I reached out to Cagney toward the end of her pregnancy to ask if I could be part of documenting the birth of her son. I've loved the idea of birth photography for quite some time, but logistically I needed to figure some things out before I offered it publicly. As time came to document her birth I became more and more excited about the opportunity and the same anticipation I felt leading up to the birth of my own babies I found myself feeling for her!
She went in for her 38 week appointment to get her membranes stripped. With all of her other babies she knew that usually jumpstarted labor and with her history that would mean a baby would arrive within 24 hours. Lo and behold, this baby was not wanting to follow that pattern. Week 38 came and went and Cagney was still pregnant! At her week 39 appointment they tried again, this time Cagney was already at 5cm and was showing signs that baby boy was ready for his debut. The next morning they. made their way to the hospital to get ready for his delivery.
When I arrived at 1:00 they had just broken her water and she was laboring on the birth ball. I joked with her because she was watching the Food Network. What kind of torture is that!? She labored on the ball for a bit, drank some blue gatoraid and then decided she wanted to stand for a bit. At about a quarter to 3:00 the anesthesiologist arrived for her epidural. After that thinks seemed to go pretty quickly!
Her contractions picked up and by 4:30 she was at 9cm. The midwife team arrived and after one practice push they said- "well, there he is... let's get ready to have a baby!"
One contraction later and two pushes and Beck Davis Meads arrived at 4:53pm. Dad was in tears seeing his boy for the first time and then soon was able to cut the cord. Mom was an absolute CHAMP and looked so beautiful! She definitely made having a baby look like easy!
After some snuggle time and lots of pictures, Beck was weighed in at 8lbs 10 oz, and 20 inches long.
What a joy and honor it was to be there for his birth. Definitely a milestone I will never forget!
I am so so excited to now be offering birth photography and videography packages to families in North Georgia and to be sharing more birth stories over the next few weeks!