Bethany's Baby Labour and Delivery! PART THREE!

Before getting to the pictures, I thought I'd mention that baby delivery pictures are becoming quite popular. I think all the reality shows on television are a such a sign of the day and age we live in. People want to see the real stuff... unedited! This is whole reality concept is spilling into the photography industry too. Wedding photography is not about formal pictures anymore, it's about the candid stuff stuff that happens during the day. And family photo sessions are about the interaction that happens between family members and not so much of "Everyone say cheese!!". The idea of having a photographer present to capture images of the birth of a baby is such a new concept to some people. Bethany explained her reasoning for wanting professional pictures of her delivery quite nicely, "I figured this day is pretty much as important as your wedding day and you hire a professional photographer for that so why not for this (only I didn't have to hire her because she's my sis)."


Anyhow, on to the best part... the baby finally arrived... and it's a BOY!!!!

Welcome to the world baby Lincoln!



And Mark was thrilled to see that he had a SON!









What a blessing it was to witness the birth of my baby nephew!

Bethany's Baby Labour and Delivery! PART TWO

So now the induction was starting and the contractions finally really picked up.

Teri, Beth's doula gave her a foot massage to help relax her. Mark faithfully timed all her contractions, letting her know when the peak was starting and when it was over. She kept her cool the entire time and didn't once ask for any pain medications! What a trooper!





Pretty much at the end, the time was ALMOST here for Beth and Mark to meet their baby.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post to find out whether it was a BOY or GIRL.... and to see the joyous moments of the new baby entering into the world!!

Bethany's Baby Labour and Delivery! PART ONE

Well, I have LOTS of pictures to upload so I'll have to do this in parts. I was so EXCITED to hear my sister Bethany say that she wanted pictures of her delivery!! To make it easy for her to decide who to choose to take the pictures (Melanie or me), I helped her out. I didn't give her a choice. Mel had a turn (taking pictures of me a year ago when I delivered baby Eden) so now it was my turn! Sorry Mel:)

Beth and Mark have a little girl named Reese. She's two years old and ready to be a big sister!
They decided that they wanted the gender of this baby to be a surprise. We were all so eager to see if Reese would have a baby brother or sister!!
The baby hats were laid out... what will it be, pink or blue????



Mark kept all their friends up to date on facebook.... tons of people were checking in constantly! He kept giving Beth the responses people gave to his updates, so much fun!


Beth's water had broken the night before so she had to walk the halls at the hospital quite a few times to help the contractions to pick up.

And she spent lots of time on the birthing ball....


Teri Murphy was Bethany's doula, and she's AMAZING at what she does!! A doula is a birthing coach/support that stays by your side through the entire process... helping provide physical and emotional comfort. Teri assisted me with my deliveries and I HIGHLY recommend that expectant mother's hire a doula. And if you are in the Haldimand-Norfolk area, get Teri... she's the best of the best!!

Mark found a chart that shows the stages of cervix dilation and was happy to have found Beth's current stage!


Well, it was a long day and things weren't progressing as quickly as they needed too considering that she needed to deliver within 24 hours of the water breaking. Now we were talking about starting an induction. Beth was a bit disappointed, she really wanted an all-natural delivery but she was of course willing to do whatever was necessary to have the baby arrive safely.