Ashland Birth Center Delivery :: Gabriel

As Erin concentrated on breathing through the excruciating contraction, her husband Joan, whispered softly against her hair: “mi amor.” She rested as the contraction passed and prepared for the next.  Again, Joan steadied and comforted her as they both waited for the next contraction — a movement that would bring them closer to meeting their second baby or possibly babies. There was some question as to whether Erin carried two babies or one, so it was all hands on deck in the event it was the former.

 

The June evening was warm, dark, filled with fireflies.  A perfect night for a baby to make his way to earth. I met Erin and Joan this June night for the first time.  In the full throes of labor, she smiled briefly but warmly at me and then focused again to ride out a painful contraction. I shook hands with her lovely husband, Joan. As a birth photographer, it’s my job to see the story unfolding around me, to document it authentically, to love and serve the couple in any way I can, and to stay out the way (!). That night, I observed love, love, love between Erin and Joan. When Gabriel arrived at a robust eleven pounds (!) via an unmedicated labor and delivery, tears filled my eyes.

 

I documented the newborn exam and those euphoric, unscripted moments after the birth. The exhausted, exhilarated expressions of wife and husband, mother and father as they marveled at a perfect, tiny human, one all their own. I prepared to leave at nearly three in the morning, and Erin thanked me for making the early morning trek, giving me a warm, long hug. At each birth I attend, I’m overwhelmed by the pain, by the power, by the beauty, by the miracle.  So thank you, Erin and Joan both, for allowing me to attend Gabriel’s birth-day, to document it, and to share in your joy.  So many congratulations to you and yours!