Corie is having a baby!

I got this email from my good friend, Corie, just seconds ago! A baby is coming, and on Sami's birthday! Yesterday the post on her blog was "still pregnant"!

We are at the hospital. We were admitted around 7:15am. I was up all night with contractions, starting consistantly around 5 am. Needless to say, I'm already tired.

They just started pitocin, to get my contractions to 2 min. apart.
At 7:30 I was 4cm and 80% effaced.
My water still hasn't broken, so they may have to do that for me...

I just wanted to let you know that we are here and it looks like Baby will be joining us today! :) Yay! That makes me very excited, but I am also very scared.

We really appreciate your prayers. Now that I know what I actually have to do today, I'm really, really nervous.

Keith'll keep you posted. This will probably be the last time I am online today.

Love,
Corie

2 days past her due date. She is VERY ready. Thinking of you, Cor! I hope I get a phone call today! xoxoxoxoxoxo

Missy-Poo, I love you!

My baby girl . . . she is a year older today. She is 2.

So many things are reminding me of 2 and 4 years ago, when I was pregant with my little dootles. Not just the fact that it's the week they were born, but because so many of my friends are having their babies or announcing their pregnancies or coming around me with their big ol beautiful bellies.

It's bittersweet because I absolutely loved being pregnant. I loved the kicks that I felt, even the ones that kept me awake at night, and believe it or not, those kicks never ever kept me from sleeping. I slept very well during my pregnancies (except towards the end, of course) and those kicks were theapeutic for me. They kept my heart and soul from worries . . . kept me knowing that my babies were okay. If my babies hadn't kicked and hiccuped like they did inside my belly, I would have gone ballistic.

I loved how I looked being pregnant. I loved being able to show off my belly because for once I felt it was beautiful. I loved the glow I had. I loved how my hair and skin and fingernails were stronger and more radiant. I loved that I got boobs.
Me, about to have my baby, and Jen, 6 months (exactly) behind me, pregnant and beautiful.

Of course there were things that I hated, like the high blood pressure (I was pre-eclampsic with Noah) in both pregnancies, the sciatic nerve pain, the weight gain (over 45 lbs with both my kids!) and my forgetfulness (like forgetting to take the pump nozzle out of my gas tank, then driving away and pulling the hose off the pump and driving over it --- yes, I did that), but I dealt with those things just fine. I love love loved being pregnant. I'd do it again. But I can't. Doctors orders.

So my birth, with Maia, not easy either. I had a doula (Leann, my angel and my forever friend!) and she was amazing. She helped get me through 31 (yes, 31) hours of labor. I went overnight with labor and could have gone into another night, but after a sonogram shortly after my epidural, it showed that probably nothing was going to get Maia's head engaged. She wanted to come out and her heart rate was going down. After 31 hours she was getting tired and I was getting tired. So we (all together) decided to take her by c-section before it became a true emergency again like it was with Mr. Noah.

I was awake this time. Of course my arms were strapped down and what I remember most is that feeling of having to throw up and feeling so very hot and sweaty because of the anesthesia. I remember the nurses saying "go ahead and throw up", but I couldn't. I remember Neil sitting behind my head. I remember the doctor saying "look at that hair" and I remember the nurses all guessing her weight before they pulled her out. (They were guessing 9 lbs and the doctor guessed 8 lbs 13 oz. She ended up being 8 lbs 3 oz.) I remember them bringing my baby girl to me and showing her to me. I could not hold her. I could not see her being cleaned off. I had to go down into recovery. So again, my birth experience sucked, but what could I do? At least she came safely to us and what I did experience was 1,000 times better than what I experienced with Noah.

But then I still didn't get to hold her for 2 whole days. Can you imagine? It was really rough. So she remained nameless for 2 days also. They thought she had a severe heart defect. After numerous tests with doctors in Peoria, they found that she has a boot-shaped heart, but nothing that will affect her -- we hope and pray. So they took her off oxygen and the feeding tubes and the heart monitors and we finally, finally, got to hold her.The closest photographic memory I have of either of my children being cleaned up after birth. Then she gets swiped away to Level II :(

And now today, all that is just a memory, but a very strong memory. Another one to make me, and our family, stronger. And future memories I have I hope will be even stronger. She is my 2nd little miracle. She is my baby girl. She is my princess. I love her more than words can say. And today, I wish her a very happy 2nd birthday. I am just amazed at what we have been through to get our children, but I'm even more amazed . . . incredibly blessed . . .just to have them here. It's all been a miracle.

Love you, Missy-Poo. Happy Birthday!

Baby Maia and mommy with grandpa. He passed 1 year ago. We really really miss him.

My meeting . . . interesting to say the least! (Part 1)

I just want to say "thank you" for all who responded with such support in regards to my meeting of last night. I have to say, you were all right, it went fabulous. And thankfully, nothing was said at all about "ex-boss", but that doesn't mean I'm not still a bit anxious about one day "running into him". Oh well, I'll figure that out when it happens.

To make a really really long story short, let me just say, things are going to be quite interesting with this client! I have to keep in mind, though, that I haven't actually been hired to do her birth yet, but, I'm really crossing my fingers that I will get to.

There's so many politics with her, and to some that may be nerve-racking, but to me it's exciting. I really want to be involved with this! Not just because it would get my name out, but also because it could go big. Really big. And it's something that I feel really strongly about, as she feels really strongly about, because it's happened to both of us during our deliveries.

I really probably shouldn't go into too many details, but, last night when we met with her, she had her publicist with her. I knew that she meant business when she wanted to get with Leann and I and go over "things". . . with her publicist!

The discussion went well, and during it I kept thinking, "I am woman, hear me roar!" -- ha! Great thing is, the four of us really clicked . . . we share SO MANY of the same birthing experiences. Which gets me into the topic a tiny bit more.

You see, she had a horrible birth experience last time. And to be honest, it sounds EXACTLY like my birth with Maia. This birth took place in California, where as a woman/patient/citizen her opinions were really taken into consideration and they (the doctors, the hospital) listened.

There are things that could happen with her birth in November that may not go the way she has planned (which, I for one, know that births don't hardly ever go "as planned"!) because her doctor made her aware of "what will happen" if it goes "that way". Of course she's hoping for the positive, but she's also preparing for the negative. She is trying her best to turn what could be a somewhat negative situation into a positive one. But the problem is, her hopsital won't allow it, nor will they listen. So she is fired up! (Which, haha, got me fired up, too!)

Because of this, she has really put a lot of pressure on Leann to help her get what she wants. It could be really negative for Leann and her doula business. But, this may be their saving grace: her publicist getting the word out. They both think other women could benefit from this --- and they can if they know about it.

Her publicist is going to take this story public through news programs and her connection with Conde Naste. And guess what, I may get to be a part of it. Actually, most likely I will. (Crossing my fingers!) She wants me to be there to document, by photograph, what happens, whether it goes good or bad.

Anyhow, wow, I am just really excited about this! I am also excited about it because I can relate. I had two horrible birth experiences and so I share in her pain. When you understand what the client is going through because you literally experienced the same thing, it's amazing the connection you then have with that person on a personal level making the photographer-client relationship really "click"!

So over some duck appetizer tacos, sea scallops with marmalade (featured in Bon Appetit), goat cheese fondue and Pinot Grigo, I really feel like a lot was accomplished. And we plan to meet again in a few weeks!

I can't wait to tell you more!!!! This could really really really get interesting!

Oh, and listen to this. The mother . . . she is going to be induced by accupuncture! Isn't that . . . interesting!?

I can't wait to tell you more about this!

Birth, in pictures.

Well, guess what? After 2 days, I'm finally done proofing the pictures from the birth. I took over 300 pictures and ended up with 205. During the proofing process, different thoughts would pop into my head like "I can't believe Jen and Dan allowed me to get that picture" or "oh my goodness, how amazing is that?!" or "how lucky I am to have had the chance to capture all these!".

I knew while in the birthing room, how blessed I was with the opportunity, but not until I saw the pictures and saw them again, did I really realize it. They allowed me in the room during the epidural. They allowed me in during all her exams. They allowed me in the room during every. single. process. in a 7 hour time-period. All I keep thinking now is how lucky and blessed I am.

I just can't get over some of the shots and how truly astonishing they are. How they capture so much . . . energy . . . emotion . . . life . . . in such a small little frame. I am very very thankful to have been there and even more to have captured it.

So to Jen and Dan I thank you guys immensely. I thank you for the opportunity to expand my portfolio, to start a new adventure with my business, to get to know you guys better, and most of all, I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to have found the peace that I now have. I can't even explain in words or even emotions, how grateful I am for the experience. I pray I get to do many more and that those many more be couples as welcoming and open to sharing such a private part of themselves with me as you guys have done. And thank you, Leann, for helping me to get these opportunities. A good network and very good giving friends really do make a difference. :c)

And now, to the pictures!! Here's just a couple out of the 200+. So very many of them are ones I just cannot show here, but these are a few that I can. I'll post a few others over at my VWC blog as well.

Here's to the beautiful event called "birth".



{adding in later . . .
I have to note this. I asked Neil last night if he wanted to see the pictures. I said "they're pretty graphic" so he said "let me see just one and I'll let you know if I want to see more". Keep in mind that he never saw his own children born vaginally. So I started him through the slide show from the beginning. I got to the actual birth and he said to stop. So I did. He said, "I can't believe this is getting to me, but it is. This stuff has never gotten to me. I feel queasy and light-headed . . . " and then he sat down on the floor. Keep in mind that my husband has dissected every kind of animal you can think of in his lifetime and was going to be a dentist. His major was biology. He is a science fanatic! But, this got to him. I don't know if it's because of what it was, because of the blood and goo (I don't think so, but maybe?) or if it was because of the emotions going on inside himself. He was very taken by it. We didn't talk much about it, but I am hoping it somehow was closure for him also.}