…: Zoe + Noah :… Portland Oregon twins newborn photographer
…: wade :… Portland oregon baby photographer
Loved being present for this little man’s entrance. He was punctual, easy and so so sweet. I drove all the way to Silverton, photographed and drove home in less than the time I am normally at a birth, that’s how kind he was to me! But look at that bottom lip, LOL! I’m not sure what he thought of the whole ordeal 😉
Thank you so much Beth and Karl for letting me be there 🙂 
…: alan, revisited :… Portland Oregon newborn photography
For this little guy’s full story, see his birth blog below. But not before you revel in his overwhelming cuteness. Mama told me they saw lots of hair on the ultrasound and Alan did not disappoint 😉
I big swirly <3 him.
xoxoxo
…: welcome, baby Alan :… OHSU birth photographer, Portland OR
I met Helene for the first time when she was around 38 weeks pregnant. In a coffee shop in downtown Portland, towards the end of the first time I met Helene, I remember asking her: “Do you believe in your heart you are going to go home with a baby?” To which she responded: “No.”
Unsure of how I should even begin to tell this story, I went hunting through Helene and I’s email conversations prior to her delivery, dating back some months. I could wax on and on about loss and the slow journey back to hope and everything in between. But once again, I will probably do better telling the story with photos. I am taking a snippet of an email to shed some light on the situation:
“After we lost our baby, Jaime and I went into hibernation mode. We felt like such outcasts. So many people didnt know what to say, and most said they have never heard of a second trimester loss before. It tore me to pieces each and every day. While the pain is still there and with me, I have learned that I did NOTHING wrong. And we did love our baby very, very much. And sadly being open about our journey with infertility and then a second trimester loss I have learned how not alone I am. It breaks my heart to learn that others have gone through the same pain I have, but I also have found comfort in knowing I am not alone. It is hard emotionally being pregnant again, but I cant wait to finally hold a living child in my arms. ”
As Helene neared the middle/end of her second trimester, she had still not felt her baby move. No kicks, no jolts, nothing. Concerned, Helene and Jamie began the routine ultrasounds at OHSU that would be a weekly third trimester treat…to see the baby she could not feel growing inside her. It seems baby was squirming around in there just fine, but Helene couldn’t feel it. This led to a bet between her husband/wife, ob-perinatology team. It really seemed like Helene just couldn’t feel her uterus. Would this mean she couldn’t feel contractions or labor? Worried that she may be well into labor without feeling anything, at the very end of her pregnancy, Helene, Jamie and their doctors decided to just make Oregon Health Sciences University their home until baby, (a surprise!) made his or her entrance.
The first time I went up the hill to OHSU to see Jamie and Helene, contractions were still not regular and but after a few rounds of misoprostol, things slowly began to happen. I sat in a chair off to the side after a doctor came and said more miso wasn’t really an option and they would like to introduce Pitocin. Sticking to her original birth plan of an unmedicated birth, Helene refused and asked to please try some other methods. She seemed so completely void of pain, I thought for sure things weren’t progressing. Describing “tingling, spasm-y” sensations in her lower back and that alone at 5cm, I started to realize maybe Helene really would have a painless birth. Helene’s Doc who had seen her through everything they’d endured went home to eat dinner.
Fast forward to the next “check”…Moving right along and still basically painless. Not comfortable of course, bit of back labor. But nothing like the Mack-trucks-driving-opposite-directions feeling that I remembered from my own labor. Suddenly, Helene is ready to push and no one seems quite ready for it. The doctor is nowhere to be found, and another is pulled from the hallway to help the nurses deliver.
During the beginning of the pushing process, Helene looked at the unfamiliar doctor and said “is it too late for an epidural?” (completely joking, yes folks, I just said an unmedicated woman in the throes of pushing her first child out cracked a joke.) He at first looked dumbfounded and then proceeded to explain why, well, it was a bit late for that, as Helene and the other staff laughed. It was the first of many mid-push jests. Some of which included asking for more grape popsicles and commenting (like the below photo) that “it’s not as bad as I thought it’d be”. Uh, yeah. Guess not! LOL!
Still no beloved Doctor to be found, Alan made his way into the world to parents who had been waiting for him a very, very long time.
Don’t get me wrong, all births are emotional. I cry (not like, sobbing, but ya know, a tear or two for sure) at every birth I shoot. Just with happiness for the new family, for the miracle of life, at the thought of all the joyful things new parents will soon experience. But this one, I don’t think I did. I was more like silent in complete awe.
xoxoxo
Thank you Helene and Jamie for letting me take part in your joy. I hope you treasure these photos for many years to come…
Next up, Alan’s newborn photos 🙂
…: Mary Margaret :… Portland Oregon birth photographers
It’s always special to be a part of a birth, but I am even more happy to have been present for this one because this amazing family has already moved to Arizona, where they are no doubt laughing at us under our rain cloud. Thank you to all the people who let me be a part of something as wonderful as the entering of a new life. It never gets old me; every time it’s a new face, with a new personality, and an entirely new birth story.
Mary Margaret and many of the people who already love her were present, as were both of her namesakes, Mom’s grandmother and Dad’s mom…
Mary entered the world very awake, alert and beautiful. I can’t wait for her mama to see these photos 🙂
…: Allyson, 1 month :… Portland Oregon baby photographer
Sometimes….sometimes you just don’t get around to doing “newborn” photos during that first week.
I have always been a firm believer in the idea that you can take beautiful photos of a kid at any age, and lately I’ve been having particularly good luck with mixed lifestyle/newborn sessions and older babies. Some cuddling, some posing…I <3 these sessions 🙂 And although I really do prefer my little subjects to be about a week old, (no older than 10 days, ideally), there is something sort of sweet and wonderful about the babes who have had a little more time to pack the adorable chunk on the cheeks and add rolls to their list of charms 🙂
…: the birth of zoey :… birth photographers portland or
Oooohkay. Where to begin with this birth.
Let me preface this post by saying that e-friends are totally real. You don’t have to live next door to someone to appreciate their friendship… I know this mama from an internet forum and met her for the first time when she happened to be in Portland over my daughter’s birthday. When she asked me to shoot her birth at a hospital nearly 3 1/2 hours away from me, I knew that I would try my best. As a birth photographer herself, I didn’t need to push the importance of this kind of photography, she knew. So here’s the story:
I beg Aga not to “go” in the middle of the night. Aga overdoes my request and instead goes 9 days overdue. So, I decide to drive to her in Tri Cities the night before the morning of her scheduled induction. The docs said to call in the morning and they’d tell her when to come in. Sounds simple, right? Turns out, the hospitals were so slammed, there was NO room for anyone not about to have a baby on the triage table. That meant, no induction for us. As anyone who has ever been overdue can attest ( <— 2.5 weeks myself) it is emotionally exhausting to be SO ready for your baby and know the end is thisclose but you just can’t seem to get there. After deciding another hospital was probably a better fit anyway, we realize they won’t induce her for another 6 days. Upon examination, nothing is happening in my poor friend’s cervix and so we all sort of give up.
I realize I’m going to have to drive alllll the way back to Vancouver, and will likely have to drive back in a day or two when Aga naturally goes into labor, with a good risk of not getting there in time. What can anyone do about it really? No sense whining. So, Aga goes to bed after a long day of trying to make this baby happen, and her husband I and do the logical thing in this situation and drink a bottle of wine and watch National Lampoons European Vacation. We giggled. A lot. So anyhoo, we both turn in around midnight.
12:15- Knock at the door. Jeff says “she say it’s time to go!” I drink a frappucino in about 3 seconds on the way over to the hospital and am fully expecting Aga to be like, a 1. I mean, she’s been in labor for what seems a very short amount of time.
Nurses come in to check. 6cm!
Babies know the right time 🙂
Welcome Zoey Evangaline.
…: Niko :… Portland Oregon Newborn photography
…: Lily, day 26 :… Portland Oregon lifestyle photography
When Lily’s beautiful mama contacted me (we’ve met before for family photos) I was excited to get to photograph her new baby…
But what? A month old you say? Uh oh. 🙂
I went into this session planning to do a mix of lifestyle + traditional newborn because I didn’t think miss Lily was going to tolerate a whole lot of posing…However, I was pleasantly surprised and I have to say the adorable chunkiness and perfect glowing skin was worth the effort. Whoever said there was anything wrong with an ‘older’ gal is just silly 🙂
