The Birth of Charlie – Nashville Birth Photographer

Let me just start with this: Hypnobirthing ROCKS! As the preferred Nashville birth photographer, I was on-call…

…for a client’s waterbirth at one of the birth centers actually in Cape Coral, FL…and the evening began with a text message from my birth client, which said something along the lines of, “I’m having contractions, but I’m just not sure if this is “it” or not…stay tuned!”

This beautiful mama had planned her baby’s birth so very well…she had her support team in place; her birth plan all set; hypnobirthing education; you name it. She and her husband chose Baby Love Birth Center as the place where they would like to bring their little one earthside. (Baby Love and the staff there are absolutely fantastic, by the way! Go check out their website…after you’re done reading this post.) So, with me being on-call, I already had my birth photography gear charged, loaded, and ready to roll at a moment’s notice. And THANK GOODNESS I did! (You’ll find out why in a minute…)

 The hours continued to pass, with an update from mama every now and then. No change; her labor was continuing, and since she had prepared herself SO well with her hypnobirthing techniques, mama was able to remain calm and work with her body through each contraction as it came. Finally, another text came through, with much more urgency this time:

“We’re heading to the birth center!”

I quickly texted back, “I’ll meet you there! You’re doing great, mama! You can do this!” and I hopped into my already-packed car and took off for the birth center. I pulled into the parking lot. There was no one there. The lights were off; no cars screeching into the parking lot (like my husband would be if I were in labor); no signs of an impending birth whatsoever. So I got out my camera and stood outside my car in the parking lot, thinking that I would need to be ready to start shooting when they pulled into the lot (you just never know!).

Nothing was happening. Then…my phone chirped. New text message! I quickly flipped it open and saw the latest update: “Actually we’re going to Gulf Coast Hospital”.

Well, at this stage of the game, that can only mean one thing: BABY ON THE WAY!

Which is a WONDERFUL thing!! I knew the general route mama would be coming, so I knew that if they were going to Gulf Coast instead, after all of the waterbirth plans and natural midwifery care…then that pretty much means baby isn’t going to wait until they get to the birth center to make his debut! So exciting!!! It was almost time!! However, there was one slight hiccup…I was standing in the parking lot of Baby Love Birth Center…and Gulf Coast Hospital was a solid 20-25 minutes away. So back into my car I hopped, making my way as quickly as possible (while obeying all traffic safety laws of course). I pulled into the hospital parking lot, found the entrance for “Women’s Care”, grabbed my gear, and literally ran inside. I knew this was going to be a close birth, IF I even made it on time.

Ran in and eventually found (by the grace of God, a lone gentleman walked into the lobby and pointed me in the right direction…thank you, kind sir!!!) the place I was supposed to be, and went to the nurses’ station. Told them who I was, and the nurse waved me over to a curtained room in triage. And the next image is what I saw when I walked into that room…

I just ADORE the sheer bliss on mama’s face!!!!!!!!

At the end of the day, little Mr. Charlie simply had his own agenda, and he was in a bit of a hurry…and that’s TOTALLY okay! I ended up missing his grand entrance, but as you can see, we DID manage to capture some beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime memories for this amazing family of five.

And if you have any questions about the amazingness of hypnobirthing, this is a great place to start. You can also check out more birth moments on our Facebook page, and keep in touch with us by signing up for our newsletter (we promise, we won’t clutter up your inbox with a bunch of unwanted email!), by going to our website, www.NashvilleBirthPhotographer.com and entering your information at the bottom of the front page. Feel free to check out our birth photography collections while you’re there, too.

Sigh. What a blissful day in the life of a middle Tennessee birth photographer.