is just something magical about those first few days at home with a new little one. The Randall family invited me into their home two weeks after little Ireland was born, brother and sister are still getting into the swing of having a new sibling and little Ireland was seriously as sweet as could be. Thank you so much Randall Family for letting me be part of this wonderful time in your lives!
This is actually the first of two maternity sessions with this amazing woman! Her husband was out of town for her first session and her second session will be just them without their adorable son! I can't lie, I was extremely nervous to photograph Jonea.. this girl is literally famous. She was photographed by the AMAZING Jade Beall for The Beautiful Body Project and several of her images have gone viral. it did take me a while to get over my nervousness and when I finally got comfortable we hit an amazing groove and created some because art together. I am SO HONORED she asked me to photograph her!
I have finally decided I am just obsessed with anything about birth and mothering/nurturing. I love being able to photograph these amazing women who are caring for and nurturing their children. Now we wait Jonea and Josh's beautiful little girl to grace us with her presence, I can't wait to share their images from their next maternity session with the world!
You might remember my GORGEOUS Maternity session from a few weeks ago.. Well Ireland decided to make her debut in the weeeee hours of August 11th, weighing a perfect 7lbs 2oz. Mom had a pretty intense labor but worked through each and every contraction with the help of her amazing husband and wonderful Doula. Ashlee worked so hard during her labor, probably walked a mile back and forth at the birth center. She moved into and out of the birth tub before settling into the bed. Lynn her doula (https://www.facebook.com/loveandlabor) was with her every second. When Ashlee was doubting she could do it, Lynn was there to give her positive affirmations, rub her back and hold her when she needed it. In the end Ashlee had the birth she imagined and had an amazingly supportive birth team, I can't wait to share her entire birth story with the world! For now enjoy this preview. <3
I am so excited for the birth of Ireland! She is expected to bless us with her arrival any time now and I am just waiting for the call! This session almost didn't happen. Right now in Tucson it's Monsoon. Many afternoons we experience lots of rain and wind. Well the evening of our session we decided to chance it and I am so glad that we did. When we were walking out the door the rain clouds opened and it down poured on us until literally 5 minutes away from our shooting location. I was so excited that we got in front of the storm and we wasted no time and got to shooting. The rain held off for our entire session but on the way home the sky cleared and gave us a gorgeous sunset so of course we had to pull over into the first open field I could find! It was a pretty adventurous shoot!
I normally try to write my birth stories out within a few hours of the birth.. usually no later than 24... It's been over a week since little miss Norah Jean was born and I am just now starting to write it all out. I've been going back and forth with what to say about this amazing family. Madison and Tremayne moved to Tucson at the beginning of Madison's pregnancy with Norah, I remember her messaging me when she was just a few weeks along, she hadn't even announced her pregnancy yet. We chatted for a while and she gave me the honor of photographing her birth. Months passed by and we started planning her Maternity shoot, everything was planned and set for May 17th. Just a few weeks before Madison was diagnosed with Polyhydramnios (Excessive Amniotic Fluid). The Wednesday before, I had gotten a message that she thought she was in labor and was heading to L&D to be checked out.. false alarm. Days passed like normal and on Saturday for some reason I woke up around 4:45am, for no particular reason, my daughter was still snoring, our phones were on silent and all was dark in the room, but for some reason I was wide awake. I laid in bed for a few minutes then I decided to get up and get moving.
When I had gotten to my phone around 5:20am, I notice I had missed a text message from Madison, she was in Labor and was at the hospital. I shoveled some breakfast into my mouth, grabbed my gear and out the door I flew. Things were quiet at the hospital, Madison was at 5cm when I arrived but because of the amount of fluid she had, she could barely feel her contractions. Because she was still several weeks away from her due date the hospital staff tried to slow her labor.
Things were progressing, and because the amount of fluid, Norah's head was still floating and because of that Madison and Norah were at risk for cord prolapse when her waters broke (where the umbilical cord drops through the open cervix in front of the babies head, the cord can then become trapped against the babies body). A high risk OB came in and assessed the situation, although the chances were very slim of the cord prolapsing it was still a risk, and if it happened Madison would be headed to an emergency C-section and would have to be unconscious for the procedure unless she opted for an epidural. Madison had planned on having an unmedicated delivery but with the risks she did opt for an epidural. The OB then broke Madison's bag of water and as we all had hoped for Norah's head dropped nicely into place.
After Madison had taken a short nap with the epidural she asked for it to be turned off so it would be worn off or nearly worn off by the time of delivery. Things began to pick up speed around 5:30pm and Madison slowly started having the urge to push. After a half an hour of small pushes, the real pushing began. Sweet little Norah Jean was born shortly before 6:30pm. Because of her prematurity, she was having some issues breathing and keeping her oxygen levels up. Madison only got to spend a few short minutes with her before she was whisked away to the NICU to receive further treatment. Norah came home 6 days later and is thriving. She has this amazing red hair just like her mama, and is super sassy just like her big brother Owen.
Please note: there are graphic birthing images below
I have known Hartini for a little over a year. She is the amazing person that talked us into hosting an exchange student this year. She has provided us an amazing experience with Jule and we are forever grateful for this opportunity. She was on the fence for a long time about having a birth photographer and actually hired me before even talking her husband into it!! Lillianna is her 4th child and Like my previous birth Hartini warned me that she has had some pretty quick labors.
Hartini messaged me during the afternoon, letting me know she was having some intense but really irregular contractions. I went about my day not really thinking too much about it. My bag was already packed so I was ready if this was "it." Around 8:00pm Hartini messaged me again to let me know she was going to pack up and head to the hospital, so I made a pot of coffee and filled my thermos so I would be prepared for the night.
We got to the hospital around 8:30 or so and when the nurse checked her she was only at 3cm. They said if she made progress at 11 then her doctor would admit her. The catch was since she had a previous C-section she had to be continuously monitored and they wouldn't let her leave her little triage area. For those of you who have been in labor, you would know that it's really hard to progress when you're stuck in a bed. We asked for a yoga ball but they hospital only had ONE and it was in use. I only live about 10 minutes from the hospital so I offered to run home and grab my ball and some fresh coffee. I left around 9:30 and I was back before 10:00. Hartini spent the next hour or so on the ball and sneaking off to the bathroom to get a break from being monitored. When 11:00 rolled around the nurse checked her and she was at 6cm! What a huge change! We had to wait for a little while for a labor and delivery room to become available for her and finally got put in a room around 12:30am.
Hartini had two really good contractions on the way to her room so it took us a few minutes to make the walk. By the time we got to the room the nurses were there in full force (I counted 12 of them at one time). She was hooked up to her IV and had the monitors strapped back on. Her contractions were coming on top of each other and I could tell she was getting close. I remember her head nurse asking for her Doctor, who had just stepped out to the atrium for her break. Hartini's body was pushing want her doctor walked in and didn't even have time to put on gloves! She pulled her hands into the sleeves of her gown and caught sweet Lillianna less than a minute after she walked into the room.
I have to admit watching a hospital birth was so crazy. I had never experienced a hospital birth from an outside perspective. Being able to provide these images for Hartini is so amazing for me since she has been able to provide us with such an awesome experience with our sweet Jule.
I was so honored when Olivia asked me to be part of her birth. When she hired me she warned me that she has fast labors and man she wasn't kidding. I wish I had this long beautiful birth story to put with this blog post but the actually story goes something like this. Olivia called me at 2:00pm and told me she was heading to the Birth Center, her contractions were getting stronger and she wanted to be there with time to spare before she delivered her new baby. She arrived at the Birth Center less than 5 minutes before I did and I arrived at 2:34pm. They had already begun filling her birthing tub so it was 3/4 of the way full when we got there. Fran was her midwife and she had Olivia lay down so she could check her cervix she was at an 8!! Olivia promptly entered her birth tub, she extremely focused and spent some time talking to Weston, she told him it was time and that she was so excited to meet him. Lynn, Olivia's doula was such an amazing support person for her. 20 minutes after arriving at the Birth Center, Weston made his way earth side. He was born at 2:54pm. I spent the next few hours with them, and watching mom and dad bond with their new son. It was such an amazing experience and I was so honored that I got to be part of it.
