If you're a bird, I'm a bird

Our birth photographer owns a mama and baby consignment store in Athens. She wrote the following in her newsletter to her clients about Grey's birth: Dear friends, There are very few things in life that seem perfect. But on Saturday, June 22 nd , I witnessed one. I was invited to photograph a birth, a very special birth planned at home as a VBAC: vaginal birth after Cesarean. At 8:42 p.m. , after putting my girls down and getting in my jammies, I received a text from Rebekah: “Water broke, everyone is on their way to the house.” Oh, my goodness!!! I turned to Danny, asked for permission to escape the house, threw on clothes (what do you wear to a birth?) and grabbed camera equipment. I was nervous. I said a little prayer everything would be just fine for the mama and the baby in her belly. And it was… picture-perfect . I saw the midwives of Morning Glory Childbirth Services listening to the baby’s heartbeat, using their wristwatches to count the beats and brewing coffe...

*Midwife's name has not been included to protect her identity as home births are very sensitive in Georgia.  On June 21, 2013 at 38.6 weeks pregnant, I started having mild contractions. As I was sitting on the couch at 9:00am, I noticed that the contractions started feeling "real" rather than just Braxton Hicks. My stomach was still tightening, but there was a downward force with each one. I just relaxed my cervix and allowed any opening to happen. I watched show after show getting up to eat occasionally and use the restroom. Lincoln was at school and Joe was working. I sent him a text and told him I was having inconsistent contractions. Throughout the pregnancy, I read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth . Since I felt like some of the material would come useful very soon, I read several chapters of that book that afternoon. As I sat on the porch at 3:00, I took a notebook out there and started tracking the contractions. Joe came home from work and started making fish tac...