AAAAAAAH! Everyone, I have been so excited to share this birth story with you. It was such an amazing amazing experience for me as a photographer. You can just feel all the love!
Sarah and Ryan had a beautiful at home natural water birth. Here is the story from Sarah's perspective.
Tell us a bit about yourself, and what number baby/birth you’re sharing with us.
My name is Sarah and my fiancé is Ryan. We live in a cute little home a block from the beach here on the North Shore of Hawaii. I am a health and wellness educator with DoTERRA (here is a link to her page) and work from home teaching and empowering other people how to take control of their own healthcare. Ryan is a boat captain/owner and gets the privilege of sharing fishing, whale watching, shark dives, and snorkeling tours with visitors and locals across the North Shore! Baby Finn is our first baby and this has been the best experience of our life!!
What was your due date, and what was your baby’s birth date?
His due date was August 1, 2016 but he was born on August 6, 2016
What was babies weight and length?
Fin weighed 7 pounds and 8 ounces and was 21 inches long
What did you do to prepare for your labor and birth? Did it help?
Since I was doing an all natural home water birth I made sure to do a lot of preparation throughout my pregnancy. I ate very healthy and took many vitamins and supplements daily. I also remained very active and did yoga six days a week throughout my entire pregnancy and continued to run, swim, Surf, and stay as fit and flexible as possible. I do not use any toxic products and really implemented Doterra Essentail Oils into my daily regimen for almost everything from health and wellness to cleaning to stress management to sleeping to help with meditation to prepare mentally for the birth. Most importantly lots and lots of prayer And my strong faith in the Lord! I believe all of this helped greatly with my fast and beautiful birth.
What did you like about your birth experience, if anything?
I love that I was so comfortable during my birth with the person I love the most in the comforts of our own home. It was such a beautiful and magical and spiritual moment and there was never any fear but only excitement to meet baby and peace throughout the whole process
What surprised you about your contractions/labor?
I was very surprised with how much a woman's body can actually handle the intense pain of contractions. It is the most intense pain ever but because it's only in one or two minute increments and the woman's body is so strong we can totally handle it. It's so beautiful to see how our bodies are built for such an amazing process
In reflection, would you do anything differently, either before the birth, during or after?
Honestly I don't think I would have done anything different to prepare for my birthday. I was so confident going into it and I felt amazing that my birth and labor was better than I had expected!!
What do you remember the most about your birth?
I remember being so comfortable in my own home and in my own skin. I remember the amount of love and support that I got from my partner Ryan and having our dog Lehua with us throughout the entire birth. Being in your own home in your own skin and your own environment is priceless for such a vulnerable and loving process such as birth. I remember feeling like my heart was going to explode with love. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs "I love you" too my midwife and my doctor and my photographer and my partner and my dog. It was surreal
How was your birth experience different from what you imagined it to be?
My birth experience was definitely different than what I imagined. I thought it was going to be anywhere from 18 to 30 hours and in actuality it was probably less than five hours. It was way faster and more manageable than I ever could've imagined. It was such an awesome experience
What were your immediate emotions about yourself and or your birth experience after the birth?Honestly, I was so proud of myself and Ryan after my birth. It was so much faster and smoother than I ever could have imagined. I felt like all of us worked so well as a team to have the perfect experience! This is not to say that it was not painful by any means but it was definitely manageable and the amount of love and support that I felt throughout the experience was undescribable
How would you describe your recovery?
My recovery has been great. It was so nice to give birth to baby finn and then crawl into my own bed. We've just been home for the last three weeks in the comfort of her own home enjoying baby and slowly recovering
Did you learn anything about yourself through this experience?
Women are way stronger than we give ourselves credit for!! It's so amazing when we place our faith in the Lord and stop being fearful and trust the process that we can do anything
Would you recommend having a natural childbirth or medicated childbirth to other women?
Oh my gosh… I would definitely recommend a natural childbirth as long as you are hundred percent healthy and there is no red flags up until birth. It is the most spiritual beautiful experience ever!
WHY hire a birth photographer?
Having a birth photographer is an absolute MUST. It's so crazy that I was recalling my birth to some friends and realizing once I saw the video it was quite different than my actual memory. HAHA There's so many details that I missed out on because I was in the moment of my own birth that a birth photographer can capture and you can share with friends and family for a lifetime!! A lot of the birth and labor my eyes were closed and I was in the zone. But being able to watch my partner and even our dog share in the birth process with us through photos and video has been priceless for me to see and relive the amazing experience.
I posted this film in a previous post, but you don't want to miss it! Such a beautiful birth, and I think the audio and spoken words add so much love to the story. Also, there is a part where the midwife and midwife assistant are talking about the placenta at 2:38. So cool! It is such a miracle that our bodies were built to make placentas and umbilical cords and babies.
