Beacon - A Home Birth Story

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Alanna Farmer

This was a special birth for me. Home births always hold a special place in my heart since I had a home birth with my second daughter. But it wasn’t only the home birth that made it special, I was also able to work alongside Michelle and Kaydee from Birth Matters, who were my midwives a year and a half ago.

For this post, I asked the mom for her birth story. Below is her personal story:
(You may want some tissues close by)

“Beacon’s birth was unlike my first two. With my first I had a few surges, then my water broke and 5 hours later she was born in the birthing tub. My second, I woke at 6:15am with a surge and my son was born 1.5 hours later. We did not have time to fill the tub, I didn’t even have time to prepare my bed, so I delivered him standing at my bathroom sink. His birth was so quick he was stunned and wasn’t breathing, he was resuscitated and we were transferred to the hospital where we had to stay in the NICU for 3 days. It wasn’t the birth experience we planned for and we were pretty traumatized by it.
Beacon’s birth was something else entirely.
I already had a couple false alarms with labor starting and stopping before his due date arrived. The morning of his due date, the 4th of July, I woke at 6am with surges. I was used to fast labors so I was ready to call my midwife but since I had already called her out once in the middle of the night, I wanted to wait and make sure this was real labor. By 10:45am my surges were 20-15 minutes apart and quite intense so my midwife came out to see me. Of course in the 45 minutes she was with me I had no surges. She checked me and I was at 4cm. She said to go about my day and call her when surges were closer to 5 minutes apart. She also said she would be at the movies from 1-3:30 but to not hesitate to page her. By 2pm surges were 5 minutes apart but I felt so bad for calling her to come over twice already that I told Joe to wait until 3:30pm to call her. He paged her at 3:30pm while I lay on my side in bed moaning through surges and listening to my hypnobirthing track ,”Rainbow Relaxation“, on repeat. Joe filled the tub and our birthing team and Alanna were in our room 20 minutes later. Midwife Kaydee was the first one to greet me. She very gently touched my hip and side to let me know she was there to support me and I felt so comforted. “That feels good” I told her. I got in the tub around 3:50pm. As soon as I got in I felt a lot of relief “This feels so much better” I said. A surge washed over me and at 3:58 when I felt the next surge coming I asked “Can I push now?” and Midwife Michelle told me I could if I felt ready. So I did and my water broke. Baby’s head came with the next push and baby was delivered with the third push at 4:04pm.
I caught my baby and pulled him out of the water and to my chest as I leaned back against the birth tub. “I’m so glad that is over” I said with a smile as I looked at Joe. Then I held up my baby to inspect the sex “it’s a boy” and I began to cry and so did my baby; big, loud, hearty cries that told me he was healthy and strong.
Joe and I wept tears of joy and relief that he was finally here, and everything went perfectly, and he was healthy, and he was such a wonderful surprise because I was SURE I was having a girl. It was a perfect moment. A little while later my two older kids came up to meet their new baby brother. Then they went downstairs and made a birthday cake with their aunt while baby and I were checked. A little later they brought the cake up and our little family and our whole birthing team sang Beacon his first “Happy Birthday” song. It was so special. And the best part was everyone was still able to make it back to their BBQ’s in time for their 4th of July fireworks!
We were so thankful to have such a positive birthing experience and feel beyond blessed to have had Alanna there to document it for us. Her photos are ones we will treasure for the rest of our lives and I can’t wait to share them with Beacon someday. ”

-Jessica

If you live in Southern California and would like me to document your birth you can contact me here to start.

Alanna Farmer Photography
Maternity, Birth, Newborn, and Family Photographer
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Maritza’s Maternity Shoot

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You wouldn’t be able to tell from the look of it, but right before Maritza’s maternity session, there was a huge thunderstorm- like my house was shaking huge! I kept checking the weather reports seeing if it would pass in time and kept thinking we would have to reschedule. Luckily, the rain stopped and sun popped out just in time. Got to love the crazy Southern California weather! Unfortunately, it was still extremely humid! But other than the humidity, I loved this maternity shoot! Calavera Hills is such a serene place, making it the perfect backdrop for this maternity session. Maritza was absolutely gorgeous in her dress, which perfectly showed off her adorable baby bump. And it isn’t hard to tell that her husband thought the same. I love when husbands can’t help but to kiss their wife!

To schedule your maternity session click here to contact me!

Alanna Farmer Photography
Maternity, Birth, Newborn, and Family Photographer
Follow me on Instagram and Facebook

Newborn Baby Claire

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I love it when newborns give a hint of a smile. They are already filled with joy and happiness!
A few weeks after shooting her mother’s maternity pictures I went over to their house and spent the afternoon photographing Claire, then just 6 days old. With life going by so fast, photographing a newborn is such a nice way to slow down, I’m working on their time. There is no rush.
Claire was such a little angel. Sleeping most of the time and only waking for a short while to eat and of course peeing on her daddy.
Being a few weeks early, Claire was so perfectly tiny. If only babies could stay newborns longer! They’re just so precious.

To schedule your own in-home newborn shoot click here to contact me!

Alanna Farmer Photography
Maternity, Birth, Newborn, and Family Photographer

A Daddy’s Homecoming

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There’s nothing better than having your family back together! I thought with this weekend being the 4th of July, it would be the perfect time to share this family’s homecoming.
I first met Kayla and Marcos as they welcomed their daughter into the world (you can see their birth post here). Just weeks after the birth of their 3rd child, Marcos had to leave on deployment for 6 months. I can’t even begin to imagine what deployment must feel like for a new family of five!

The last few hours before the homecoming must have felt like a lifetime to all these families! Luckily, for the kids there were things to do; a bouncy house to play in, movies to watch, and a table full of supplies to make signs. With every new movement outside the hanger, you could feel the anticipation growing more and more. Then at last, they were home. Welcome home!