{birth story}

When I walked in to the room this mama was calm and resting. You could tell she had been working really hard and was using her time between contractions wisely. Those micro naps can do wonders. When the urge to push came on, baby started coming out in her caul, however, the caul ruptured on it’s was out. After that, mama changed positions. Due to a hip injury dad got creative and used his belt for extra leg support. Not long after getting as comfortable she was going to get, she pushed her sweet baby in to the world. I love the images of mom as she hugs her baby for the first time. The immediate feeling of relief and amazement. The incredible adrenaline rush. Pure, genuine, gratefulness, and happiness. It’s a really beautiful thing to witness. This glorious moment lasts a little while before it’s time to birth the placenta. Your body will expel that naturally within 30 minutes of birth, but sometimes, like in this mama’s case, the placenta doesn’t detach from the uterine wall which is called a retained placenta. If this happens, intervention is needed. This super strong and extremely determined mama wanted to avoid surgery, so while dad held baby, she held on to the laughing gas for deal life as the doctor manually removed it. This woman’s determination and strength absolutely amazed me. And so did the umbilical cord! Seriously, scroll down and check out that beautiful cord, along with baby Vivian’s tiny feet and hands. Oh I just loooove the baby wrinkles you only see on brand new babies. And of course be sure to press play on the video at the end of this post to see this whole birth story which includes precious video clips.