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Monday, April 27, 2009

Birth pictures

Just a few minutes before the baby emerged, the midwife grabbed my camera and began taking pictures. I was hoping to take more pictures of me laboring and to film the birth, but things went too quickly.

Here I am supporting the baby's head as it crowns and emerges. My other hand has a death grip on Eric's arm.
Insert various funky sounds here
Dio surprised us by coming out direct OP (occiput posterior). This is the only picture I have of him emerging, and you can make out his face if you squint a bit.
Bringing Dio out of the water
Eric began taking videos. I am saying things like "I can't believe we have a baby!" I don't know what else I expected to come out--a puppy? kittens?
Resting in bed together
Nursing

48 comments:

  1. Sending my love and blessings to you and beautiful Dio! You are such an amazing, warrior mama. Enjoy your babymooh and THANK YOU for the fantastic photos.
    xoxo

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  2. so precious!!! no words...

    t not k

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  3. Dio is just beautiful, thank you for including so many on this journey...please rest up, and kiss his dear new head from me, and kiss Zari's sweet little head too from me and...

    just so happy for you all!

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  4. Look at that gorgeous kid and that powerful birthing momma. I love the pictures. Our HBA2C was similar in that we didn't grab the camera until the very end. I wanted to video everything and take pictures throughout. That was my one regret, but I'm still ecstatic over our beautiful birth after two horrible c-sections. I'd love to do it again and again. :)

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  5. You looked so great during labor! Amazing. Oh, and I LOVE those baby wrinkles!!!

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  6. Absolutely beautiful, Rixa. Thanks so much for sharing his birth.

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  7. Aw .......... congratulations! So beautiful.

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  8. Thanks for sharing those, Rixa! Beuatiful!

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  9. Great pics!! I really wanted more pics during labour/birth, too, but totally forgot once I was in labourland! Next time, I'll be hiring someone to take pics - or perhaps let my mom do them!

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  10. I wish I had more pictures, but things really did go way too fast at the end. We barely remembered a camera at all, actually.

    Dio is so beautiful, and those are such wonderful pictures of his birth. Congratulations, Rixa. Enjoy your babymoon. And just inhale that sweet, new baby smell for me.

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  12. Lovely photos, they definitely show the beauty of a home birth.

    Congratulations!

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  13. The pictures are wonderful! How nice it would be to give birth when the sun's shining!

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  14. YAHOO!!! congratulations!

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  15. Beautiful! Just beautiful!

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  16. Wow, you look great for pushing out a baby!! Your hair's not even messy. I'm jealous. ;)

    Dio looks wonderful and I love his name (although it makes me want to sing Holy Diver!). You have good taste in names.

    -Jill (nsi)

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  17. Lovely photos, Rixa!! I love that purply newborn look. And his body is covered in the softest looking lanugo. Gorgeous.

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  18. Wonderful pictures - you don't even look like you're in labor, much less pushing out a crowning baby! Thanks for posting...now, where are the details??!! How big is this boy? Did Zari watch? Love to all of you.

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  19. Beautiful! Congrats again and thanks for posting pics!!!

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  20. My goodness, what a beautiful baby! I am happy you were able to be "hands on" during the time Dio emerged. Love and rest to all of the family.

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  21. i think you're a bit like me in the fact that i posted on my blog the same day I had willem. =)

    Can't wait to hear the birth story. You look amazing. And you're little Dio is just precious!

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  22. beautiful photos! Such a beautiful baby and Momma! Enjoy these first days together. They go so fast!

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  23. Congrats Rixa and family!! What beautiful pictures! I knew you were having a boy! Now I wish I knew what I was having! I'm much better at guessing other people's baby's sex then my own I suppose.

    Enjoy your baby moon and I can't wait to read your birth story and who won the contest! haha :-)

    Caralyn

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  24. congrats, mama! welcome baby Dio! :)

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  25. :) Oh boy! Posterior? Back labor much?

    Glad to hear everything went well! Congratulations :)

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  26. Bless Bless Bless you and your family, Rixa. Thank you for sharing with us!

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  27. Congrats!! He is Abs Beautiful and the pics were as well....... Hope you have THE best babymoon!!!! Blessings~&~Love

    Natacha

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  28. Not a twitch of back labor. All the pain/sensation was down low in the front, just like it was with Zari's labor.

    What we think happened was he was ROT the whole time--heart tones were always far on my right side, just as they had been for the past several weeks--and just spun posterior at the last moment as he came through the pelvis. I don't remember looking down at his face until after his head and part of his body were out (I felt that twisty feeling of the body rotating). So it could have been:

    a) he came out ROT and then spun posterior (don't know how likely this is with how the pelvis is shaped), or
    b) he spun OP right before going through the pelvis

    In any case, as the rest of his body was emerging from me and as I was reaching down to pick him up, I looked down and saw a face looking up at me, and I was like "oh, he's posterior!"

    The midwife said something lovely about my pelvis, along the lines of "if you can birth a baby coming out direct OP, you can birth anything!"

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  29. love and blessings to you and your family.
    love all the pictures, especially the third one... captures the intensity of the moment so well!

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  30. Oh I could just cry! Lovely lovely lovely.

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  31. Your photos are awesome. I love the third one. Few people get to see the expressions on on a woman at this moment in time.

    Looks like you found the right midwife for you. One who kept her hands on the camera, off you, and took beautiful photos of what a woman can do undisturbed. Thanks for sharing.

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  32. Congratulations!!

    I hadn't checked your blog for awhile, but had the urge today thinking a new little one might be here ; ) He's beautiful!! Well done once again!!!

    Sending our best!

    Phillip, Amie & Family (former Eurekans)

    P.S. I'm getting ready to share your post on "pain" from when you had Zari with my grad theory class - I just can't find anything better to illustrate Kramarae's theory ; ) Best, A---

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  33. Those are gorgeous pictures!!! Congratulations!!!

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  34. Congratulations!!!! SO please for you!!! What wonderful pictures, you look absolutely amazing -- warrior mama!!

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  35. Congratulations!!! :-) He's beautiful!!! How is it being a mama of a little boy? :-)

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  36. Congratulations. I'm so happy for you & your family. Glad to hear Dio's birth went well.

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  37. I have caught thousands of babies (I'm a neonatal nurse), yet I still find deliveries like yours amazing! Congratulations. My first was OP and would not budge (C/S :( ) I wish I had your midwife.

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  38. See having a midwife is useful. If only to take pictures! Direct OP! Yikes. Did you need stitches? Beware when he asks for the car keys as a teenager, he has a poor sense of direction!LOL.

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  39. Lovely. Simply lovely.

    Looking forward to more baby story!

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  40. Congratulations!! The pictures are wonderful.

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  41. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL, Rixa!!! I am so proud of you. I had four babies last week and just this weekend (as I caught my breath) I was thinking about you and wondering when we would get your much awaited birth announcement! All love to Eric and Zari. Kisses to you and Dio!

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  42. congratulations, rixa!! what amazing pictures of your birth. enjoy your babymoon and that sweet, sweet babe. :)

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  43. Congratulations, Rixa!! He is just gorgeous!

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  44. Lovely. Congratulations. Reminds me of my own home waterbirth, just over a year ago.

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  45. thank you so very much for these wonderous, real, beautiful, tear-evoking images. so simple and true and yet not of this world, this world of fear and doubt. this is living proof of the miracle we all are, the ease of birth and re-birth.

    rixa, you are amazing and Dio is exceptional and in moments like these when i just caught up with you i feel fulfilled, like i have drank in the nectar of the goddess.

    congratulations. lovin' to your new and expanded family.

    mb

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