When soon-to-be mom for the third time Kristen called me up to inquire about birth photography, she had just finished moving from Springfield Illinois back home to Paducah but only for a short time before moving to Boston for a year. Short time meaning a month just to have her baby girl and recuperate! She was a couple of weeks away from Baby Cora’s due date so I asked to set up a face-to-face but Kristen a had surprise for me. Since her first two babies had to be evicted and she wanted to get her here sooner rather than later, they had already scheduled for her membranes to be stripped Monday. As in four days from that point in time! Baby Cora would most likely be here in less than a week! I was pumped but nervous! It was too short of notice for me to get a backup birth photographer and I had an engagement session in St. Louis that following Saturday that couldn’t be rescheduled. Kristen wanted to chance it and we prayed that she would make her appearance before then.

Monday came, Kristen was dilated 3-4 cm, membranes were stripped, and we waited. She text me that evening to report that nothing was happening yet. Her plan was to labor at home until she knew it was time to go, which is always my suggestion, but it being her third child we were aware things may move faster. If no progress was made, she would return the next afternoon for another membrane stripping. Tuesday afternoon came and went and still a re-stripping of her membranes changed nothing. Wednesday had passed and Thursday was nearing its end when Kristen admitted that although she’d been ready all week, she was REALLY hoping Baby Cora was just waiting to make her appearance Friday… their 10 year wedding anniversary!

At exactly midnight Friday, June 10th Kristen text that they were heading to the hospital with pretty intense contractions! An hour later Ryan called to say they were admitting her and it was show time!