It was 7:30 in the morning when Leycianne sent me a message, saying that her labour had started. I had already photographed their maternity photo session in Tower Bridge three weeks before, so I was expecting to be called anytime. My equipment was already ready, but I had time to eat and even to get ahead of my work while waiting for news of the labour evolution. They went home to prepare everything they went back to the Chelsea and Westinster hospital around midday.
By 3:00 pm, labour had evolved very little, but I decided to go to the hospital anyway to start their birth photography coverage. I’d rather stay longer than miss something important. And so I was able to record what was important on their day.
It was the best decision, as I managed to catch them amidst one contraction and another for some time when labour had not yet evolved much and the pain wasn’t yet very strong.
I think it was around 5:00 PM when the doctor suggested blowing the bag to speed up the process. Another hour and the contractions were less spaced and also more intense. At that time she requested for an epidural. Her mother and her husband were comforting her. Her mother couldn’t hold her tears by seeing her daughter in such pain and I couldn’t eighter. Impossible not to be moved.
While epidural was in process, her mother and I had to leave the room, only the husband remained. Right after the anaesthesia, the baby’s heart rate went down and Leyce was sent to the operating room, as an emergency c-sections might be needed. I stayed with the mother, who was distressed without information of what was happening. In those hours I stopped being a photographer and I turned into a friend, I had to try to calm down that mother (and grandmother).
An hour passed, and they returned to the room. Vitor’s heart beats became stable again and the c-section was canceled. And now her pain had already passed because of the epidural, so everything calmed down.
At 11:05 P.M., the baby Vitor came into the world by normal birth. And I felt moved again. What an incredible thing it is to see a human being born. It’s magical, it’s beautiful! ❤️
I stayed there until 1 A.M., registering their first moments together, the weigh-in, the first breastfeeding. I get so happy when I see this kind of moment and I have the chance to show them that, however difficult and painful it may have been, how magical and beautiful this moment is!
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