Over the past several years, I have met so many great people in the birthing field. Some of the best relationships I have made have been with the lovely ladies at Tacoma’s The Birthing Inn freestanding birth center, where I had all three of my own children.  When this mama got in touch to ask me to be her Tacoma newborn photographer, I was especially honored because her sister is one of the midwives at TBI.  In fact, mama and I even had the same midwife for our natural birth.  When we met at her maternity session about a month before baby arrived, I felt an instant connection with Megan.  It was such an honor to capture these moments for her, when her sweet baby Goldie was brand new.  I am always happy that Megan offered to share her birth story here with you all.

My husband Jimi and I were so anxious for baby Goldie’s arrival. The news of her was a bit of a surprise as we we been recently engaged and planned our wedding and honeymoon weeks before finding out I was pregnant. We had planned on having her at The Birthing Inn located in Tacoma where my sister Katrina works as a midwife. We chose to have her involved but not be the clinical lead. She suggested we go with Neva and we loved her!

As the pregnancy went on I began to realize I how inpatient I am, I wanted to hold our baby now! I couldn’t wait! As the weeks went by and my belly grew, I kept a countdown of how many days until she was due. I prepared my body as best as I could for a natura birth. I researched anything to help. Teas, exercises, diets to help with labor, and many many supplements.

As we passed her due date, now by 4 days I was determined that she was going to come sooner then 41 weeks. On the morning of March 18th, I woke up and felt like today could finally be the day. My husband Jimi had mentioned a car show he wanted to go to so I encouraged him to get out of the house. By the time he left I felt those contractions getting stronger, “FINALLY” I thought! I talked with my sister about what was going on and stayed at home until they progressed even more. I showered, did my hair and makeup, even decided to paint my nails between the now intense contractions. I swept our kitchen floor while listening to what I call cardio music… DMX and other rappers. By 2pm I knew that Goldie is making her appearance soon! I told Jimi he needed to come home at 3:30. He got home At 4 and I told him soon, like really soon she is coming. At 4:15 my water broke and it was go time! He grabbed our bags and we headed to The Birthing Inn. Luckily it is only 15 minutes from our home. The only problem was that our Midwife Neva was out a bit longer then 15 minutes so my sister got there and met us at the parking lot. She was ready to catch Goldie in the parking lot!

We got inside and settled into our room. It was a sunny day at about 5 o’clock now. I was sitting hunkered over during contractions with a cool breeze on my face and could see the gorgeous spring day when I could focus between those intense contractions. Neva came, Tiffany the birthing assistant came and my sister could now be the sister instead of the clinical role. I moved to the lovely bed when it was push time. I wanted the fan on my face for breeze. I held my husbands hand in one hand and grabbed Tiffany’s pants with death grip on the other. Sorry again Tiffany! Push by push Goldie finally was here! When she came out at 5:50 all I could say is, “she is real!” and “I love you so much”. She laid on my chest for a while before moving to Jimi’s chest. One of the best things I have seen in my life. Our family. Wow. The overwhelming love in that room. I feel so blessed to bring a child into this world the way I did with a wonderful support team and family. Cheers to Goldie Rose Smith!

What a wonderful story! Thanks so much for sharing!

Looking for a Tacoma Newborn Photographer?

Whether you choose a home birth, natural birth, hospital birth or C-section….you have brought this precious life onto this earth and I would love nothing more than to capture these first fleeting moments for your family to remember forever.  Please get in touch via the contact form or email to find out more and check availability for your newborn session.