Our First Birth Story…
Ok, been there done that. My daughter is almost 3 years old now, and I remember (for the most part) the birth experience. Intense, painful, and get this thing out. I recall feeling like superwomen leaving the hospital knowing I gave birth naturally. After watching the experience first hand; superwoman is an understatement for us women!
Living the experience is a heck of a lot different than watching. That pain, those emotions, and what a couple endures during those hours of birth is what makes the experience so magical, and makes a woman’s body so incredible. Let’s be honest, there is a reason women are responsible for pushing a watermelon out of our vagina. Men would die at birth; they can’t even handle a head cold or a tummy ache. Enough said…right?
We’ve had birth stories scheduled, but the babies have come too early for us to make it there in time. Not baby Connor who was already three weeks late before Jessica started going into labor. When I arrived at the Birth Cottage in Milford NH at 2am, Jessica already had active labor contractors. If that’s such a thing (I’m not a doctor or midwife), basically she was in pain. I watched her husband, her sister, and her work through the pain for hours. Ok, so you’re thinking a few hours, max 5 hours. Oh no, this mom was in pain for a good 14 hours before pushing started. By 6:20pm this little guy decided to enter the world. I hid in corners, stayed low, and just stayed quiet. I would have to say those camera’s seem to click loud in a quiet room. I wanted to cry seeing her in pain like that, but I also wanted to cheer her on like she was finishing her first marathon. I can’t even explain the emotions, and I’m not even related to the family. Intense, no incredible, no remarkable, powerful, emotional, unbelievable; all of the above and more. I really can’t put into words what it is like to capture such a magical and emotional experience. I’m going to have let the images speak for themselves. I’m completely hooked, and want to photograph every birth in New England!
After our daughter was born, my husband and I were disappointed to realize that we didn’t have many pictures to remember the occasion by. When we were expecting our second child we decided to look into having someone else be there to document the whole experience. We had previously worked with Jan and Lindsey from Cheetah Design Studio on a family photo shoot we had done the year before. We were thrilled with the pictures we received and the interactions we had with CDS and decided to ask Lindsey to shoot a Birth Story session for us.
I was understandably apprehensive to have someone capturing me at a time when I was so exposed and needless to say, not at my most attractive. I wondered if having the camera in the room would be a distraction to the process and if it would make me feel self-conscious. Those fears and insecurities were quickly laid to rest after Lindsey arrived at the Birth Cottage. I never imagined that I could be so at ease with someone taking photos of me at such a time but Lindsey managed to become invisible to us. I still have no idea how she managed to capture so many wonderfully beautiful images that day but I will be forever grateful for having them. I am now able to look back on that day and remember every special moment shared between my husband and me as we welcomed the newest member into our family. We are so thankful that we decided to take the leap and invite Lindsey to share in our special day and we can’t wait to share our future milestones with the wonderful ladies at CDS!
– Jessica S
