After fourteen years as a military wife and seven years as a portrait photographer, I have had the opportunity to meet a LOT of people and make some great friends all around the world. Through these fourteen years, each of these wonderful people left a little piece of themselves with me. Some more than others. It’s a great gift and blessing I do not take for granted. One thing I need you to understand about me is that I become easily attached to people. Especially my clients because they choose me to be part in creating memories and capturing special moments with them and their families. I genuinely appreciate and adore every one of my clients.
Today I am sharing with you a story of one of these families. Like most, we met through my photography business. I was new to Ohio and looking for representative models and met Chanell in a local Facebook group. We discussed a few things about sessions and my rep program and I learned they had four children and all were fashion models. We met up for our first session on a beautiful warm day, and we all made an instant connection that felt as if we were meant to work together. It seemed as if our minds were connected! Before I give them a direction they would just naturally do it. The more time we spent together the more we learned about each other and the closer together we became. From the moment I met this family, I knew they were special! Month’s passed by and our friendship blossomed. One day she was a client, the next my best friend. Isn’t life just amazing?!!
One day, my new best friend shared something so special with me. She and her husband were trying for a fifth baby after a vasectomy reversal. As a photographer who specializes in birth, newborn and children portraits alone, you can only imagine how excited that is then you add the fact it was your best friend. I cannot explain the excitement I felt for them and to be part of their amazing journey. Month after month I would bug her, “Any news? Did you test?” I could not wait for the day she would call me and announce…TALS, IM PREGNANT!
That day finally came, and only lord knows the excitement for all of us, especially when they told me they were having another boy! They included me in everything that was going on and really made me feel part of their team with the pregnancy. On October 22nd at 2:19pm, the excitement began with a text letting me know she was headed to the hospital. One thing you learn very quickly in the military is to hurry up and wait. That was how the next few hours were for me. I rushed to make sure my camera bag was ready to go, my snacks were topped off (because no-one ever knows how long a baby takes to pop out!), batteries charged, gas tank full, all of that! Then wait. And wait. Wait some more. And a little bit more. No make that a few hours more. How much time has it been? FIFTEEN MINUTES? Damn, I need to stay busy… FINALLY, at 7:59pm I get finally get THAT text! She’s getting an epidural and they are breaking her water. OMG yay, we are having a baby! So, full of emotion and un-bottled energy, I grabbed my camera bag and headed out the door!I left quickly, drove maybe a tad over the speed limit, and rushed through the entrance to the labor and delivery section, walking like I owned the place, so I could capture my best friend’s delivery.
Their birth story started on Labor Delivery Room 1. Once I walked in her room I knew something wasn’t right. I couldn’t place exactly what it was, but the feeling, the energy of the room was off somehow. Everyone was serious. No one seemed as excited and joyful as me. Then I started hearing terms like “placenta abruption” and “hemorrhaging” and my heart sank.
My best friend was bleeding and the doctors were having trouble slowing it down, her baby’s heat rate was dropping significantly, a clear sign he was in distress. There was a big possibility she had a placenta abruption. If you didn't know, placenta abruption is the separation of the placenta from the uterine lining. Only about 1% of all pregnant women will experience placental abruption, and most can be successfully treated depending on what type of separation occurs. The placenta is part of your baby’s life support system, it transfers oxygen and nutrients to your baby. When the placenta separates from your uterine lining before labor it can interrupt the transportation of oxygen and nutrients to your baby. In a case with a total or complete separation, delivery is often the safest course of action. If the baby is stable, vaginal delivery may be an option. If the fetus is in distress or the mom is experiencing severe bleeding, then a cesarean delivery may be necessary. This baby boy was in distress and his mom was having heavy bleeding. My heart began racing, I was shaking and my mind was screaming “ take her to a c-session now!”
I know a cesarean is a scary word and not a way most mothers would like to deliver their babies, especially when the birth has been planned for months and you emotionally and mentally prepare for something completely different. Cesarean can save lives and is a necessity in some cases.
Things happened so fast, the moment I had that thought that she needed a c-session things got crazy and the doctors and nurses began yelling at each other, making calls, tossing Mike blue gowns and moving her. They were performing an emergency cesarean on my best friend! A moment of fear and relief at the same time. There was no time to process anything, but Im very proud of how calm mom and dad handled everything.
It was such an overwhelming feeling to stand there, useless, watching your best friend being wheeled away to the operating room and see her face full of emotions. I was not allowed in there, so I sat in the recovery room waiting to hear how it all went. The opposite of the hurry up and wait happened; the next twenty minutes seemed like hours!
But finally, little ‘Teo was cuddled up in his dad’s arms, all snug and warm, and PERFECT!
When they brought her into recovery room all this weight was lighted off of my shoulders and I am certainly of Mike's as well! Mom made it out fine. The docs had to take extra time to control her hemorrhage but we had both mom & baby well and healthy. The relief and joy we all felt once we knew they were both safe can’t be described.
Now that the scary part is over and they are enjoying their little bundle of joy. It's time to update family & friends that precious Mateo is finally here and everyone is healthy!
We can all breath a sight of relief. The new parents can enjoy their new bundle of joy and the memories they will create!
