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It feels like only yesterday I was in the hospital with him, but in reality it's been three whole months. He has brought so much joy to our family and his big personality is fitting in perfectly to our circus! Last month he found his tongue, but this month (really in the past few days) he's learned how to make spit bubbles. He's starting to work his hands and catch a hold of anything in their path. During this quick little session he actually laughed for the first time!
We kept with an all-white color scheme and simple poses to really let her shine.
Despite the fact that she slept the entire time, she was full of little grunts and sweet little newborn noises. I couldn't have asked for a better way to go on maternity leave- she was an absolute dream baby!
I love this photograph because it makes me think of what she must have looked like in the womb. She looks so peaceful and content.
This particular picture with the pineapples we decided to do something a little different than the simplicity of the other photographs in her in-studio newborn session. It is a gift for her grandmother who loves pineapples!
She is such a sweet little newborn girl. Congratulations mom and dad!
This sweet boy was 9 months old at his in-studio milestone session. It's amazing how quickly babies grow!
This wonderful family traveled all the way from South Georgia for their West Ashley milestone session.
Baby boy was so serious and after trying every trick in my book to get him to smile, dad bonked himself on the head with a water bottle and we had baby belly laughs until the very end of the session. Leave it to daddy to be silly and get baby to smile!
At 5:30am on June 27, my alarm went off. It was baby day (at least I really hoped everything would happen in the same day). I showered, did my hair, got dressed and kissed Landon goodbye. The drive to the hospital felt so surreal. I had imagined frantically driving through the neighborhood racing to the hospital, but our morning was slow and relaxed.
We arrived at the hospital where I was welcomed by my nurse. As we got settled into our room, I mentioned I wanted a natural birth (after the pitocin) and was going to do Hypnobabies as my pain management. I was a little embarrassed to tell her I was doing it because it's sort of out there, but she was so excited. She said she was game for anything, but I couldn't push on the floor - she didn't want to have to catch a baby on the floor. We instantly knew we were going to love her. I even asked her when the shift change was because I needed her to be my nurse the whole time.
About 9:30am they started my pitocin and my doctor came in to break my water. I remember nervously saying, "Well, there's no turning back now!" I was worried that I was going to go into instant labor because after my water broke with Landon, I was pushing him out a few minutes later. When nothing happened, I was a little bummed but also relieved.
Trip took pictures (per my request) and I watched Southern Charm on my phone. Towards the end of the episode, my nurse asked me what my pain level was. When I told her no pain, she said "I'm not doing my job then!" and turned the pitocin up. Every time I heard her turn up the pitocin, I got a little nervous. I finally started to feel something, but it wasn't much. The next time my nurse came in to check on us, I told her she could turn it up more and she said no. My contractions, while not painful, where happening every 3-4 minutes. I laughed and said, "Okay, but I can take it." Famous last words.
At this point, we were a few hours in and Trip and I were bored. I asked to sit on the birthing ball (a yoga ball) to see if I could work Rhett down. My nurse bumped up my pitcoin a little more and it didn't take long before I needed to stop talking and breath through the contractions.
Within a few more minutes I went from joking with Trip about our nurse's face if we set up a kiddie pool in the room to telling him "Goodbye, I'm checking out." I put in my headphones and started listening to the Hypnobabies track "Your birthing time begins." My doctor came in to check on me. I heard her telling Trip she would check me after her C-section was over. After about 45 minutes of my contractions getting more intense, and moving into my lower back, I got in bed for them to check me. I was at 5.5 cm. I don't remember being disappointed because I knew I went fast after 6cm with Landon, but I also remember thinking that I was only half way there.
One thing that was sort of funny this time around was that I kept having to go to the bathroom. I would tell Trip that I needed to go, we would wait for the next contraction to pass and then he would unhook all of my cords as fast as he could so I could potty. I kept getting stuck in the bathroom with a contraction. Afterwards my nurse told me she told Trip I couldn't go in there anymore because she was worried Rhett was going to be born in the bathroom!
I got back on the ball and rocked back and forth through some pretty intense contractions while Trip pushed on my lower back. He asked the nurse to check me again even though it had been less than 30 minutes since my last check. I was already at an 8. They wouldn't let me out of the bed this time because my doctor was getting nervous about Rhett's heart rate. My blood pressure also started to rise so they had me constantly changing positions. This part was super annoying to me because I just wanted to be left alone and I really wanted to get out of that bed!
I guess I should explain that with Hypnobabies, the point is to be super relaxed. I describe it as "checking out." It almost felt like I was in a light sleep or super groggy - I could hear everything going on, but I didn't want to respond. Most of what happened after 6cm I was told later because I was so focused on breathing and staying relaxed through the contractions that I didn't even realize what was happening in the room. The nurse mentioned to Trip that my doctor was getting nervous about the baby and since my groans had changed she wanted to check me again. I think my nurse was worried that my doctor was going to start pushing a C-section. She checked me and said I was at a 9. My doctor came in and I remember her telling me I could start bearing down if I wanted to. I remember thinking "Good because I already am" and "How am I already pushing?" What seemed like a minute later, my legs were being put up and I was told to start pushing as I wanted. Eight minutes and three pushes later my doctor said, "Open your eyes, Ashleigh!" and my baby was being lifted to my chest. I just laid there and sobbed. The pregnancy with so many scares was finally over and he was here!
The day before, my ultrasound tech estimated Rhett weighed about 5 pounds, 12 ounces. We were all shocked when that is what he weighed at birth. While doing his measurements, they determined he was "small for gestational age" which meant that we had to do blood sugar checks before every feed. Luckily, his levels stayed up and it ended up not being a big deal. He was a tiny, but healthy little guy.
The next day Landon came to the hospital to meet his brother. As soon as he walked in the room, he asked where the baby was and said he wanted to give him a hug. Before Rhett was born, we talked about throwing him a birthday party. We even went to the store to pick out a present and Landon wrapped it all by himself. I was so happy Landon remembered and was excited for it. You can see the present in his hand and my mom said he picked out all the balloons by himself (notice the one polka dot one).
Landon was born in Washington so we didn't have family in town. It was a treat for the Grandparents to start heading our way the morning of my induction so they could meet Rhett the same day he was born.
And the poor baby wasn't going to escape without some First 48 pictures. I am so thankful I was feeling great after delivery and was able to take these.
This sweet boy came in for his mini session at 15 days old.
He was not too keen on going to sleep. Most of his newborn session was done with him open-eyed and wide awake, which is fine because look how adorable he is!
His nursery is elephant themed and it'll be so much fun to recreate this picture as he gets older. You'll really be able to see his growth.
He took a little nap for a few shots. Look how sweet he is!
I met this family bright and early for a session full of baby snuggles and cake eating in celebration of this little guy's first birthday. As soon as I pulled my camera out, he flashed me the best smile and I knew this was going to be a good session.
This was such a sweet family. It was apparent from the beginning of the session just how much they love each other- and how obsessed they are with their baby! And it turns out that our husbands work together and we have a few mutual friends. It's funny how small the world is!
We walked around Downtown Charleston and hit the "hot spots"- Rainbow Row and Waterfront Park- and then headed to White Point Gardens for some cake.
You would never know from the pictures, but K didn't actually eat any cake! He might win the title for "Messiest Cake Smasher Who Didn't Actually Eat Any Cake." He loved running his hands through the cake though.
K, I hope you have a wonderful dinosaur birthday party and that year #2 is full of many wonderful memories!
This perfect little newborn was photographed in-studio in West Ashley, SC in our mini session.
She stayed awake just long enough to investigate what was going on, and then off to sleep she went for the entire hour of her session.
We had to include a nod to Dad's Naval career in our newborn mini session. They are a submarine family like us!
Mom and Dad moved here to the Charleston Area from Hawaii while she was pregnant, and baby was born shortly after arriving.
We are so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such a beautiful time in the life of this family.
We spent an early morning photographing this beautiful little girl and her wonderful parents at Folly Beach during sunrise.
We arrived first thing at Folly Beach before the sun was coming up over the horizon for our beach session. It was a gorgeous sight and the light was perfect.
I previously photographed this little girl for her nine month milestone session. Look how she has grown!
She is such a serious little soul. You can see it in her sweet face that she is thoughtful and pensive.
She would get brave enough to splash in the water, but then to run to mommy for a snuggle when the waves came in a little too fast.
As she got more comfortable, she loved to point out the birds.
She is right at the age where she is toeing the line of baby and independent toddler. It is such a lovely and bittersweet transition and capturing this stage is such a privilege.
The last time we photographed this handsome little man was back at Christmas time with his big sister. This time around we photographed him in-studio in West Ashley for his 1st birthday milestone session.
Last time we photographed him he was just starting to sit up so we would have to play the balancing game to snap a few pictures before he started to tip over. Now he is standing and getting ready to start walking any day now!
He is such a happy baby. He loved to smiled and the camera loved him back. It was such a fun milestone studio session.
He thought animal sounds were the funniest thing - "meow" was his favorite so his mom and I took turns being cats. The results were well worth it. Look at this handsome guy!
You're doing a wonderful job, mom! He's growing up beautifully. Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of his first year. Here's hoping year two doesn't go by as quickly as year one!
The age where they toe the line of independent toddler and baby- this is one of my favorite and sweetest ages to photograph.
