Capturing the Miracle: A Photographer's Perspective on Alaura's Birth Experience

I first met Alaura in May of 2024 when she and her daughter Ellie came to pick up extra tomato plants that I had grown. It was such a simple beginning, but it planted a connection deeper than strangers on Facebook. Later that summer, Alaura and her husband, Cody, attended our Father’s Day community event. 

That was the first time I met him, and I got to see the love that connected this beautiful family. In the fall, Alaura told me her exciting news! We photographed an announcement session, so that she could share this news with those who surrounded her. 

It was after that session that she told me she would love to have her entire birth journey documented. Later that winter, we photographed her maternity era. 

She radiated as she danced with her sweet Ellie for the camera and again, that extraordinary connection between their family could be seen through my lens. She later shared with me that her maternity photo session helped instill confidence in her and made her feel beautiful. That's my goal during these sessions. I want the beauty of who I am capturing to be seen and felt in those final images.

As Alaura approached her due date in those last few weeks, she became worrisome. Her baby was breech, and the plan now included an external cephalic version. A week before what would be her delivery, she opted for the ECV in office. It was successful and she returned home to wait for her little one's arrival. After several days at home, Alaura began to feel very sick and went into triage to have herself and her baby checked on. The labs presented with some protein in her urine and a high blood pressure reading. Her team decided it would be best to induce her. Previously in her pregnancy, she had experienced some anxiety, because her blood pressure would rise, but then return to normal.

On the evening of March 26th, I arrived a little before 7PM. Her daughter arrived for a visit while they were monitoring their baby boy. Alaura began this birth experience with quite a bit of anxiety.

Before beginning the induction, they needed to perform one last ultrasound to make sure that her baby was still vertex. This is when the team began preparing for another ECV because the ultrasound showed the baby had flipped back after the successful attempt earlier in the week. The room felt heavy with both hope and tension. Alaura was brave and she was determined.

While they waited to begin the version, Alaura said her goodbye and see you after's to her daughter, Ellie, and talked through what the next steps would like with her doula. Her incredible nurse comforted her and gave her a hug. That nurse could see just how challenging this turn of events was for Alaura and held her.

A nurse came in and shaved her, as a preparation in case of an emergency C-section. This is a risk that comes with attempting an ECV. During the wait, her doula also belly mapped Alaura, which was something I had never seen before.

More family came in to visit Alaura and provide her with encouragement, before they began the procedure.

She played Give Me Jesus as the procedure began, closing her eyes, praying, and gripping Cody’s hand while he whispered for her to breathe through it. The pain was sharp and intense, but she pressed on. At one point, one of her doctor’s encouraged her not to give up saying “I’m not a quitter!” and finally, the baby flipped back to head-down.

Relief flooded the room. Alaura’s eyes filled with tears, and everyone could sense how much this moment meant. Her prayer to avoid a C-section had been answered, at least for now. Cody hugged her tight. Afterward Alaura told me that she vividly remembered the worship music playing during the versions and later during delivery. She told me it gave her the encouragement to keep pushing through. Cody’s hands were soothing, something steady to hold onto when everything else hurt.

As time passed, Alaura got some fluids in her system, moved around a bit, used her birthing ball, and tried to relax. Everyone was able to rest over night. As the sun rose in the morning, I captured the skyline.

But that relief didn’t last. By 9AM, the baby had shifted back into a transverse position. The joy from earlier was replaced by disappointment and a new wave of uncertainty. She had so many decisions to make in what seemed like a very short amount of time. She had several options and they all came with their own benefits, as well as risks, and anxieties. A few choices she talked over with her husband, doula, and the rest of her birth team were that she could consider a 3rd version attempt, opt for a elective cesarean, or just go home and give her baby more time. Since moving to labor and delivery, her signs of possible preeclampsia had subsided. She had not had any further high blood pressure readings and her labs were normal. After deliberating for a while, she decided she would forward with a 3rd version. She wanted to do absolutely everything in her own power to deliver this baby vaginally.

While they waited for the team to perform this version attempt, her doula, Bri, helped her work into more labor positions to help encourage the baby's position to change, her husband messaged her lower back, and he even brushed her hair for her while she utilized her birth ball further.

Around 11:00 AM, the team tried again, but this time, the attempt failed. Her doctor tried for 30 minutes, knowing how important it was for Alaura to deliver vaginally. This was devastating news for her to process and move through. Everyone stepped out of the room and gave Alaura and Cody room to process and grieve the birth experience they had thought they would have, as well as pray for guidance moving forward. When the room cleared after the decision, Alaura felt like she had failed. Cody reassured her that she had done everything in her power for a vaginal birth, and that she was strong enough to do whatever it took to bring their son into the world.  She shared this with me afterwards.

Bri, the doula, worked beside Alaura, guiding her through movements and positions to help the baby rotate. She continued to talk to her about the options moving forward. The idea of a 4th version was considered, but after two successful ECV's and now one failed, it came with significantly increased risks. Alaura was scared. She had trouble balancing her thoughts through her reality, fear, and the unknown. "I felt like I was choosing to go home and the unknown risks that the staff informed me about occurring while at home, unmonitored or I was choosing to stay and undergo another version that also had significantly higher risks, or have a cesarean birth, which terrified," Alaura told me when writing her birth story.

At 12:54PM, her regular OB called her through the nurses phone. They talked through the reality of the situation that they now found themselves in and Alaura had to make a decision. She could go home and hope her baby might flip in the next few days, or make the choice to have the elective cesarean due to her baby being transverse. "I didn't really feel like going home was an option. If I had gone home, something bad could have happened, so maybe a C section was what I was supposed to do, because the doctors told me that would be safest."

Alaura shared how Bri, her doula, was a lifesaver—translating medical terms, explaining processes, and helping her understand what each step meant. Having both Bri and I there made her feel confident when decisions came fast. She also said Bri’s care as a plus-size mom stood out. “It’s not talked about enough, and Bri made her feel comfortable and safe in her body”, she shared afterwards.

Later, Alaura told me she went through the three ECVs because she wanted so badly to deliver vaginally. She didn’t know she could handle that much pain, but the thought of a C-section scared her even more. She kept choosing courage, one hard minute at a time. Her heart had longed for and had prepared for a vaginal birth, and the choice was hard. 

After more tears, prayer, and processing, she chose surgery. It wasn’t what she wanted, but it was what was safest. It was in this moment that I told her a quote that a friend had told me, when I experienced a similar birth experience. Sometimes if a baby will not flip or chooses to stay breech, they could be doing so for a reason, we do not know. She was choosing the best path for her baby to enter this world. She was making an informed and brave choice. She was sacrificing the birth SHE wanted for the birth that HE needed, and that is an act of selflessness. She told me later that she wished she had listened to herself earlier and gone home when it was still an option; she felt she was almost scared into staying even though there were other paths. That feeling became part of the grief she processed afterward.

Before heading to the OR, Alaura showered and prepared. In that quiet in-between space, she and Cody found a way to laugh together — a little spark of lightness amid all the heaviness. That’s who they are together.

After her shower, she brushed her hair, we took a final "bump" photo, and she FaceTimed her baby girl, before heading back to her surgery. Cody got dressed in OR wear and the nurses surrounded Alaura in encouragement. She was full of fear, but she put on her brave face and smiled as she faced what would come next.

Before they would be seperated for the spinal procedure, Cody held Alaura's hand and leaned over with a kiss.

When it was time, the surgical team got her settled. Her nurse, was a steady and tender presence, holding space for her in those moments when emotions were raw. She has mentioned her nurse many times throughout her labor, postpartum, birth story, and even just in conversation with me. She had a lasting impact. I've worked with this nurse many times now, and every birthing client I document with her alongside has the same incredible things to note.

During the spinal, before Cody could come in, that same nurse held Alaura and talked her through it while she cried. Alaura was terrified of that part, and her nurse kept her calm, step by step. She’ll never forget seeing her again the next day—assigned to her postpartum—caring for her in ways she didn’t yet know she would need and making her feel seen. She even took a damp cloth and wiped her smeared makeup away for her.

When the moment finally came, I stood back with my camera, watching as Cody walked in. He gave us a thumbs up and walked in wide-eyed in awe. He stayed right at Alaura’s side. He didn’t look away — he watched everything.

The birth itself was not gentle; the doctor had to work with strong pulls and tugs to bring their baby into the world. But in those intense seconds, life shifted.

 I captured the very instant of arrival, the strength it took to bring him out, and the look in Cody’s eyes as he witnessed his child being born. It was raw, powerful, and unforgettable. Alaura told me that she can so vividly remember hearing that first cry and seeing Cody’s reaction. It shifted everything. In those seconds, she felt a mix of exhaustion, relief, and love so deep it silenced all the noise.

Alaura told me that she remembers the coldness, the blur of lights, the deep tugging in her abdomen, and seeing her son upside down for a breathless second. The room went quiet just before his cry—and then that cry came, the most beautiful sound she could have imagined. She says her favorite moment of the entire experience was seeing Cody holding their son in the OR. She held her baby as long as she could before losing feeling in her arms.

From behind my lens, I tried to capture every feeling and emotion in the room. From the first time Alaura could look her son in the eyes to their first family photo. Cody stood closely by watching his son get his first measurements and footprints.

As the photographer, perhaps one of my favorite images is this of the nurse who carried Alaura through her spinal and postpartum experience. She was so full of joy and encouragement, and it always brightens my heart when staff is encouraging of the entire birth experience being documented.

Recovery brought its own tender moments. Ellie walked into the room, went to the side of the bed, and wrapped her arms around her mama. Yes she was excited to meet this little sibling, but more importantly she wanted to see her mama. Those small, ordinary family moments were just as important as the hospital milestones.

Bri, Alaura's doula even got to sneak in some precious newborn snuggles.

Later, Alaura shared her reflections with me. She admitted that at first, she felt like she had failed — that after fighting so hard for the versions, after holding so much hope, ending with a C-section was crushing. But then she reframed it. She realized she hadn’t failed at all. She had endured multiple painful versions, she had prayed and fought and hoped, and in the end, she had made the best, bravest choice for her baby. She saw her own strength more clearly. She saw Cody’s unwavering support. She saw God’s faithfulness.

“Birth has changed me in a million ways. Physically, my body is different—I do feel weaker in some ways after my C-section. Emotionally, I carry a deeper empathy for other mothers and for children.”

Alaura also shared that she had a rough start with motherhood. After walking through loss, then having her daughter at 21 when life felt messy. The day she gave birth to Ellie, everything changed, and ever since she’s been working to become the best mom she can be.

A few weeks after her birth, during her birth story interview, she told me that I made sure she had photos to remember what felt foggy in her memory, which was a huge relief. I also connected her with a moms’ group chat so she could both receive and give support. In her words, the images we made preserve the raw, authentic moments of her entire journey.

I value the words and voice of these birth experiences so deeply. I often will ask the client how my presence may have made them feel and how I can be better in the future. She told me that I was calm and reassuring, always respectful of the space, and I documented discreetly while still capturing the raw, real moments. I held space for her emotions, answered questions, and advocated when she didn’t know she needed it. She said she felt seen and valued—not just as a client, but as a new mother.