Saturday, July 16th, 2022
Mom texted me at 8:27am: “I’ve had contractions since 5am steady. If they get closer I’ll let you know.”
I checked in an hour later asking if she thought I should head her way…she lived about an hour and a half away from New Orleans. She said no, they weren’t strong or close enough together.
The next day she said they ended up slowing down and ultimately stopping.
Wednesday, July 20th, 2022
I got the call from her husband at around 4ish in the morning. I asked if it was now the time to head that way, but because of the previous false alarm they wanted me to wait just a little longer. I tried to get a little more sleep, I had a good feeling today was the day.
6am he called me back. I could hear her moaning in the background. It was go time. I grabbed my bag and headed out the door.
7am I arrived. She was in her bedroom riding the waves of contractions. I quietly let myself in and got my camera ready.
Big sister was so excited to meet her brother and wanted to comfort mom as much as possible.
After a while the contractions slowed back down and she thought it was another false alarm. She said I could leave and she would let me know when they started back up. I had actually had my own ultrasound scheduled that morning that I thought I was going to miss and have to reschedule. Somehow at that moment I had exactly enough time to leave and make it to my appointment. It was our 20 week gender confirming ultrasound and my partner met me at the hospital. We discovered we would also be having a little boy. As we walked out of the hospital my phone buzzed. “My water broke”. My heart jumped…was I going to miss this birth?!
My husband and I parted ways and I rushed back to Mississippi. I really think I ran back into that house where I found mom laboring in her birth pool…no baby yet! I got back to work, capturing dad supporting mom as best he could.
Not even 15 minutes after I got back baby H made his appearance! He came out so fast I was astounded. In my head I just kept thinking “damn did she make that look easy!” and yes, I definitely shed some tears.
There was a calmness that descended after baby was born. Mom stayed in the birth tub and cuddled her little one as the rest of the family gathered around to see. There was no rush. Eventually mom carefully got out of the tub and sat on a birthing stool to try and birth her placenta.
Her placenta had decided it wasn't quite ready to come out, so the midwives helped her back to her bedroom so she could lay down and they could begin to give baby his newborn exam.
Big sister wanted to be like the midwives, and dad couldn't wait to weigh baby and find out if he won his bet or not!
