TMC
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!
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.
