Remember when I told you that I had been asked to photograph a birth?
And I was so very excited about it?
Well, Melissa had her baby last Saturday.
AND I MISSED IT.
I know.
I know.
Here’s how it went down:
5:55am – Josh texts me, says Melissa is in labor. I squeal with excitement, and can’t believe my good luck. A Saturday! Brett is home to watch Everett! This is perfect! I wait patiently for more news.
11:00am – Josh texts again. They are at the hospital, and she’s 4cm dilated. Doctor estimates 10 more hours of labor. We agree that I will come to the hospital at 6cm. Brett and I cancel our dinner plans. I wait patiently.
3:00pm – Josh texts: “We’re 10cm! Sorry for the late notice, much faster than we thought.” !!!!! I grab my sweatshirt, camera bag, cookies for the ride, and scurry out the door. I speed the whole way there.
3:22pm – I pull into the hospital parking garage, find the first open spot, go down the elevator, and semi-jog into the hospital lobby desperately searching for a sign that says Labor and Delivery. Cannot find one. Nobody at the front desk. Run into gift shop, ask clerk where the babies are born. She looks at a map inside the cabinet and tells me to take the South Elevator. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY ELEVATORS. I run down the ramp, through the hall, and squeeze onto an elevator as the doors close.
3:29pm – I step off of the elevator onto the third floor, and check in with the nurse at the sign-in desk. While she’s checking my ID, I get the last text from Josh: “baby born!”
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I was seven minutes too late.
I totally missed it.
Sweet Olivia was born at 3:23pm, and I got to their room at 3:30pm. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT REALLY HAPPENED? She went from 4cm to 10cm in four hours, and pushed for 15 minutes. NO DRUGS. Amazing.
Even though I missed the actual birth (dangit!!), I hung out for almost two hours afterwards and got to witness Olivia’s first feeding and first bath. It was miraculous and wonderful and may or may not have given me a teensy case of baby fever. Here are some of my favorite not-too-personal photos from that day:
p.s. See pictures from Melissa and Josh’s maternity shoot here.
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