Monet Nicole photographs perhaps the most significant event in a woman’s life: the birth of her child. She has photographed ladies giving birth not just in hospital maternity wards, but also at home, in bed or in the ocean. According to her website, her own births altered her. She feels that nothing can match the experience of giving birth to her kids. “I still weep every time I recall the birth of my children,” she admits. She feels, based on her past experiences, that the day a woman gives birth to her kid is one of the most significant of her life, and that it is thus absolutely worth filming.
Ashlee Wilkenson, age 29, had photographer Rebecca Walsh (working for Denver-based birth photographer Monet Nicole) capture the birth of her fifth child in her Colorado residence. Wilkenson recounts in her own words how unexpected delivery may be, regardless of the number of times one has experienced it.
“After giving birth to my first kid in a hospital, I gave birth to my following children at home. My initial labor lasts around twenty-four hours, and I feel it would have lasted longer if I hadn’t been given Pt. Next, I engaged in around two hours of with my second drink. Maybe I was three when I had my third child. My fourth labor lasted 14 hours and was incredibly painful from the beginning. As a result, I went into my most recent delivery expecting the unexpected, but with a firm idea of what I want, if possible. I desired for my hubby to catch the infant. And it was crucial for me to have some peace and quiet immediately after the birth of the kid.
I was anticipating a 41-week pregnancy since that’s how long my first and third pregnancies lasted, but I’d been feeling very uncomfortable from 36 weeks on. At 39 weeks, I went to bed as normal and awoke around 45 minutes later with a massive tt and gobs of ssu. I felt as if the infant was present.
We’d discussed with my midwife what to do if labor progressed quickly, since I’d previously had rapid labor. So we had this limited opportunity to prepare ourselves. My midwife, who lives around 45 minutes away, came promptly, so we did not have to. My contractions were quite close together, and I remember thinking, “They need to calm down because I can’t handle this.” Even though everyone seemed to comprehend how close I was to giving birth, I was still mentally ready for another 14 hours of labor like my previous one.
I jumped into the bathtub. My husband and midwife responded, “Yes, Ash, anything you say,” when I insisted that I was just in the hospital to slow down my menstrual cycle. In the water, there was a brief period of relative calm, but then the tts returned in full force. And it was evident that these were not dilation tts. They were tts for delivering the baby.
I got out of the tub, and he was born within a contraction and a half. My husband was able to catch him, and then I just held him and looked at him for a while.
He’s such a chill baby. I love that I can see it in these photos, even though he has that little pout face. He has such a sweet demeanor, and he has had it since the very beginning.
It’s hard to put into words just how amazing it was to have him here. It was one of the highest joys I’ve ever experienced. To see him and to find out he was a boy and to hold him on my chest and to hear him cry and to see his face and to finally be done with the really long, hard journey of pregnancy. I soaked up all the snuggles and cried and cried and cried and was so happy and thankful that we did it!
The kids slept through the whole thing. We had a friend here who was planning to watch them if we needed it, and we were open to them coming in if they wanted to – or staying away if that’s what they preferred. But they ended up waking up maybe four hours after the baby was born. They were excited to say “hi” to the baby, but then they wanted to go to my sister’s so they just kind of took off. I got a nap.
Now that I have done this five times, I have definitely learned to expect the unexpected and to be OK if absolutely nothing seems to be going the way it’s “supposed” to go. It’s kind of like having so many kids close together. Sometimes we’re like, “Oh, my goodness, this is crazy!” But our hearts are full.
This ʟᴀʙᴏʀ and birth were so different than what I had hoped and dreamed for the entire pregnancy, but after he was there, I was extremely proud of myself and so pleased with how everything unfolded. I look back on the baby’s birth story and see the hand of a faithful God written all over it.”