Savannah Family Photographer // The S Family

This is a family dear to my heart. If you've been following my blog or my work, you know that Briana and I were each other's photographers throughout our pregnancies with our baby girls, who were born just a few weeks apart. We did each other's gender reveal and maternity sessions, cheered each other on through our first year of motherhood, and then took each other's family portraits around our girls' first birthdays.

Briana's style tends to be pretty laid back, but still carefully put together. Her family session was similar to her maternity photos in style--a country chic theme. As a fellow portrait photographer, she understands the importance of details, which makes working with her family so enjoyable!

Little miss Emma was just coming up on her first steps. It was so much fun watching and documenting her practice with mom and dad!

Hospital Birth Story // Baby Mason // Tulsa, OK

My sweet Mason. My sweet, squishy, stubborn Mason. That's right, I said my Mason! No, Mason isn't my squishy baby. He is, however, my squishy nephew. (Note the excessive use of the word squishy... Mason is very squishy).

Mason’s birth story is one that I’m bumping ahead in the queue because it’s one I’m so excited to tell. It’s a story that I’m going to tell much more personally and honestly than any other birth story. It’s a story that’s so important and close to my heart, and such a huge and special part of my relationship with my older sister. Mason is my sister, Meghan’s, fifth (and last) baby.

When my sister called me crying last winter, I had a pretty good feeling why. “I’m pregnant!” she sobbed. I remember pacing excitedly around my living room and trying not to let my smile leak into my voice. I was bouncing my 5 month old stage 5 clinger on my hip, and 2000 miles away, she was probably doing the same with her equally clingy 1.5 year old. We were together in that we were completely touched out and a little overwhelmed with motherhood as it was, whether or not we wanted to admit it. And here, another baby!

So why was I smiling?

My sister is an amazing mother. The birth of her first daughter was the first labor I ever attended. I was a few weeks away from my 12th birthday, and my sister had just turned 16. We were still babies ourselves. It was through that pregnancy and the first few years of Abigail’s life that my sister and I first started building our now incredibly close I’d-do-anything-for-you bond. Motherhood is, in a sense, our thing. Of course I knew my sister could handle a fifth baby. And I knew that this baby was going to be a blessing.

Mason proved himself to be a blessing long before he was born. It was through this pregnancy that my sister learned of some health issues that could have been missed had she not been under maternity care. To us, this was the only sign we needed that Mason was meant to be an instrumental part of the family.

In that initial phone call, I promised my sister I would be there for this birth. I was determined to photograph her last pregnancy, labor, birth, Mason meeting his siblings—all of it. By some stroke of luck, I was able to schedule my trip for the weeks spanning her due date and document his birth.

You see that adorable preteen? That's our Abigail, my sister's oldest daughter! Can you believe I attended her birth?

One might think that, this being my sister's fifth delivery, Mason's labor was a quick one. But no, not quite! My sister was scheduled to be induced a few days before her due date because she had been measuring several weeks ahead her entire pregnancy. Meghan tried everything in the book to get the induction started at home. This being her fifth induction, she really wanted to experience the rush of going into full blown labor on her own. Mason, however, was not on board. He wasn't even really on board with the induction. Things went along very slowly...

Around 3 PM, Meghan's two youngest babies came to visit. By this point, she was starting to hit a wall. I stood by while Josh comforted her. I didn't catch what he was saying, but their body language was amazing. It was a perfect picture of support and love.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. "Are you in pain or are you feeling discouraged?" She laughed through her tears: "Yes."

Around dinnertime, things finally started picking up.

The second shift change of her labor approached, which was a pretty difficult goodbye. We knew that Mason would come soon, but there was no telling how soon. So although she offered to stay, Meghan said an emotional goodbye to her favorite nurse.

After a few trial pushes, Meghan moved positions to help Mason move down into position. It was almost time! While we waited out those last few minutes before delivery, we made guesses on how big he would be.

As you can see in the note, we made baby Mason's weight guesses at 7:52 PM. I closed my computer and walked over to Meghan to ask how she was doing. "Um..." she said as her doctor was walking in the room to check on her, "I'm ready. He's coming."

At 8:02 PM, after just a few short minutes of pushing, Mason Wyatt was welcomed earthside. He weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 1 oz!

Sweet Mase, you are one loved little dude. I'm so grateful that I got to be a part of this birth experience, and I can't wait to get back to Tulsa and squeeze those perfect cheeks on a regular basis!

With Love,
Aunt Memily

Birth Story // Baby Scarlett // St. Joseph's Medical Center, Tacoma, WA

When Tricia told me she wanted a birth photographer, I was beyond excited. I'd been waiting for the opportunity to photograph my first birth, and this was perfect!

When she hit 40 weeks, I turned my phone on forever loud. Every morning, I would wake in a slight panic that I'd missed the call--THE call!--but I hadn't. Poor Tricia was so done with her pregnancy, having had one helluva third trimester, and so we shared in anticipation daily. Finally, at her 41 week appointment, they did a membrane sweep (her third!) and told her they would induce the next afternoon if it didn't work.

Well, 41+1 at 1:00 PM (her induction time) rolled around, and the hospital was busy. We waited around patiently, but every time she called the induction got pushed back. Finally, right as frustration was peaking, they called--they were ready!

I had decided to go with Tricia to the induction so I could get plenty of photos of her laboring. This being my first birth, even if it was a slow one, I didn't want to miss anything. So I met Tricia and Corey at their apartment and rode over with them.

After checking into the hospital, we waited patiently for a room to be ready. St. Joseph's Labor & Delivery was the busiest I'd ever seen it (apparently this was a "normal" workload for the staff--WOW!).

Once they got Tricia into a room, the anticipation really started hitting. There was so much excitement in the air, and just pure giddiness coming from mom & dad. Tricia got situated and they hooked her up to the monitors. Baby Scarlett's heart rate was a little high, so after waiting a bit for her to settle down, they decided to give Tricia some IV fluids in hope that hydrating would bring baby's heart rate down so they could start the induction.

We watched excitedly as the few-and-far-between contractions that Tricia had been having naturally showed on the monitor. It looked pretty promising for a successful induction!

Finally, sweet Scarlett's heart rate had stayed in the normal range long enough to start the induction. We knew it would be a long night, so we decided to go down to the cafeteria and grab second dinner (it was about 11:30 PM).

After second dinner, Tricia got some rest while we waited.

After she woke, mama bounced on the birthing ball for a bit, then went downstairs and walked the halls to encourage contractions.

We watched the sun rise over Tacoma right before Tricia's midwife came in to rupture her membranes. As soon as her membranes were ruptured--within minutes!--contractions picked up quickly. Less than half an hour later, Tricia was ready to move to the delivery room to finish her labor.

As Tricia was moved to the delivery room, the intensity mounted. Finally, she asked for an epidural. While they waited for the anesthesiologist, Tricia labored in the tub and the nurse gave her some IV pain medication, which brought a few smiles. The birthing team hovered close by while Tricia and Corey sat quietly in the bathroom and labored.

Just a couple of hours after her epidural was placed, Tricia said she was starting to feel a little pain again. She kept pressing the button, but no relief. The nurse came in and helped her turn over to see if that would help, but still she was uncomfortable. They finally decided to check her, just in case, and the news that Tricia was complete and baby Scarlett was ready to come earthside took the room by surprise! As the room was being shifted around and quickly prepped for delivery, mama was in shock and tears welled up in her eyes. She looked at Corey and cried, "I didn't think it would happen so fast!"

In just a few short pushes, sweet Scarlett Rose was born on August 9, 2014 with a full head of hair, healthy lungs and a single dimple (just like her mama)!