Luca: Birth & Coming Home
This little one gave everyone a wild ride.
Luca’s parents hired me to photograph his birth at the beginning of their second trimester. Their story was one of a long journey of TTC, infertility, and a failed round of IVF. On their second round of IVF though, baby Luca took and grew beautifully and everyone was over the moon 🌙
the morning
I was updated that my client had gone to the hospital early in the morning due to severe back pain and a strong consistent rib pain. She wasn’t very dilated (about 1 cm) but that her blood pressure was very high and the doctors were wanting to recheck it in a little bit.
Shortly after that update, I got another text saying they were keeping her and inducing due to high blood pressure (pre-eclampsia). Which if left untreated is a very severe medical condition.
Inductions typically take awhile, so giving them some space, staying in contact with changes, and supporting virtually until it was my time to head to the hospital was my plan! However little Luca had other plans.
middle of the night
Luca was born in the very early morning hours of the following day after blood work came back that was not a good sign, her organs were in the beginning stages of shutting down. A cesarean was quickly performed to everyone’s surprise, especially because the pre-eclampsia had snuck up so fast.
Luca was born at 2:17 am weighing 5 lbs 11 oz and 20.25 inches long 😍
Since I wasn’t able to be there, and couldn’t really visit due to Covid restrictions in the hospital, we talked about a coming home session since everyone in their family was seriously SO excited for this little one. Capturing the first time they met him seemed fitting since it had been a very long journey for everyone.
Coming Home
I got to the home of my client’s parents at about 6:30 pm, where their family was waiting. We all hung out and patently waited for them to leave the hospital since it was only about a 10 minute drive away.
When we got the text they were on their way, I went outside and waited for them. It was emotional for me to stand on the street watching them drive up, knowing that these moments, although weren’t necessarily the ones they wanted capture initially, tell such a powerful story of strength, perseverance, and love 💕
Hanging out with them and both sides of their family for almost two hours, capturing the first moments of everyone who already deeply loved this tiny human meeting, was so beautiful. There were tears of happiness and laughter and tons of snuggles. Even the family dogs got in on the action as well!
Birth is unpredictable
It can take such dramatic turns and many times it takes a while to process what happened. It is normal for it to take time to process it. It is normal to grieve the birth you didn’t have. It is normal to have difficult feelings regarding a NICU stay.
But there are resources local to you to help you process all of the emotions you’re feeling. I myself had to do a lot of processing after my son was born.
But the one thing you need to remember is you are strong. Give yourself grace. You carried that baby. You birthed that baby.