I was sound asleep. My phone was on silent. Tiffany told me to plan on an induction Tuesday – I wasn’t even looking for a baby call yet. Luckily the puppy woke me up to go outside, or I would have completely missed the text.
Tiffany had texted at 9:22pm saying “I think we’ll be having the baby tomorrow.”
It was 11:45pm when I saw it. When I texted back she said they were already at the hospital waiting to get admitted.
Being the typical procrastinator that I am, I began racing for my camera, memory cards and batteries. Of course the two batteries in my camera bag were close to being dead-thank goodness I had a fresh battery in my other camera or I would’ve gotten to the hospital and wouldn’t have been able to actually photograph the baby’s birth!
The journey that should have taken me 40 minutes ended up taking an hour and a half. The biggest snow storm of the season (so far) was coming to an end, and the roads were horrible. I was going as fast as I could. When Tiffany let me know she was getting an epidural I was actually relieved. Phew! Those suckers slow everything down, that meant I could take my time and get there safely!
I got to the hospital about 1:15am. Unable to see any lines in the parking lot, I parked next to another car in about 6-8 inches of snow. I walked through the emergency room doors and the lady at the desk directed me to labor and delivery. When I peeked into their room, Tiffany was sitting up on the bed. The anesthesiologist had just arrived and was beginning to insert the tubing necessary for her epidural. During the insertion, Tiffany was extremely uncomfortable. This baby was ready to come and her contractions were getting stronger and stronger – they seemed unbearable in the upright position they had her in.
Once the tubing was taped on her back, she was able to lay down again. She had the urge to push but the nurse held her off. She wanted to make sure the doctor was there first. Just then, the doctor arrived. It was a relief to see him walk in. He threw his blue bootie covers on, checked her dialation quick, and said it was time to start pushing.
She took a deep breath and pushed. The nurse and doctor were both impressed with her progress. This was baby number three, she was a pushing pro – ensuring long, strong, slow pushes for the most progress!
The second contraction came and she pushed again.
THE BABY WAS HERE!!!
Two pushes and the baby had arrived – I was in shock – by far the fastest birth I’ve ever witnessed!
“It’s a girl!” the doctor said! “A beautiful baby girl!”
Sure enough, with hands up in the air, she was here!
As I write this blog hours later, I’m still in shock. It took Tiffany less than a minute and a half to give birth to this beautiful baby girl! The epidural didn’t even have a chance;)
Congratulations, Tiffany, Chris and family! Thank you for asking me to capture her entry into this beautiful world. She is gorgeous!
Everyone, I’d like to introduce adorable baby Ayva Caroline Malchek! She was born this morning at 1:39am at 8lbs 7ozs and 21 inches – pure beauty!
