The Birth of Tristan

Nothing is more beautiful than watching life enter this world and this was one of the craziest births I’ve ever witnessed! It started off so calm and serene. Mom was a rockstar.

And dad got everything ready to go to the hospital.

I arrived in the middle of the night, and you just never know how these things will go! I was prepared for a long day.

Dad was invaluable.

Her water broke and it was decided we head to the hospital!

He carried ALL the bags, gave counter pressure when she wanted it, and stood back when she needed space.

We arrived at 5:30 am and they set us up in triage!

Mom was handling this so well that several nurses said something along the lines of “Well, you’re probably in labor.” We just laughed and rolled our eyes at that. This mama was definitely in labor! The checked her and said she was 4 cm, so they were feeling a little discouraged.

At 6:30 we headed up to labor and delivery, but we had to stop for several contractions so it took a few minutes.

Settled in L&D at 6:42 am! We heard again someone say something like “Well, you’re probably in labor, but this is your first baby. You have time. They don’t just come shooting out!” 7 am was shift change, so it was a little chaotic with the nurses. They checked her around 7:10 am and I think she was around 6 cm.

Got to watch the sun rise from her room.

Things started kicking in and mom started vocalizing (loudly) through her contractions. A nurse looked over at mom at about 7:20 and from her experience she knew what was going on so she said with alarm, “Do you need like you need to push? DON’T PUSH! Get up on the bed.”

Dad started to grab mom’s water cup to get her some ice chips, but I told him to stay with her and volunteered to get them. THANKFULLY, the ice machine was directly across from her door. After I got the ice I took this shot of her door (7:24 am) and then from inside the room I hear mom scream “THE BABY’S HEAD!” I have never moved so fast to get back inside a room!

A nurse hits a “staff assist” button and TWELVE nurses, doctors, and residents rush into the room.

I barely had time to get grab my camera and get in position on my step stool. A nurse walked past me then suddenly the baby was crowning (7:27:33). Another nurse walked past and then BAM, there was a baby. It was 7:27:43 am. SEVEN TWENTY SEVEN, PEOPLE. This was her first baby! It was like the movies. If we hadn’t gone to the hospital when we did I may have been photographing a car baby. From crowning to baby being out it was TEN SECONDS.