Category: Birth Photography
On this rainy day, I'm thinking back to January 18th 2007. Three short years ago, we had the privilege of bringing a little ray of sunshine into this world, Olivia Joy Hamilton! She does truly bring so much joy into our lives! After having a small bday bash for her last night and looking again at her birth slideshow, I hope she realizes how much excitement and anticipation there was at her birth and how loved she truly is. Happy Birthday Livy!! We are so glad you were born and we love you!! The photos in Livy's birth slideshow were taken both by Damion and also by the lovely and gracious Erin Palos of Sweet Baby Photo, who is a dear friend to us and actually came down to the hospital for TWO days in a row....Thanks Erin--much love to you for all of your efforts--you mean so much to us! All of the photos after the birth are by Damion and myself (of friends and the like). CLICK HERE TO SEE LIVY's SLIDESHOW!!!! **Warning--it's about 2.5 songs long! But what can we say, we love pictures!!!**
|
Hello friends! Here's a little blurb I shared over on FB about how the power of one picture. Enjoy! Damion's mom technically should have died on Livy's due date. She had been without nutrition for a few days because her body just couldn't process it anymore, which we were told would cause her to only be able to survive for a very limited amount of time. "Two to three days at the most," the doctors told us. Every day that crept by past that date was very difficult, but Livy just wasn't ready to come and Damion's mom wasn't ready to let go. So, we decided to induce Livy's birth in the hope that perhaps after she was born, Damion would have the chance to go to Northern California to say goodbye to his mom, as we knew that she was down to the last days, even hours of her life.
Well, Livy held on! and so did Nana. Five days later, on Thursday January 18th, Olivia was born. Much to the shock of all the doctors, Damion's mom was STILL holding on and had lived for 7 days without nutrition.
One of the most difficult things to deal with in a situation like this is facing the reality and realization that your parents will never know your children. We knew that Nana would not have a chance to ever know Livy, to see her long eyelashes bat and feel her big hugs, but there was one thing that we could do to ease her pain and ours. We sent her a picture. This one. Livy was just several minutes old. Damion uploaded the picture right away to send to his mom. The family printed it up for her and held it up for her to see. Nana opened her eyes, looked at the photo and said "She's beautiful" and then closed her eyes again. That was the last time she ever opened her eyes.
I do feel that that simple picture was one of the most powerful in our lives. That single picture brought closure to Nana and allowed her to rest peacefully. That single picture brings healing to me when those times come when I look at Livy and think "Boy, your Nana would have loved to know you" and then I remember, BUT THE PICTURE! She did see Livy before she passed away and that makes all the difference in the world to me! Sometimes I feel bad that I wasn't able to talk to her in the last days, but I know that at least we gave her a precious gift....a glimpse into the life of her new grand-daughter.
We love it when people share with us how our photos have touched their hearts, filling them with joy or flooding them with memories. But pictures do more than that. In some cases, they are a memorial of a person whom will never be forgotten, a testimonial, a healing agent, a restorative agent, a mystery solved, a clue to your past or heritage, a love passed on. When I think of pictures that are powerful healing agents in my own personal life, I think of the one beautiful picture that my mom has of her mother, who passed away from brain cancer when my mom was a baby--it's amazing to see how much she looks like my sister, she's beautiful. Then, there are our dear friends who lost their baby to a stillborn birth and used some of our photos from the baby shower to make a scrapbook in remembrance of the little sweetie. And I will certainly never forget this email that we received from a client and friend after completing their First 48 (Birth) Session, "God moved through you to bless my family and truly help heal the pain of not being able to remember much of the last birth, but being able to really celebrate the beautiful miracle of this one."
This is why pictures are more than just a digital image on a camera or print on a wall to us. They are about life and people and capturing moments that happen once in a lifetime.
That's truly the power of one picture.
|
PS With two photographers at the birth, it was a little confusing! I believe this picture was taken by Erin Palos with Sweet Baby Photo, our fabulous birth photographer. Wouldn't trade anything for having her there to capture these memories.
|
Well, here she is! We have long awaited the birth of this beautiful girl, Natalie Marie! What a moment to treasure! Birth photography is the perfect way to capture those precious moments forever--they only happen once! With that in mind, we knew that Angie had been in labor all day on Tuesday, so we went to bed on Tues night waiting for the phone call that Natalie was ready to make her appearance. On Wednesday morning, the 23rd, I woke up at 4:45 a.m. so dissapointed, sure we had somehow missed the birth of the baby. Texted Angie....her water has just broken and she was dilated to a 9.5! I woke up Damion, he threw on some clothes (don't want to go in your PJs!) and got to the hospital as fast as he could. By the time he arrived, Angie was already pushing! Just two pushes later and this beautiful baby girl was brought into our world. WARNING: I am issuing a 5TA. That is a Five Tissue Alert, the highest rating for the large amount of tears you might be likely to shed while watching this slideshow (with the sound up!). This means that you should be prepared with AT LEAST five tissues...and for you parents that have baby girls, you may need even more! Just to explain a little, our view on births is that Damion doesn't take any pictures that you wouldn't want your grand kids to see, so in these birth images, you will see nothing icky or yucky, just the wonderfulness! Rick and Angie, what a beautiful baby girl. She is made so much more precious by knowing how long this little one has been in your hearts and the patience that you have shown in waiting for all of God's plans to unfold. Many blessings to you all! Without further ado, here is little Natalie... CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW OF HER BIRTH!!!
|
|
