Thursday 24 January 2013

the birth of miles: a story in pictures


Our darling little man, Miles, is settling into our family. He is such a cutie, we cannot stop looking at him - between the parents and the siblings, he is under constant kiss and cuddle rotation! It still seems surreal that he is here to stay... and that I am the mother of three kids. Um... wow! Much to say about life at home with our new family, but before I get back to the present day, I really need to cover off how we got here - yes, the birth of little Miles!

I feel like it is going to take a while to process and record the story of his birth - just remembering, reflecting and then of course physically writing it out - I've gotten started but don't want to rush it. In the mean time,though, I do have some beautiful photos!

My dearest friend Amber of We Stood Together crept out of her cosy house in the middle of the night to record the arrival of our new family member. A gift of time and talent from her that I will never forget. Birth photography is admittedly not something I ever (umm... EVER!) imagined having... but being part of this blogging/photographic community the last year has changed things I guess! This being our last planned baby, it seemed like a wonderful opportunity to capture the incredible first moments of welcoming a child into the world. As my talented photographer sister-in-law Alex said to me - if I didn't like my birth photos, I never had to look at them - but if I don't have them, I would never have that option!

I am so grateful now to have these images - just as beautiful as my memories - of the moment we met our new son. I am so grateful to Amber for her time and incredible talents - not to mention her gentle, supportive and unobtrusive presence during such a special time. I don't think I will ever be able to thank you enough, Amber!

I have wavered over what to share here - though certainly not graphic, they are intimate portraits of a pretty intense and personal time for our family! So many will be kept just for us... but there are some special highlights I couldn't help but share. I am too proud of Amber's stunning photography and my adorable new son to keep them all in the vault, haha! ;)

And so...



A quiet night, a gentle labour, a waterborn baby, and two very happy, blessed and thankful new parents.


Welcome to the world, baby Miles!

It was the last night of not knowing you.... so thankful that now and forever, we do...


Our room at the Birth Centre. Yes, we made it there this time - third time lucky?!
Micro-sleeps in the bath.  I admit to thinking 'Wow, can't wait till this baby is born so we can curl up together and NAP!''
I caught him in my arms as I have all my babies. He came out of the water, and into our hearts and lives.... the first magic moment of meeting Miles.
A beaming, proud Daddy and a brand new little person! This memory takes my breath away!


Oh, that face! My heart! He kept trying to open his eyes but the world was just too bright for him just yet...
Born only four days early...
he was absolutely covered in vernix. He could have swum the English channel with that coating!
The look of love...
Just a minute in this world and he has already captured Daddy''s finger and all of our hearts. 
Beautiful boy. He was so peaceful and calm upon meeting us - as long as I kept him snuggled close, he was happy!
I love in this shot that you can see the time on Daddy's watch!



And just like that - he was here - and we love, love, loved him!








27 comments:

  1. Love! I had no pictures of Arddun's birth, not even the "after" shot. Something that pains me to think about even today. But these are gorgeous photos and I'm sooo glad you did them! What keepers!

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    1. aw that is tough not having photos, i'm so sorry... due to the speediness we had NO photos of eli either and just a couple of blurry/dodgy ones with Lily. Maybe next time for you, huh?! thanks for the kind comments, yes im so happy to have these to look at (a zillion times so far, lol).

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  2. Is it strange to say I LOVE this post? Well, I do :)
    I was honoured to be invited to photograph Miles' birth. I'm glad that hanging out with photography minded people this past year made you think that this was something you wanted for your third birth and baby. Something special that you can always go back to and remember that incredible moment when you both met and how hard you worked to get him there.

    To see a baby being born is something which stays with you. Thank you for allowing me to be at such a special and private moment in your lives. xxxx

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    1. we were honoured to have you there - and just so crazy grateful for these precious photos! you have such talent - thanks for letting our little guy benefit from it :) xx

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  3. These photos made me teary, they are so beautiful. Miles is one gorgeous little guy and how happy and smiley are you guys. This is such a lovely document to have of this precious time. Amber, you did an amazing!! job of these photos, I can imagine it is not the easiest environment to get photos in and yet each of these are fabulous, well done!

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    1. thank you so much :) so true, i think we will just appreciate this more and more over time... they are so addictive i cant stop looking at them,lol!

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  4. Oh Kate, thank you so much for sharing these special, incredible moments with us. Every single photo is perfect and just oozes love.

    I can't wait to hear the whole story in your words when you have time. Especially since I will be doing the very same thing in 6 months! So happy to hear Miles is settling in happily and that you're ALL enjoying him. He is a very blessed little baby :)

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    1. Andrea, you have cheered me on the whole way and I'm so grateful! yes Amber just did an amazing job - sooo many beautiful moments captured! willl get cracking on the birth story before i forget too many details. Your turn soon!!!! :)

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  5. These are so beautiful! Miles is perfect, Kate. Amber did a wonderful job, and I know you will treasure these photos forever.

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    1. thank you so much!! yes im sure i will treasure them always too xx

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  6. Miles is SO handsome!! I love his squished face! And I love that my dear friend is so happy and so blessed. XXXOOO Andrea Crisp

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    1. heehee - i know - nothing quite as cute as that brand new little old man face :) thanks for all your love and support, dearest xx

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  7. These are all breathtaking! Kate, you are such a natural beauty. And Miles is beyond precious. Wow! I am just in love with all of them. Amber did a fantastic job. Thank you so much for sharing. Can't wait to see more photos of your littlest love.

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    1. thank you faith - you are right, Amber did an amazing job!! she has blessed us so richly w these photographs!

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  8. Great photos! Congratulations!!

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  9. Oh the joy (tearing up). Hard to put into words the joy I see and feel. What a miracle birth is. Worth all the waiting. WELCOME Miles. Seemed a long time coming which makes this birth even more reason to be celebrated. So happy for you guys and thankful to Amber for capturing the joy on camera. Overjoyed.

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  10. Oh golly - love love love them! The one titled look of love - oh my - the look on your face Kate - makes me tear up just thinking about it. Amber really did such a fantastic job!

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  11. Just beautiful Kate, what a talented girl you are!!! Hope it wont be too long before all of us in W.A get to meet the Jennings family now complete.

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  12. oh my what precious, precious photos.

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  13. These photos are absolutely stunning!! Gorgeous!

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  14. Amazing. Congratulations. What a beautiful, precious moment in your life to have captured. Love!

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    1. thank you so much! yes, we feel crazy spoilt to have these photos to look back on!

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  15. beautiful beautiful!!! love these so much they so capture the moment!!!!

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    1. thank you :) yes they really do capture the wonder and joy of meeting our boy!

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  16. What a beautiful record! My midwives photographed at both of my waterbirths and I'm so thankful for those images! Beautiful memories! :)

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    1. oh that is lovely of your midwives!!! they are special photos to have, huh? i am so grateful for these and love to look back on them still :)

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