Let's talk about joy for a second. It was abounding in this hospital room all day long. Tyler and Laura's gratitude for this new gift they were about to receive was so thick you could feel it. There was a lot prayer, a lot of hugs, a lot of excited smiles (does this mama not have the BEST smile?!) Grandparents were all making their way in to welcome baby girl. Big brother even had a special shirt on, receiving his fair share of loving from everyone during this day when their family of three would become a family of four. The sweetest thing? This wonderful dad reading a book about godly parenting of daughters while we waited for his wife to be prepped for delivery.
As you may be able to tell, there were not a lot of surprises the morning of sweet Audrey's arrival. All the family knew when and where they would meet this little girl because Laura was having a planned c-section. So let me just break to talk about this for a second, because I know (well I hope!) that this amazing mom feels the same way....
If anyone feels that their birth experience will be any less because of a c-section, or feels that a c-section isn't worth photographing, please trust me.
It is not less of an experience, and it is totally worth having photographed.
I hope I am not overstepping my bounds my saying that, because no, I did not have to have a c-section, so truthfully I can't know the feelings behind it. But, I do know that this birth was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever witnessed.
Because your child's birth day is special, no matter how it plays out…it is the day you get to meet this little human that you carried and grew for 9+ months. The method of delivery doesn't make that fact any less significant or amazing.
This family's day started around 6am (well I know they didn't sleep much the night before out of sheer anticipation, but they arrived at the hospital around then). Laura was scheduled for delivery around 8:15, and I arrived at around 7:45 to get some photos of big brother, their last few minutes as a family of 3, her last few minutes with the belly you've grown to love, etc.
The nurses arrived right on time to take her back, and Tyler and I chatted for a little while we waited for them to come get us. The doctor doing her c-section was my OB as well, and she is just adored by about every woman who has entrusted their care to her. She is awesome. She even greeted me as I walked in, and I knew from prior planning on Laura's part that she was super supportive of me being there.
So, the assumed position for me in the OR is above the drape. That was where both myself and Laura expected I would be standing. But because we were in the OR of both supportive doctors and super sweet nurses, I ended up getting to watch the actual procedure…the actual delivery of this precious baby girl from her mom's body.
Talk about incredible. I mean, I loved my birth experience…it was the best day ever. However, even though I was an active participant, I didn't get to watch what was going on. Getting to see this little miracle was nothing short of awesome.
But because we hadn't discussed the possibility of this, I didn't want to impede on mom's privacy by snapping a ton of photos of the surgery without her permission. So instead I just watched in awe, and started snapping afterwards.
Everything was perfect. Sweet Audrey was delivered that morning into the hands of a wonderful doctor, and into the lives of an amazing family. Watching Tyler see his daughter for the first time, watching Laura get to hold her in this new world for the first time; it never ceases to amaze me, this crazy remarkable thing that God allows us to do in giving birth.
Here is Audrey's day:
