From the lace to the gorgeous blush color palette this afternoon spent in Kentwood, LA was an absolute dream. I want to share some of my favorite shots of The White Magnolia Styled Shoot I was fortunate enough to be apart of!
At first the two weren’t sure if they would be able to get married in front of the old barn on the property due to rain, but we all kept our fingers crossed! As soon as the ceremony finished & Elizabeth & Jason were introduced as Mr. & Mrs. Cross, rain fell from the sky!
Celebrating each couple’s unique romance is what makes being a wedding photographer so fun for me! Each wedding day is special and unique, varying seasons, flowers, and colors, but my love for each of them is always the same. I hope you enjoy my recap of 2019 weddings!
8 weeks ago my life changed forever and in the sweetest way possible. I got to meet my beautiful baby girl and after a very long pregnancy, it was so nice to finally experience the joys of motherhood. Since then, life has been a dream. Emie Beth really is an absolute angel. Breastfeeding has been a magical experience for both of us, she is doing great at learning to put herself to sleep, & she is just so perfect to look at. Truly, I wish that everyone’s first few weeks as a parent could be like mine. After always hearing how rough the newborn phase can be, I was emotionally prepared for a tougher experience but I am beyond grateful that hasn’t been the case. I suppose that’s my gift for having a painful pregnancy!
With that said, I’ll get into my birth story which starts a few weeks prior to Emie’s birthday. For many weeks prior to birth, I experienced Braxton Hicks contractions daily. For about the last 4 weeks they would occur every single day for roughly 4-8 hours a day. 3 weeks prior to my due date, I experienced roughly 20 hours of contractions. As they progressed, they became stronger and close together. This was pretty normal for me at this point so I kept an eye on it. That evening I had been contracting for so long and so close together, we decided to head to the hospital just in case I was actually in labor and to make sure Emie was okay after such a long day of contractions. She was fine, I was fine, but I was not in actual labor.
For the last three weeks, I continued having painful contractions everyday & my hip pain began to increase as Emie started to get lower into my pelvis. I was basically on self imposed bed rest those last few weeks as it became extremely painful to stand or walk. Out of all the hardships of pregnancy, this hip pain was by far the hardest part for me. I couldn’t stand being in that much pain every time I tried to take a step. It was excruciating.
So when I hit week 39 I was so hopeful that Emie Beth would be here soon. Contrary to how popular it is for many first time moms to desire to wait to go into labor on their own, I was very ready to have my child outside of my body. So I politely begged if I could be induced on my due date. I always planned for a hospital birth with pain medication, so induction was not a daunting choice for me personally. Also, I had been gradually more dilated/effaced every week so I knew my body was gearing up soon.
So one thing about giving birth in a metropolitan city during a pandemic is that it means lots of others are having babies too! That meant it took much longer than we expected to have a delivery room ready for us. After waiting about 10 hours, we were finally settled and ready to get going!
The first 14 hours of labor were pretty slow and uneventful. My contractions were no more painful than the Braxton Hicks contractions I had experienced for weeks prior. With my Pitocin drip and IV I happily bounced on a birthing ball & watched baseball with Hunter waiting for things to progress. The next step was for my water to be broken. After that, things really started to change for my body.
First off, after becoming so used to the amount of pain I was in, it was a great shock to experience back labor after having my water broken. My contractions immediately became intolerable & it felt as though my body was being ripped apart. It was the most painful thing I have ever experienced. Not having any break like you do with normal contractions was what specifically made this part of labor so difficult for me. All I can remember was screaming that I needed a break from the pain. Luckily, about 45 minutes later I experienced the sweet bliss that is an epidural.
After finally having relief, I was able to take a long nap and let my body rest and progress forward. Many hours of deep marvelous sleep later, I was at 9 cm. Next, I started to go into transition. Clearly Hunter wasn’t listening when transition was covered during our birthing class because he was very concerned at my constant shaking, but I knew exactly what was happening and that our girl would be here soon.
Next, is my favorite part of the story. It was time to start pushing! After only a few contractions, I opted to use a mirror to visualize while I pushed and I am so glad I did! I was able to focus all my energy into exactly where I needed to push and Emily Elizabeth was born only about 20 minutes after that! The whole ordeal was about 40 minutes of pushing, I experienced no pain because of my epidural, & then I finally got to hold my perfect baby! As soon as she was on my chest I exclaimed “Hi! You’re here!” Over & over again. I was elated to finally meet the sweet face I had been dreaming about for my entire life. Her dark brown eyes gazed up at mine, and I got to experience the sweetest bliss I have ever known. I fell in love with her from the second I saw her & I haven’t stopped falling ever since.
PLEASE COMMENT BELOW