Beautiful Beginnings Birth Photography

a beautiful beginning: mickelson david’s birth story.

admin — Thu, 23 May 2013 05:11:25 +0000

Sarah (Korn) is good friends with Melanie’s sister-in-law, so she and Mel have known each since high school. Just last year Korn & Chad flew Mel down to Florida to photograph their beautiful destination wedding. So naturally they were planning on having Mel shoot this next big milestone…but baby boy didn’t cooperate in a timely fashion and she had to go shoot her wedding and I got to shoot this cute little man Times like these are one of the main reasons why we decided to team up for this birth photography venture

Let’s first mention that Korn was 41 weeks and needless to say was super ready to meet her baby boy. Finally her water broke at 4am on the 17th. Not much was going on right away, and all through the day she was texting Melanie and saying the contractions weren’t that bad. They finally started picking up around 3:30pm and that’s when they made their way to the hospital. About 2 hours later she reported that she was only 2cm. At 7pm her contractions were every 2-4 mins apart and lasting about 1 min long. Then at 10pm she was nauseous and the nurses thought active labor started, however she was still only 3-4cm. That’s when we decided I would cover the birth since Melanie had to be at her wedding by 10am, so I went to bed as soon as I could thinking I would be getting a call in a couple hours to head to the hospital.

Korn was really hoping to go natural and had been texting Melanie all throughout her pregnancy for support…but at 3am I got a text from Chad saying she got an epidural and was 5cm. Poor mama endured so much for such little dilation payoff and just needed a break…and some rest since she had been up since 4am! Finally at 6am she was 7cm and totally thinned out, so that’s when I made my way to the hospital. When I got there and saw her and Chad just relaxing and talking I couldn’t believe she had been through an entire day & night of labor because she looked so good. She was totally at ease, but obviously anxious to have her baby in her arms. She went from 7cm to 10cm in 2 hours and just had to wait for her mom and her doctor to get in the room so she could start pushing. Once everyone was ready, she pushed for maybe 15 minutes and after a total of 29 hours of labor, little Michelson David was born at 8:52am weighing in at 8.10lbs & 21″ long.

He came out looking exactly like his daddy except he got Korn’s red hair…so of course she was already making plans to take all the red newborn clothes back haha. Baby Michelson was so calm and peaceful and alert the whole time I was there. I have never seen a newborn as alert as he was right out of the womb! I think he likes his new world

Congratulations Korn & Chad! You guys have had a such big year and I know you’re going to be awesome parents to that cutie!

Love, Kelly

Welcome Margaret Grace! {Just Born}

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:09:03 +0000

Margaret made a fairly quick arrival yesterday to her eagerly awaiting parents, Libby and Alton. It was so special to watch the new parents gently move, caress and kiss their darling baby girl. Remember the first time you touched your baby and you were so nervous because you thought they were made out of glass? So sweet. I wish you so much more love and happiness! Congrats, she’s beautiful!

Meet Margaret Grace | Born May 21, 2013 | 7.3lbs | 20″

Love, Melanie.

5.18.13

admin — Sun, 19 May 2013 02:44:17 +0000

Happy birthday to such a cute little man!! Slideshow coming soon

5.16.13

admin — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:22:39 +0000

Happy birthday baby girl! Slideshow coming soon

Guest post: Lillian hazel’s birth story.

admin — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:52:11 +0000

Juli and Jeremy are good friends of mine. Ironically the day I was leaving a birth at Good Sam, I got the text from Juli that Lillie arrived! I ended up stealing a few minutes of snuggle with the little miss before I walked out since I was already on that floor! And since I had my camera, I snapped a couple pics. She was SO tiny and cute! I was absolutely thrilled when Juli told me she had a successful natural birth. We had just talked about it at her baby shower and I 100% believed she had the power to do it. I am so proud of her and her strength. Especially on the Pit, that’s hardwork! Good for you mama, well done! Love, Melanie.

~~~~~

April 24th, 2013

As I sit here and look at my beautiful 3 week old baby girl and think that today, May 14^th, is my original due date, I can’t imagine these past 3 weeks without her…

It all started on Monday April 22^nd. I went in for a regular weekly checkup, and my blood pressure was very elevated. The doctors had been monitoring my blood pressure throughout my pregnancy and it was fine through most of the pregnancy. However during the last month, it was progressively getting higher at every appointment. That Monday it was really high, so they moved me to high-risk pregnancy and scheduled some tests to check on my baby girl.

Tuesday April 23rd I had a non-stress test and an ultrasound. The baby performed wonderfully during the non-stress test so I was feeling good going into the ultrasound. But the ultrasound didn’t go as planned… My amniotic fluid was really low and then they checked her weight. She was smaller than they thought she should have been at this point. The doctor said that at this stage, 37 weeks, she would be healthier out than in so they sent me straight up to be induced. I immediately broke down….this wasn’t in my plans!!… So while my mother tried to get a hold of my husband, I tried to pull myself together to go have this baby girl!

By 4 o’clock that afternoon I was being checked into a high-risk delivery room. By 4:30 they were inserting a dose of cervidil into me to start to soften my cervix. At this point I was barely 1 cm dilated and I knew I had a long night ahead of me.

At 10 pm Tuesday night the doctors were back to check on me…. Only one and half cm dilated… So they inserted another dose of cervidil. All the while I’m hooked up to monitors and have my blood pressure checked every hour to make sure baby girl and I are still doing good.

2 am Wednesday morning the doctors were back in …In my head I’m thinking please, please, please, let me be at least 3 cm.. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards. I was just barely 2 cm and I mean just barely… And boy was I tired at this point and hadn’t even started real labor.

So the doctors had to make a call- do they insert a balloon in my cervix to help soften and dilate or do they just start me on pitocin? Neither option I liked but I didn’t have much choice- I just wanted my baby girl out safely.

They choose to begin the pitocin…so by 3 am I was checking into a labor and delivery room, and immediately started doing some of my yoga moves… I needed to relax! Once they had me hooked to up an IV and the pitocin started…It was another waiting game. I continued to do yoga stretches and just tried to stay relaxed. My contractions had definitely started to kick in but they were manageable. Every half hour the nurses were in to check my blood pressure and to increase the dosage of pitocin. At 6 am the doctors came in again to check my progress…and I was only 3 cm. At this point they broke my water to get things moving AND that worked…the contractions kicked in full force…coming on fast and strong. My contractions were so strong I kept thinking I can’t do this natural I’m going to need an epidural. They had given me a narcotic to help ease the pain, but to be honest it didn’t even touch the pain I was in. My contractions were about 2 min. apart and lasting about a min and a half, I was only getting about 30 sec. rest in-between, which wasn’t enough to even catch my breath. My husband was wonderful throughout all this I wouldn’t have made it without him…he was my strength.

I am not sure how much time had passed, felt like no time at all but I was yelling to my nurse, who was wonderful as well, that I needed to push. She called the doctor to get the ok to check me and before I knew it she was telling me that if I needed to push go ahead because I was 10cm and full effacement. There was no time for an epidural now, which was great cause that’s what I had wanted all along!! By 8:20 am Lillian Hazel Kiefer was born at 4lbs 10oz and 17 ½ inches long! And as my husband likes to tell it, when she came out the doctor spun her to unwrap the cord around her and she unfolded like a flower!

I’m not sure that I’ve ever caught a smile on a baby only a few hours old!

a beautiful beginning: Liam Miles’ birth story.

admin — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:22:05 +0000

Jason and I have been good friends for quite some time. When I found out he was expecting his first baby, I was thrilled for him since I knew how much he had wanted kids. Then I was even more thrilled when Liz asked me to be part of the big day. She also knew I could act as part of her support system toward her goal of going natural. Towards the end of pregnancy the doctor was concerned with the weight and size of the baby’s head. After seeing Jason and his bobblehead as a toddler, it certainly wasn’t out of the question. Because of the “giant head” threat, she went in for an induction Sunday night. She sloooowly progressed all day Monday. Then barely into the night I got the call to come up, she was 7-8cm. By that time she was exhausted, settled in with her epidural that she accepted after the pit took it’s nasty toll on her, and frustrated at the fact she was barely progressing. More hours passed and the threat of C Section was being tossed around, which after all that work, it’s the last thing a mama wants to hear. (Esp when you had planned on no interventions!) Once she was finally almost complete, the Dr had her start pushing to rid the lip of cervix left. The baby was back and forth posterior (which often causes the delay in progressing and lingering lip of cervix) and he decided forceps was the only option to clear that pubic bone. If you’ve had a posterior ~~jerk of a~~ baby, then you know pushing is no joke. They promised the baby all sorts of awesome things in his future, like a car! If he didn’t come out immediately, he was definitely grounded til at least one. Let me tell ya, she was thankful to have had that epi at that point, even as a spectator, I can assure you that. I did learn that forceps apply more force to the mother than baby, which is very reassuring when watching a Dr battle with the moms pubic bone to get the babe out. Though he had a rough delivery, all 8.12lbs 21 1/4″ of him is adorably squishy and handsome. Oh and by the way, his head was big. So big, it was the largest that particular nurse had ever measured! HA! Congrats you two! Ecstatic for you!!(Jason went to CCM and is a fantastic bass player. So it’s natural for them to have picked out this classical piece.)

Love, Melanie.

a beautiful beginning: avalon luna’s birth story.

admin — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:17:31 +0000

I really did not know what to expect when I arrived to Amy’s birth in the wee hours of the night because this was the first time I’ve shot a birth without meeting the mama first. This baby was Amy’s 4th (and last) child, as well as her 4th homebirth, so she decided really last minute to have the birth documented and there was no time to meet beforehand. What I arrived to was a huge, gorgeous old house with a beautiful, peaceful birthing mama & her birth team inside. You could tell this was not Amy’s first time because she was so in tune with her body and knew exactly what to do every step of the way.

She even smiled through the pain when her 17 month old who was sleeping in the next room decided to wake up and see what was going on. It was so cute to see Amy chatting with Sophia and telling her she was going to be a big sister as she labored in the tub. Once things starting getting intense, the teenagers woke up to take care of Sophia and managed to get her back to sleep right before the baby was born. Right around 5am or so, Amy stood up and calmly said her water broke. Within minutes, she let out a few loud moans and little Avalon (Ava) Luna was in her arms! Such a seamless, peaceful birth!

While the midwives prepared her herb bath & Amy’s oldest daughter made her breakfast, Amy & Dave soaked in their precious new daughter. Baby Ava weighed in at 8.4lbs and was 21″ long. Once she finished her eggs & toast, Amy enjoyed her bath and then snuggled up in bed for some well earned rest & cuddles with her new baby. Too bad every birth can’t be this easy & comfortable!

Congratulations Amy & Dave & big sibs! I’m so glad you made the last minute decision to have me there

Love, Kelly

look at me now!

admin — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:28:29 +0000

Happy 1st birthday to my sweet baby boy! Can’t believe your birth was a whole year ago already…literally feels like yesterday. Love, Mommy & Melanie

5.7.13

admin — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:05:35 +0000

Happy birthday big boy! More coming soon!

Love, Melanie.

a beautiful beginning: dominic joshua’s birth story.

admin — Tue, 07 May 2013 02:20:38 +0000

On Friday, May 3rd @ 1:56pm Josh & Brooke welcomed their LONG awaited adorable baby boy and Brooke so accurately described that day as the BEST DAY EVER on her facebook announcement. I – along with countless other friends & family who have been by their side through their 8 year fertility battle – could not agree more!

Josh and Brooke are the type of couple every couple strives to be – a perfect match for each other in my opinion They have been together for almost 17 years – married for 10 – and have remained just a strong as ever throughout their long & trying journey to parenthood. After years and years of fertility treatments, Brooke finally got pregnant – with twins! Things were going great for the first trimester, but early in the 2nd trimester, her cervix started to fail. Despite a successful cerclage surgery, Brooke went into labor a few weeks later and there was nothing the doctors could do to stop it. She delivered her precious baby boys on Christmas Day 2011 and their world just stopped.

I honestly don’t know how- except through the grace of God – anyone recovers from such a tragedy, but they did and decided to try again. Josh did some research and discovered Dr. Arthur Haney in Chicago. Dr. Haney is one of the leading doctors in the country and one of the first doctors to ever perform transabdominal cerclage surgery with huge success rates in women who suffered multiple losses due to an incompetent cervix. Brooke was a candidate and they decided to go for it – so she went to Chicago and had the surgery in May 2012. Then a few short months later, she found out she was pregnant again! Thankfully this time, her pregnancy was textbook and resulted in the birth of beautiful, healthy BIG baby Dominic Joshua via scheduled c-section.

Unfortunately due to her cerclage, Brooke cannot delivery vaginally, but after the chunkster came out at a whopping 10.1 lbs, she was not so sad He was completely breech anyway, and gave the doctor a run for his money as he had to use some maneuvering skills to get him out!

Josh & Brooke ~ you guys are such an inspiration. Your perseverance, your strength, and your faith are incredible. I know God has BIG plans for you & your precious new son who is the absolute definition of perfection.

Thank you for having me there – I was so honored to spend his birthday with you guys and your families

Love, Kelly