Birthing is such an amazing thing! The combination of excitement, raw pain, and the strength of a mother is truly remarkable! I have only ever been present for the births of my own children, and my memories of them are so precious to me. So…I am extremely excited to have been asked to photograph my sister Jessica’s upcoming birth!
Let me introduce you to Jessica and Eric. Jessica is a social worker (LCSW) who is taking some time off from her career to stay home with their kids and homeschool. Eric is a Dr. of Chiropractic Medicine who has his own practice http://www.lifespanchiropractic.com with offices in both Elkins and Huntsville, in Northwest Arkansas. They have an 8 year old son, Rowan and a 5 year old daughter, Amelie.
The kids and I headed down to Fayetteville, AR Sunday morning to spend a few days with my sister and her family, so that I could be present for her Midwife’s home visit and meet her and her apprentice before the baby’s arrival. This will be Jessica’s third home birth. I had typical hospital births with both of my children, so this whole process is all new and very fun for me to experience. I know there are so many strong feelings about home births versus hospital births, but this isn’t about any of that. I don’t desire to sway anyone to a “side” or make any kind of statement. I just want to share this beautiful story of new life and my own little window into home birth from an observer’s point of view. I am so excited to witness these precious moments with people I love so much! I’m not sure how my photography will hold up amidst my flowing tears…but I’m so honored to be trusted with documenting the arrival of my newest niece or nephew.
Monday was their scheduled home visit. Their midwife, Maria https://www.facebook.com/birthsongbotanicals schedules two hours for her home visits and it lasted for the full two hours! Talk about getting focused attention and care! During this time they did all the normal things you would do at a prenatal appointment – the measurements, the fetal Doppler, palpate to find the baby’s position, checked her pulse and blood pressure, etc.
They also went over her birth plan, to make sure they were familiar. They checked her birthing supply bag to make sure she had everything they want her to have available for the birth, and then familiarized themselves with her home. They asked tons of insightful questions about Jessica’s expectations, her hopes and plans, how she was feeling in general about the whole process and chatted with the other family members about any questions and concerns they may have. They even talked about what kinds of foods she might want them to cook for her if the labor lasted long and she needed nourishment (definitely the part that most impressed me).
It was such a relaxed and comfortable experience, just like visiting with a few friends. They never rushed or hurried and treated everyone (including the five kids running around) with nothing but respect and kindness. I loved that the kids were all welcomed to be a part of everything and they took the time to let every single person there listen to the heartbeat as long as they wanted.
The entire visit was so calm and fun! Now…I only have to pray I can make it to Arkansas in time for the birth when the big day arrives! Hopefully, you’ll be seeing the second part to this story in about a month!
-Vanessa
