I ‘m speechless.  Crazy, I know :)  Honestly though, I’m at a loss for words.  I probably won’t do a very good job expressing how I’m feeling, but I’ll try anyway…

We had a photographer at Clive’s birth.  I had been anticipating this ever since she was hired by my mother (THANK YOU, MOM!) a few months ago.  The photographer happens to be my dear friend and sister in law, and is a wedding photographer right here in IL.  She and I had been talking and planning for this event for weeks, but neither of us were quite prepared for how utterly amazing it would turn out to be.

Megan posted a sneak peek on her blog for me from the birth, and I was floored with the images.  I’ve always known it would be wonderful to have birth photos, but until I saw them, I didn’t know how much it would affect me.  During the hour and a half of labor at the hospital, everything happened so fast and was so intense that I didn’t have time to really absorb what was happening.  With our other 2 lil ones, I was induced and had drugs, so I took plenty of time to write down what was happening, could think clearly, etc.  With Clive though, it was a different story :)  I arrived at 5cm, went to 7cm 15 min later, and 30 minutes after that was completey dilated.  I was so inside myself, completely absorbed in the pain and what my body needed to do, that it was as if the rest of the world just fell away.  There was noone else there.  Just me, my body, and my baby.  I went from a place of fighting what was happening to my body, to accepting it – taking hold of it – and ultimately conquering it.  Out of all my births, it was hands down the hardest, and certainly the most intense experience of my entire life.  If you’ve given birth, you know exactly what I’m talking about :) 

There are details that I would never have remembered would it not have been for these images.   I am so grateful to Megan and the gift she’s shared with us.  What a treasure these images will be for Charlotte & Clive someday.  What a treasure they are for Matt & I now.  My heart just overflows with grattitude.  Thank you, Megan – pencil me in for sometime in 2011, k?  :)

For being at a loss for words, I guess I said enough ;)  You can see the sneak peek here (have tissues on hand):

www.meganrenaephotography.blogspot.com