Courtney contacted me a few weeks before her due date interested in booking me for her upcoming birth. We met up a few days later and talked about the upcoming arrival of her surprise gender baby! She let me know that baby had flipped into the breech position and there was talk of a c-section due to some medical issues she had as well. She asked if I would be o.k. going into the OR with them at Lakeland Regional Medical Center and of course I said YES!
Birth photographers are there to document the entire story no matter how it unfolds and be there for you in whatever ways we can. You need me to hold your hair while you vomit, I got you. You need some more ice, I’m already running down the hall to the ice machine. You need me to stand there and be quiet and hold space, I’m giving you hugs from a distance. So it was no different with Courtney and I was there for her no matter what.
Around 37 weeks she sent a text to let me know that her and the doctor had decided it was baby time with the ongoing issues and she would be induced a few days later. The day before induction though things changed baby had flipped BACK into breech position and they were pushing for a c-section. Courtney begged them to allow her to have one more ultrasound in the morning and if baby had flipped back head down then she asked to be induced. We talked for a minute about the plan and it was decided I would meet them at 7am for the c-section to document everything and while we waited she hung upside down in the car holding on to any hope she had left before the ultrasound. To our surprise that sneaky little babe had flipped so and induction it was!
They broke her water around 9:30 and got her hooked up to the pitocin. She bounced, flipped, walked, and moved all around to get labor going through the day and into the night. The process was long and by the next morning we were all tired from the night before. As the 24 hour mark crept up Courtney was discouraged she wasn’t progressing but the staff at Lakeland Regional Medical Center was so patient and allowed her so much time to get baby out on her own. By the early afternoon she had finally had enough and a c-section was called.
Now, this was my first time being allowed in an OR and I was given strict instructions on what I was allowed to photograph. 34 hours after arriving at the hospital we were wheeled into the OR. It was amazing to witness my first belly birth and see the strength Courtney had even though she was so scared. Her husband was right there by her side to comfort her as they waited to find out if their baby was a boy or girl. A few minutes after entering the OR the anesthesiologist told me to stand up and peek over the curtain I saw two tiny arms and the OB delivered the baby. IT’S A GIRL shouted Tim, and Courtney wept with joy hearing Slaone’s cry! SHE WAS FINALLY HERE!
