Thursday, December 13, 2012

Baby Mia's birth

My newest, and darling neice was born the day after Thanksgiving.  This was the BEST Thanksgiving holiday I've had in a long time.  My husband and I drove the 8 hour drive to Pennsylvania from North Carolina for the long weekend and I'm so glad we did.  Mia's due date was the 27th, but since she had a serious heart condition, they checked Elsie into CHOP on the 23rd to be induced.  The labor went much quicker than expected, so we arrive a few hours after Mia was born.

I actually photographed the birth of Liam, Mia's big brother, so it was even more special that I got to be at the hospital to document the day Mia was born.  A huge group came to support Elsie and Matt since Mia had to stay in the CICU until she was sent to open heart surgery a few days later.  I'm SO glad they let us come be with them on such an exciting, love-filled, and scary day in their lives.  I love my family so much, and I love sharing such big life changing experiences with them like these.
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Matt's amazing 'stache is courtesy of no-shave november.  It's like all of those moustache mugs/shirts in real life.miabirth5 miabirth6 miabirth7 miabirth8 miabirth9 miabirth10 miabirth11 miabirth12 miabirth13 miabirth14
Elsie was a ROCK.  I remember my first hours/days in the hospital after my baby was born as one big emotional blur, and that was with a healthy baby in my arms.  Elsie delivered Mia and then Mia was whisked away to be taken care of.  This was the ONLY moment I saw her shed tears.  And of course her brief moment of tears made me cry in the hospital, then on the way home that night, and again as I was editing these photos.miabirth15 miabirth16 miabirth17
This photo above also makes me choke up.  Matt's whispering in her ear.  A father's love is truly amazing to witness.  I love seeing my big brother as a dad...I think our own dad would be so proud of him right now.  I know I am, and I'm just his little sister:)

I love you guys!  Thank you, thank you for letting me photograph this!

EDIT: I should mention that Mia is doing really, really well.  She had her surgery and is now home recovering.  And recovering well at that:)  We're so grateful for CHOP and modern medicine!