Welcoming Magnolia Rae | Salisbury MD Birth Photographer
Maggie's was the first birth I got to witness after the birth of my son. It was truly a life-changing moment. I knew I wanted to be a birth photographer before I went but after I KNEW! Being a part of someone's birth team is not something that I take lightly, it's such a privilege. Especially when that person is your childhood best friend, who also photographed your birth!
So here it is, my very first birth story. The one that changed me forever.
The afternoon of April 18, 2019, I got a text that Chloe was having regular contractions. She still wasn't completely convinced it was time for me to come so I asked her to send me a screenshot of her contraction timer and after I saw is I decided it was time for me to head over. Chloe lived in Baltimore and I lived in Salisbury. It was going to be the start of rush hour traffic so I didn't want the 2 and a half-hour drive to be longer than necessary.
I dropped my kids off at my mom's house and was on my way! I arrived at their house around 5 pm. Their oldest daughter let me in. Chloe was sitting on the birth ball, smiling and laughing between contractions. The birth tub was set up in their bedroom so after a while on the ball Chloe got in the tub. That really progressed things for her.
After a while, she got out to sit on the toilet (a really great laboring position by the way). When she got back in the tub she was definitely in transition.
But Chloe was so calm. She was so quiet. She kept saying "come on, baby" Pleading for her daughter to be born.
With one contraction, her water bag burst.
With the next contraction, Maggie's head was born.
Then she was born.
Later, Chloe said that she was more present and aware during this birth than her others. She never fully entered labor land and she wished she had!
"I actually picked the name “Magnolia” for our second child’s name. My husband didn’t like it at the time so we struck it off the list! 4.5 years later little miss came along and I fell in love with a completely different name, but my husband was convinced that Magnolia was the name for her! Rae has two meanings... one it’s from Star Wars so my husband loved it, and two my mother's name is Rita Kay. Rae is a combination of both of her names! And so her name became Magnolia Rae and man does she really look like a Maggie Rae!"
When your mom is a photographer, you know the announcement is going to be super cute.
"We took a photo of our older girls riding their tricycle while dragging a little wagon along with the announcement!"
Chloe didn't have any cravings this pregnancy. "Everything made me sick. The only thing I could eat or drink without being sick was iced tea!"
"One of the first things I said after she was born was that I gave birth to my father."
"I love seeing the different growth stages. Our oldest is almost ten so being able to see three different stages from infancy up to pre-teen is so much fun! I find it surprising how kids/babies can be so different. Their personalities really shine through as they grow!"
I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into this very special birth story!
" The moment a child is born, a mother is born also"
much love,
Olivia