the birth of maisie

I’ll never forget the day Maisie was born into this world. She followed the brilliant sunrise over the Blue Ridge Mountains and stole the show. Her mamas and I had spent such special time on the porch sipping mocktails and dreaming of how her birth would be, what she would look like, and what they would name her after seeing her for the first time.

I got the call in the middle of the night that it was time to join them at the hospital. It was Christina’s first baby and so I knew we could be in for a long day or even days. I arrived and saw immediately that she was in the ZONE. Wendy had already done such a good job of getting her as comfortable as possible. The lights were low except for the glow of the monitors, and the room was filled with the muffled heartbeat of the baby. Wendy and I worked squeezing hips and rubbing her back. We were all in a trance. I only stepped away for seconds to capture some shots. I thought we had more time. I was waiting for the sun to flood the room for the rest of her labor. But like I said, the sun rose and then it was time for this baby to be born.

She came fast for a first time birth and burst into the room and into our hearts. I was sobbing. It was my first birth in a tightly fitted n95 mask and my eyes were filled with happy tears. I’m surprised I could get any shots at all! Wendy’s reaction to seeing her baby girl born is one of my favorite series of birth photos ever. And then it was just sweet and calm and sacred and they named her Maisie.

I love these three girls so much and I was so honored to watch their family grow.