Birth of William Obbadiah

Newborns/Fresh 48

March 25, 2020

I have shot one birth session before but never had I done a home birth session. This was the best experience I could have asked for.

Rose knew she wanted to have the baby naturally at home, and predicted that it would take no longer than a couple hours (her first baby was also a home birth and took about that long). I was on call for three weeks. It was the night of the time change, and I was about to head home to go to bed nice and early when I got the text: “Hi this is Rose. I’m in labor.” I thought okay here we go! I was ready for an all-nighter.

I arrived to Rose and Matt’s College Hill home at 10:05 pm. The entire house was calm. Soft Christian music played, as Rose sometimes sung along in between contractions, the midwife, Ginger, was busy filling the pool and setting up the area, Rose’s best friend was brewing some coffee, and her husband was sitting quietly. Their four year old daughter Sophia was asleep in the room next door.

After chatting with everyone for a bit, I set up my camera and sat down, prepared to down a cup of coffee and browse my phone for hours. It was no longer than 20 minutes of sitting when the midwife came over to me and said, she is about to push.

Rose was calm and in control. She steadily stepped in the pool and got in position. Her husband started pacing a bit as she started pushing. She pushed for maybe 10 minutes, and we were literally in the middle of passing coffee when the midwife said “He’s coming now.” I was in shock at how fast it happened. It was 11:09 pm when sweet William Obbadiah entered the world.

Those first moments of holding baby, and feeling his fingers and toes, weighing, nursing– all after he was just carried inside for nine months– are like nothing else. Their daughter, Sophia, slept through the ENTIRE thing. After a couple hours, Rose went and woke her up so she could meet baby brother in their matching pajamas. It was the sweetest.

Throughout the evening, I got to get to know this sweet family’s story, and I feel truly blessed to have had that honor. Rose and Matt Hammarback are incredible people and witnesses, and those are the luckiest children in the world.