The Birth That Everyone Missed {Las Vegas Birth Photographer}

Kelli’s first birth had been l-o-n-g. So at this her second birth, when, as part of conversation, she said “Last time, the midwife was just sitting there staring at me, waiting for me to progress” it kind of explains what happened this time around. As a side note, Kelli’s first midwife was no one in the Las Vegas area, since she was living in Texas as the time. I often get clients who ask “What if I start labor in the middle of the night?” or some other such worry about inconveniencing me. Well, the truth is, it’s ok to call in the middle of the night, and it’s ok to not be progressing “fast enough” like Kelli’s first birth. Birth is unplannable and those of us who love birth understand that.

Kelli had given me a warning text that morning to let me know she was in early labor and would be calling sometime later. I got another text later that said things were still easy-going and they were taking a walk. It was a beautiful day and there was a light sprinkle of rain. Then they had their daughter take a nap and got a little rest themselves. Then things started to pick up and Kelli, comparing it to her first birth, was thinking “Oh no, I probably have 6 more hours of this” as contractions were getting harder and stronger and closer together. Well, then her water broke, and Bob started making phone calls to me, the midwife’s assistant and the midwife. Of course, we said we would be there as soon as we could and all rushed out the door. A mere half an hour passed between labor “picking up,” the water breaking, and the baby being born. None of the birth attendants arrived in time, due to the distances we had to travel and how far Kelli had already progressed when the phone calls were made. Kelli and Bob had a unintentional unassisted birth!

Kelli was ecstatic! She kept saying how she was so surprised that it all happened as fast as it did. She also mentioned that watching waterbirths on YouTube helped immensely (Thank you YouTube!). April arrived very shortly after the baby was born and I just minutes later. And her is her birth photostory:

I love the tippy-toes!

This is the feeding face!

Kelli & Bob are quite artistic people. On the wall of their living room was this beautiful arrangement of photographs, including the one of the pregnancy test stick, which I thought was so fun! And Miss Violet announcing “It’s a boy!” with the green onesie with puppy dogs! 🙂