A Special Story of Adoption: Meet Baby River
Meet River. This special guy stopped by our studio just before we had to shut down due to COVID-19. He was just one week old at his session and he slept through most of it. We were able to capture a very special image for Mom, a picture of River with his embryo photo. Hard to believe we all start out so small. Everyone has a story to tell about their pregnancy, labor, and delivery. I encourage my moms to share their stories.
River’s story is that of adoption. His adoption started much earlier than most. Read his mom's words to see how it all began.
“River’s birth story starts out a little different than your typical birth story. River’s life with us started out in a test tube. That’s because we adopted him as an embryo before he was born. We adopted our little embryo that we nicknamed Bubbles and then I underwent a Frozen Embryo Transfer (similar to IVF). I carried River and birthed him, but he was genetically created by another family. We are lucky enough to have an open adoption with River’s genetic family, they are amazing people. We are forever grateful to them for choosing us as River’s parents. Other than that, my pregnancy was pretty normal. I did suffer from Subchorionic Hemorrhages, in the beginning, that was difficult and very scary, especially as someone who has experienced miscarriage before. However, once they resolved, things went much smoother. River’s birth was pretty uneventful too… which I think is kind of what you want in a birth. I labored for about 13 hours and pushed for 45 minutes to bring him into the world. I have never felt so powerful and so strong in my entire life. Those aren’t words I’d normally use to describe myself, but labor and delivery really brought it out in me. It was truly an amazing experience. I’ll never forget seeing him for the first time or the feeling of him on my chest after delivery. It made every single moment worth it. All the shots, medication, procedures, hospital visits… none of it mattered once he was in my arms. Since being home we’ve been adjusting to life as a family of 4. River’s big brother, Milo (2.5), has been amazing! He wasn’t too sure about his new big brother role at first, but he’s gotten used to it. He loves to play with River’s hair and he’s great about letting us know when River is hungry, even though River is pretty good at letting us know himself. Honestly, with everything going on in the world it’s easy to feel scared about the future, but being home during this time with my husband and our boys (even given the circumstances) has given me some of the happiest moments of my life.”
Thank you, Carey, for sharing your story with us. We cannot wait to get back to shooting our clients. In the meantime, record your memories at home with your family. If you are delivering in the next few weeks, please contact us. We do not have a date yet as to when we will reopen but we can help you capture some of your own special images with your newborn via phone or Skype. Take a break from virus news and enjoy some extra sweet images of River.