I had the pleasure of photographing the most beautiful baby girl this morning!  She is so sweet, and did a GREAT job as a little supermodel today!  Enjoy your sneak peek guys!

Ok, so I admit it. I pestered Mom just a little bit.  :) I emailed her back in January asking if she’d had her baby yet. I emailed her again about a week ago asking her if she’d had her baby. I *knew* this was going to be a beautiful baby and I wanted to be the one to take her first portraits. :) I definitely wasn’t disappointed…little Gabriella is more beautiful than words can describe…the perfect sweet new baby girl. You guys are so very lucky…she is absolutely precious! Thank you so much for letting me do her first pictures for you! I hope you guys love these as much as I do! Enjoy your sneak peek! <3

I’ve been taking these shots of Octavia in Daddy’s hands since she was a wee little 13 day old newborn.  I’ve been trying to do them at semi-regular intervals to show her growth and changes.  It’s *amazing* to me how a new baby changes their first year of life.  I hope these photos help document that in Octavia!

13 days young…

4 months old…

And today at 6 1/2 months old.  She’s getting so big!  Daddy’s just happy he didn’t get peed on. lol

She’s here!!

My condensed birth story: I had been having 5-6 contractions an hour all day long Tuesday. By 6pm-ish, they were getting to the point where they were pretty regular, but still 7-8 minutes apart. They quickly progressed and by 7:30ish, they were coming every 2-3mins. I drove myself to the hospital at this point (my husband stayed home to get the kids into bed, and to see if this was actually it or a false alarm).

The contractions continued at the hospital. They monitored me for about an hour and I was about 3cm. My doctor came in and broke my water at about 10. It was a whirlwind from there. I went in and sat down on the toilet because my stomach was upset, and honestly, it felt better to sit there. I was amazed (and slightly concerned) with how quickly these were becoming unbearably painful. I’ve never had a super fast labor before so I really didn’t know what to think. I sat my hiney on the toilet for about half an hour. I had let my doctor know that I wanted an epidural…been there done that with the natural childbirth thing and had no desire to experience it again. He came and knocked on the bathroom door about 10:30 and asked if I was okay (I was slightly embarrassed), so I drug my IV pole and all of my attachments (and very much in pain body) back into the room.

My husband was on his way so I asked if he could wait to do the epidural until he got there. He literally walked in a minute later, so my doctor put the epidural in. I was concerned because it didn’t seem to be working for some reason. I could feel everything on the left side of my body. My doctor had me roll to that side to see if it would help. Instead of getting better, the pain was exponentially intensifying, and suddenly, I felt that pressure down there. I freaked out…I was in shock…it couldn’t happen this quickly!

Before I knew it, I literally felt her head…I screamed for them to get back in there because her head was coming out! Sure enough, she was ready to be born. Not 30mins after exiting the bathroom (lol), Octavia Susan was born, kicking, screaming, and feisty. She made her grand appearance at 10:58pm, Tuesday, June 23rd. Weight…6lbs10oz, and length…18.7″. Apgars of 9/9. We’re home now and trying to rest up as much as possible…she’s healthy and beautiful.

Lots of photos to share…I’ve been having a little too much fun. Who could resist with a perfect sweet girl to available to take shots of whenever I want?

Her hospital pics…

And some I’ve taken at home. This is too much fun! I just love this little girl *so* much…we are so blessed!

For all of my ILP buddies, my first attempt at ‘the pose’…haha! Since receiving the invaluable advice to have baby ASLEEP while doing this (and not trying to eat Dad’s hand), I’ve had much more success. See the above shots. =P

She must really love her Daddy! All of these shots, so much potential for disaster, and no accidents!

Her first little smile…NOT gas!

Kissy Lips!

Eyes wide open…

Proof that a 1 week old baby CAN smile! She was wide awake!

Mommy & Octavia (it’s rare that I get on the other side of the camera)