They had me at Huck. Seriously, with a Sawyer of my own at home, I knew we were going to be a good fit. (Did you read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as a kid?)  Being a Seattle newborn photographer I always try to incorporate the Pacific Northwest environment into my baby sessions; being the adventurers that they are, Huck’s family not only embraced my PNW love but also inspired me to take it even further.  I used my brand new garden box to create this baby sized forest scene perfect for this nature loving family right inside my Sumner studio!

Mom kindly shared her birth story with us too, so read on to find out if Huck was a Christmas baby after all.

“Aww, a Christmas baby!” Given our baby’s December 21st due date, this proclamation became all too common in our conversation with family, friends and colleagues. We’d be lying if we said we weren’t a little apprehensive of sharing a birthday overshadowed with deep tradition. I kept telling him to hold out as long as he could, and sure enough, we just made it.

I woke up on December 26th around 5:00 AM having contractions. Though they were weak, something was happening. We spent the day lounging, cleaning up from Christmas, doing a puzzle and loosely tracking contraction activity. The contractions remained inconsistent all day, spanning from 10 up to 40 minutes apart. By evening, I started working through the contractions. I would get up from my puzzle to climb the stairs or get on all fours while Andy applied pressure to my tailbone. We went to bed still not worrying too much about what was to come.

As soon as I closed my book to get some rest, the contractions really kicked into gear. After laying there for 20 minutes I decided to start timing them. They ended up being about 6 1/2 minutes apart. Soon I couldn’t cope with them in bed anymore, but told Andy to get some rest and I’d wake him if I needed him. About 30 minutes later, now 1:30 AM, I let him know I needed his support. Contractions were now 4 1/2 to 5 minutes apart. Over the next 5 hours we cycled through increasingly uncomfortable contractions, nausea and movements to help the baby get in ready position. Andy was terrific at coaching me through breathing and keeping me moving. Looking back now, I’m amazed at how well he kept it all together and how selfless he was. He definitely showed up for his job that day! We let our Doula know around 3:30 AM that we were in labor and shortly after, paged the midwives. The contractions intensified tremendously the last hour we were home, and we knew it was time to go to the Birth Center.

After a very animated drive to the Center for Birth, we were met by the midwives around 7:15 AM who were already filling the bathtub. Music to my ears! I was relieved a second time to hear that I was already dilated to 7 cm….Andy and I had done so much work on our own! The next couple of hours we labored in the bathtub, the birthing stool, the bed, back to the stool, back to the bed. All of this movement supported by two midwives, a student midwife, my Doula and my brave husband, Andy. Sometime in the bath, my breathing mantra of “Oh, wow, wow” started to become harder to get out and the words began to come from a deeper place within my body. It was time to begin pushing.

Just as I started to feel I didn’t have another push in me, my body was exhausted, my mind was fuzzy and I started to feel like I couldn’t do this any longer, I was on the bed, on all fours when suddenly I saw my baby boy’s head emerging from me. One more push and it would be over and we’d officially be a family of three….there he came! They placed him on the bed under me, where I stroked his pale, wrinkled body, telling him hello. It’s amazing how fast I went from an exhausted, primal animal to a gentle, thankful mom.

Huck James McLain was born on December 27th, 2016 at 11:15 AM. He weighed 7 lbs 4 oz and was 21 inches long. After being cleaned up a bit, our families joined us around 1:30 PM to meet the newest family member. We walked in our door that night around 6:00 PM, ready for more food and much needed rest. We had done it. It wasn’t easy. Although it was actually quite painful, we kept to our plan by avoiding intervention, medication and most importantly we now have a healthy baby boy.

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us!

Are you looking for a  Seattle newborn photographer?  If you are expecting in the Seattle Tacoma Olympia and surrounding aread, I would be honored to capture beautiful photos for your family to cherish forever. Check out all the details HERE and contact me to check availability for your due date.