As a nurse, I am completely fascinated by the miracle of birth – some day I hope to actually be a midwife! But the closest I can get right now is photographing births. I’ve been dying to for a while and thankfully my sister in law is a sweetheart and gave me the OKAY to photograph her daughter’s birth. This was HUGE for me because I hadn’t photographed a birth yet PLUS getting to see my baby niece being born? There’s nothing better!

When I approached Kelly, a nurse practitioner and flight nurse, and Clint, a paramedic, about photographing the birth of their second child, a baby girl they named Khloe Grace, there wasn’t much arm twisting that had to be done. Their professions made them extremely interested in the process of birth and to see it from a different point of view (i.e., mine) wasn’t something they were going to pass up. Especially if that different point of view could be obtained by their photographer sister in law, who is also a nurse. That would be me 😉

Khloe’s due date just so happen to fall on their son’s birthday, December 31st, but Kolton was a whole 4 weeks early so the whole family was prepared for Khloe to show up sooner rather than later. Once 37 weeks passed we were counting down the days. Any day now! we would say. Still the days ticked by. Christmas came and went and we began to think maybe Khloe was actually going to come on time. Wouldn’t that be nice? Kolton, having been born a tad premature, was a tiny 4 pounds 9 ounces. Kelly’s sister Keisha dreamt that Khloe was born an 8 pound baby. We laughed! Hahahahaha Kelly is just too tiny, Clint is too thin, Kolton was sooo small, no way! We were banking on a 7 pounder at the most!

Friday afternoon, December 27th, Kelly text me to say that she had been having minor contractions and was being admitted into Labor and Delivery at our local hospital for observation. If she didn’t progress within an hour, they’d send her home. I had put myself “on-call” since starting at week 36 and had my bags already packed and ready but I moved my bags to the car, took a shower, and prepared myself for show time! Two hours later, Clint called, progress hadn’t been made, but because Kolton came so fast they wanted to keep her, so I made my way to the hospital – more than excited! This was it! I was not only about to help welcome my baby niece into the world but also photograph my first birth!

Clint was actually the one to catch Kolton when he was born and was such an amazing help then and now for Khloe’s birth! No need to call the nurse when Kelly had to get up and move around! Paramedic Clint unhooked and hooked up everything for Kelly without trouble!

Kolton hung out in the room with Kelly’s sister Keisha, who is also a nurse practitioner, and Clint’s mom (my mother-in-law) Terri. Slowly but surely, the family was arriving!

The amazing Dr. Savells and OB nurse Carla! They made such an incredible team! She was also the Dr. when Kolton was born, but again, since he came so fast, she wasn’t there when it happened. She was soooo determined NOT to miss it this time! She came and stayed the entire 6 hours before Kelly even started pushing! I know I’ve picked the best to work with when I finally have a baby!

Kelly’s family had arrived! Very soon after this picture was taken, Nurse Carla reminded us of the Only 4 Guests Allowed rule. Whoops!

Kelly’s youngest sister, Kortney, Kolton, and her mom and dad were so supportive! By now, Kelly’s contractions were picking up. Having your water broken will do that to you! But Kelly was and is SUCH a trooper! She was having this baby natural, with only minor pain medication intervention. Turned out, though, when it came time to push, all medication was out of her system. Kelly is my hero!

Contractions continued and it was time for Kolton to join everyone else in the waiting room. The final kiss from mommy before he wasn’t the baby anymore!

Kelly almost immediately began missing her little boy so we kept her updated with pictures from the waiting room.

Kelly had been asking for an orange flavored popsicle for hours and Keisha was able to steal borrow one from another floor. Contractions came and went, but Kelly was enjoying her popsicle!

One AM was just around the corner and Nurse Carla said the words we were all waiting to hear: It was finally time!

I just LOVE this picture! There is nothing but adoration in Clint’s eyes as he looks at his brave wife!

After less than 2 hours of pushing, Khloe Grace, born December 28th, 2013, 2:49am! A she was a big girl! Can you guess how big? We all said 7 pounds and something…. maybe 8. NOPE. Even Keisha dreamt wrong…… 8 pounds, 9 ounces! We all gasped when we were told!

Another KILLER look from Clint as he carries his newborn baby girl to her momma. I can’t stand the beautiful-ness!

And finally, my favorite image from the night:

Clint brings the rest of the family in to meet Khloe. Nothing beats the new big brother meeting his new baby sister for the first time. So sweet!!

Words cannot express how honored I am, as a photographer and as an aunt, that Kelly and Clint had me photograph the birth of their little girl! Welcome to the world, Khloe Grace!