The Story of Elias

Way back before Jenny even knew she was expecting, when she and James knew that they wanted a second baby and that at some point this would become a reality, she told me two things that she knew for certain.

Number one, she knew she wanted a home birth. Olivia was delivered in the hospital, and during her pregnancy with O, Jenny had considered a home birth but had opted against it for various reasons. She ended up regretting it a bit as she felt like the standard of care she received at the hospital was less than she had hoped for, and while she and O were both happy and healthy and there were no major complications, she just knew that the experience left her wanting more and wondering whether she could have done it at home. So she knew that when Baby 2 came, as long as it was deemed safe for her to do so, she'd be having him or her in the comfort of her own home.

Number two, she told me that she wanted me to photograph the birth.

I was honored and a little intimidated; I've not done birth photography before, although I've often admired the sweet, tender, powerful photos I've seen other photographers take for people, both in hospital settings and at home births, but it wasn't something I'd ever done or really even pursued before. But of course, Jenny is one of my best friends in the wide world, and there was no way I was going to let her down or pass up the chance to capture such a big event for her, so I naturally said "yes".

Fast forward to early fall of 2013...I woke up one morning to a text from Jenny.

9/1/2013 8:33 AM:

"Can you keep a secret?"

And then she sent this photo.



Of course, we were excited for her, for their whole family, and before we knew it, we were planning how to best do a gender reveal portrait, what cool things we could do for a maternity session, and Jenny reconfirmed with me that I was still on board to do her birth photography for her. My answer was a resolute YES.

I always said from the first day I knew about the new baby (who Jenny had affectionately nicknamed "the poppyseed") that it was going to be a boy. Jenny and James were convinced it would be another girl, as was soon-to-be big sister Olivia. Jenny and James kicked around the idea of not finding out the gender and being surprised at the delivery, but finally opted to go ahead and find out. (Spoiler alert: I'm usually accurate when predicting a baby's gender. I realize I have a 50/50 chance of being right, but I can't think of a time when I've been wrong, so, I guess you know where this is going.)

In mid-December, the Hudsons went to see their midwife and birth team for an exam and to find out the gender; instead of them finding out at the time of the appointment, they had the info placed in an envelope and gave it to me, and I went and purchased the appropriate color of balloons and placed them into a box for them to open. This way the looks on their faces would be of surprise as they opened the box, saw the balloons, and found out if it was a boy or a girl. On December 10th, in a park not far from their home in Eustis, we did the big unveiling.

Who's it gonna be, guys? Boy Baby or Girl Baby?


It's a boy!



(Olivia was gob-smacked at this news and needed some extra convincing.)



And so, the great name debate began. Jenny and James mulled over, chose, compared, narrowed down, expanded, vetoed, added to and subtracted from their lists. They were having a heck of a time agreeing. I had taken to calling the baby Reginald Archibald Hudson, while Olivia clung to the idea that it was a girl and insisted on calling him Girl Baby for a while. Eventually she came around to the irrevocable truth that she was going to have a little brother and called him Boy Baby, then mysteriously began telling us that while Mommy had a Boy Baby in her tummy, she (Olivia) had a Girl Baby in HER tummy. (She's so funny.)

As the date of Boy Baby's birth got closer, we did some gorgeous (but very early!) sunrise maternity portraits on New Smyrna Beach. We never did manage to do maternity photos for the first go-around, when Jenny was pregnant with Olivia, so we knew we wanted to make sure to fit these in this time.

Jenny's belly got bigger. The spring came and progressed. Boy Baby's expected due date (May 10th) approached steadily, getting closer every day. The Great Name Debate raged on; the list had been pared down, but the final decision on who Boy Baby was had yet to be settled. (Olivia by this point had taken to calling him Captain Hook, and occasionally Mr. Smee.) They had narrowed down to two names. James had chosen the name James William Hudson. Jenny had chosen Elias James Hudson. They still couldn't agree, and came to the conclusion that maybe it would be better to meet him and see what name seemed to suit him.

In early May, things started happening. It became evident that May 10th was probably a stretch, and Boy Baby Reginald Archibald Captain Hook Smee might be making his appearance a little earlier than that. We were ready to go to Eustis at a moment's notice. I had been in Key West for a wedding in the last part of April, and we spent the entirety of that trip crossing our fingers that he wouldn't come while we were gone. I was so relieved to get back home knowing that he'd stayed put; even though I knew that he'd come when he was supposed to, I would have been sad to miss his arrival, so I was glad he waited.

Then, on the morning of May 2nd, I got this message:

5/2/2014 9:26 AM:

"I think we are going to have a baby today or tomorrow. Don't come over yet, but don't go out of town. ;)"

We stayed in contact all day. Jenny, James, and Olivia ran some light errands and had lunch at Red Robin.

That evening at about 6, things had progressed to a point where we knew: it was Baby Time. Brendan and I hopped in the truck and headed toward the Hudson's home. (And can I say that we hit EVERY. SINGLE. RED. LIGHT. on the way there, AND we got stuck behind not one, but TWO large delivery trucks doing 20 under the speed limit? Yeesh.)

When we arrived, Brendan immediately put on his Best Uncle In the Whole World hat and began to play with Olivia, who was semi-bewildered at the hubbub happening in her house. James and I stayed with Jenny, who was at this point having consistent, strong, regular contractions. The midwives were on their way, and this was really going to happen.

Rhonda and Rebecca, Jenny's wonderfully caring and awesome midwives, arrived and got ready to set up the birthing pool, which had been the plan. They let Jenny know it would take approximately an hour to assemble and fill. Jenny shook her head. "I don't think I have an hour." So the decision was made; Jenny's big fantastic garden tub would be filled, and that would be where she would bring Boy Baby into the world. It was 7:45 PM.

With the gentle help and guidance of Rhonda and Rebecca and the support of James, Jenny worked through the pain, listening to her body and riding the wave of each contraction. Things got more and more intense, until finally, it was time for Boy Baby to come out and meet everyone. At 9:00 PM on the nose, Boy Baby Hudson was born.

I will never forget the looks on James and Jenny's faces in that instant. For James: immediate waterworks. It was a mixture of relief, awe, wonder, and pure love as he looked at his new son and his strong, beautiful wife, tears flowing down his face. For Jenny: shock and amazement. Her jaw dropped as they placed the baby in her arms, and she looked genuinely surprised that all of sudden, there it was, there he was. She looked at the baby, she looked at James, she looked at Rebecca and at Rhonda and at me, over and over repeating, "Are you serious? Are you SERIOUS?!? Look at this! Are you KIDDING ME?" She looked up and said, "I did this?" It was the most endearing thing I've ever seen.

Quickly, Rebecca went and collected Olivia so she could meet Boy Baby.

"Olivia, he's here! Here's your new brother!"



"This is him? Boy Baby is here? This is Boy Baby? He came out of Mommy's tummy!"


Rebecca and Rhonda tended to Jenny, while James got to snuggle his new little boy.



Olivia, while very excited to meet the baby, also knew that "Frozen" wasn't going to watch itself, so she returned to the living room to take care of Official Toddler Business.



Once things were calmer, Jenny and James laid down to marvel at the new little wonder in their world. And the name discussion came up again.

Jenny: "So, which is it? Is he an Elias, or is he a James?"
James: "I think you should pick."
Jenny: "I think he's Elias."
James: "I think he is too."




Elias James Hudson. It was official.

Elias James Hudson. All 8 pounds and 9 ounces of him. (For those of you keeping score: Olivia weighed in at 6 pounds 3 ounces. Looks like Sir Elias may take after Daddy and be a big strong guy, but hey buddy, you owe Mommy several bouquets of flowers for putting her through that. Yowza!)

I will never forget being there with the Hudsons for such an amazing day. I often feel that to do the job I do I am blessed and lucky; families and couples invite me in to share their special moments and events, and I am grateful for all the opportunities I have to preserve memories for my clients; that may sound cliche but it's absolutely true. To be able to capture these moments for Jenny and James and be with them on such a powerful, emotional, intimate day, to be there at the very moment they became a family of 4, is an honor I can never adequately put into words. Thank you, Jenny, James, and Olivia (and Elias, too), for allowing me to share this and for having me in your lives. I love you all so much.