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Newborn Milo

In her words:
“Saturday May 19th was 3 days before my due date.  The weather couldn’t have been better, gorgeous, hot and sunny.  My husband and I took our daughter and dog to a neighborhood block party.  We had a great day! Then we went grocery shopping, cleaned the house and did laundry.  Right before we went to bed I said to Mike, “Everything is done.  The baby can make his appearance any time now, we’re ready.”  I guess the baby agreed because two hours later I woke up to use the bathroom and a gush of water came rushing out! All alone in the bathroom I said out loud, “Wow! It happened just like in the movies!”  My water had broken.  I was a little in shock and didn’t wake Mike up for another 20 minutes, I wanted to make sure it really was my water and I wasn’t peeing uncontrollably.  When I finally told Mike what I thought had happened he responded with, “What do we do now?”  I called the doctor and was told to go to the hospital when contractions had started.  I tried to go back to sleep but I was too excited as well as very wet!  Around quarter of 4 I started feeling crampy, but no real contractions.  I actually wasn’t sure what a contraction would feel like and didn’t know what to expect.  This was my first pregnancy, our beautiful daughter is adopted.  When the first one came at 5:00 am there was no mistake as to what it was.  It lasted about 45 seconds then the second one hit about 2 minutes later.  Then they just kept on coming! Every minute or two I had a contraction that lasted 45 seconds to a minute.  We left for the hospital at 5:40.  By the time we had reached the hospital and checked into triage, I had had 38 contractions.  I was 4 centimeters dilated in triage and 6 centimeters an hour later when they moved me upstairs.  At this point our birth plan was useless.  I had wanted a natural birth without drugs, however, I was begging for an epidural!  The contractions hit me hard and fast and never let up.  I originally wanted to soak in the tub, get a massage from my husband, bounce on the ball… Nope! I didn’t even want to be touched.  I barely tolerated my husband and nurses telling me how to breathe because I was hyperventilating.  After the epidural kicked in I was able to relax and even take a little nap. It was magical.  A few hours later when it was time to push I was completely numb and couldn’t feel what I was doing.  I was upset and discouraged.  They reduced my pain medication and let me rest for another hour hoping it would wear off some.  It didn’t and I had to “blindly” push with out any feeling.  The doctor couched me, but I was still having a difficult time.  I began to run a slight fever and the doctor told me she either needed to use the vacuum to help get the baby out or I could have a c-section.  I didn’t like either option, but I gave into having the baby vacuumed.  Determined not to have a c-section I tried my best and pushed for about an hour and a half and then with one final big push Milo was born!! He arrived at 4:03 pm weighing 7.4 pounds and 20.5 inches long.  My favorite moment is when Milo came out and my husband cried.  Every time I think of that moment tears come to my eyes.  It was one of the happiest days of my life. Milo was perfect, even with his slightly coned head!! We are so grateful to have such a sweet little boy! We feel that our family is complete with our daughter and now our special tiny man. “


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Newborn Daniel | Rhode Island and Boston, MA Newborn Baby Photography

In her words:

“I had just stopped working and was on day 3 of being at home waiting for you to arrive. We had one last sonogram where they estimated you to be about 9lbs 3 ounces. Mom was getting worried that you were getting soo big and getting impatient to meet you. That same night I was up late because I could not sleep. At around 3am I woke up just in time for my water to break. I woke up your dad and the contractions started soon after. We rushed to pack our bags and began timing contractions. By 7am I knew it was time to get to the hospital. When we arrived you were well on your way and the nurses promised us you would arrive soon. I was checked into the labor and delivery room and was in great need of the epidural by that time. Once it kicked in mom was feeling much better.  Fast forward quite a few hours later and things began to stall, guess being inside mom was more warm and cozy.  Then the epidural wore off and mom thought for a minute she wasn’t going to make it lol! Take 2 on the epidural and we continued on our journey towards helping you greet the world. After several more hours, things got a bit scary when your little hart rate dropped and moms kept increasing ever so high. Finally at 2 am the doctor made the call for a cesarian delivery. A swat team of people came in and rushed us down the hall. We were prepped for delivery and a few minutes later your dad and I heard your first cry. You were born May 11th at 2:28am weighing in at 8lbs 10 ounces. It was the best sound I ever heard. They cleaned you up and then brought you over so I could finally meet you face to face. I never saw anything so precious in my whole life. I instantly fell in love. Me and your dad love you so much and couldn’t be happier that you are finally here! “


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Newborn Rebecca | Rhode Island and Boston, MA Newborn Baby Photography

Sarah has become one of my closest friends… she has helped me through so many things, and I feel honored to have been able to help her when she needed me.   I met Sarah in the Rhode Island New Moms Connection years ago, and I have remained good friends with a few of the women in the group to this day.  This past year has been full of ups and downs… it leaves me in tears to think about some of the hardships encountered.  There has been happy endings and sad endings within our circle of friends, and through it all, I believe it has made each of us stronger women, mothers, and wives.   I love this family.

 

In her words:

 

“It is April17th and it is a pretty typical day except it is my middle sister’s birthday. As I did every Tuesday and Friday for the last four months of this pregnancy, I am getting an ultrasound of my baby. This one marks ultrasound #63 and 64. I have spent more time in doctor’s office waiting rooms and being poked, prodded, and examined than I ever anticipated during this “high risk pregnancy” due to Intrauterine Growth Restriction. As it turns out, this day is different. The doctor says that baby has not grown enough since the last ultrasound; it is time to deliver the baby. I am in shock; feeling like a second place winner since I wanted to make it all the way to 40 weeks but instead, I am one week shy at 39 weeks.  My head is swimming with thoughts of what this induction would be like or would I have another cesarean section. I met my husband  at Women & Infants Triage at 3 p.m. We sat there waiting to meet with the doctor or midwife on call but after being there for over an hour, we were told that no one was available  to discuss my options. Instead, we got a phone call saying that I should go home to get my things and come back to the hospital later in the evening. This was my chance to buy time. I wanted to savor my last hours with my daughter who was up until that point, an only child. We ate dinner, goofed around in the front yard, and told her stories about princesses before bed. It was now 9 p.m. and Women & Infants called to see when I will be arriving to the hospital. I left my house at 9:30 p.m. knowing this would be last time I would close the door of house as a mother of one.

            At 11:00 p.m., one of the midwives came into my hospital room to explain the induction since we decided that I should attempt a VBAC. My birth experience with my first daughter was traumatic and the thought of a traditional cesarean section terrified me.  The midwife was aware of my desire to have a natural non-medicated birth so she opted for a more holistic approach to the induction. And she said she wouldn’t be able to any drugs to start the induction any way due to my prior cesarean, so instead she was going to manually dilate my cervix using a catheter. I slept through the night with the catheter hoping that it would work. It did! The next morning, April 18th, I woke up to be pleasantly surprised that I was 3 cm dilated. The nurses brought me down to the Labor & Delivery floor at 6 a.m. to start a Pitocin IV. It was around 7:30 a.m. when my husband arrived at the hospital after taking our daughter to daycare. It wasn’t much longer when the contractions started. As the morning wore on, they became more and more intense. The midwife checked my progress at 10:00 a.m. to find that I was 4 cm dilated. It was not much longer when I thought my body was going to explode. I did not anticipate that type of uncontrollable, unrelenting pain. My mantra “I am in pain but I am not hurt.” was no longer working. As much as I did not want an epidural, it was my saving grace. The epidural put my mind at ease and allowed my body to do what it is supposed to do. It was a short time later when my water broke and the midwife announced that I was 10 cm dilated.  She told me to rest for a little bit and then I would start pushing. This was a thrilling moment to know that my “baby dream” might actually come to true–that I may be able to deliver my baby and get her place directly into my arms. The whole time, I had a picture from National Geographic in my mind. It is a woman in a tub of water holding her baby for the first time. The expression on the woman’s was pure joy and relief. I wanted to have that feeling that was lost due to groggy drugs during my prior c-section. My husband called this picture my “Rocky photo”.  One of the greatest compliments that my husband has ever given me was when he told me that I had that same expression on my face when I touched our baby girl for the first time. The pride that I feel for having a VBAC after all of the struggles, fears and disappointments of a high risk pregnancy is unexplainable. My original doctor told me once that “happiness is healing”. Those words will forever ring in my head because for all of hurt and trauma that came my first born’s delivery and the frustrations and disappointments of this high risk pregnancy– all of the negative feelings have melted away in the first touch of my second born. Rebecca Hope Rocchio was born at 4 pounds, 4 ounces on April 18th at 1:47 p.m. She truly is my second first born.”

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Newborn Miqueias | Rhode Island and Massachusetts Newborn Baby Photography

Miqueias… your eyelashes are just incredible…. I am severely jealous of this 12 day old baby, haha

In his words:

“When we discovered that we were going to have a baby, we had a rollercoaster of emotions going through our bodies. Although we were mostly excited, we also had fear because maintaining a pregnancy was not easy.  We had already lost one of our little angels at just over seven weeks along prior to finding out about this pregnancy, and the pain that comes with losing someone you are looking so forward to meeting is something we did not want to encounter again.  Yet we knew we had to keep trying because this was both our dreams.. to have a family one day and share in the joys that only a child can bring to this world.  

Our GYN had told us after our loss that we needed to wait six weeks before we could begin to try again (due to surgery to remove the fetus)  and also, we could not dwell on the past, and “try to be relaxed”.  So we went out and bought a little puppy to help us along.  Well, this little guy must have been God’s assistant, because with not even six weeks (as the doctor had asked) we went back for an appointment.  To our surprise, we were expecting again!

The first eight weeks were the longest of our lives.  The eight week point came along and our angels heartbeat was still beating strong, then the first trimester passed and still beating strong.  We hit 17 weeks and found out we were going to have a baby boy, there was no way we were waiting to find out the sex… we had plenty of surprises already.  

The second trimester came and went, then the third, and before we knew it we were at 39 weeks!  We had a c-section scheduled as little Miqueias was breech.  The night before he was scheduled, we had to run to the hospital as my wife’s blood pressur was high; once we got there, they set up a heart monitor on Miqueias, and took a bunch of tests on mom.  Mom had calmed down, but the little one had not.. and the doctor said we could not wait until morning, as mom’s body was no longer tolerating the pregnancy.  At 4:03 am on April 24th, 2012.. little Miqueias came into this world at 8lbs. 3 oz with a length of 20 in.

People often ask “do you believe in love at first sight”.. I can’t speak for every parent out there, but for us, there is no question that it exists.”

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Newborn Brynlee | Rhode Island and Massachusetts Newborn Baby Photography

Brynlee Paige, thank you for coming to the studio!  You are more beautiful than you could ever imagine..

 

In her words:

“I had always dreamed of having a baby girl, so when my husband and I found out I was expecting we were beyond excited.  Although, it was a bit of a surprise because she was conceived the first night of our honeymoon (not what we had planned, but we were still very excited).  When we found out it was a little girl, we knew things were meant to be, and I instantly couldn’t wait for her to arrive.

Going forward a long 40 weeks to my 40 week check up, my doctor said “not much longer”  He thought I would have her over the weekend.  One week and two days later, I had lots of contractions, but still no baby!  He decided to put in a balloon to help me dilate without medication adn if I didn’t go into labor overnight, he would induce me the next morning.  Almost as soon as I got home, my contractions were five minutes apart and extremely painful.  Back to the hospital we went; I was so ready.  The nurse hooked me up to check my contractions and said “yes, you’re having contractions but nothing strong enough to say that labor has set in.  They are so painful because of the balloon.  In extreme pain and not to mention disappointment, we left the hospital and headed home.  Later that night my contractions stopped completely, and at the time I was very happy they did.  

The next morning we headed into the hospital for induction.  My doctor broke my water at 7:30a.m.  and I was dilated to 3cm from the balloon.  He waited until 12:00pm to start the pitocin in hopes that I would start labor on my own.  Around 4:30pm I got the epidural.  I was still only 5cm dilated so my husband decided he would go get some food.  By the time he got back I was feeling a lot of pressure; the doctor checked me and I was dilated to 7cm.  Finally, things were moving along!  

An hour later I said to my nurse “I really feel like I could push”  She didn’t seem to be in any rush, but said she would check me.  When she got around to it she said “Oh yes, let’s have a baby!”  My doctor came in right away and I started to push.. what seemed like forever was actually only 25 minutes.  At 6:52 pm our beautiful, perfect Brynlee Paige was bron at 7lbs 14oz, as what I thought was the cutest baby I ever saw.  

They put her on my chest for about an hour for some bonding time before they weighed and checked her.  At that point my blood pressure started to drop and I felt very sick.  I was given oxygen.  I was mostly worried that I needed to feed my baby and couldn’t do so because I was too week.  After eating I was feeling so much better and able to take care of her.  

Even though she may have taken some extra time to come out, she was worth the wait.  I’m such a proud mommy and we love every minute I spend with her.  We feel so blessed to have a happy, healthy girl”