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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!

a daughter comforting her mother during their water home birth in MD

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.

A birth assistant doing hip squeezes during a contraction to help mom through labor during a home birth in MD

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.

A laboring mom resting in the water pool between contractions during her home birth in MD

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.

A birth assistant comforts a mother laboring in the birth tub during a home birth in MD

But Chloe was so calm. She was so quiet. She kept saying "come on, baby" Pleading for her daughter to be born.

The look of a contraction coming during a water home birth in MD

With one contraction, her water bag burst.

With the next contraction, Maggie's head was born.

a mom holds her baby for the first time after her water birth in MD

Then she was born.

A new mom celebrates the birth of her third daughter after her home birth in the water in MD

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!

Big sister does skin to skin with her new sister while mom gets ready to breastfeed after her water birth at home in MD

"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!"

Big sister cuts the umbilical cord after the birth of her sister at home in the water in MD

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!"

A birth assistant shows the big sisters and mom the amniotic sac where their baby was living for the last 9 months after the water birth in MD

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!"

Big sister listens to the baby's heartbeat after a beautiful water birth at home in MD

"One of the first things I said after she was born was that I gave birth to my father."

The whole family gathers around the new baby after a water birth at home in MD

"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

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