For a more “in the moment” feeling while reading along, listen to this!
For a few months, I was in contact with Mo about this day. I work a full time job in oil and gas so I had to make her aware of the fact that I may not be able to be there at the exact time or the birth, but I would try my best! We went over every single detail; when to call me, where I’d stand, what she expected, etc. Although we thought we had everything planned out, Avery had a different idea!
Mo’s due date was August 10th. I had been prepared for a late night phone call since the end of July! Her due date came and went and no sign of little miss Avery. She finally got her eviction notice over a week later! Mo and Josh arrived at the hospital Thursday (August 18th) night. Mo’s water broke that morning around 7:30 am and they started her on Pitocin at about 12:00 pm she was dilated to 4cm! The plan was for Josh to let me know when she was dilated to 6cm and I would make my way there!
I work in Clarksburg Monday-Friday 9-5 so when I found out that Mo was dilated to a 4 by noon, I figured I would just stay in Clarksburg (rather than going home in Weston) until she was a little further. Mo got ahold of me around 6:45pm and said the baby’s heart rate was up and they were stopping the pitocin. Her exact words were “looks like it’s going to be a long night”. I told her I was going to head home but once again, to let me know when she was at a 6! Clarksburg is about a 40 minute drive from Weston, so I arrived home around 7:30pm. I walked in my door, put on some sweatpants, looked at my phone and saw a text from Josh that said “it’s time!!!!”. My jaw dropped. I was sure I missed it. That I wouldn’t be able to make it back in time.
Josh: It’s time!!!!
Me: Oh gosh! She’s at a 6?!
Josh: Actually closer to 10 i think. 1 hour until she starts pushing.
I got out of my comfy clothes (although I almost talked myself into arriving in sweats, then remembered I’m a professional LOL) grabbed some dinner, hopped in my car, and sped (safely) back to Clarksburg.
When I arrived, I signed the “coach” form that UHC requires and walked a huge unnecessary loop around the entire nursery floor where I then found room number 4311. It was literally 10 feet from where I signed the form. I took the long way. We’ll blame it on tired me.
I walked in the room and saw an insanely calm Mo with Josh by her side surrounded by friends and family, patiently waiting for Avery’s arrival.
The night shift nurse was great. She was super sweet, easy going, and I could tell, put Mo at ease. She checked to see how low the baby was about 10 minutes after I got there and said we would wait until she dropped a little more until she started pushing.
Fast forward to about 9:00 pm and the nurse says it’s go time. It’s time to start pushing! Everybody left the room other than Josh, the nurse, and myself (& Mo, of course). I tried my best to be a fly on the wall. First tip of birth photography: don’t speak unless you’re spoken to. I told them before that I would do my best for them to not even realize I’m there, other than some quiet crying to myself.
The look on Josh’s face the entire time Mo was pushing, brought tears to my eyes. I was literally shooting through a blurry/wet view finder. He would go from smiling with such pride, to almost crying, to possibly passing out because he’s super squeamish! Never the less, the way he looked at her made my heart happy.
Mo pushed and pushed and eventually had me leave the room (I had been photographing her pushing for about an hour). I joined her best friend Whitney, her brother, and both Mo’s and Josh’s parents in the hallway. We waited for about another hour while she continued to push, but little Avery just wasn’t having it.
Doctor King made his way to her room, and exited, letting us know that at this point, 2 hours of pushing later, a C Section would be the best option. The nurse said that Mo would go down to the operating room which would take about 30 minutes and then she would be in recovery for a few hours. Everybody decided to go home for the evening and come back early in the morning, I however, wanted to stick it out and get those first pictures.
UHC only allows for one other person to be in the operating room, so I couldn’t be there, but the nurse was super helpful and told me to wait by the elevator and she would meet me there with the baby as soon as she was born, so I could follow her and get those first pictures!
At 12:30 AM the elevator doors opened and out came the nurse, Josh, and baby Avery. (Mo was in recovery) I followed the nurse in and watched as Josh locked his eyes on his new precious baby girl.
Avery is beautiful and looks JUST like her mama. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger.
Little Avery was long and had the funniest big feet! Her little toes spread out every time the nurse tried to stamp her foot!
I left and got home around 2:00 AM. I came back the next afternoon to get some shots of the family with Avery and of course, Avery’s big brother, Cohen!
Little Avery is more than blessed to have been brought into this world by such a wonderful family. I can’t wait to see what this world holds for her and what amazing things she will accomplish. Birth is such a miraculous, beautiful moment and I am more than honored that Mo & Josh trusted me enough to capture these moments and document them in a way that will forever let them relive this time in their lives.
“I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there. (1 Samuel 1:27–28)
Music: http://www.bensound.com
