Raya’s birth was the third I had attended but the first I had photographed and I’ll never forget the experience. I had just put our son Evan down for the night (he was only 6 months old at the time) when I got the call from Colin that Ocea was in labour. “Things are moving quickly… we’ll probably be needing you soon, so be ready!”. I started getting my bags packed and made the necessary calls for a babysitter when I got another phone call from Colin. “On second thought, you might want to head down now…”. That was all I needed to hear. I woke Evan up, grabbed my gear and headed down to be a part of an incredibly beautiful birth experience.
Ocea laboured in the room that would become Raya’s bedroom and was surrounded by so much love and calm strength from her birth partners. Because things had happened so quickly and Evan had come with me I brought along his travel crib, but I think he could sense the energy in the air and wanted nothing to do with being alone. I ended up wearing him on my back in the ergo as I documented the night’s events. Being a hot August evening we were both sweating, but funnily enough he crashed right out and seemed at peace with what was going on.
It’s a night I’ll never forget and one I carry around in my heart always. I hadn’t blogged the images before now as I was unsure if I would start offering birth photography but every time I look at the images my heart sings and I knew it was time to finally publish them.
Thank you Ocea and Colin for welcoming me into such an incredible moment in your lives. It’s been such a joy watching Raya grow and I’ll never forget that one beautiful evening where we all got to meet her for the first time.
{ amber }
