Birth of Oliver

Amidst covid, birth has been odd. I have seen weird labor patterns, I have seen more hospital transfers, moms have experienced more, but through it all moms have remained strong. The births have still been beautiful.

This mama is no exception. Her birth stays on my heart as her strength shined through it all. Kristan hired me at the very beginning of her pregnancy. We chatted the day she found out she was expecting and she hired me a couple months later. Throughout her pregnancy we got to know each other more and by the end I was getting anxious for her birth.

Her last birth was photographed by one of my favorite birth photographers (Brittney Hogue). I had to live up to her!

I got a call the day before her birthing day that she thought it was time. It ended up being an intense false alarm, but 24 hours later, labor picked up and her birthing time began! I got to the birth center around 7pm and Kristan was laboring on the birth ball. Everything was calm and she was working through things wonderfully. I encouraged her to switch positions every hour to keep moving baby down.

This mama was so calm the whole time. Even laughing through the waves like the bad-ass she is. We moved to the toilet to labor at about 9:45pm. Right away her water broke and the waves became more intense. She labored on the toilet for about another 30 minutes and moved to the birth pool around 10:15pm.

She breathed her baby into the world peacefully at 11:11pm. All of his sweet chunk was finally in her arms!

Shortly after, she hemorrhaged pretty badly. She was transferred to Memorial North right before midnight where they gave her many units of blood and saved her life.

Mama and baby are safe and doing amazing!