I met E. and J. through mutual friends when I first moved to Kansas City. We all bonded over mutual love for drinking good beer and despising intense political debates. Of course that was until E. announced her little one was on the way; then we bonded on birth and how freaking amazing it is. 

I'm not sure these two ever thought about having their birth photographed. They were pretty set on keeping the space little Titus came into as intimate and calm as possible. Which I'm also, all about. After time I finally just asked if they might want to go for happy hour and talk about what it could look like. I didn't want to push but I just knew them and knew they would love this as a part of their birth plan and experience. After a quick conversation about how unobtrusive my style is and my schpeel about how beautiful and valuable I think it is to capture this miracle; they were sold.

One of my favorite parts about telling these birth stories is the communication and bond created between me and all my couples. I get invested in the their pregnancy through the updates and long chats about birth plans. I honestly love the topic and could chat for hours about it.

Finally the night came  and it was just a straight up, "Hanna, my water broke." I rushed over to the hospital and joined the crazy amazing process. There was a lot of moaning and a lot less sleeping but the labor (while horrible and painful to E. I'm sure) is just such a beautiful process. It's a gradual story of working toward such a miraculous goal. That moment when Titus is finally out and breathing is when the world stops and I feel that for every birth I'm photographing.  

Each birth is filled with its own beautiful and epic story of Life. It's the beginning to so much hope and fear and excitement. It's the most beautiful part of being a human, It is our beginning and our most challenging, most painful and most rewarding. There is no moment similar that comes before it or after it

For E. and J. I knew the process would probably feel out of body but that's truly why I think birth photography can be so incredible. While you're doing the work I'm able to come in and tell the story. I am lucky to call this my job and my passion because it's something truly incredible to be apart of.