Maternity Shoot
Photo by: Cynthia Bendle at One-12 Photography
My mom attempted to ease my nerves by assuring me that the pain is fleeting; she promptly forgot the agony of childbirth upon the arrival of each of her children. Once she held each one of us in her arms for the first time, her maternal love quickly overshadowed the hours of labour. My sister reiterated my mom's sentiments when she called me an hour after giving birth to her daughter. Kristin casually breezed over the details of Ellie's birth story and concluded that the whole experience wasn't a big deal. My friend Kim even told me she actually enjoyed the labour process. She savoured every moment that brought her closer to meeting her baby.
These insights eased my mind. Maybe labour wasn't so bad after all. Besides, I reassured myself, mothers have been giving birth since the beginning of time. If the rest of the mothers could handle it, so could I.
When the day finally arrived, I woke up at 8:00 with contractions. I excitedly jumped out of bed, took a shower, ate breakfast and woke up my husband. We sped to the hospital and skipped up to the maternity ward with big smiles on our faces. We were having a baby! And nothing was going to dampen my mood. Not even those pesky little cramps that were starting in my belly.
Needless to say, I was blind-sided when instead of welcoming us into our own private room, we were sent home! Home?! Couldn't the nurse see that I was clearly in labour?? I pleaded my case by explaining to her that I bypassed a Starbucks stop to come to the hospital. And, I had skipped my full make-up routine (of course I was wearing mascara and lipgloss. I had to look decent for my first pics with Emi!) Unfortunately, my rationale did not sway her. But before she sent us on our way, she left me with explicit instructions. She told me to "have a beautiful day. Take a bubble bath. Have a nap. Enjoy a steak dinner." Sounded like a piece of cake! (Hmmm... maybe I would also bake some cupcakes to go with my steak dinner!) Her itinerary for my day sounded appealing, so I went home to follow her orders.
It didn't take long for me to realise that her advice was as unrealistic as the stories given to me by my mom, Kristin and Kim. My "beautiful day" quickly became very unattractive as a few hours later I crawled to triage with my carefully applied mascara running down my face. I swear I even heard the theme music from A Baby Story playing in the background. Yes, I was that woman. The one I had deliberately avoided all these months.
I will never forget the pain. I will not tell people it was easy. Nor will I ever say I enjoyed the experience. But, my day definitely became beautiful at 1:22 am on Sept. 23, 2012 when Emilia Elisabeth Welker was born. Maybe that nurse was right all along.
Emilia Elisbeth Welker
Emi's first photo shoot
Photo by: Cynthia Bendle at One-12 Photography
Our happy family
Photo by: Cynthia Bendle at One-12 Photography
