24/07/2020
***Content warning- birth image and birthy stuff discussed***
An en caul birth- when a baby is born in the amniotic sack.
This is one of my favorite images from the birth. My baby's head out of my body but still in the amniotic sack. What you see here is a rest moment before the rest of her body is born. She's facing the camera, that's her nose, mouth, and chin. The dark stuff is meconium, the first p**p of a newborn and evidently she had p**ped just before as this seemed to be very fresh. Thanks to gravity, the meconium settled all around her head (sorry baby!) which is why you can't see her eyes.
Sometimes meconium can be a sign that the baby was distressed at some point during the pregnancy or labor. The presence of meconium doesn't always mean that and that didn't seem to be the case here. Sometimes it happens with post-dates babies but can happen with earlier babies. This was my second baby born with meconium in the water and both were fine and had no issues. Both were also past their due date (guess date) but not overly so.
Through labor I was going with the flow and listening to my body, had checked my own cervix and felt the bulging bag of waters and my baby's head, and when it was time naturally put my hand down to feel her emerge when my body pushed my baby out. As her head slipped out into my hand, I immediately knew the bag was still intact because it felt like a balloon of jelly around my baby. Feeling her, I thought I identified her ear (I'm pretty sure I did) through the sack. In the brief moment between when her head emerged and the rest of her body I wished I could see what I could feel with my hand. My kids thrilled and described what they saw "it is SO COOL mom!" and I'm so grateful the photographer was able to capture this. It was brief but also felt like time was suspended in this in between place with my baby inside me but also out, encased in her amniotic sack, seen by her sisters while felt by me. An emerging paused.
Moments later she was out and broke her sack herself pushing her arm through it. With my hand still down to catch her, I felt her little hand in mine for a brief moment, our first time touching each other in the world beyond the one we shared together during pregnancy.
Born in the water in her bag of waters, my little mermaid baby.
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More images from the birth are available on The Leaky B**b and We’re All Human Here Patreon (including all the shots of the baby emerging in the bag of waters). A few are available on Meghan Street Photography's Facebook and Instagram here: https://bit.ly/2VPxvJ1 (Portland, OR photographer) as well as Andaluz Waterbirth Center.
The photos are incredible (fast birth, thankfully she made it in time!). If you’d like to view the birth video and help keep TLB going in offering information, support, and community (and support me in taking a bit of maternity leave), it is available any time to our Patreon supporters here: https://bit.ly/2xaJkAc and for video on demand access here: https://bit.ly/2YZXu1d.
