Welcome Baby Danya

Newborn

Stuck in the fog of the blog.
It’s June…almost July really and I have been telling myself I would start keeping up with my blog since… (wait…when was my last blog post? Oh… February. Cool).

Clearly, I have trouble with social media. My long silent gaps, between one image posted here on Instagram and another here on Facebook, are not intentional. Life honestly just gets so crazy. I have all these things I want to share with my followers in my head, however, when it comes down to putting it into words to share, I struggle.

So many amazing things have happened over the last couple of months. To start, I became an auntie as my brother and his wife brought a beautiful baby girl into the world! I have never photographed a birth before where I have been this emotionally attached to a couple. It was an emotional roller coaster on so many levels. I was trying to document this amazing birth all the while, trying to be in the moment and supportive for my sister in law. My role got muddled a bit towards the end, overall though I am quite pleased with how it all played out.

Is what I’m feeling labor?
My sister in law, Veen, called me late afternoon of May 4th with some pretty indirect questions about the early stages of labor. I knew right away she must have been experiencing some of them which was why she was asking. This was their first baby, and I remember myself how scary that experience was! It’s pretty safe to say, her early stages of labor began around 8PM on May 4th. I told her to have a bite of food and get some rest because she’d probably have a baby in less than 24 hours. Ha. This is why I am a photographer and not a midwife.

Baby…Are you coming?
A solid 24 hours had passed before I had made the decision to go into the hospital. She got admitted Sunday late afternoon but her labor had stalled around 5CM. I figured, if nothing else, I would offer moral support even if my stubborn niece wasn’t ready to grace us with her presence just yet.

Most of you know, I have two littles. I was fortunate to experience fairly uneventful and quick labors (my first was about 6 hours and my second was about 3). Veen’s labor was not this. I had basically not slept since Saturday night when she told me she was in labor. I was so excited but also so nervous to miss it that I barely slept a wink. When I had gone to the hospital Sunday evening, I figured any hour now this little monkey would make her debut. Enter crazy laughing emoji here.

When I arrived at the hospital, I could tell Veen’s contractions were pretty strong. She wasn’t able to speak or walk when she was contracting. In between, she was throwing food and drinks back like she would never get another meal. It was actually quite comical. She had decided she wanted to have an epidural yet sent the anesthetist away so she could finish her meal. When she finally got the epidural, she was finally able to sleep and rest through the contractions. This made a huge difference to her aura. I was just glad to see her resting since she had already been in labor for over 24 hours.

It’s go time.
The night brought a little more action going from 5cm finally to 7cm. Mitra had established that little miss had her hand on her head. She was just hanging out in there! Since her hand was adding circumference to her head, this was causing the delay. Mitra gave her little hand a pinch and Veen was finally able to progress. Around 730AM on Sunday morning, after a long night of laboring, she was finally 10cm. It was time to push. I had never felt so much anxiety and yet excitement. In the room was Veen’s midwife, Mitra, my brother, Robby, Veen’s mom, myself and the entire labor and delivery unit at SPH. No joke, I have never seen so many people in a L&D room. Not because there were complications, but because everyone had been laboring with her through the night and from the day prior. I think we all just wanted to meet this stubborn little girl.

 

It’s a girl!
After an hour and a half of pushing and persistence, Veen birthed a beautiful baby girl at 8:55AM on Sunday May 6th weighing 6lbs 11oz. I don’t think I’d ever cried so much in my life from mixed emotions. There was literally not a dry eye in the house. It was a beautiful birth and I was so honored to be there, not just to support her and Robby but also to photograph this amazing journey for them.

 

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